ideas needed, something special for DS11

[MotherofLandon]

On our next trip to WDW we will be doing a couple different princess type things for my then DD3. I was trying to come up with some special things we could do with my DS in mind. He will be 11, is extremely imaginative and creative, a little immature, he is also fairly skiddish and not to big on thrill rides. Any ideas?

 

[wvasweetness]

What about the Star Wars training camp thing (someone help me out with the name of it...) Jedi Training Camp, maybe?

 

[Mom2Ben02]

Well, you sound like your are describing my soon-to-be 11 year old, so this is what he is getting:

He is spending a day with dad and his little brother at LEGOLAND, while I spend a girlie day with my daughter. They have trading of minifigures, so he will be loaded up on the mystery ones to trade. He can pick the rides, pick the meals, and set the pace. I am so excited!

 

[MotherofLandon]

He did the Star Wars thing when he was 9. Great idea but I don't think he would want to do it again, he was a little freaked out by Darth. I will still ask him though.

Lego land is a good idea but I'm not sure I could convince DH to leave WDW and go to another park.

Thank you for the ideas though

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Sounds a lot like my 11-year-old. But mine is an over-the-top, totally obsessed LEGO kid. He wants to be a Lego designer when he grows up! We have a Lego room (used to be a play room, but they took over!). So we have promised him a trip to Legoland. We planned our vacation with one day away from WDW just for this. We rely entirely on Disney transportation, so I think we're going to take the Legoland shuttle for the day. He's been obsessing and planning and researching. Even his 13-year-old brother is getting excited---just because he's so excited!

But if your son isn't into it that much, maybe some other ideas....

The Lego store at DTD--they have that area in back where you can build cars and race them. Both my guys were happy to spend the longest time out there.

Disneyquest.

Mini golf.

How about giving him a list of the restaurants and letting him pick one he really wants to go to? Maybe T-Rex and let him do the make a dino thing.

Pin trading.

There's a new activity at AK based on the move UP. I'm forgetting the name now, but it's a ranger thing where you have assignments through out the park and earn stickers for each one completed. (I'm sure someone can help with the name/details.)

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

People here helped me with some ideas for Epcot WS. Candy or snacks around the world. You can even make up a little passport to be stamped in each country and he can try something different in each place.

Collect the pressed pennies.

Look for hidden Mickeys (get him a book to reference).

That's all I can come up with for now, but I'm sure others will share many more ideas!

 

[MotherofLandon]

Thank you! Lots of good ideas! He would definitely be in to the AK thing. EPCOT use to have a Kim Possible adventure type thing, maybe I will look in to that to. We tried Pin trading and he really enjoyed it but his pins kept falling off. We only bought the real deal Disney ones but they still fell off. He loves collecting things so pressed pennies or candy around the world would be great. Thank you again for the wonderful ideas.

I bet your son is going to have a great time. It is wonderful that he has something he is so passionate about

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Thank you! Lots of good ideas! He would definitely be in to the AK thing. EPCOT use to have a Kim Possible adventure type thing, maybe I will look in to that to. We tried Pin trading and he really enjoyed it but his pins kept falling off. We only bought the real deal Disney ones but they still fell off. He loves collecting things so pressed pennies or candy around the world would be great. Thank you again for the wonderful ideas.

I bet your son is going to have a great time. It is wonderful that he has something he is so passionate about

I've heard the Kim Possible thing is now basically the same but based on Phineas & Ferb. I don't know any more about it than that, but I'm sure you can find more info.

Have fun!!!!

 

[JessM]

What about taking him on one of the fishing excursions? Or just renting a boat around the MK or Epcot resort area. You could also rent bikes at FW or the Surry Bikes at the BW.

 

[Jennybump]

Thank you! Lots of good ideas! He would definitely be in to the AK thing. EPCOT use to have a Kim Possible adventure type thing, maybe I will look in to that to. We tried Pin trading and he really enjoyed it but his pins kept falling off. We only bought the real deal Disney ones but they still fell off. He loves collecting things so pressed pennies or candy around the world would be great. Thank you again for the wonderful ideas.

I bet your son is going to have a great time. It is wonderful that he has something he is so passionate about

Wilderness Explorers is the AK thing. Easywdw or touring plans had a good review of it recently.

The EP thing is Agent P's Adventure or something like that.

I hear that if you get the gold locking pin backs they don't fall off like the black ones.

My 11 yr old isn't a thrill-seeker, but he really wants to do the Characters in Flight hot air balloon at DTD. There's also a LEGO store there, and somewhere I saw someone mention a make your own Dinosaur display but I really have NO idea what I'm talking about there. ;-)

Oh, but the first thing I thought of when you said your ds is creative is the Animators' Academy at HS, where a Disney animator leads a group of ppl through drawing a Disney character, and almost every review I've read says, "I can't draw, but they made it so easy my drawing looks great!" So that might be a fun thing for him.

 

[mm1971]

On our next trip to WDW we will be doing a couple different princess type things for my then DD3. I was trying to come up with some special things we could do with my DS in mind. He will be 11, is extremely imaginative and creative, a little immature, he is also fairly skiddish and not to big on thrill rides. Any ideas?

I say take him fishing! It's expensive, but a lot of fun for a few hours. The boat leaves from DTD (or at least ours did) and you go into the back rivers and get to see some cool things. We caught a lot of bass, they had soda and snacks for everyone and had a blast.

Or he could do the pirate league. That looks like fun for the boys.

 

[ariane37]

I second Animation Academy at HS. My ODS loves this (11 on last trip in May). We did it 6x on that trip! He does love to draw but, as the pp said, you do not need to be an artist I certainly am not, but my drawings look like they came from one! Both DS's 7 &11 enjoyed Agent P's Adventure in EPCOT, formerly Kim Possible. Also mini-golf, which they've requested for a 3rd time for our trip in Feb.

 

[wannabemini]

somewhere I saw someone mention a make your own Dinosaur display

I don't know about a display, but the TRex restaurant has a Make a Dinosaur kinda like Build a Bear, only dinos. My little guy cannot wait to go make his "longneckasaurus."

 

[mamabear0222]

What about making his own customized RC car at ridemakerz in downtown Disney?

Sent from my Samsung S3 using DISBoards

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

If he likes video games, DisneyQuest is fun. My kids loved it last year.

You can do cane-pole fishing at Port Orleans Riverside much cheaper than the fishing trips (which also go out of Fort Wilderness and the Boardwalk area - fishing in World Showcase Lagoon sounds fun to me!).

There are small waterboats to rent at the monorail resorts and Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge.

There are pirate cruises that leave out of several of the resorts on different days.

There is horseback riding at Fort Wilderness, also archery on certain days.

While I wouldn't discourage anyone from going to Legoland, I would tell you that the rides are geared towards younger kids (I'd say ages 4-8). The figures throughout the park and the Miniland area are amazing, but the rides are just so-so. We took our kids last year when they were just-turned 6 and not-yet-10, and while they are both big Lego kids and loved the figures and Lego sculptures, our oldest thought the rides were "lame" and not long enough. The 6-yr-old loved it.