Trip planning with teenagers...HELP!!!

[carcam51]

I know my boys (14 & 16) will want some time on their own, and I'm fine with that, but aside from planning which parks and ADRs, how detailed do all of you get when you know your group will split up during the day?

 

[McKelly]

Assuming the boys have cell phones, I would just let them go where they want. Let them know to send you a text every couple hours or so and tell them when you want them back with you. I would just detail out my own day.

 

[georgina]

I know my boys (14 & 16) will want some time on their own, and I'm fine with that, but aside from planning which parks and ADRs, how detailed do all of you get when you know your group will split up during the day?

Perhaps they would like some FP? That's the only other planning I would consider. If you know what park you will be in, a few afternoon FP might be in order.

 

[liquid17]

When I plan, sometimes I take their preferences into account and I come up with something this:

7ish - Mom makes sure everyone is awake and has the plan for the day
8ish - Everyone meets at the bus stop
9ish - Dad/S/B - RnRC Mom - walk through the shops H - whatever she wants
9:30ish - Dad/Mom/S - ToT B/H - Star Tours
10ish - Everyone meet for the Great Movie Ride
10:30ish - Everyone rides TSM with a FP
11ish - snack/bathroom/photo break
11:30ish - Everyone at Launch Bay
12:30ish - Everyone rides Star Tours with a FP
1ish - Free to split up. I will have arranged one last FP for everyone - Beauty and the Beast or Tot. Some may go back to the room or hit another park or do other HS stuff,
5ish - Meet back at Caribbean Beach for dinner at Shutters (we eat here once every trip)
7ish - Split up again. Some can see fireworks at a park or catch a ride near closing time when the lines are shortish. Others, like me!, will relax in the room

An MK day is different. It's so complicated that I don't plan in advance who will want to do what ride. I have an order in which we will do rides and anyone can miss anything...but if they miss a FP and can't get another later, that is not my problem!

So, our 2nd MK day will look like this -

8ish - Bus stop
9ish - Pooh/Space/Buzz/Mine Train (FP)/Under the sea/Philharmagic/Small World/Peter Pan (FP)
12ish - If all goes well, we will have the time to ride the Riverboat @12
12:30ish - Haunted Mansion (FP)
1pm - Lunch @LTT
After lunch I have a much looser plan. I will suggest that we aim for some more FPs, check the wait times, and then hit
3ish - BTM/Splash/Jungle/Pirates/Treehouse/Tiki Room/Country Bears/Tom Sawyer Island/Pecos Bills
The order may change, but experience tells me that we should be able to do most of these in a pretty leisurely way. Not everyone likes all of these and anyone can go off on their own at any time.
7ish - Plan where to watch Wishes. Or leave before the crowd. Or skip the fireworks and fit in a few rides - we can usually ride BTM a few times without a line during the fireworks. We will probably split up here if we've already seen Wishes on our first MK night.

Our only real rule is that no one skips a TS meal.

 

[lovethattink]

I know my boys (14 & 16) will want some time on their own, and I'm fine with that, but aside from planning which parks and ADRs, how detailed do all of you get when you know your group will split up during the day?

When my oldest son was a teenager, he knew the parks inside and out. But we still had the rule to be at the same park.

But he was a party pooper as an older teen and only wanted thrill rides, food, and resort time (sleep). Once He turned 18, he stopped going on Disney vacations with us.

 

[JustinD]

I would probably plan FP throughout the day so that you can meet up and go on a big ride with them. Manage the fastpasses on your phone, and you can plan these meetups throughout the day. That might be the best of both worlds. They can run around and be independent for an hour or so, and then tell them to meet you at 10:15 or whatever for the Space Mountain fastpass.

My kids were 18 and 20 on our last trip. We stayed together the whole time. I guess that is just how we do Disney.

