Switching it up for an 11 year-old?

[nilseks]

We have been to Disney every year for the last 5 years. My 11 year-old has loved it, but he is ready to move on. After our last trip, he told me, "it's just not that great anymore Mom." We should all have it so rough, right?!!? However, our 8 year old (who doesn't remember much from the first few trips) cried when we left, because he already knew we weren't planning on going back for a few years.

The 8 year old has kept asking to go back and a few weeks ago DH surprised me and said "let's just go again at Christmas" because we have a ton of miles and can fly for free. 11 yo didn't act like a spoiled brat about it but wasn't too thrilled either--he would like to start going to other places like Washington DC (which honestly his younger brother does not yet have the attention span for). Now mind you, the 11 yo is in travel baseball and his little brother endures TONS of baseball trips, games, etc. So I feel they're even, lol. I told 11 yo we will switch things up this time and try and make it like a 'whole new thing'.

I started the switch up by deciding to stay non-Disney for the first time. We are staying at Bonnet Creek. 11 yo is happy with this b/c they will get their own room--no more being cramped at Pop or DVC studio. So with this comes no DDP this time, which he is also happy about. My kids aren't big eaters so they don't want to sit through long meals. Told them we are going to do a few meals in the parks, one or two table service, but that's it. He is happy to have his Nutella on toast in the room every morning.

THis will be our first time with a car. We will be there for 8 days but we're only getting a 4 day park pass so we force ourselves to do other things. We will do one day at Universal (11 yo's fave) and I was thinking Kennedy Space Center, which is right up his alley. If you can help me with ideas for venturing out or fun dining places for kids, I would really appreciate it!

 

[BellaBaby]

We have gone several times and love it but want to switch up things as well. We are kinda doing the opposite of you guys. We usually stay offsite which we are still doing, but we are renting a 5 bdrm home in WH instead of a townhome. We will have our own pool and my SIL and BIL are joining us for a week. Then when they leave we are staying on Disney property for 5 nights. 3 at AKV and 2 at Poly. We haven't stayed on property for about 9 years! But w/o WH, my DH would not like to go every year or so. I can understand as the space is great with 5 of us.

Also we plan to take days off in between park days and go to Gatorland and the beach and spend a full day at our resorts.

Also, my girls have done BBB before, but this time all 3 kids will be doing the Pirates League makeover. And all 3 will take the Pirate cruise from GF on a different day. We have done many character meals and we plan to do CP lunch again, but we have never done Ohana's for brkfst or Chef Mickey's and we are going to do those for the first time.

We would love to do Universal again but it is too $$$ for the 5 of us to add this time.



I'm sure you guys will have an awesome time and hope you get lots of suggestions!!

 

[darlaya]

I have two boys now 14 and 17. We have also been to Disney many times and the boys could care less if they go back for a while. On our last trip in February, we did Discovery Cove, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Kennedy Space Center.

If I were to pick two new things, I would do Busch Gardens particularly if the kids like rides and animals. The bonus is that there is a free shuttle service to Busch Gardens which gave my DH a break from driving. Much to my surprise, my kids did not really like Kennedy Space Center. It made for a very long day. I thought it was quite expensive. They loved Discovery Cove, but I might save that for when your kids are a little older and give you another new surprise for a future trip..IMHO

 

[nilseks]

BellasBaby, I had to laugh because we really are doing it opposite, lol. For our past 3 trips my BIL and SIL have gone with us. Sadly this time they are not going because they are getting divorced. We will miss them greatly BUT again, it will be new for us and probably good to just have a vacation of our own. We travel so much for baseball with DS' team, it feels like we are always with someone.

I like the suggestions already. I guess I really need to look into some reviews for Kennedy Space Center and see if it seems worthwhile. And maybe I should look into Busch Gardens. We get so stuck into our routine, it's great to have new ideas!

 

[HeatherC]

We also go almost every year. My two daughters still love it...15 and 13. My son, however, would probably prefer not to go.

That being said, we had just came back from an awesome ten day trip. We stayed at Bonnet Creek in a three bedroom whch is just terrific. The day we got there, we did a Walmart run and picked up one of those Nerf door basketball hoops. My son played that every chance he got! Well worth $10.

To mix things up, this year we got tickets to see an Orlando Magic game which the kids loved. We did one day outlet shopping ...also a hit because they all got new Nike gear and sneakers. We went to lunch twice at Steak and Shake which my son loved...and we loved the prices.

We went to the Ale House for dinner one night and he won a really nice Magic Jersey (Adidas) from the claw machine.

In the parks, we tried to do things a little different. Went on rides we normally skip. Only one table service this time. All of us enjoyed splitting things and trying new things and fun snacks like funnel cake and churros. Our one sit down was Teppan Edo which kids loved.

We hung out at the pool one day and played free mini golf. Then we went to DTD for ice cream.

We basically took a less commando approach and all relaxed more. All of us agreed that it made for a very fun vacation.

Hope your trip is just as awesome!

 

[Magalex]

We have one 11 DS & he is still into Disney. For us we do visit every other year (last summer we went to Williamsburg VA & Virginia Beach) so that probably helps break the routine. We are staying at CBR & we haven't stayed there since he was six so he doesn't remember the resort & the pool has been updated. We are visiting Universal/IOA for his first time. We waited until he was old enough & Harry was completed. We also are in the parks more after dark for the evenings EMH (he thinks that is so cool at night). Because we are renting a car I am looking more for off-site restaurants that are different. The AMC movie theater(DTD) is now movies w/dine in. On our arrival day instead of hitting the parks we are swimming, going off-site to eat & then maybe find a cool mini-golf for the evening.

