First time bringing a kid, what have I been missing all these years?

[Djscherr]

Okay, I went to Disney World when I was a kid (9 and 13), and I had an absolute blast. So much so that I came back when I was an adult and have been many many times. I know where all the rides are and don't need a map, and I can navigate the fast pass system I have all that down.

My next trip will be a bit different, it will be special, about a month ago I married into a family. My wife, and my now son (10 years old), and I will be travelling to Disney World in December to celebrate our Familymoon (a little different than just a honeymoon because we are a new family! :thumbsup:).

This is where my trouble comes in, I have no problem being a kid at heart, but I fear that in all my trips I may have completely glossed over or ignored some more kid-centric aspects of the park. Can any of you who have experience with kids in the parks/hotels suggest any experiences/events/anything that I may have overlooked in my travels using my adult eyes?

I know this will be a blast as it is both their first trips and I want to make it extra special for them.

Thanks for any help you all can provide.

[faline]

That's a tough question. Every kid is different and has different interests. One may love roller coasters and thrills - another may want nothing to do with thrill rides.

I'd suggest ordering the Dsiney planning guide so you and your family can watch it together. Your son will be able to tell what things he might find interesting.

Additionally, you might want to get a Disney World planning guide geared for kids. He'll be able to go through it and decide what sorts of things he would like to do during this trip.

[minnie04]

I totally agree with Faline.... Let him see the video or book and decide. The only thing I would maybe do is book at the All Stars that is the most kid friendly resort. He will be overwhelmed. I think all kids love the All Stars (maybe not the parents), but it would make really cool...:mickey:

[coloradowendyl]

Be flexible! The one thing you are sure he will love may be the thing he is the least interested in doing. Be prepared to stop and smell the roses lol...let him explore and just remember that the things you are used to seeing are new and exciting to him!

With a holiday time trip, be sure to take time to go to the Beach Club and see the Carousel, the gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian and the train at the Yacht Club.

Head down to the Lego Store in Downtown Disney...have a dole whip for breakfast...use the vouchers in your package to rent a water mice boat!

Just have fun, don't sweat the small stuff and be prepared you won't do everything you think you will do! Seeing the parks through the eyes of a child will be special for you!

Wendy

[PETE FROM NYC]

Let him see some you tube of the attractions.

[CosmicRay]

I have a 10 year old Daughter and 9 year old son. And I agree with all thats said above. Our kids like the slower rides, and don't care for the rush of roller coasters. We had one family that went and said their kids were disappointed with the rides, they wanted more of the thrill rides. But if I knew that before hand, I would have suggested a water park. DS would love to go to Disney Quest! He is a video game nut and loves Legos too so DTD is a MUST for him. If he is into Pirates of the Caribbean and you want to go to a moderate hotel, there's the Caribbean Beach Resort with the special pirate rooms. Pizza Planet with the arcade games is always fun for my son too.

But as said, plan with your new family and see what interests him. But just going with the flow is always good advice too. Congrats on your family and hope you have a great trip!

[5MemphisTiggers]

All great suggestions so far. I agree that you should work to make this a great experience for your new family. Talk to them about it. Use your experience and knowledge of the parks, the rides, the shows, etc. to help them figure out what they would like to see and do. A guide book or WDW Vacation Planning DVD (my personal favorite) is a great way to trigger the conversation. My family loves to watch the planning DVDs and talk about trips, even when we're not planning one. :mickey:

One thing I would suggest for this trip -- something you may not normally think of when you are travelling on your own. HAVE A TOURING PLAN. When you're by yourself you can come and go as you please, but that's not the best approach when you are trying to meet the expectations of several people. Waking up on Tuesday morning and THEN trying to decide where to go or what to see can lead to disharmony -- especially if one wants to go to AK that morning and another wants to go back to MK. Work those things out ahead of time, so when Tuesday morning comes everyone knows you're going to Epcot. AK is Monday morning and MK is Wednesday night because of EMHs. Plus, if you can work dinner reservations around your touring plan (or vice versa).

I'm not a planner, but my wife is. Our experiences at WDW have always been better when we follow her plans.

One more thing that my kids love (me too) -- finding hidden Mickeys.

Congratulations, and have a magical time!

[Donald]

Find a resort with a nice pool. It just blows my mind: "can we go to the pool now?". They are in the heart of Disney and they want to go to the pool. (or play with their legos):confused:

You never know until you get there what their passion will be. The last vacation was all about roller coasters...I rode Everest 7 times one day(3 times in 20 minutes...that is when I said we were done...at least I was:blush:). The vacation before that was pool and legos. Just go with the flow.

