HELP! My 14year old does not want to go!!!

[Demon Llama]

I think Universal is about half an hour away from the WDW Resort. The cab ride was $35 from Coronado Springs. If you want to save a few bucks, take your resort bus to Downtown Disney and catch the cab to Universal from there. Get dropped off there too - it's about $21 from Downtown Disney.

Busch Gardens is awesome but if you don't have a car it's maybe not feasible.

 

[damo]

My 16 year old son is not too thrilled with Disney either. However, he would go to Universal in a heart-beat. Actually, we go at least twice a year. This year, during semester break we are going to do Busch Gardens instead. Gotta try that new coaster!

 

[Micelf33]

What is all at Busch Gardens?
This trip is costing me more money by the minute.
Does anyone know if there are deals for Universal and Busch Gardens?

 

[talicskai]

What is all at Busch Gardens?
This trip is costing me more money by the minute.
Does anyone know if there are deals for Universal and Busch Gardens?

Busch Gardens is owned by Anheuser Busch (Sea World too) and is all about Africa. It is called the "dark continent" They have excellent roller coasters etc. and water rides. Disney built the Animal Kingdom to compete with it but IMHO Busch Gardens is better. Holiday House (available thru any TA) has a rate for Busch Gardens and Sea World for $129.93 Canadian including taxes. It gives you any 5 days at either park. You must use the 5 days up with 7 days of the first date used.

Well worth the money for two parks!
Teresa

 

[FayeW]

If you have time before you go, order a Passporter from Chapters.ca, or pick up a guide book like Birnbaum's, etc. Let him read through the descriptions of rides and attractions, and tell him to choose 2 things from each park that he is interested in. My (nearly) 11yr old daughter picked up my passporter yesterday, and started reading all the descriptions of the rides, and next thing my husband (who has been completely uninvolved in the planning) was reading the descriptions out loud to our (nearly) 9 yr old son. I thought the two of them were going to pop a gasket reading about Disney Quest. Finally, DH is showing some excitement!

 

[SaraMc]

We went with my sister and her husband and her 13 year old son last year. The Characters other than Jasmine were out of the question, however I do believe he was very happy to see her. He actually asked the Cm if he can just meet Jasmine, that Aladdin "doesnt do it for him".. He loved all the exciting rides and Disney Quest man oh man did we spend A LOT of time in there. But the seal to the deal that we knew he was having a good time was the fact that 100000 cheerleaders were there while we were. That made him a happy guy.

 

[B&B Mom]

When we flew into Tampa a couple of years ago for our disney vacation and we took a detour to Busch Gardens. We got our park passes at CAA they were at par and included a second day for free as long as you check in at guest services before you leave. We also squeezed in a Tampa Bay Lightening hockey game(their box office had an online sell off of tickets on boxing day).

I think allowing the guys to have time to do something that interrest them is a great idea. I know the ideal is to have everyone together but sometimes that just doesn't work.

Good Luck

 

[iluvwesties]

But the seal to the deal that we knew he was having a good time was the fact that 100000 cheerleaders were there while we were. That made him a happy guy.

These teenage boys must all think the same way..........

I have a 14 year old who has been to Disney many times.
The "attraction" factor for him this next trip is that he is also hoping to see 100000 cheerleaders.

He has asked me if he could miss some parkhopping and be allowed to stay and sit by the pool

Another thing my son like to do is shop. There are some things sold in the USA that we can't get here, and often it is something he wants, so he likes to try and get it (saves his Xmas $ for the trip) Our trips to the outlet malls and Hwy192 flee market always go well.

The water parks are a fun day out too for teenage boys (lots of girls there!!!)
I enjoy going to Typhoon Lagoon (huge wave pool) but Blizzard Beach is great too, and may appeal to boys more because of the many water slides and theming.

If all else fails to convince him, do as another poster said, and have a "Girls Only" trip.

