Let the teens sleep or not?

[Muffy]

My DD 15 is bringing a friend to WDW this year. She would like to sleep until at least 9:30am daily while on vacation. Then she and her friend would have breakfest, shower and get to the parks around 11am. I think this is a bad idea and want her up at 8am and out by 9am. I want them to have fun but how much fun is it getting to a park at 11am? Should I just let them do their own thing or get them up and out in the morning?

 

[Shugardrawers]

I guess it depends on their maturity level. 15 seems a tad young to let them wander around WDW alone. If they are fairly mature and you feel they'll be safe and not have trouble finding busses and such I'd let them. If they miss out on some of the fun by over-sleeping it's not your fault. I'd make sure they have a cell phone so they can contact you when they get to the park to meet up.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I dunno, in our family, we do stuff together as a family.

If they don't get up until then, then they're basically blowing the grownups off.

It wouldn't fly in my family, I paid for your vacation, you need to participate.

 

[NMAmy]

I have a 15 yo dd, as well, and she's bringing a friend, too. I've told them that some mornings we'll do EMH and some mornings they can sleep in a bit. Since DD knows the benefit of that EMH, she's fine with that. WDW is the one place I can get her out of bed early with no fussing.

I've also told the girls that I don't have a problem with them hanging out at the parks on their own occasionally. DD has been to WDW many times and is very confident about finding her way around.

Maybe let them sleep in the first day and then regale them with stories of what you've already accomplished by the time they get there. I know my dd would be hopping out of bed earlier if I did that.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[abe_bb]

Well, there is always the compromise.

Let her know that on "X" days, you want her to get up earlier and go with you guys.

But then give her a day or two (depending on how long your stay is) to sleep in late.

 

[AJKMOM]

While my teens could sleep until 1pm if I let them, they know at Disney, we get up and go. Once this last trip, I let them meet us in EPCOT and they missed riding Soarin'. They are in college now, so I did slack up a bit.

 

[Muffy]

We are planning to letting them tour the parks alone during the day. We will keep in touch with cell phones. My DD knows her way around WDW extrememly well. I'm not worried about that. I just feel it is a waste of time to arrive at a park at 11am.

 

[Matt]

Well, if you trust them to roam the parks by themselves then I would let them sleep in. It is a waste to you and me, but they are teenagers so what do they know? I'd compromise though and tell them that they are going to really miss too much stuff but that you will allow them to sleep in a couple of days.

 

[lillygator]

how about a little compromise and maybe all go in together around 9:30 or 10?

 

[noladave]

We don't even bother with my 2 nephews anymore. We've been taking them (along with their mother) almost every time we go, but we just gave up. They like sleeping in, but they get mad when they can't just "walk up" and ride their favorite ride at 1pm!

Let's face it, they are teenagers, and love you one minute, and hate you the next. One day you know nothing, the next day you are the smartest person on earth.

Without know your family dynamics (part of the answer lies in there), I would just let them sleep in, and not ruin it for anyone else - especially if you have some younger kids(or parents) that are really into Disney.

 

[SamRoc]

We just did this Christmas week. My dd 16 brought her friend along who had never been to Disney, knowing it was the busiest week of the year, I told them one day you can sleep in but the next day its up and out at 630! The call me the "tour guide from he**"!! We have been to Disney enough times to know that you need to get in the parks early to get anything done. My dd's friend was exhausted the first day we did the parks, so having the next day off was good (they both slept till noon!) and then the next day we went in early again. My kids could sleep til 3pm if I let them!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I have learned to compromised with our 3 teen ds. The middle one is the worst. He would sleep all day on vacation. The only incentive to get him going is the thought of no food. They are much more happier if they do the emh evening hours at the parks and stay until dq closes too. We are going again for easter this year and they saw last year that by 11 am there were either no fast passes left or they were for returns like at 7 pm. So they will have to deal with that.

