Celebrating Sweet 16 in Disney, Any ideas??

[calablovedisney]

We are going to Disney late June/early July. We have been there a couple of times during my younger daughter's birthday. Actually, we will be in Universal for the first 2 days for her birthday this time, too.

However, my oldest DD will turn 16 the month before our trip and she has never had anything special for her on previous trips. Since this is her "Sweet 16" I would like to do something for her on this trip. Anyone have some ideas? I have been trying to think of something special for her to surprise her.
Thanks!

 

[cheryl.UK]

Yell us something about your daughter so we can be really helpful but...

If she's a girly girl why not book her in for the brides made package at The GF spa. Its a more grown up version of BBB or a special photo session

Is she a bit outdoorsy? A trail ride at Tri Circle D Ranch? Or parasailing?

Or a trip to Discovery cove with a dolphin swim?

However, having taken a 16 year old girl, I know how tricky they can be... I'd ask what she wants and set her loose on the WDW website

 

[RustManFan]

My DD and DS would think the trip itself was a special enough birthday gift but a great meal never hurts (unless you do them all the time anyway and it won't be so special)

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

For my daughter's 16th, we did the Keys to the Kingdom tour. She is a huge Disney fan and was counting the years to be old enough to do the tour. It is a fantastic tour.

 

[MermaidMommy]

For my daughter's 16th, we did the Keys to the Kingdom tour. She is a huge Disney fan and was counting the years to be old enough to do the tour. It is a fantastic tour.

My daughter will be 15 next month, and she's determined that her 16th birthday present next year will be WDW, and, specifically, Keys to the Kingdom your. She's been counting the years, too!

 

[calablovedisney]

Thanks for your replies so far.
so, a little about the 16y.o. to be. She LOVES to perform, especially sing. She goes to a performing arts school and she does (I say this at the risk of sounding like a bragging parent) have a great voice. Someday she would like to intern or do the college program at Disney, which may include some kind of performing there(if she had it her way). So, her biggest love is music. She also loves going to and being involved in theater. She also dances, but that is really not her "thing" as much as the other. She also enjoys photography.
This is our 5th trip to Disney and we usually book some nice ADRs. Her favorite is Teppan Edo and that is booked already.
She is not very outdoorsy, more of a girly girl. The Spa thing sounds like something she might enjoy. She loves animals. We did a short stay at the Animal Kingdom and she and I could sit and watch the animals graze for hours if we had the time.
The Keys tour might be more for my younger DD. She is a Disney fanatic, like me. She wants to be an Imagineer someday. So I may keep that in mind for her, although I have been thinking about lunch with and Imagineer for her this trip also. she will be just 14, though, so I might wait.
Discovery Cove sounds great, but so much $$$!!!
Any more suggestions, I am eager to hear them. Thanks

 

[calablovedisney]

Yell us something about your daughter so we can be really helpful but...

If she's a girly girl why not book her in for the brides made package at The GF spa. Its a more grown up version of BBB or a special photo session

Is she a bit outdoorsy? A trail ride at Tri Circle D Ranch? Or parasailing?

Or a trip to Discovery cove with a dolphin swim?

However, having taken a 16 year old girl, I know how tricky they can be... I'd ask what she wants and set her loose on the WDW website

Where is this ranch? And where would we go parasailing? In general, I try to find different things to do on each trip. These sound intriguing.

 

[cheryl.UK]

The ranch is over at Fort Wilderness and you organise the Parasailing through Sammi Duval's Watersports at the Contemporary

 

[Disney Sheri]

I took my oldest daughter to WDW 2 years ago for her sweet 16. I ordered her a "Sash" that said "Sweet 16 Birthday Princess". She wore it on her birthday and got a lot of special treatment. We got a special fast pass, a place mat (at Chef Mickeys), a signed card at 50's and a birthday cupcake and singing. It was a blast. Everyone was telling her Happy Birthday. I know you can special order birthday cakes but my daughter didn't want one since it was just us two. I also special ordered balloons and flowers for our room for when we arrived (http://disneyworld.disneyfloralandgifts.com/). Best of luck planning!

