How likely my boys will lose interest in Disney ...

[darlak]

At our house, the Disney addiction doesn't seem directly connected to either age or gender. In order of severity of addiction, we have...me, then DD20, DS23, DD13 and finally DH.

However, DS23 no longer goes with us that often as he is currently a full-time student, working 2 part-time jobs and has a full-time girlfriend.

 

[powellrj]

both of our boys lost interest around the age of 15. My oldest (24)refused to go with us anymore by registering for summer school just so he could stay home when he was in high school.

My middle DS(16) is a little more interested, but I was shocked at his response when he found out his choir was performing there this spring. He was furious. He had a fit about how he really wanted to go someplace different, how he was so sick of WDW and if he wasn't worried about letting the choir down and missing his friends he would stay home from the trip rather than take another Disney trip.

Oldest DS is getting married in June and his DF has never been and would love to go, but he keeps telling her she will have to go with us because he has no desire to go back!

I know we have mixed the trips up with other trips to Cocoa Beach, Universal and Sea World, but they are just Orlando tired.

 

[Karel]

My teen boys were losing interest around 12 and 13. Some of it was general not interested in vacation behavior - wanted to hang with friends at home rather then family away.

Happily, the way to a teenage boys heart is through his stomach and they loved loved our free dining trip two years ago. Apparently Disney is a lot of fun when you can order steak every night.

They are not big thrill riders so don't mind the lack of rollercoasters. I found giving them a bit of freedom and choice worked wonders. The pool still their favorite thing though, especially when lovely English girls are hanging about.

My 13 yo daughter still loves Disney and always wants to know when we are going again.

 

[crisi]

Some kids lose interest, some don't.

We bought DVC when our kids were preschoolers. They are eight and nine now and we feel like even if they lose interest in a few years, we will have gotten money out of it.

BUT, WE are starting to lose interest - or perhaps its more fair to say that there is a whole WORLD out there and we don't want all our vacations in the same spot. My husband wants to go to the East Coast. I want to go to London. My daughter wants to see Paris. DVC is NOT a good investment for using outside of DVC resorts (course, there are more DVC resorts coming now than in the past, and my son DOES want to go to Hawaii). We bought enough points for every other year and that was a good decision for us - it doesn't put us in the spot of "too many points" now that we are starting to discuss non-Disney years. (We spent our off years when the kids were littler cruising DCL).

 

[lam712]

My DS22 was very upset when we went to Disney two years ago without him (he was 20 at the time). We had booked the free dining package in Sept. when we would be in college and we took our then DD17 and DS14 out of high school for a few days. We promised DS22 we would take him when he graduates from college in 2008. We are planning the trip for late August next year, although DS22 needs to complete a few classes after that, it will be the best time for the entire family to go. All of the "kids" have been helping me plan the trip, watching the Disney video, choosing their favorite restaurants, etc. for the past few weeks. My brother and his family may also go at the same time with their DS18, so I guess it just depends on each family. Granted, we don't spend as much time in Fantasyland, but we take more time to explore the countries in Epcot, waterparks, and thrill rides. Disney has done a great job of providing a vast amount of activities to appeal to all ages. Several of my DD19 college friends visit Disney every year. One of the girls was "bored" with Disney last year, but told my daughter she loved it and had a great time this summer. I think all teens get cranky about everything for a while, then they get over it and you can stand to be with them again!