YOU WILL HAVE FUN.....This is DISNEY

:thewave:

 

[langin]

We had a blast. During all my planning I was dissappointed to see his disinterest but he kept that to a minimum because he knew how much I wanted to go, it was after all my vacation too! But once we got there and he realized that he & his dad were going to ride all the "scary" rides first and let us know if the two 9yr olds (twins, boys also) and I could handle it. He liked that we acknowledged his maturity and that yes of course there were things he was just too big/mature for ,just pretend for the littler ones (sorta like the secret of Santa!)
He & his Dad did Kraken roller coaster at Seaworld too, that was crazy, just give his some neat, cool, crazy stuff he can tell his friends about when he get back. If he is into music take him to the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal for a meal, my oldest loved going around and taking pictures of the music memoribilia to show off when he got back home or ESPN if he's sports!
Riding the Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach was a great thrill for him also, clocked him at 50 mph.

 

[crushandgush]

ok, tell him that there is cool rollercoasters ,try the very cool vmk game that im addicted to,the only baby rides are dumbo and iasw

 

[welovewdw]

My 14yo loves disney - his favorite is Star Tours ( and the Star War Weekends)

btw - our big kids (now 14 & 17) loved this book and it really got them excited and got them into planning the trip - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...1?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance - Disney 4 Teens by Teens - in case link doesn't work right. Maybe if he got into planning what he wants to do, he might get more excited about it?

 

[Airplane dis freak]

14 yrs old......what does he like?
planes, music, etc?

 

[MazdaUK]

How about offering to let him and his dad got to Kennedy Space Centre one day while you and DD do girly things?

I must say I wanted to go to WDW when I was little - but when DH suggested we visit DL as part of our honeymoon I was noncommital , as I don't like big rides. In the event I loved it (and I was a lot older than 14 ). Have you tried introducing him to the teen thread?

 

[livingthedream]

I also have a DS14 and a DS12. They have never been big on thrill rides (motion sickness and fear of heights). All these years I would put my kids on the kiddy rides at the annual fair to get them acclimatized to motion in a small way. This year my DS14 didn't go on many of the scary rides with family but managed to find courage when he went the next day with his buddy (first time I would let him go by himself) and he was totally CHARGED by the rides Now he says he and I will ride all the big name rides at WDW except Mission Space ("when they say they are the only ride to have 'barf bags' they must really mean it" ) and DH and DS12 can stand on the side lines and take pictures!!

If your son typically doesn't like thrill rides (or maybe doesn't like to admit it to anyone because that would be uncool), then try him on Thunder Mountain. That was the one that did it for me. I hated thrill rides as a teen and early 20 something, but then went on Big Thunder and I felt totally secure in the seat because of the seat protection. If he has success with one, assuming it is a fear of rides, then you might coax him on others.

If your son is a gamer, then you have to try DISNEYQUEST!! Any pre-teen or teen into gaming loves Disney Quest and never wants to leave. You may not approve of so much gaming, but its his holiday, too, and if that is what he wants to do for a vacation, then let him have at it. I am surprised that only one other poster mentioned Disney Quest in passing on this thread as a way to entertain a 14 year old boy!!!!

If the family dynamics are a bit grumpy on some days, perhaps he could also venture out on his own for a couple of hours to explore the things he wants to see rather than the "kid stuff" if he wants to do something that doesn't include dragging Dad along. At 14 they like to have their independence, and a couple of hours here or there might be good for him.

 

[welovewdw]

If your son is a gamer, then you have to try DISNEYQUEST!! Any pre-teen or teen into gaming loves Disney Quest and never wants to leave. You may not approve of so much gaming, but its his holiday, too, and if that is what he wants to do for a vacation, then let him have at it. I am surprised that only one other poster mentioned Disney Quest in passing on this thread as a way to entertain a 14 year old boy!!!!

ok, I've never done this - what is it exactly?? I suspected my son would like it. LOL You pay admission, correct? Do you pay for the games, too? Is it like a video arcade type thing?

feeling kind of dumb here. ... LOL

 

[B&B Mom]

We went there last year but this is about all I can recall. Disney Quest is a four?? storey arcade. Admission may be included depending on what kind of package or ticket you have. It was for our Visa Canada at Par Package. Basically there are four floors of games. Just about every game is free...with the exception of a few...There are some interactive ones and the typical arcade ones.

I'm sure there is someone else who can fill in the details for you. I think that AllEars has a section on their site that describes it pretty well.

Don't worry about asking silly questions...there's just soo much to disney. There's always more to learn about.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Many years ago we went to the one in Chicago (just before it shut down) and I had to drag my brother there.....but then I had to drag him out of there because we were having so much fun!!