Let the teens sleep or not?

[pepperw23]

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.

I say let them sleep. Teenagers need more sleep than a Toddler (that is what our Dr. told me while on some rant about HS starting so early LOL)

 

[bytheblood]

If they are old enough and mature enough to meet you at the parks and you have cell phones to find one another (I am referring to 16, 17, 18), then I would let them sleep. If not, compromise. Instead of making them get up at 6, you go have your breakfast, come back, have them take their showers at 7:30 or 8 and then head to the parks.
Don't want any cranky members in your party - a bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.

Or - you could just let them sleep in while you go to the pool and them come back and get them at 10 or so and head to a park.

 

[SaraMc]

We took my 13 year old nephew with us last year and he was begging to sleep in every morning. After the third day Dh came up with a great idea. We get him up and go straight to MGM, ride tower of Terror twice and then RNRC. He was awake. We found opening the door to the room while he was asleep with teenage highschool cheerleaders walking by also helped him get out of bed too.

 

[pooch]

to get to the parks after 11AM cuz I don't think we'll ever get there any earlier!! I plan on extensive use of EMH at night. I'm not getting up at the crack of dawn ( or at least not before 9!!) for anyone on vacation!!

Pooch - not a morning person!

 

[krissyh]

My only stipulation is not to go to pleasure island. We have Disney tranportation so downtown Disney is not so bad.

Tigger

Do you really tell adult children (you said at least one is 24) that they are not allowed to go to Pleasure Island?

Just curious?

 

[PixiDust04]

This is a tough subject, really. My youngest sister is 15, and she doesn't mind getting up early to hit the parks at all. Our dad is all "go go go" and we've all gotten used to it from going there so often. I don't care what anyone says, I'll get up early to shower and get ready for the parks to get there when it opens...because it does NOT remind me of getting up for school! Who can complain about riding tons of rides, meeting characters, and doing all the other Disney things? I know it can be rough for the first hour or two, shaking off the tiredness...but once you arrive at the park, the fun should just "engulf" you! Of course, this is all my opinion (I would get up early and go to Disney every day of my life if I could!!!) I just got back from WDW with a friend of mine, and she hated getting up early. I mean, once we got to the parks, she had more fun, but she really delayed my dad's plans of getting to the parks right when they opened (and then he'd make us get up even earlier in order to be ready in time)! I guess for people who haven't "done Disney," a vacation is a time to relax and sleep in, so they may not fully understand why people like to push themselves to get so much done in one day. (The rest of us...well, we TOTALLY understand!) But, my parents always let me and my sisters go off and do what we want at whatever park we want to go to, because we've been there so many times, we know what to do and where to go, and we all have cell phones. If the 15 year old has lots of previous Disney experience, it would be totally fine in my opinion to let her and her friend go off on their own, because Disney is very safe, and when my parents first started letting me go on my own with a younger sister, I was around 15 or 16, as well.

 

[Hef4545]

Last year I traveled with my DS 14 and nephew 16. They are late sleepers and I don't have a problem with that. We spend so much time rushing around all year from one thing to another that when we are on vacation, watches go out the window....(well sort of) We still manage to see everything and of course, have a wonderful time.

 

[Tinkerbell10403]

If they really want to have fun, then they should go to sleep early at night...and get a good morning's start!

 

[LordAthens]

I'm curious as well, sort of touching upon what krissyh said (thought, not directly questioning Tigger1), it seems like a lot of Disney parent's seem to really keep their kids on lockdown.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning the way you bring up your children, nor am I attempting to turn this thread into a parenting debate, again just curious.

I had 2 very good friends growing up that were extremely sheltered. Their parents never let them do anything on their own, they always had to be home by 9pm, even on the weekends, etc. This was all the way up through their Senior years in highschool. Off to college they went and now that mommy wasn't around, they lived it up.

Both started in good traditional 4 year schools. Both are now attending community college (not that there is anything wrong with that, either).

As I said in my prior post, we're talking about 15 and 16 year old "kids" and people are questioning if they should be allowed to wander the parks by themselves. These are the same kids that are legally allowed to drive a 1+ ton vehicle. It just doesn't make sense to me that some parents seem to think that 15 or 16 is to young to walk through the parks alone. My god, my girlfriend and I planned, payed for and ultimately went on our first vacation together when she was 18 and I 19. I didn't need my mom to hold my hand when I got on the plane and we were unsupervised for a whole 7 days by ourselves! [/sarcasm] 5 years later, we're going on our 3rd Disney vacation together.

Again, no offense to any person on her regarding their parenting, it just seems that some should really stop sheltering their kids and let them go out and enjoy life. You have to let go of them eventually. The longer their hands are held, the less they'll beable to do on their own. (Just for effect, I work with a 26 year old who's mother still does his laundry. I asked him if he actually knew how to "properly" do laundry and his reply was "Why do I need to? My mom does it for me." )

Just an observation.

