How do you handle a trip with a teen AND young ones?

[tiff211]

When we go next year, it will be DH, me, DD15, DD6, DD4 and DD1. The last two times DD15 didn't go so planning was easier but now the the age difference, I am stumped. WHat sort of things do you do to make the trip enjoyable for all ages. Bringing a friend DD's age is not an option.

Where do you stay? What character meals? etc?

 

[Laurajean1014]

You should get a lot of responses to your question, because not all families are made of 8, 6, 4, 2 year olds.

Is the 16yo mature? Would you let her do somethings on her own (with cell phone in tow)? Or what about DH going with her on the teen rides (RRC, TOT, SM, SplashM, BTM, EE). You may want to split up for a section of the day to dedicate to her needs.

Or, give her a day or two that she can plan - so she feels that she has control. If the little ones don't like it - bear with it. I'm sure, there's lots of times people have done it for them.

Accomodations is based upon wallet, no? Your af family of 6, so either a DVC or 2 rooms. Depending on your expense budget, there are loads of options. A 2-bedroom unit at Boardwalk is a nice, well rounded option. It has a work-out room, game room and entertainment on the boardwalk for her and her siblings. If she's into sports, ESPN. Spoodles is a great place to get pizza.

I love character breakfasts and think any age is a great age for them. Is she into princesses? CRT

Is she into Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland (when she was younger?) - she may like 1900 Park Fare.

World Showcase seems to be a great place for teens and so is MGM (due to the rides, I believe).

How about taking her parasailing at Contemporary?
How about taking her on a Segway Around the World (at EPCOT - before the WS opens)?
How about renting mice at GF with DH or yourself and have fun at the lagoon?
How about swimming with the Dolphins in LIving Seas?
How about Keys to the World tour at MK?

West End at DTD is cooler for the hip teen - have her spend time in Virgin Records, while the others are in Legoland or where ever.

I think there is lots to do, if you take advantage of the WDW options.

 

[skyfire1982]

I would also push the splitting up option if you feel DD is responsible enough. Just make sure you run through everything before you leave home, so both of you understand exactly what to expect from each other, and see how it goes. If it fails the first day, then she's with the young kids for the remainder of the trip.

I would stay together for meals, but give her a bit of an input into it. If she really hates character meals, let her pick a restaurant of her choice in exchange for entertaining the young ones at the character meals. Or maybe you'll get lucky and everyone will want the same things.

 

[jjjbennett]

I love WDW because there are so many option for a multi age family. We have 18, 14, 10 and 4 and while we will be together for many times, Especially as the teens love to see their little brother experience different rides and attractions, we will also spend time apart. I feel very good about letting the 18 and 14 go off together or with DH to do older things or shop. We are staying on site primarily for that reason as they easily can navigate the transportation back to our hotel. Granted having 2 teens makes it easier to let them go off. ( I would let the 18 year old go off by herself with cell phone but would like the 14 DS to be with someone.)

 

[Kendra17]

Our children are dd 14, ds 9 and dd 2 1/2. We're going in September and I'm not really concerned at all. Of course, my oldest is totally disney-fied, so she is happy to be going and happy to see the baby have fun, too. I plan on just following the plan for the whole family. And, I think we'll be there long enough that that will cover everyone's interest.

Also, she's involved somewhat in the planning/excitement, so I think she won't have a problem hanging around fantasyland too long. The only area I think she'll/we'll be bored in is Mickey's land (shoot, what's that called?). I know that the baby can stay in those fountains forever and that area gets a bit boring for the rest of us.

I do plan on letting the two older kids go by themselves for a time if it seems to come to that. She's got a cellphone and we can always meet up in a couple hours or so. I don't think that will really even happen, though, but I'm all set to allow that to if we need to.

Have a great trip!

 

[tiff211]

She is not the adventurous type she won't go off by herself. SHe is easy going and whatever we do she would be fine with but I do want her to get a chance to do the "thrill" rides. Just wondered if you did split up. We are still debating onsite/offsite. DH says he wants to be offsite, less money, more room. I can't agrue with that but I know it will be easier to go back to the park at night with DD15 if we are onsite.

 

[brettgirl]

If you have a "husband" this plan was good for my family. We went in May, POR., I have DS5 and DD13. As a family we went to the parks at opening (no early entry) stayed until lunch or so then went back to POR to swim and relax. We ate dinner as a family and then the boys went to bed, while my DD and I went out to the parks. Boy did we have a great mother-daughter time-I can't believe the same daughter is living here now.

Some rides DS5 had to be parent swapped but it worked great for DD because they give you two passes for the second parent to ride next. DD got to ride two times in a row.

 

[Eeyore's Girl]

It has never been a problem for us. I have DD13 & DD5. WDW is such great family time. DD13 loves thrill rides, but really enjoys the chance to introduce DD5 to some of the tamer attractions. It's really cool to watch them enjoy an attraction, getting a little sister-time in, while DDH and I watch from afar (when it's possible). I also see this situation as a time to remind all that "this is not about you - this is about us - as a family".

 

[kerry34]

She is not the adventurous type she won't go off by herself. SHe is easy going and whatever we do she would be fine with but I do want her to get a chance to do the "thrill" rides. Just wondered if you did split up. We are still debating onsite/offsite. DH says he wants to be offsite, less money, more room. I can't agrue with that but I know it will be easier to go back to the park at night with DD15 if we are onsite.

