How has your trips changed as your kids got older?

[cdhale]

My daughters have been at age 6, 7, 8, and 11. For our trip in August they will be 13 and we have a new addition... my 2 year old son.

For the girls, the age 11 trip focused much less on characters (and they hated stopping for photo pass pics, but I made them do it anyway). We did 9 character meals on or deluxe dining plan trip when they were 8, but only 2 that they requested (CP and GG) at age 11. Age 11 was all about the water parks and shopping! What hasn't changed... they still want to trade pins and go on all the rides (no skipping the little ones).

For this trip, to balance the teen/toddler thing, I will let them explore the parks on their own, if they want to. Their must have meals were Sci Fi and Kona breakfast. And they still want to trade pins

 

[hsmamato2]

this question makes me nostalgic.... We have taken our kids since the 1st was about 18 mos. old....it was our yearly getaway while they were little, b/c it was so easy to take them there! Now that my oldest has gotten his own life and isn't interested in going with us anymore, I feel.... sad sometimes. I miss him, b/c it was always the place where our whole family just had FUN. Now it's the 3 of us,with my youngest a teen- who still loves Disney as much as I do.We used to bring food in with us everywhere, eat very frugally, buy almost no souvies for ourselves..... now we tend to focus on food,eating,and what our favorites places to eat are! My teen LOVES the rides,and doesn't mind riding alone if I don't want to go on too...(I kind of wish we had an easily available cousin to bring along to be his companion but oh well) things do change,and I treasure every moment the 4 of us had along the way....I sometimes feel sorry for my youngest,who is now more like an 'only child'...b/c it's just us,his boring parents and him on a trip.....

 

[crostorfer]

I've taken my daughter every year, some years twice, since she was 7.

The main thing that has changed is that we spend more time at US/IoA, because they simply have more rides that she is interested in riding. She's a thrill junkie. We spend a lot more time in the WS at EPCOT, not just due to her age, but due to an outside factor that I won't discuss on this thread because I wouldn't want anyone to complain about the discussion devolving into yet another argument.....*side eyes*.....but she has become a bit of a foodie and loves to snack her way around the world with me.

We love WDW, it will always be special to us, but she is almost to the age where she will appreciate a beach vacation, or a trip to Europe, rather than a theme park one. I think we have one more Spring Break trip left in us, and then we will move on to other vacation ventures. I'm already set on a trip to Aulani in 2017.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We have been taking our kids to Orlando/Disney World since they were 2 years old. We started staying on Disney property about 6 years ago and we try to go every other year. We are not going this summer, which is bumming me and my daughter out the most, but are planning on one more Disney trip next summer before we suggest another type of vacation.

my son will be 14 next summer and my daughter will be 11. They have been going to Disney for years and both really enjoy it. My question is, how have your trips to WDW changed as your kids became teens/pre-teens? I know our last trip, we did very little character meet n greets. My daughter was more interested in going to Cirque de Solei last time and my son enjoyed the WDW Fishing adventure. We did less of the shows and tried to do things we had never done before in all our previous trips. How have others seen their touring styles change? What did you do more/less of? Did you do more water park days? More/less table service meals? We typically will go for 9-10 days, so we don't rush anything.

Thoughts/Ideas/Suggestions on what to expect next time?

My 2 oldest are of similar ages as yours. They peel off on their own now. I have a trac-phone for them. They wander around the same park. They have taken their younger brother as well. Or have sometimes walked ahead with all of their siblings.

We have never been a big M&G Family. So that has not really changed.

I do not let them park hop, yet. Too many transportation logistics issues based on my personal experience as well as complaints listed here. I will wait until they are older.

I have noted their desire to go to Universal more as they are at the coaster-loving age. This is NOT a declaration that they don't like Disney. They do. But they are just wanting to broaden their horizons.

They prefer sit down meals as well. Oldest is pining for Victoria and Albert's.

As we have a baby, and height limited children, we don't really do the water parks.

 

[michellelovesthemous]

We have been going since she was 10months old to DL and from 6 to WDW every year, she is 17 now we have gone commando style since she was stroller sized and continue to tour that way even though our trips are longer! We have always done both TS & QS Dining so still no change for us as she has always had adult tastes. And a thrill junkie she has been sinc she was4 and tall enough for Splash! We try to build in down days now for mini golf, shopping and hoop de Doo and EPCOT has been since she was 6 and always will be her favourite park! I think it all depends upon your child she still does M&G and buffets w/character I guess the one change has been the sutograph book that stopped at 14. Man time flies!!

 

[abyrd86]

My DS and DD have been going since ages 9 and 7. DS will be 11 at our upcoming trip and DD is 9 now. Their interests have not changed much...DD is still ALL about the Princesses and characters and DS LOVES all the rides and the only character he wants to meet is Donald. He has loved him since the toddler years. I am holding on for dear life as I know they are getting older and those magical years are slipping away

 

[Khokhonutt]

Things have certainly changed over the years. Our first trip to EPCOT, my wife was pregnant with our son. He didn't do much, but also was not a whole lot of trouble. That was back in '91. Our next trip was to the Magic Kingdom when our son was 18 months old and our daughter was 7 months old. Our daughter stayed home with grandma that trip and we had a ball with our son. He enjoyed most of the rides, although he wasn't up to Space Mountain and the like. Back then we mainly made day trips to the parks.

After that trip, we shipped off to Korea for 2 years. The kids watched the Lion King about a million times while we were over seas, so we looked forward to making another trip to the Magic Kingdom when we returned to the states. Our next trip to Magic Kingdom was when the kids were roughly 2 and 3. Our daughter lost her mind in fear when she saw Raffiki in the parks. Our son did a little better. I have to say that was our least favorite trip. The kids were ok, but had their issues doing a whole day at the park.

Our next trip was our first big, stay on property family trip. The kids were 10 and 11. That will probably always be one of my favorite family trips. The kids were out of diapers. They loved the characters, yet were big enough to ride all of the rides. We did the character meals and generally had a good time.

Through the kids' high school year we made three spring break band trips. The kids spent more and more time off with their friends. Sometimes we would have a group of kids, sometimes we (my wife and I) were on our own. Being band kids, they all still enjoyed the occasional character pictures. Band trips were fun, getting to see the kids march in the parades was a highlight.

Our last trip was the summer our daughter graduated high school. Our son had joined the Air Force and was in tech school, so this trip was just the three of us. We had a great time. My kids are goofy like I am, so we enjoyed doing some of the picture stuff. We enjoyed fancier food and generally did more adult stuff.

We're currently planning a trip for next summer. Our daughter will be 23, our son will be 24. They're both in the Air Force now, but both are excited about going back to WDW. My parents will be going with us on this trip as well. Hopefully that doesn't get us back into changing diapers (sorry Mom & Dad). I look forward to drinking around the world with the kids this time. Last time they just watched Mom and Dad have that fun. Any time we get with the kids these days are dear, they're both across country from us at this point. With that in mind, I expect this to be a fun adult trip. Hopefully the first of many more.