Travels with a 9 year old boy

[FenwayGirl]

looking for some recommendations for things to do with a 9 year old boy at WDW. Girls are a no brainer...princesses! But dont think that will fly with this one. Any tours, activities, fun things for boys that you can suggest:mickey:

[BriarRose0708]

Are you going to be visiting all parks or just the Magic Kingdom? There are plenty of gender neutral attractions and character meets that appeal to kids regardless of boys/girls across the entire property. Princess are given a lot of attention in the MK but it's not the only thing to do. I've actually seen boys (and men for that matter!) get a kick out of princess meet and greets. The lipstick marks on the boy's faces are adorable! Here's a list of activities and attractions I can think of that aren't girly/princess-y:

MK
Space Mountain
Buzzlightyear Space Ranger Spin
Character meets in Tomorrowland with Buzz & Stitch
Astro Orbiters
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirate Academy (a show outside of Pirates where Captain Jack teaches you how to Pirate)
Tiki Room
Meet and Greets in Frontierland with Woody & Jessie
Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain RR
the new Seven Dwarves Mine Train ride
Meet & greet with Gaston in New Fantasyland
Meet and greets with Minnie, Daisy, Goofy & Donald in Storybook Circus
Meet and Greet with Mickey in Town Square Theatre

EPCOT
EPCOT is great because it's fairly low on princesses. Just about anything in the front of the park from Soarin' to Test Track. Sum of all Thrills in Innoventions is cool. In World Showcase there are some princess meet and greets but there's also Aladdin & Jasmine, Donald, and the bears from Brother Bear.

Hollywood Studios
Unless I'm mistaken, this park is virtually princess free!
Tower of Terror
Rock n' Rollercoaster
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Great Movie Ride
Lights Motor Action stunt show
Indiana Jones stunt show
And of course, Star Tours and Jedi Academy

Animal Kingdom
You'll find Pocahontas here along with Minnie and Daisy, but that's about it.
Dinosaur!
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Expedition: Everest
Dinoland

Downtown Disney also has DisneyQuest which he might like if he's into video games.

Hope that helps!

[etibbetts]

My nephew was ten on our last trip. He loved doing the Agent P adventure in Epcot (which is free). He also enjoyed the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (also free).

Of course the rides are all good. He went on pretty much everything except Rockin Rollercoaster. He may brave that this trip when he will turn 12.

One of my nephews favorites is the water parks. He loves them both, but Blizzard Beach is his favorite.

[Mickey'sGirl]

I so agree with everything etibbetts said in the above post!! Especially about the Agent P adventures at Epcot .... My now 10 year old son LOVES them!!!

Swimming is another piece of the fun. Pool time has always been a great time for my sons.

[Pirate Granny]

2 hour pirate cruise adventure for kids only...our 4 loved it $37 each and two hours quiet time for us oldies. Call wdwplay for locations and ADR

[FenwayGirl]

All great ideas!! Thanks!

[eandrsmom]

There's also Disney Quest at DTD. My 9 year old loves it! I wouldn't pay full price for admission, but if it's included in your package, I would go. Truthfully, I was done with the place after an hour, but he loves it. On our last trip, I had my husband take him while I took the girls shopping.

[Hog]

How about sorcerers of the magic kingdom? Its a really fun interactive card game you play throughout the MK! Each day when your party enters the park head over to the fire station and they will provide each of you with a training session and a pack of cards. When we were there last June we found ourselves going to MK at the beginning/end of the day just to get new packs of cards.

Its also a fun way to meet new people, we ended up meeting and trading our cards to others and when we left we had the complete set!

[joonyer]

Be sure to visit Tom Sawyer's Island. It's a boys paradise; Forts, caves, secret passages, etc. My two boys loved it and would have spent hours there wasn't so much else to do. Of all the WDW attractions, it the one they most wished was in their backyard at home. And you can take a break there and sit in the rockers on the dock while the kids run around.