Planning first trip to Disney with preteen/teen kids

[blessedbeingmom]

Hi, my name is Tricia. I'm married to Matt and we have 3 kids, a ten-year-old boy, a twelve-year-old girl, and a fourteen-year-old girl. We are in the early stages of planning our family's first trip to Disney. I have only been once, nearly 30 years ago, when I was ten years old. I was in a very bad foster home at the time and so I remember very little of the trip. My DH has been a few times on as a teen or young adult but he doesn't remember which parks he went to.

We are really trying to watch our budget, but this trip is what I have requested for my 40th birthday this year, as I want to go and have a good time and make memories with my kids before they get too old to want to go with us. My birthday is in July, but we aren't actually going to go until November.

We live about 10 hours away, but will probably split the drive up over two days so we won't be too tired when we arrive. Our tentative plans are to drive on November 1st & arrive on November 2nd, which is a Sunday. We plan to stay somewhere in a condo or something in Windsor Hills for eight nights. We plan to have 6 days at the parks, and one day of rest & relaxation/laundry, etc. sometime in the midst of those six days. We plan to do 2 days at MK & Epcot, and 1 day at each of the other parks.

My kids are not into characters, and since we are on a budget, I am not sure we will actually do any table service dining, although I would like to try at least one (not at Epcot though, as we plan to eat quick service there to try different things). Do you have any recommendations on a table service dining that won't break the budget entirely?

Primarily we will probably each carry in a back pack with our own frozen bottle of water & snacks, plus at least one meal, and a poncho & maybe a spare pair of socks. We won't want them to be very heavy, but my kids are old enough that I won't need a stroller and I'm definitely not planning to carry their stuff throughout the park. We will carry some minor first aid supplies too. Is there anything else you would recommend we carry?

Kids will not want to ride anything very scary or thrilling if that makes any difference. When we went to Universal Studios with the youth group last year, our then 13 y/o daughter's favorites were Despicable Me, E.T. & some Dr. Seuss stuff. She did not like the Transformers ride. I think they are fine with roller-coasters unless there are any scary drops.

I did buy Birnbaum's Disney book as well as the 2014 version of the Unofficial Disney guide book. (I only bought the e-version of the second one, but am considering buying the regular paper version now.)

Thanks for any advice and support you can share! Looking forward to the best vacation ever!

Tricia

 

[Lynne G]

I have a 12 year old DD and 16 year old DS. My kids like Kona, the Garden Grill, even though it has Chip and Dale, Beaches and Cream, and DD wants her bday dinner at Teppan Edo. We like some sit down meals for dinner to chill out and have a nice meal. We also like snacking and sharing some quick service meals.


We stay late in the parks and spend time at the resort pool. It is nice to have kids that I trust to go off on their own and we split up sometimes, but meals are always together.

Hope your family has a great time.

 

[kbonner]

It sounds like you have a decent plan of attack for your upcoming trip. There are a lot of good TS meals to be had around the parks. What kind of food do y'all like?

Here is a list of TS meals with price ranges.

There is a good chance that the Food & Wine Festival will be happening at EPCOT while y'all are there. It is great for grabbing a variety of snacks if you wanted to eat around the park and experience different cuisines.

While Disney does have thrills, they are more about immersion. Only scary drop I can think of is the Tower of Terror....

I hope you have a great birthday and a wonderful trip.

 

[minmate]

Wishing you a wonderful trip full of great memories! I'm a mom of dd15, dd14, ds13, dd11; so our kids are about the same age. We just returned earlier this month and had a really fun time together!

Click here to take a look at all kinds of menus, many with prices: Menus

Also, it may be worth it to pay close attention to the Free Dining threads over on the Disney Resorts/Disney Codes and Discounts board. Free Dining near your dates is rumored to be coming out soon. For non-Disney Visa holders, the rumor is you can book on-site with Free Dining on May 7. Not sure if that would work out for you, but with the free dining discount, you might be able to change to an on-site room, if you're interested.

My kids prefer to sleep-in but I explained to them the importance of getting up early and getting to Rope Drop (at least most) mornings, so we can get more done with shorter lines.

If you purchase your tickets ahead of time, be sure to book your FP+ online as soon as your window opens (60 days for onsite guests, 30 days for offsite guests).

I would encourage you to take the break about halfway through or just a bit after halfway through the trip for the rest and rejuvenation. I'd also have plans to possibly, at least every other day, plan either a shorter day or a break back at the hotel (depending on how far away it is).

Hope it's an amazing trip!

 

[amym2]

Essentially a first trip... how exciting! Our kids are 12 (DS) and 10 (DD) and while they have been to WDW many times, every experience is new. As far as rides, I'm a wimp when it comes to roller coasters (especially big drops) and I will ride everything at WDW. I'd encourage them to give everything a try once.