A lot of it depends on the kid. Is he 10 going on 18? Or is he stuck in the younger days? You might have to combat the " that's not cool" issues....good luck with that. I had to sit my son down and to tell him to open his mind and try things...for other people's sake. Then he had a good time. ( he's a diva!:mad::) )

Good luck! And have fun!:mickey:

[darthmacho]

Sorry if my answers are redundant, but I didn't have time to read the previous replies. Here are my suggestions, from having experienced my first trip with my kids last year.

1. Go at the child's pace. This shouldn't be a problem, since 10yo is a good age.
2. Let the kid have input in the planning, buy him the Birnbaum book for kids, and plan together. If he's not too into the whole planning thing, at least let him pick the first ride or give you a list of his "must-dos".
3. Discuss with him if he wants to meat or dine with certain characters, so you can seek them out.
4. If you're into details, back story, and history, share your knowledge. My kids were surprisingly interested.
5. Be flexible. If you were thinking of one thing, but the kid wants to get back in line for a second ride on Splash Mountain, why not indulge him? (You know you'll be going back again soon.)

Hope that helps. Not so much specific, as strategy. :mickey:

[Tink#64]

I agree with all previous posters comments! Each child is diferent, and each one goes through different phases! Our trips now, DS's 14 & 16 are so different than that first trip when they were 4 & 6! Some years youngest can't wait to ride RNRC & other years he doesn't want to ride it at all! :crazy: So letting your son get an advance idea of the attractions will really help him to give you feedback & help you plan the best touring plan. But by all means, use that plan as a guideline & be ready to ditch it whenever the spirit moves you! Our first trip we skipped our dinner ressies & Fantasmic because DS's really just wanted to go back to the pool! Now days, they'd rather be in the parks than the pools!

But, my :twocents:for what it's worth, :blush: I would highly recommend saving the MK for later in your touring week, visit the other parks first. Build up, not down! I had read this somewhere, but was prepared not to heed this advice! Our first park day, of our first trip, we woke to rain. I had read that to save a rainy day, head to Epcot as there are so many inside attractions! My DS's loved it! We didn't hit the MK until day 3 of our trip & by then they knew that all of the parks were different, and they enjoyed them all for what they were. Would it have made a difference in their experience? IDK, but I'm so glad for how it turned out for us & now we're all WDW fanatics! :yay:

A few years later, family went to WDW with us, and that included a female cousin aged 10! MK was our first park day and she loved it! But after that day, there was alot of grumblings about being bored! I don't know if it was her, her age, or the fact that we started with the MK & all of the rides & after that she had that expectation for every other park? We all had a great time, but I wonder if it would've been better to have saved the MK for the grand finale? :unsure:

Happy planning & wishes for a magical trip! :pixie:

[wildernesslady]

Take the time to smell the roses. You will have a great time with two newbies. Remember, you do not have to do everything on their first trip.

[TinkerbellT421]

First I would like to say Congratulations to your new family/marriage and celebrating your familymoon! That was probably the sweetest thing I ever heard!!

Secondly, DBF and I do not travel with kids either and completely understand your "glossed over adult eyes" statement! BUT I think there are a couple of things I thought of if it helps. I apologize if anyone else has suggested these.
If he is a johnny depp/pirates of the caribbean fan try to take him to the Pirates ride in MK and at certain times of the day they teach the kids how to be a pirate. The cast members are great and take children volunteers up for the show!

And secondly, do not look over the Epcot innoventions buildings. There are tons of fun things for the kids! Especially the area in one building where he will be able to create and ride his own roller coaster with you. And then theres the are where you can bond over some video games :mickey:

[Janmac]

We have brought many kids of different ages to WDW and I have planned trips for other people with kids. I agree with many of the points mentioned in the replies.

Kids are so different. We've had 7 year olds who loved Space Mountain but hated Pirates of the Caribbean, and vice versa. We've had 10 year olds more fearful of the "screaming rides" than the 7 year olds.

Highly recommend some advance prep. Involve your son in as much of the planning as possible, both for attractions and restaurants. Send away for the Disney planning video. Look through the Disney website with your son. As was mentioned, Birnbaum's has some nice photos. Our public library has many different guidebooks that can be checked out. Decide what attractions look interesting. There will be plenty you can rule out, too. Exception: Mad Hatter Teacups at MK. Kids of all ages love this ride, even tho it sounds so much like a kiddie ride. Teens to tots. Word of warning: a ten yr old might have to have his own cup, tho.

Second recommendation is scheduling while at WDW. As was mentioned, the pool is often a major draw. Especially at some of the resorts. Our grandson always loved his pool time, but, he also thoroughly enjoyed time at the parks. As he said, it's Disney World.

