Advice for children of different ages?

[Partyof12]

We are a group of 14 going to spend 2 days in MK. We are 8 adults, 4 children aged 2-4, a 10 month old baby and a 13 year old boy. I am worried that all the activities we planned (Princess dinner and CP breakfast) and the fact that we want to stay in MK for the whole 2 days for the little ones will have the older child bored and unhappy. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

 

[DVCLiz]

I think you'll be fine, because after all, it's Disney World, and the 13 year old will have loads of fun. As far as hanging with the young ones, with that many adults, you should easily be able to have someone peel off the larger group and spend some time with the older boy. He'll want to ride Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, which most of your young ones won't. I'd also recommend some of the things that take up more time for him. You could go over to Tom Sawyer's Island with him and let him roam around through the cave. You could spend some time at the arcade in FrontierLand and shoot the guns. There's a fun little area in AdventureLand that has little boats you can remote control. I think if you build in some of those kinds of activities, you could have a pretty happy camper.

 

[horseshowmom]

Any chance of the 13 year old taking a friend along? We've done it several times as DD grew up, and most of the time it worked very well (just be careful of the friend you pick and that you've spent a lot of time with them so you know them well).

 

[flortlebap]

We are going to the Princess Breakfast at Akershus with our party of 10. I think the person who will enjoy it the least is my young brother, who is 18. But it's about compromise - he'll get to do the things he wants to as well, it's only a couple of hours out of his life devoted to something the girls want to do (5, 2, 1).

JMO anyway! And you can always split up if there's a problem.

 

[Pooh Crew]

When we went last year (party of 9--4 adults, 4 children ages four and five, and one 16 yr old), if our 16 yr old saw something she wanted to ride, the rest of us could easily find something to occupy us close by while she did what she wanted. I'm not saying that her wants came first, but it was really no problem for one adult to ride something with her while the others rode something with the little ones or looked in the gift shops. There's soooooo much to do! Don't sweat it...he'll be fine!

 

[Colinsmom]

I'd personally suggest be open to the group splitting up. Even so far as the 13yo and an adult going to another park for a few hours to ride some of the thrill rides, if he wants, say during the younger kids' nap/break time or during a character meal like the princess dinner. Or in the evening after the little ones poop out.

If you are absolutely opposed to the group splitting up, then plan some downtime/playtime in the park where he can hop on a ride. For example, there's a little play area between Splash Mtn and Thunder Mtn where the little ones can play while he hops on those two rides with some of the adults. And Toontown has a nice little playground not far from Tomorrowland Speedway and Space Mtn.

It's great that you've planned so many things for the little ones to enjoy, and it won't take much more effort to throw in a few things that the 13yo (and some of the adults, right?) will enjoy, too.