Your "kids" are all "adults" by Disney standards in terms of meals, so buffets and family-style meals will be pricey. That said, our kids' favorite is Boma at Animal Kingdom lodge, which is an easy drive from Windsor Hills. It is a buffet and has an interesting mix of American and African foods. The breakfast is more reasonable than dinner and the resort is beautiful to walk around. We love to check out the resorts, and you can park for free at any of them and look around.

Tony's at the MK doesn't get great reviews, but we enjoyed it and you could split a couple of meals. 50s Prime Time at DHS is a lot of fun and has huge portions so you could easily share. Our kids are excited about trying Tusker House at AK for the first time this fall, but it's a buffet. It does include characters. Our kids aren't really into characters, but they will happily hug Minnie and Mickey if approached by them. EP really does have the best variety of table service restaurants. Via Napoli has awesome pizza you could share. EP is our favorite park so we tend to spend the most time there. Honestly I'd either eat at a resort or at EP for a table service meal and eat counter service at the other parks. Oh, you could try to do lunch at Be Our Guest in the MK as it's counter service for lunch.

In terms of carrying things, we try to avoid this. Lugging even a light backpack around is tiresome. Try to fit what you can into pockets or a small bag. There are first aid stations at every park. We just get free cups of ice water at counter service places throughout the day (sometimes we bring drink mix packets to pour into them). If you really must bring in stuff, I'd try to put it all into one bag and take turns carrying it. You'll have a car, so you can always leave stuff in there and get it as needed. Some people head back to their cars for lunch where they keep a cooler.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time! Happy planning! Check out the menus on allears.net!

 

[MSSANDRA]

If you guys are on a budget, I would not break the drive into two days. 10 hours is easy. Leave early morning (6ish) and you will be there late afternoon. We are about 11 hours away and leave early and even hit a park that evening, but it's also great just to chill by the pool, early to bed and ready to hit the parks! The division of parks looks great, though adding that 7th day cost very little and we really don't find we need a day off. Our little guy is 7.
WDW does not have a lot of thrill rides. There are a few coaster type rides but only one that goes upside down and none are too wild. Tons of family stuff for everyone.
It would be hard to pick one TS meal, but I would look for something fun and different. Maybe Sci-Fi at HS or RFC or dino-cafe.
Being off site you may choose to drive to the parks and not take breaks. If you don't want to carry a lot of stuff in the parks , you can store things in your car or rent a locker. You can get free cups of water at any CS if you don't want to carry bottles of water. Many CS meals are big enough to split to save some money too.

Will you be there the week of 'thanksgiving or another week? Crowd levels and therefore you touring plans,will reflect which week, Follow any changes that happen with FP in the coming months. Have fun planning!!!

 

[jezebel73]

I know you said you planned on an offsite stay, but the rumor is that free dining is coming for fall (May 1 for Disney Visa holders and May 7 for general public). You may want to try pricing out a Disney resort as a comparison, as the food savings for a group with all of you considered "adults" for dining purposes would be very substantial. Like $200+ per day for 8 days, with all quick service meals and a value resort. Even more with the standard dining plan in a moderate resoort. Based on the predicted dates of the deal, you would have to check in on November 1 to get the free food.

 

[minmate]

I agree about the drive. Do it in one day if you can. Even if you just switch off driving every couple of hours. Look at your route and try to time it to avoid big cities during rush hour if possible.

It will save time and money on the extra overnight room.

 

[rachael95]

I'd definitely do the drive in one day. That's part of the fun of vacation is being stuck in the car all day with your family but getting out to a fun place. I'm not being sarcastic, some of my best memories are long car trips. I still remember everyone in the car singing "the ants go marching" to the beat of the terrible roads in Pennsylvania. If you're not comfortable with that on the way down you could try it on the way back and see if it works for you. Then, you'd also get an extra day at home to rest and do laundry before starting back to work.

Since you don't have a car, you aren't tied to Disney restaurants. There are a lot of good restaurants around. If not eating on property, download Urbanspoon for your phone and check out reviews of some of the locally owned places. That way, you avoid the chain restaurants and try something new which makes you feel like you're really away from home. You might have to drive a bit closer to the city and away from the parks, but I've eaten at several local spots over the years that were great food and good prices.

That being said, I feel like Epcot has the best table service meals on property. Personally, I'm not thrilled with any of the restaurants in Hollywood Studios. I highly recommend Boma at AKL for breakfast. That's our one MUST DO place every time.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

10 hours by car is really not a big deal for one day. I too would view this as a cost savings opportunity vs 2 days. Something to consider anyway.

We haul a ton of stuff into the parks, but hate lugging it around all day. We prefer lockers.