 

[Magalex]

To Nilseks: Just wanted to add about our trip to Williamsburg last year(I noticed in your post your 11 yr old was interested in Washington DC) Williamsburg has really changed for the better in recent years to interests all age groups. My DS loved it & your 8 yr old would enjoy it too. They have unlimited passes & visitor's center which you can buy tickets to evening programs which are not boring at all. We went on a Ghost walk & a program called "Pirates Among us"..Stories in different locations with storytellers in character. Spooky but not too scary for your age group. During the daytime they have the "best" Colonial actors portraying well-known historical people. If you want to leave quietly at any time during the day time programs you can. Some stay 5 minutes, some stay 20 minutes. At times I felt that Williamsburg incorporated many Disney ideas for family enjoyment.

 

[nilseks]

Great ideas!!! I had not even thought of the Orlando Magic. Why didn't I?!? My kids are HUGE basketball fans. The would both love, love, love that. Now, if they Bulls happened to be there when we were in town, that would be the greatest thing ever to both of them!

HeatherC, I think doing Bonnet Creek will force us to be far less commando. When we have gone with family, there have been more of us so we really kind of needed to stick to the schedule. This time I am going to do very few ADR's, maybe only 3 or 4 for the whole week. My husband will definitely want to do the Ale House.

Magalex, I will look into Colonial Williamsburg. Next year my son will be probably be playing at Cooperstown and we are from WI so I thought maybe we could find somewhere else on the east coast to head to after Cooperstown. That sounds like a really good idea.

 

[Donnainnj]

Have you done the water parks before? How about Disney Quest. Seems like your boys are the perfect age for these.
Donna

 

[Bowen9475]

Are your boys into Legos? You could take a day trip to Legoland. There are often codes/coupons for buying adult tickets and getting kids tickets for free.

 

[nilseks]

Donnainnj, I thought about going to DisneyQuest last time but was scared off by some bad reviews. Maybe it's time to bite the bullet on that one and give it a try! Especially if we have a chilly weather day in December.

My kids used to be way into Legos but sadly, that ship has sailed.

Love all the ideas, please keep them coming!

 

[kwhite1022]

We are just a month removed from coming home from Disney, and hubby and I have decided that our oldest two (12 and 9) will not be coming back with us the next time. They were fine for this trip and we did have an amazing time...but I want to keep those good memories I can see the hand writing on the wall, and another Disney trip will not be for them. Hubby and I do plan on taking our youngest back as she has only been once (the other two twice) and she will still be young enough to enjoy it and for us to enjoy it through her eyes. I figure, they older two are really getting to where they want to do summer camps, and my son the 12yo won a scholarship to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp this year and we had to say no, because with doing Disney would could swing both....so in the future he will be able to do that, and my older daughter can do her dance camp...both which are high on their list of things they want to do. A win win for everyone! So I know where you are coming from, hope you find the right ways to make it work for you.

 

[esk]

Nilseks, we're right there with you. We've been to WDW 4-5 times, since DS was 2 and now that he's 11, he's over it. But DD is turning 8 this fall and she still loves it. So we're doing "one last trip" the week after Thanksgiving.

Also staying at Bonnet Creek, and also only doing 3, maybe 4 days in the parks. We'll hit Legoland (because they remember it from when we lived in Europe and while we know they will be underwhelmed, we'll take them) and Sea World but that's mainly because we get in free (military).

DS11 is all into roller coasters --- bigger, faster, the better. He has literally no patience when his younger sister wants to wait in line for a merry go round. But we force them both to wait (him for her, her for him) because we don't want them spoiled. Although we do split up for a while, and we'll put him in the single rider line, so he does get to do some extra. Sea World has some great roller coasters he wants to go on.

We did Kennedy 2 years ago and DS loved it. I was bored to tears. Part of the allure of Bonnet Creek is the pools, I hope it's warm enough to swim because my son could stay in the pool all day.

We're skipping Universal because he hasn't read Harry Potter yet, so he hasn't asked about the park. I think we're just going to go less commando this time (out the door at 9ish instead of 7am for rope drop) and eat offsite when we're done, or stay late in the parks for fireworks but just like you, having been a bunch of times, there isn't the pressure to see/do EVERYTHING this time. We may skip AK completely, don't know.

So, after my long ramble, just wanted to say, with one child who is growing out of it, and one who doesn't remember much, do whatever you want, it might not be worth it to drag the older one to EVERYTHING so the younger one can experience something they don't know they are missing. And splitting up for us at some point will make everyone happier.

 

[isla bonita]

We have been going for some time now and we have switched it up plenty.

BG's is my children's favorite park.

The water parks come in second.

Swimming in the pool is up there also.

Some of their fav. meals have been at Steak N Shake. They love the burgers you can add on burgers for the bigger meat lover's. The shakes are a big hit.
Cost is minimal for what you get in my opinion. You can be louder then normal. We spend a lot of time with larger groups so it works for us.

Fud Ruckers is another that they enjoyed again because they ordered a 2lb burger. They did split it but they wanted to see what it looked like. They also enjoyed Soinic we do not hacve one here where we live.

Buffalo Wild Wings was a big hit all you can eat they tried many sauces and enjoyed the real hot one.

 

[nilseks]

esk, that is our plan too. Just going to take it easy and not rush, rush, rush. I think not having a lot of ADR's will help. Eating in the room will DEFINITELY help b/c 8 yo is not a huge morning person--tough to get him moving. My kids are night owls and the one they will probably really miss b/c we're staying offsite will be the late EMH at MK. But we'll survive.

One good thing is that both of my boys are thrill ride fans, so no need to split up. They love all the same rides and both want to go on Space Mountain 200 times in a row. It's mom who forces them to go on Peter Pan and Small World for her enjoyment, lol.