Parents with teens:

[lovin diz]

Mods feel free to move it if necessary:

Dh and i love to travel. DD has been to disney every year since 2004, sometimes 2x in the same year, and we go other places as well.

It is just the 3 of us--dd will be 15 in November...Since we are building a house, we decided to take a small trip to cedar point this year, and that is it...

She really doesnt want to go. She would rather stay with grandparents, and talk to her friends...I am making her go on this trip, b/c it is a short trip, and since she loves coasters, i know she will have a great time; but, next year i am thinking i wont make her go, if we go to disney....Do your teens feel the same way??

 

[goofy4tink]

Not my teen. My dd, now 16 1/2, has been going to WDW since she turned 6. We have a 12 day trip planned for early August that she is looking forward to. I go every Dec, solo, and she still gets miffed about being left home.
I just made plans for next April...Disney cruise with a few days at US/IoA before the cruise and then time at WDW after the cruise. I told her that it would most likely be our last big 'family' trip since she would be going into her senior year in high school the following Sept and just wouldn't have the time for much vacationing. She was aghast...simply aghast.

 

[sharon_wv]

I have a 15-year old that doesn't much like hanging with us anymore either. Welcome to the club That said, I don't think she would prefer staying home than going on vacation with us. We try to take a friend for her as much as we can, although Disney trips that wouldn't happen. When she has a friend with her, it makes our lives so much happier, because just like the 4-year old, when she's happy, we're happy.

Maybe take a friend to Cedar Point? That way the seating on all those roller coasters will be even too? It's always more fun for everyone to sit with someone you know. I hate being the 3rd wheel sitting on a ride by myself.

I hear that girls "like" their parents again right around college age... I am looking forward to that...

 

[TMTIP]

Not Mine! Both of my teen girls (16 & 14) say they will travel with us even when they go to college!

 

[Ress76]

I will admit, my niece, 15, actually said she's prefer not to go to WDW last year when my mom and I were plannign for FD. She'd rather go to NYC-and I explained to her that that was not one of the choices. We compromised by telling her I would take her to a waterpark, which we have not done on past trips. She also ended up bringing a friend along, and she enjoyed that.

What I would suggest is, take next year's trip with just your husband. Disney is so different when it's just a couple (I honeymooned there). And, the following trip, if she decides she wants to go back, ask her to help plan. Maybe she'd love a day an Universal or Daytona or something new and different.

Ress

 

[lblume91]

My DD17 loves WDW. She prefers her friends & boyfriend's company at home but knows vacation are family time. We are not going to WDW until next summer, heading to the Smokies this year, but she is still looking forward to our trip. I'm sure she'll have her iPod & cell phone for texting attached to her at all times but she'll still be with us. Actually, last summer she sent a text to all her friends before we left for WDW to tell them that she would be gone & not answering their texts until she got back. I was shocked!

 

[NMAmy]

We took a friend along on Disney trips during dd's teen years. Heck, she's in college and we still bring a friend along. The girls still spend time with us and we have a great family vacation and get to know one of her friends better at the same time.

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

I think each teen is different. My DS-15 still begs us to plan trips to DW. My oldest DS-17 is a little harder to get away from his friends and has been since he was 15. I will say that once we are at DW, he has a wonderful time. One of the reasons we continue to go back is because of the family time that we share there that is unlike any vacation time we share anywhere else. We will be going this summer for what will very likely be the last trip with my oldest for a while. He'll be headed to college next summer. I will cherish this family time. Sometimes I think teens need to be pushed to spend some family time and take a break from the friends. In the end, I bet she'll have a great time and you'll have some wonderful memories. They grow up really fast. Take that time to spend some time together away from the friends, computers and cell phones.

 

[iwrbnd]

I left my teen son home with grandma once when he was 15. He had been a royal pain all year so when he told me he would only go if we drove him off property to a paintball field. I gladly left him behid! He's 17 now and is going with us on our next trip! He's a completely different kid (or has just "reset" to how he used to be) and we're actually looking forward to spending time with him!

 

[ciera321]

Not us. Our DS17 LOVES going to DW and has been going since he was 3. We just got back from a cruise and Florida beach trip and he said it was OK, but it was no Disney trip. Lucky for him (and me!) I'm turning 50 in August and DH is taking us to DW to celebrate.

 

[Shmily1]

DS20 has stayed home on many trips over the years but DD19 goes every time. I don't make him go--he would make me miserable!! They've been many times a year since they were very small, sometimes up to 8 times a year and they don't need park maps to find anything and sometimes he just isn't interested.

 

[momejay]

I have 2 age 16, it doesn't matter where we go or what we do they seem to never be satisfied. I am always "ruining their life." By Tuesday, my weekend is booked, if I like it or not. If I say no, they proclaim they will refuse to do chores. So I am the bad guy, when everyone stays home because chores weren't done. If I plan anything it is always "lame."