 

[jmsvss]

I had this same question a few weeks ago and got some great responses. lets see if I do this right:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=973679

My DS is 15 and wants us to think he's too "grown" for Disney altho I know he's just bluffing he's really excited- that's okay I'll work with him on it. DD12 is very into disney and characters. I have told my son that he has to get up with us and go on certain days (EPCOT and MGM day). I'm not going to worry too much if he's slow on our MK and Animal Kingdom days. If he comes great, if he doesn't it just makes it easier for DD to see the characters w/o a bunch of flack from her brother.

 

[patsal]

I dunno, in our family, we do stuff together as a family.

If they don't get up until then, then they're basically blowing the grownups off.

It wouldn't fly in my family, I paid for your vacation, you need to participate.

I'm in agreement here. If we are talking about 17+ then I'd say let them try it their way first and when they complain they have not done/seen things show them how it works. You might even want to commprimise and give in to one sleep in day. For us getting up at 7:30 is sleeping in since we are up at 5:30 regularly!

 

[Magickndm]

Well, there is always the compromise.

Let her know that on "X" days, you want her to get up earlier and go with you guys.

But then give her a day or two (depending on how long your stay is) to sleep in late.

This sounds perfect to me. I have a 15 year old too, so I know about the sleeping.

 

[tinkerrn]

I think it depends on where you are staying at in WDW. What type of transportation will they be using? I would be more apt to saying 'ok', if you are staying on the monorail or at one of the Epcot resorts. Not sure if I'd let them travel by bus alone.

 

[Muffy]

I think it depends on where you are staying at in WDW. What type of transportation will they be using? I would be more apt to saying 'ok', if you are staying on the monorail or at one of the Epcot resorts. Not sure if I'd let them travel by bus alone.

We will be staying at the Swan. The Swan is convienent to Epcot and MGM. They will have to take a bus to MK but DD is familiar with the busses. They also want to spend a day at the waterparks. I'm not so sure I want them at the waterparks alone though. I'm deciding now how much freedom to offer them on vacation. I appreciate all the comments and info.

 

[disneyfan581]

We always do stuff as a family too. We get up at around 9:30, shower, eat breakfast and then don't get to the parks until about 12. I think 15 is fine to let this happen.

 

[carone0318]

This year I decide that there would be no early morning character breakfasts planned for our children. They would rather sleep in and get to the park a little later, between 9 & 10. It will make our trip less hectic, besides I wasn't to impressed with the character meals we did last year. Oh, I guess I should mention that my kids are 9 & will be 5. I think that they much preferred closing the parks rather than opening them (MK in particular). There are some days they will get up early, like when we go to AK, but I'm not making any plans for 8am meals anymore, it's not worth it. I just have the opinion though that if we don't get to something this trip it will happen the following year. Usually when we go on vacation to Disney, we already knw when we are coming back while we are there. Compromise is key!!! Good luck!

 

[bleeps]

I say this with love, kindnesss, and respect:

if the OP were talking about, say, toddlers, and said: the kids want to take a mid-day nap every day -- they actually want to go all the way back to the hotel, SLEEP for two or three hours, then go back to the parks only to return to the hotel in time for dinner -- they will ruin our vacation and miss out on all the fun! -- then everyone would try to find a kind way to respond to say, well you know, the little ones really do need their sleep and will probably be less cranky and more inclined to enjoy themselves if you did find a way to work in their naps for them....

Again, please -- I mean only good things here -- developmentally, physiologically, teens NEED sleep (and need more sleep than toddlers do) because of the HUGE changes their bodies are going through. Believe me, I understand the temptation to see teen sleepiness as laziness (they give us enough other indications of that sometimes, to be sure ); but the scientific, medical fact is that teens do need LOTS of sleep for their brains and bodies to develop and cope with their growth. Honest. Additionally, the changes that they are going through developmentally really DO make late mornings and late evenings make sense for them -- that cycle really does work from a physiological perspective for them.

LONG way of saying that a compromise that does allow for some of the sleep teens need really will make a better vacation for them which could go a long way towards making a better vacation for you