WDW with teens -- who aren't your own.

[slmaynard26]

Hi, everyone. I need a lot of advice. Let me first say that I am completely on top of booking trips for adults and I am very familiar with the Unofficial Guidebook and other resources, but this is a new one. I am 26 years old and plan to take my cousin with me to WDW in March 2009. She will be 14 then. She is still a Disney nut, so I don't worry that she won't be excited, but I am concerned about a few other things...

1. Do I need to (or SHOULD I) get some form of temporary POA or guardianship papers for my cousin? Technically, she is my cousin's daughter. I don't know how that would work should she become injured and need medical assistance on the trip.

2. I haven't been to WDW during March for a while. The last time I was there, in 2004, it was the first week and I was alone. Her Spring Break is historically the last full week of March. Would the two of us still be able to navigate fairly easily?

3. I cannot decide on the length of the trip. She has only been to MK, and that was for a day six + years ago. Our options are five - ten days. Do your teens seem to like a longer or shorter vacation? Is there enough to hold their interest?

4. My personal preference is to stay in a nicer hotel. I stayed at POFQ last September and loved it, but have always wanted to stay at the Poly or Contemporary. Can teens appreciate those places? Any suggestions?

5. Finally (for now, sorry for the lengthy post), I am trying to pre-price my trip. Generally, I would use the last week of March 08 as my benchmark but that is Easter, and the rates are higher. Here is where I am:

I have a ticket for myself that is 10 days, no expiry. The ticket I have for my cousin is 5 days with expiry. If we decide to stay 6 nights/7 days, we can still order the dining plan even though I would only be buying a two day ticket for her, right? Also, does anyone have experience with AAA discounts? Are they room-only?

If anyone has any more information, suggestions or advice, I would love to hear it. I hope to book as soon as I can, but these are some important issues I need to iron out. Thank you heartily in advance for any help!

Samantha

 

[irene_dsc]

Hi, everyone. I need a lot of advice. Let me first say that I am completely on top of booking trips for adults and I am very familiar with the Unofficial Guidebook and other resources, but this is a new one. I am 26 years old and plan to take my cousin with me to WDW in March 2009. She will be 14 then. She is still a Disney nut, so I don't worry that she won't be excited, but I am concerned about a few other things...

1. Do I need to (or SHOULD I) get some form of temporary POA or guardianship papers for my cousin? Technically, she is my cousin's daughter. I don't know how that would work should she become injured and need medical assistance on the trip.

2. I haven't been to WDW during March for a while. The last time I was there, in 2004, it was the first week and I was alone. Her Spring Break is historically the last full week of March. Would the two of us still be able to navigate fairly easily?

3. I cannot decide on the length of the trip. She has only been to MK, and that was for a day six + years ago. Our options are five - ten days. Do your teens seem to like a longer or shorter vacation? Is there enough to hold their interest?

4. My personal preference is to stay in a nicer hotel. I stayed at POFQ last September and loved it, but have always wanted to stay at the Poly or Contemporary. Can teens appreciate those places? Any suggestions?

5. Finally (for now, sorry for the lengthy post), I am trying to pre-price my trip. Generally, I would use the last week of March 08 as my benchmark but that is Easter, and the rates are higher. Here is where I am:

I have a ticket for myself that is 10 days, no expiry. The ticket I have for my cousin is 5 days with expiry. If we decide to stay 6 nights/7 days, we can still order the dining plan even though I would only be buying a two day ticket for her, right? Also, does anyone have experience with AAA discounts? Are they room-only?

If anyone has any more information, suggestions or advice, I would love to hear it. I hope to book as soon as I can, but these are some important issues I need to iron out. Thank you heartily in advance for any help!

Samantha

Well, I suspect a limited, temporary medical POA would be a good idea, as well as bringing along her health insurance card (assuming she has one). Good thought!

I suspect most of your other questions depend more on your cousin than any general teenager, tbh, and also your relationship with your cousin. Must be pretty good, or you wouldn't be considering this! But, how long have you ever spent together? What are her interests?

 

[slmaynard26]

Thanks, Irene!

My cousin and I have not spent long periods of time together. Generally she comes and spends the night with me and then she goes home the next day. I too had worried about being with her for such a long time, but I also figured that she would be excited enough about the parks that her attention would be captured.

As a 13-14 year old, I would say she is somewhat sheltered. She does not have online access at home and still watches the Disney Channel on TV. If this makes any sense, I think that she is still at a mental stage where she can enjoy and believe in the Disney magic, even though she knows and understands that it isn't "real." With all of that being said, she is an only child and has excellent behavior, and is excited and boisterous like teenage girls are.

I thought it might also be a learning experience for me, not only because we would be spending a lot of time together and hopefully bond even more, but because I would see the park through a child's eyes. As an adult, you tend to think about the heat and the crowds and lots of other things, but I don't think kids do that as much. It was an interesting thought to experience the park as a kid again.

There are so many things to do there that I couldn't decide if a longer vacation would be in order so we could be as relaxed as we wanted to be or shorter since she might be on overload.

Does that help any?

