13th Birthday ideas

[Goofyest mom]

My son will be turning 13 in December. We originally were planning to take him to Disney World, but financially that just isn't going to work. I need help with some other ideas.

 

[TinaLala]

Okay so does he have an MP3 player? There's an electric scooter on sale at Toysrus for $100 or what about the new Wave Ripple skateboards $70. Does he have a Wii there's always new games.

 

[Goofyest mom]

Okay so does he have an MP3 player? There's an electric scooter on sale at Toysrus for $100 or what about the new Wave Ripple skateboards $70. Does he have a Wii there's always new games.

Thanks for those ideas, but he already has most of what you suggested. We could get a new wii game though.
13 is just a big deal for him and I wanted to make it as special as I could.

 

[unionville]

The Great Wolf Lodge just opened in Concord, NC (right outside of Charlotte). How about a night with a friend or two enjoying the waterpark?

 

[dougsmom98]

Plan a mystery ride for your DS and his best friend, or a couple of his best friends. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant the element of surprise is the best part of the experience. You can take them bowling, then to a place for pizza, then to the arcade, or to a laser tag or paint ball place. Anything that you think will interest your son will be fine and they will love the surprise. You might be able to finish it off by letting him and his friend pick out something for $20 at Wal Mart or something. Some of my ideas were not exactly super budget friendly, but definitely less expensive than a trip to Disney.

Maybe you could go to a nearby hotel that has a pool for a night or weekend and let him take a friend. My best friend's aunt used to take her and I to a Motel 6 that had an indoor pool when we were kids. We would swim in the pool all afternoon and then get dressed up for dinner and go out for a fancy dinner. The next morning we would swim a little more, check out of the room and go for brunch. We LOVED this. It was so much fun.

Good luck.

 

[Goofyest mom]

The Great Wolf Lodge just opened in Concord, NC (right outside of Charlotte). How about a night with a friend or two enjoying the waterpark?

This is a fantastic idea. I mapquested it to see how far it was from me. It is close enough that we could do it in a weekend and not feel rushed! I am going to run this by my hubby tonight.

 

[unionville]

This is a fantastic idea. I mapquested it to see how far it was from me. It is close enough that we could do it in a weekend and not feel rushed! I am going to run this by my hubby tonight.

We live about 30 minutes from the Great Wolf Lodge. We are planning to go for a day this summer. The kids can't wait. I've heard the food is expensive, but at this location you will have lots of options. The Lodge is located across the interstate from Concord Mills Outlet Mall. There are lots of fast food (Wendy's, Bojangles, etc) and chain restaurants (Olive Garden, On the Border, Cracker Barrel) within sight of the Lodge. I think it would be an awesome (and relatively cheap compared to Disney) 13th birthday celebration. If anyone is a Nascar fan, the Charlotte Motor Speedway is also about a mile from the Lodge. This also reminds me that there is a Nascar Speedpark at Concord Mills that has those go-carts that you can race and a putt-putt course.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

My DS turned 13 in January.
It was an early dismissal day, so we picked him and 5 of his friends up from school, went to McDonald's for lunch, then to Great Wolf for the night. The boys had a BLAST. We had a "loft" room so the 6 boys were downstairs and DH and I were upstairs. I could hear everything that went on, so that was great!

We bought Pizza Hut (onsite) for dinner, and brought cake, ice cream, soda, etc. to have in the room. We brought bagels, juice, granola bars, and bananas for breakfast. I had advised the parents that the boys were welcome to go to the arcade but I would NOT pay for that.

It was expensive, but DS had a wonderful time.

 

[toystorymom]

I have a DS the same age. When he turned 12 we wanted to make it special. We took him and 3 of his friends (younger brothers stayed with Grandma & Grandpa) into Boston and saw Blue Man Group and then to dinner. They loved it!

Right now the boys his age are very into laser tag and LOVE any party that involves that. The Great Wolf idea sounds awesome too.

Have fun planning!

 

[charming]

i live not to far from Great Wolf Lodge MI, i have done this 3 times now, my sons b-day is 3 days before Christmas and its hard to get allot of kids together at that time of year and you cant beat the atmosphere around that time of year. If you can i found that if you book for a Sunday it is not as busy, also be ready to get an offer under your door for a great deal on the next night. I have gotten it every time for around $119 a night. We also had a cool party for my other son on his 13th b-day. We got all the TVs from the house and we put them in the living room and hooked up game systems to them. Then i took old Cd's and fishing line and hung them up all over, we had a strobe light and a smoke machine from our Halloween decorations turned everything on and hooked up a radio and order some pizzas, me and my husband stayed in our room (with the door open) and let him and his friends have fun for a few hours. And i must say it came out really cute.

 

[Goofyest mom]

Thanks for all the help. I showed my son the Great Wolf Lodge last night and he was excited about that. I still would like to have some other ideas to look at before we make a final decision.

 

[Liz&Griff'smom]

What about Mrytle Beach? There are so many beach front hotels that the price is pretty reasonable. They have Ribley's Believe or Not museum and aquarium.

If you want to stay in Charleston, (which my family loves) you might consider taking him and his friends on a horse carriage or walking ghost tour. I think that 13 year olds would love something like that.

 

[Goofyest mom]

What about Mrytle Beach? There are so many beach front hotels that the price is pretty reasonable. They have Ribley's Believe or Not museum and aquarium.

If you want to stay in Charleston, (which my family loves) you might consider taking him and his friends on a horse carriage or walking ghost tour. I think that 13 year olds would love something like that.

Since we live in Charleston, we have done it to death as well as Myrtle Beach, but thanks for the suggestion

 

[Goofyest mom]

I wanted to thank everyone for the GREAT suggestions. But... THANKS TO THE WONDERFUL WONDERFUL PEOPLE AT DISNEY WE CAN AFFORD IT!!!!!

I was so happy to see the free dining offer apply for the dates we wanted to go!!

So... Disney her we come again!!