 

[cheryl.UK]

Oh I forgot to add the 16 yr old we took just wanted to spend the day chosen the park, the rides, the restaurants etc... Nothing special, just wanted to do all her fav things

 

[jodls01]

Because of picky eaters and special diets we don't eat at parks,but we made an exception for DD bd on Christmas. We ate at GF cafe and ordered a custom cake for her. Look on cake chatter to get some great ideas for decorations we didn't want the podium frozen one so I spent time researching how to order a custom cake and sizes. Lurkyloo had some great tips so we got exactly what we wanted

 

[Dreamport]

You said DD likes to sing and perform. Does your family enjoy meeting characters? This is small, but one of the suggestions on Kenny the Pirate's site is to ask Cinderella's Step Sisters to sing for you. Maybe you could work it out for your daughter to sing with them? Peter Pan sometimes has guests help him demonstrate how to properly crow. I'm trying to think if there's any other place where she could "shine" for a moment, aside from trying to nudge one of the CMs at Enchanted Tales with Belle and hope they let her be a character. (That was fun for me and I'm in my 20s).

Are you meaning for this to be a surprise, or could you just ask her what she wants to do? Make her "Princess for the Day" and let her pick which park and rides you get FPes for? Whatever happens, I hope you all have a wonderful trip and she has a fantastic belated birthday there!

 

[ammag]

You might also want to consider the SOA at the grand floridian, I believe they do special disney manicures

 

[bababear_50]

Take a look here
Dine (lunch) with an animal specialist at Sanaa's Animal Kingdom Lodge.(Kidani Village).

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2011/...ialist-lunch-now-available-two-days-per-week/


OR
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/animal-kingdom-villas-kidani/sanaa/
Cost
$49 adults
$29 children
Payment required in full at time of booking.

Hugs Mel

 

[CarolAnnB]

We just did a Sweet 16 trip this past summer. Keys to the Kingdom was the highlight for my DD. We also did the Wishes Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party one night. If she loves the fireworks and desserts, it was a nice setup. We did Be Our Guest for her birthday dinner, we had waited to go there until her birthday (she began planning a few years out). Definitely get her the birthday button to wear. Cirque du Soleil is something different, if she is into that type of performance.

 

[ammag]

Oh sorry my post said the SOA at the GF, I meant spa, not sons of anarchy. Although the latter would be more interesting

 

[mi*vida*loca]

How about a mother daughter day ?

Spa at the GF, followed by afternoon tea at GF, head over to MK and then late dinner at CRT. You could order her the glass slipper.

 

[mlnbabies]

My family and I are going in December. My daughter wanted to celebrate her 16th birthday at WDW. We are staying at the VGF. I was lucky enough to rent DVC points from the rental board. That is her biggest request. She wants to eat at 1900 park fare for her birthday dinner. She didn't ask for anything else. We will be in the parks for 4 days with hoppers.

 

[Seaislegirl]

A couple other ideas I didn't see listed here yet:

1. Rent a boat to view the fireworks at MK or Epcot. We've done both. If you request it, you can have the boat decorated with a sign and balloons. We surprised my daughter with a boat trip after dining at 1900 Park Fare - strolled over to the boats and there it was decorated to the hilt. We cruised around the lake and had an amazing view of the fireworks. Same with Illuminations at Epcot.

2. Have the Disney Florist decorate your room for your arrival or after arrival if her birthday falls within your trip.

3. Engage a local company to do something special one day while you are in a park. We hired a company to do a special Scavenger Hunt for my daughter around the Magic Kingdom a few years ago and it was amazing. They customized the hunt for my daughter based upon her interests and the milestone we were celebrating. While 16 may be too old for that, my guess is that if you found the right company to do this they could make it more age appropriate, and who doesn't love a little pixie dust? We had the best time and my daughter was absolutely amazed at the "magic" this created.

But the best suggestion I have = scour these boards! That's where I've found all the ideas I've done to make each trip special. There are so many great suggestions here. Have a great time planning!!

 

[LittleMissDisneyDork]

When I celebrated my sweet 16 at Disney I did dessert around the world at Epcot. It was fun and inexpensive trying all the desserts from the different countries and I"m doing it again for my 18th.