 

[Philadisney]

when i was 14, my high school band went to WDW for a week long trip. There was a busload of kids and maybe 3 chaperones. All students were allowed to roam the parks freely during the day (all staying in the same park of course). this was a long time ago so my memory fails me a bit as to what all the circumstances were, but i definitely remember that we all roamed in groups of 3-5 kids and nobody got in any sort of trouble. and most of us were probably nowhere near as farmiliar with the parks as your DD!
like many have said, all teenagers mature differently so of course only you know what kind of freedom your DD should have. but it sounds like since she knows WDW and she'll have a friend with her at all times that she would be fine to sleep in & meet you at the parks good luck!

 

[Muffy]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I just want to mention that my DD and her friend are touring the parks alone during the day. I just think sleeping half the morning and then getting to the park late is not the best use of time. DH and I will be out the door before 9am. We will meet up at dinner time. I'm not sure how much freedom to offer them at night. I will probably let them go to Epcot and MGM alone. Both of those parks are close to the Swan. Anyway, a little planning now will go a long ways later. Right?

 

[twojo21]

i would let them sleep in & meet you later, give them a cell phone. its their vacation too & you want them to have fun not be cranky. plus theres emh at night so theyll still be able to see alot. i know when i was a teen my parents would do this with me & when i have teens one day ill do the same with them.

 

[Tigger1]

Some weird people hang out at Pleasure Island late at night. This is not a place with just Disney vacationers. Many of the ones there live in the Orlando area. I was adviced about Pleasure Island many years ago, I think it was by the Webmaster of this board himself. I would not go thier late myself either. Now that my children are over 21 I feel ok if they go thier earlier in th night.

My children do not drink very much and are always back to the resort before I am.

 

[DarkSideMoon]

15 way old enough to go by herself, Have fun and if they want to sleep in, just have them meet you later.

 

[travellady]

Not sure what time the parks close during your trip so this may be a factor to consider. If they close at 5, the teens won't get in as much as they would if the parks close at 9 or 10. But, sleeping in for them may be as pleasurable as getting to the parks early is for you. I suspect you would feel you've missed a bit by not getting into the parks early, but maybe what they are looking forward to is different than what you are looking forward to.

I think of vacation as a time when we can all chill, cast our cares to the side, and experience freedom from daily routine. I've watched too many families feel pressured to be first, ride every ride, see every show, etc. etc. and by mid afternoon I hear bickering, the littles ones crying, and overall a family that seems to not be having much fun at all.

I tend to be an early riser while my 12 year old and husband are not. So, I get up, get coffee, wander around the resort and people watch. Personally, I get as much pleasure from this as I do going into the parks. Part of that pleasure is knowing my husband and son are getting to sleep in and will wake up rested and more often than not, pleasant to be around.

Would I prefer to get over to the parks earlier and get back to the resort earlier? Some days yes. And on rare occasions, I have done so. But at the end of the day, we always hang out together and enjoy each other's company, even if we havn't spent every moment together that day.

 

[boosmom96]

I'm with the let them sleep crowd!! I can still remember how much I hated being forced out of bed early on family vacations! Growing up, I was the only person in my family that liked to sleep in so, family vacations were a torture!! If you are planning on letting them roam by themselves during the day anyway, I can't see the logic of making them get up if they don't want to. It doesn't sound like it will impact your time in the park.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

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.

Hear hear!! That's exactly what I say!

If they get in bed at a decent hour there is absolutely no need for them to sleep THAT late. Good grief.

 

[DarkSideMoon]

Hear hear!! That's exactly what I say!

If they get in bed at a decent hour there is absolutely no need for them to sleep THAT late. Good grief.

9:30?!?!?!

 

[Muffy]

Yes, I still think it is a poor use of time. Why waste your vacation sleeping late while at WDW? I'm still leaning towards getting those kids up and out! They'll thank me someday...

 

[DeeCee735]

I've got 16 year olds, we've been going to disney since they were 6. At 15, yeah I let them sleep, rise, eat, shower and either meet us at the parks for the "family" thing, or do their own thing around the resort. This year, they will be able to go to the parks on their own (bringing a friend, so it is a bit of a group), checking in with us and meeting up for dinners, shows, and any other thing we want to do together.

The way I see it.....it's their vacation too. Who doesn't want to relax alittle while on vacation? For an adult the idea of relaxing could be in a tub with a cup of coffee or glass of wine, sitting on the balcony early in the a.m., taking a walk or a run, or having a beer at the bar - for a teenager - it's definitely sleeping - when they're up, their rarely just sitting around and relaxing, with school/study, sports and socializing. IMHO I say let em sleep and enjoy - especially with a friend along, it becomes as much about "the trip to Disney with my friend" than the family vacation. Have fun - don't sweat it....