You can go as long as you find your own way home & clean the whole house by Friday works! It gets me a halfway clean house for the weekend & I don't have to worry about picking up someone at 10 or 11 o'clock & bringing them home.

On vacation I have one that is good & the other is always a complainer. They are interchangable. One is always wanting a wild ride while the other wants the merry-go-round. (The third one, 14 is usually wanting to eat.)

Lately, they have been asking to bring a friend to the mall or a park. This helps they go off & giggle & talk about how lame I am & I get a few minutes without fighting. As long as the friend pays their own way & they text often...

 

[mom2rtk]

You're kind of at the worst point. 15 is too young to leave home alone, but old enough to decide they don't want to go.

My boys have never really cared for Disney. So last fall my 16 year old stayed home for 4 days, but my then 14 year old came along. It seems he can get excited about Disney if it gets him out of school for a few days!

Good luck with it. We struggle with it too.

Any chance she would be more interested if you let her have a resort day or 2 by herself while you went to the parks? If we're at a resort with room service, my boys like that way better than going to the parks!

 

[lovin diz]

These are all really good ideas...Thanks for your input...

She doesnt complain when we are on vacation...She has a blast...

She just complains before vacation, how she would rather stay at home

She DOES want to go to new york for a few days...we have never been...Maybe she is just tired of disney?? Who knows...I was a teenager not too long ago, and still dont understand them

 

[disnut8]

When my son was 16, he balked at going to Disney World. We left him at home on his own (with lots of friends who checked in on him unannounced). But when he was 17 and then again 19, he went with us but mainly because we did one non-Disney thing that he could choose. Also, when he did go with us, we offered him lots of opportunities to go off on his own if he wanted. He only did once because we were camped out for an hour before Illuminations (way before I figured out I didn't need to do that) and he didn't want to be standing around doing nothing. He went to Innoventions and joined us later. But when he did go, we made sure each of the three of us got to have a say in what we did. If he wanted to go parasailing, we would have seriously considered it.

 

[DVC Mary]

We had to change the way we vacation now that our son is a teen.

#1 No more early EMH. He's a much happier person if he gets to sleep in. We can go enjoy the resort in the am or go to park & come back to get him later--after we nap & he's at the pool. Late night at MK until 2 or 3 am--no problem!!!

#2 CHOICE!! He has to have some choice & some freedom in what we do or what he does sometimes.

#3 More pool time & chillin' is what he really wants.

#4 We spent individual time w/ him away from his brother. This made things much easier at times. We had our family time, but he was a much nicer kid when he got to spend some time w/ just Dad or just Mom. Oddly enough when he spent some time away from this brother, he actually wanted to spend time w/ him.

#5 Less COMMANDO style touring. He didn't get to do as much & learned a lesson that sometimes having a detailed plan means you'll do MUCH more.

We've told our kids that when their friends are old enough to pay for their own park tickets & plane fare--we'll take care of the food & room (easy when your DVC).

 

[thumbalyna]

my dd is 16 and we are probably the exception to the rule - we are very close and we do almost everything together - i am young mom ( im only 32) so we look like sisters (which i think is a plus) and we just have FUN no matter what
some days we just get in the car and drive for no reason. yes she has her typical teenage moments but we were all teenagers and we all thought we knew it all so i just let it go and dont stress over it and she calms down - we were just in disney for a weekend in december, we are going to busch gardens williamsburg for a week on sunday and then heading back to disney in oct - she is going to be a junior this year and is already trying to figure out how we can still go on vacation together when she goes to college. i guess i lucked out and got one of the good ones

 

[CathieArms]

DD will be 15 1/2 next year when we go to Disney. Granted, she's not been as many times as yours has, but she's looking forward to it and helping with the planning process.

Are you financially able for her to bring a friend along?

 

[qanita92]

I'm a teen and I absolutely LOVE WDW however I'm not that into Cedar Point because I feel like I spend most of my day waiting in lines. Once I've gone to Disney, everything else pales in comparison. I suggest you ask her why she doesn't want to go even though she loves coasters. Forcing her to go is probably not the best idea

 

[Soarin' Rocks]

My DD19 still likes going with us every year, but she usually takes a friend along. They go off and do their own thing and meet up with us for meals or anything special that we have planned. Her way of "doing Disney" has changed over the years - now she likes to go to a park in the morning, do her favorite rides, head back to the pool, then go back to a park at night.

This year she didn't take a friend and was content to hang out with us because we were more than happy to rest in the afternoon while she went to the pool. I will say that she was permanently attached to her cell phone the whole time but that's no different than when she's home!!