 

[kj2mom]

I fully expected my teenagers to want to experience the parks on their own but I did schedule the FP and the ADRs wanting us to be all together for those. Other than that I was open as long as they were in the same park as me. What I didn't expect was they wanted to be with me. They never went off on their own, even though I told them many times I was perfectly okay with it if they did. Like Justin, I guess that is just how we do Disney.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I thought my 15 year old would like to go off on his own on our last trip but he never did. I even offered for him to sleep in and meet us later but he never did. He wanted to be with us. The only time he wasn't with us was when we did adult date night and him and my daughter stayed in the room.

I would plan all FP+ for the evening. That way if they want to sleep in they won't miss their FP+.

 

[carcam51]

Great feedback...thank you all so much! I know they say now that they'd like to go off on their own, but I have a feeling once they get there they will probably stick close by. The last time they were there, they were in still in strollers and my husband was an infant when he was there last, so I know they will all rely on me for direction.

 

[pixarmom]

Our boys are ages 17, 16 and 9 and our older boys always want to stick with us too. They only went off on their own twice, and that was at our suggestion during race weekends. We offered for them to stay at DHS while I went expo with my husband to pick up his race packet (they had already been to the expo earlier in the trip to pick up the rest of our packets,) and we suggested they go to MK for a couple hours after the marathon while I was resting. They took their little brother and their cell phones, used Disney transportation and handled their own FP+.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

My 14 & 16 year olds stick with us and they've been to Disney many times. I would let them go off on their own if they wanted to I suppose, they just never ask.

 

[lborne]

We don't really make detailed plans. We also tend to stick together in the morning, and then let them take off after lunch - to either the same or a different park - and meet up for dinner. Then, at least one night, we let them stay in the room, get room service and watch the movie at the resort or TV in the room, while DW and I go to a nice restaurant. Although now that they are 18 and 14, if they chose, we will let them go to a park at night while we are eating dinner, and then we might meet up with them at the park.

 

[midge3426]

I am not a heavy planner. I do plan my dinner reservations and then I plan my day around where we would be eating. I told my teenagers what park we would be visiting and where we were dining. I had my cell phone and they had theirs. We met up for dinner and if they wanted to stay with us that was good. As older teenagers, they often went off on the bus on their own. We always had communication via phone and we always met for dinner.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I have one rule when all of us go and that is 3 different pictures taken per park as a family and they can leave us afterwards. Cracks me up when they go Photopass Photographer hunting to get those 3 pictures done early. Both have phones so contacting them isn't an issue.

I will make plans for them - like FP+ and such but if they choose not to do them, that's fine. They can go off and do their own thing.

 

[broncobill]

If they will be in the same park as you, I would just make the FP+s and any ADRs you want and let them know when and where. My daughter and her friend will some times go off on their own, but in the same parks as my wife and I. They only thing I asked of them was to eat with us, and check in once in a while. I don't do a lot of planning any way.

 

[BigredNole]

It was a different World when I was little. Parents went back to Fort Wilderness for happy hour and the kids were set free to roam MK. Most of us were 8-10. Ride the monorail in circles, go to CR game room, boat back to FW, chase armadillos through the woods there.

Now, it is not as free for kids that age. At 14 and 16, I would probably give them free range to roam where ever they wanted. They just have to check in when they are going somewhere different. This assumes you are staying on property.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

DS14 has never asked for any alone park time even when I've tried to get him to! I'm sure he will eventually but so far riding single rider TT for an hour is the closest he has come to doing anything alone.

 

[anniebean]

Got a trip with 2 teenagers next week. I've told both of them to meet up with my husband and I 30 minutes before each dining reservation and FP. Don't know how well this strategy will work, but I have my fingers crossed....plus, I'm the one that's holding the money

 

[WishnDisney]

We go in June with crowds and heat. The last time we went my kids were about those ages. They stayed with us in morning and night. Afternoons we went back to the park and that's when they had their freedom. My kids are different. My oldest has ASD and would love to go off on his own, but we need to keep an eye on him. My youngest is afraid of his shadow. The resort gives them any freedom they desire.

 

[seelyt2]

Our kids usually leave us after our early afternoon FP's are done and they then schedule their own FP's on their phone after the family's FP's are done. They are told to check-in via text every hour (or two) and they've always made good on their promise.