Taking 13 Year Old Niece for her 1st Trip.

[eeyoresmom]

Lots of 13 year old like to sleep. A LOT.......if she is one of them plan afternoon breaks and some later mornings if you haven't already. Trust me. My four always did rope drop like troupers but we return to the resort from around 2-5 every day. Next week we are bringing a 17 yo that is a sleeper and I am planning a few later mornings so she doesn't have to be up at 6:30. BTW, bless you for taking her.It sounds like things are less than ideal for her and her family right now and you are making their lives a little brighter. Maybe don't expect her to show it but she will remember this kindness.

 

[manning]

Having raised 1 moody (and 1 rarely moody) teenage girls let me ask does she actually want to go? Our oldest, at age 13 was insufferable at WDW at that age. Rude, obnoxious, impatient to the point where we just abandoned her at times in parks to let her get over whatever was bothering her.

Otherwise, I believe she can order off the kids menu without a problem. How patient will she be at restaurants? As for 50's Prime Time, will she be OK with the schtick they do? Oddly enough our 13yo at the time loved it. Have you checked out the menus over at allears.net?

Good luck and have fun.

We had the pleasure (?) of going to Disney with a 13yr old niece. Her first trip. She is lucky her parents were with otherwise she would have been dead. Those hormones were all over the place.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

I have two DD's (13 and 15) and they love Disney. We let them be part of the ADR planning to help make sure that they are happy with our meal plans- maybe your niece would enjoy this and feel as if she has some 'ownership' of the trip?
Just want to say that I think you are a great and caring aunt and uncle for taking your niece.
Wishing you all pixie dust

 

[disney2014plan]

I agree with previous posters about getting her involved. Look through some planning sites, videos etc, maybe even the restaurant boards. Allow her to have 1-2 meal picks which no-one can veto, on the understanding that she has to go to other people's choices, and then negotiate the rides. Think about splitting, even if you are a small group - if your husband is good with her and she wants to ride a thrill ride, then they can peel off to do that while you use your FP for a more gentle ride.

 

[marmar]

We took DD and her best friend to WDW at 13. We learned that 2 teenagers are much less trouble than just one. But you don't have that option. We stayed at the Yacht Club and the girls went to Storm Along Bay EVERY day. They loved Epcot because the focus is a little older. That doesn't mean they didn't go nuts at MK. We kept turning them loose at the MK but they would always come back to us every 30 minutes because they were still a little insecure by themselves. The character meal they liked the best was Liberty Tree Tavern. The food is plain American turkey, ham & roast beef. But they felt comfortable to let Tigger tease them.

If you can get away with it, you can make her feel more grown up by giving her some responsibility with your son. She can take him on rides she would feel were too "childish" for her (ie Dumbo, or Carousel). The important thing is not to make her feel put upon.

There will be times when someone in the group will get cranky and cross not just the "moody" teenager. Remember to take breaks and let every person have their choice win.