We have had good luck with touring a park in the morning, starting at rope drop, pool time in the early afternoon, and then heading to Epcot each evening. This tends to avoid sensory overload.

We open up either MK, AK or DHS, usually two mornings for each park. We do Adventureland and Frontierland on one MK morning and Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on another MK morning. Same with AK - staying mostly in Africa and Discovery Island (I think it's called) one day, and Asia and Dinoland another day. DHS is similar - to the right of the big hat one morning and to the left another.

At Epcot we do one or two FutureWorld pavilions and then head to a World Showcase pavilion or two, usually eating supper at one of the WS countries. We try to head out of Epcot before Illuminations, except for one night, when we'll stay for the show.

I do try to have ADRs for supper about the same time each evening. And we try to be back at our resort before 10, except for Illuminations. We have also decided we love watching the MK fireworks from the Poly boat dock, as well as the Electrical Boat Parade.

As adults, we have tried to eat at different restaurants, but kids like the familiar. On some trips we have had breakfast at the same restaurant several mornings. We have yet to have a kid not like Trail's End Kitchen at Fort Wilderness Campground. After days of willingly trying different foods while enjoying the restaurants at Epcot, they love to find familiar fare at the campground.

If we have fewer days, we might hit high spots at AK and DHS, doing only one morning at each park.

One trip we had teenagers, who thought they'd like to sleep in, tour late, etc. After that trip they asked to go back to being at the parks at rope drop.

The year our grandson was 10, we visited WDW. He brought along some favorite beanie babies, as well as some toy guns, swords, etc. Each morning he'd set up a diorama of sorts on his bed. When we got back to the room, after lunch, his animals and toys would be set up differently, by Mousekeeping, on his bed. It was fun each day to see what she had done with his stuff.

There is also so much neat stuff to do, like sticking your head in the stocks at MK, or trying out the Speeder at DHS. As well as the attractions, these other things make the trip special too. We also really enjoy our meals at character restaurants. We've gotten some fun photos there. Not always with the kids. :D

The memories are what's important, and whatever memories you make are more than you had before. Our favorite saying, when we have to skip something we thought we'd do, "we can always catch that next time."

Mostly, enjoy.

Jan

[joonyer]

Take him to Tom Sawyer Island. Let him have the run of the place for as long as he wants. If you get tired of trying to keep up with him, you can rest in the rocking chairs at Aunt Polly's porch. Our boys have always loved this place as much as any of the more famous (popular) and higher-tech attractions.

[Djscherr]

Thank you for the awesome suggestions!

I did end up buying the books off amazon and secretly sent them home addressed to him. He got a kick out of it, and when I got home to talked to me about the Birnbaum book and the neat things he saw. He then asked what a hidden mickey was exactly so I showed him some online and said we would have to bring the book with to help scout them out on the trip.

I also like the idea of planning out the trip. This will definitely be more structured as to what park we will do day to day, but we will definitely be flexible!

In regards to being flexible, that I definitely will be, especially with something like Tom Sawyer's island. Usually when I go with my older family they don't ever want to go there. The only time I was ever there was a couple years back when my Dad was down for a trip (his first since he took me as a kid) and we went and explored Tom Sawyer's Island, usually my family skips it. So this time DS10 and I will be exploring together. I have no troubles with indulging the kid in me. Also plan on doing Kim Possible with him as he is excited by it.

We sat down this weekend and watched one of the Disney videos that is on Netflix streaming. It was the one about all the wild rides. He expressed that he was excited for most of them, but didn't want to do Tower of Terror, or Dinosaur. He apologized for it, and I told him there was no reason to apologize. I'd been on them before, and he shouldn't feel sorry if he didn't want to go on the rides, they will be there when he gets older and we can ride them together then.

I'm getting really excited for the trip, and will definitely be sitting down with him to gauge character interest and such still.

Thank you again!

[kemps@wdw]

get the child involved in the planning process from the very begining! Watch the planning videos together, check out You-tube and let him watch the ride videos (WDW attraction videos), and remember, this trip should be more about him and what he enjoys!

[Disney4us2]

First of all... congratulations.

I don't really have that much to add. My DD is 11 and really loves the games at Dinoland. Yeah, I know it is cheesy and a racket, but she loves playing one of the games. In August she played and won a large dragon... to keep company with the one she won back in December.

Also don't miss the Osborne lights at DHS. It is incredible. Dress warm at nights, we were there Dec 2010 and nearly froze at night. Wish I had thermals with me. Glad I had brought our gloves.

I guess I did have more to add than I thought:blush: