Disney with a teenager

[TheInventor'sDaughter]

I am planning a vacation to WDW for my aunt and her 15-year-old son. It is also possible that she will take her 19-year-old daughter. They will be going in early April.

The last two trips I planned were for my family with two children under the age of 6, so I'm hardly an expert on taking older kids. I have some ideas, but I'm sure I'm missing some things. Can anyone recommend some things that these ages will enjoy?

[imported_PolyGirl40]

My oldest son is 15. We took our nephew of the same age with us during our March vacation. The teens were an absolute blast. They did and wanted to do everything - right down to autographs. They were on a mission to find every Character roaming WDW. It was truly our best vacation. We laughed so much! [img]graemlins/silly.gif[/img]

Everything was an adventure. They loved all of the thrill rides. La Nouba and the Comedy Warehouse were among their favorite shows. Although they laughed it up at the Hoop Dee Doo as well. Their restaurant highlights consisted of 50’s Primetime Cafe’ and Teppanyaki.

I posted trip reports after our return in March. You might want to do a search for “Escape From New York” in that forum. I went into great detail about the teens.

My children are 7 years apart. They both love going to WDW.

[img]graemlins/mickey.gif[/img]

[Beast_fanatic]

One suggestion would be DisneyQuest. It's like a giant video arcade of very advanced and interactive games. They'd be a great age for that if they like video games.

Another idea would be to rent the water sprite boats. They'd be able to drive their own.

Water parks and miniature golf also come to mind.

Have fun planning!

[Jillpie]

Buy the Motorola Talkabout 2 way radios! They are indispensible when it comes to kids that want to go and do their own thing for awhile, but you can still talk to them (within a 2 mile radius). Last week they were 42.00 at Best Buy, but I'm not sure if they went back to their original price. Well worth every penny.

[SMG]

I vote for Disney Quest too! My 33 yr old DH like it there! Good food court too! [img]graemlins/tasty.gif[/img]

[Rhetoric2000]

I have never had any problems with my parents or their friends. My friends and I have always agreed meeting times etc. with them and the adults always show on time and don't get lost or anything bad.
Seriously, I am 19 and have gone with mixed family/friends combinations and other than miss timeing how long bus systems took for AKL once, I never had problems with my parents waiting or being anxious.
I would definately recommend West Side as well as PI as great Places to go. I also like Disney MGM Studios.
WDW is great for everyone but it is better to have some time together and some time to do your own thing. Make arrangements for meet times and be there. It's worked for friends and I through our teens.

[Fantasmike]

My son (15) has no trouble finding things that he enjoys at WDW. There are plenty of thrill rides and shows. There are also things to do at Downtown Disney and resort activities. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[TheInventor'sDaughter]

Thanks for the advice! I had thought about PI, and you are right that they would probably love the comedy club, since they likely don't get to go to comedy clubs much at their age.

My 15-year-old cousin is VERY into video games, so I will make sure they get over to Disney Quest as well!

Since it's just my aunt and her son, I don't think they'll be splitting up much, but I'll recommend the two-way radios anyway.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

[DisneyGirl2004]

I'm a teenager and I love it there! Just make sure that the teens have at least some freedom as to what they want to do. Sure, its fun to get Mickeys autograph, but it's just as fun to ride Space Mountain 4 times in a row. Let them do what makes them happy, just like with younger kids [img]smile.gif[/img]