This is one of the big reasons why we stayed onsite for our last trip. It was much easier for DH to bring the little ones back to the hotel while myself and the older kids stayed in the park and had some big kid fun. We didnt have to worry about getting back and forth since we used disney transportation. We had stayed offsite the trip before and it was tough for the older kids because we were all at the mercy of the little ones capacity for handling the parks for long stretches of time. Now of course it depends on your DH as well. My DH offered to take over with the little ones several times because he knew that I would enjoy the time with the bigger kids. It is definately more money, but we found out by trial and error that some things you cannot put a price tag on. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[LISAVWL]

Our kids are DS13, DD4, DS3, DS1 and we'll be going back in Oct this year. We've been yearly since our oldest DS was 2 and we've never had a problem with the age difference. He loves introducing WDW to his brothers and sister -- to be totally honest, I think he still loves going on the Dumbo ride and waiting for autographs as much as the younger ones!

We start out the day as a family and stay at the park until lunch. After that I take the younger ones back to the resort for a quick nap, DVC, while my DH and oldest DS enjoy all the thrill rides we skipped in the morning. We meet up for swimming and then dinner as a family. If we hit another park at night we'll stay together and then possible split up as it get too late for the younger guys. My DH does take one night alone with our oldest DS and they have male bonding at DQ -- they love it!

I hope this helps, have a magical vacation!

 

[ptmmg]

we are going the end of Aug. and have a similar situation our kids are dd16, ds14, dd4, ds2we are staying on site and even switched to the Contemporary for the ease of getting back to the hotel. I wil also let the older 2 go off on their own together when we are in the same park (they have cell phones.).
I have enjoyed reading this thread!

 

[billwendy]

hi - i went with a very mixed group last year and we had a ball....when the little kids were napping in the stroller, we babyswapped all the "big kid" rides - it worked out perfect - also by splash mountain there is a tiny playground for tots,,,,,its disney- have fun,,,also the big kids loved taking the little kids up to the characters for autographs,,,worked out perfectly for my camera oppurtunities!!!

 

[isla bonita]

We have me, dh, ds16, ds10 and dd5. We always split up for part of the day. We all go together on the things we can all enjoy together and then its a little time apart.

We spend a lot of time doing buffets with characters. My little one loves them from afar and my older ones have a great choice of what they can eat. Works for us.

Sometimes the older guys want to see my little one do things. They are great together and apart. When we hook up we have lots to say.

It really is good for us and it works great for our family.

 

[toocooltobeMom]

We are going with 2 teen boys (soon to 15 and 16)
DH and I are letting the boys go off by themselves as long as we are in the same park. We have all our dinner ressies downloaded onto our cell phones so that when the alarm sounds everybody would know where and when to go.

P.S. honestly, I think the boys want to hang with us more than they want to admit.

 

[SaraMc]

We have a simular situation as well. We are going in Feb with my 15 year old nephew and my then 6 month old son. My nephew is actually looking forward to this because he thinks that cute baby = Chick magnet ( we are going when there are 1 zillion cheerleaders there)
However we are planning on doing things seperatly and doing the swap, my sister and her DH get ours we take theirs for a day type of thing. But what we learned from our last visit is letting the teen make some of the choices, what ride we are going on, where we are eating ect. That seemed to help, also we let the guy sleep in one morning and he had to meet us in the MK ( he's tall ( looks a lot older than he really is) He had to be there at a certain time and had a cel phone on him just incase he was going to be late.

This time we will probably split up again a bit and meet up for meals and special events like parades ect. We dont over plan or anything but do set up the days events when we all have breakfast together. 2 way radio's are also coming on this trip.

Have fun, let us know how it went so by the time we go in Feb we can have some more pointers

S

 

[sameyeyam]

Split the family up in the morning. The older kids that are ride daredevils can go with one parent (they do the Splash Mt, Thunder Mt., etc), the smaller kids go with the other parent for kiddie rides (Dumbo, Pooh, etc...)

Then meet up for lunch, parents then swap groups of kids.

Finally in the evening, have family time, everyone is together. Pick rides that everyone will enjoy like Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, etc.

Keeps everyone happy!

 

[GotFids]

Split the family up in the morning. The older kids that are ride daredevils can go with one parent (they do the Splash Mt, Thunder Mt., etc), the smaller kids go with the other parent for kiddie rides (Dumbo, Pooh, etc...)

Then meet up for lunch, parents then swap groups of kids.

Finally in the evening, have family time, everyone is together. Pick rides that everyone will enjoy like Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, etc.

Keeps everyone happy!

Oh I really like this idea! We'll have to give this a shot at least for a couple of days, that should satisfy my 16/ds. Thanks!

 

[Pooh Crew]

We went last year with our 16yr old and our four young ones (5,5,5, and 4). The young ones were so busy soaking up "Disney" that they were fine sitting there having a Mickey bar or getting an autograph while dh and their big sis rode something. We stuck together walking, but when she saw something she wanted to ride, we'd find something to occupy us (gift shop, anyone??? ) and off she'd go with her dad. We also would take the little ones back to the hotel after supper (not every night, but most of them) and then she and her dad could go back to the park for a couple of hours. Also, she heard through the grapevine that an aquaintance of hers was also at Disney at the same time as we were (fall break for our district), so they found each other and she got some teen time, too.

She had such a good time that she's going back again with us this year!