 

[irene_dsc]

Well, as far as planning, maybe figure out what your must-do's are, and start planning out days? Do you want to do all the parks? Water parks? Since there are 2 of you, you can probably travel faster than, say, 2 grownups with 2 small kids (my only WDW trip experience!), so you might get more done quicker than we did. Also, plan for some down time, too. Personally, we had one full day at each park, plus evenings at MK & Epcot, and one of those days, we mainly hung out at our resort - and that was about the bare minimum to feel like we got to see the basics without overwhelming ourselves. Otoh, we met a couple in their early 20's who did all 4 parks in 3 days, and were enjoying mainly the big rides (tho the woman was a self-confessed Disney nut who I advised to ride Peter Pan.)

Also, consider meals - will they be just for sustenance, or will you schedule a bunch of fun ADR's for character meals, etc?

 

[slmaynard26]

I would say we would need a minimum of 6 days for all four parks, because I would like for her to see them. IMO, AK is huge but still relatively light on tons of attractions.

My plan of touring has always been sort of command-and-conquer style. Getting up early, taking advantage of early openings, touring for 3-4 hours before it gets stifling hot, then back to the hotel for a nap, swimming and a shower. Then I like to go back to the parks in the evening and enjoy the cooler weather and decorations.

My cousin has long been a veteran of getting up early because her school bus comes at 7:00. Even when she stays the night with me, we generally wake up no later than 8:00, even on a lazy day. She has told me she would be okay with that sort of plan, but I would have to check with her again. I want to involve her as much as I can with this, because she is old enough to make her own decisions and this is something I have promised her for the last five or six years.

I don't know if it would be warm enough for the water parks, but I would be amenable enough to going there if she wanted to. Esp. if we stay at POFQ, there isn't much in the way of exciting pool areas.

I don't know if we would do a lot of character meals, but my 30-something friends and I unabashedly enjoyed the Disney Princess dinner at Akershus and had our pics taken with all. I think she would like that. I would also like to introduce her to a little bit of world cuisine, since she will eat almost anything and doesn't mind trying things.

I think we would both be pretty happy on the basic meal plan with a snack, regular lunch and sit-down dinner. And we'll probably sneak some desserts or two.

I was also thinking of doing the Disney Dollars thing. I've never done that before.

 

[emmababy]

We took our 14 year old niece last summer, so I will share with you our experiences. I think that place brings out the magic no matter your age! She loved everything!! Absolutely take the time to do the character meals, at least a couple! She still was young enough to enjoy fantasyland, but a loved the roller coasters. Loved swimming. She had a couple of typical teenager moments.

We got the dining plan and found out quickly that things we thought she would like, she didn't. We went to Raglan road and she asked if they had fettucine alfredo! We went to Lecellier and she got her steak well done and asked for Ketchup! So, I rearranged some of our meals. I booked at Tony's thinking they would have alfredo, not so much!

I didn't take a poa, nor was I ever asked for anything. I would take any med's you think you might need. One night she got a belly ache and I spent an hour trying to find some pepcid.

She really enjoyed the characters. We bought her an autograph book and photo album as a keepsake. Her birthday was while we were there so we did the princess at norway. While she loved the characters, not so much on the food.

Have a great time. You are granting a wish that she will remember her whole life!

 

[slmaynard26]

We took our 14 year old niece last summer, so I will share with you our experiences. I think that place brings out the magic no matter your age! She loved everything!! Absolutely take the time to do the character meals, at least a couple! She still was young enough to enjoy fantasyland, but a loved the roller coasters. Loved swimming. She had a couple of typical teenager moments.

We got the dining plan and found out quickly that things we thought she would like, she didn't. We went to Raglan road and she asked if they had fettucine alfredo! We went to Lecellier and she got her steak well done and asked for Ketchup! So, I rearranged some of our meals. I booked at Tony's thinking they would have alfredo, not so much!

I didn't take a poa, nor was I ever asked for anything. I would take any med's you think you might need. One night she got a belly ache and I spent an hour trying to find some pepcid.

She really enjoyed the characters. We bought her an autograph book and photo album as a keepsake. Her birthday was while we were there so we did the princess at norway. While she loved the characters, not so much on the food.

Have a great time. You are granting a wish that she will remember her whole life!

Thanks for your input! I don't know if I would have as much issue with the foods, but I will definitely show her the menus on AllEars. That was helpful when my friends and I went in Sept07.

I do think she would like to have her photos taken with characters and it makes me wonder if I should spring for the Photopass. I don't have any experience with that.

I don't think she takes any meds, but as Irene said above, maybe I will get her insurance card (or a copy of her insurance card through her parents) and perhaps a notarized letter giving me some temporary rights just in case. I can't imagine that anything would happen, but since I almost had to go to the hospital when I was last there, it got me to thinking about medical things.

Did your niece have any particular favorites? My cousin is terrified of the Haunted Mansion (I think that will probably change) but loves Splash Mountain, which I have never ridden and don't want to! I promised her I would ride SM if she would ride HM.

 

[disneynewbee]

I took my bil who was 13yo on one of our trips and took his medical card and a temp poa just incase. My dd if given a choice would stay for the full 10 day. I don't think you have to worry about her getting bored at all and it would give you guys time to just hang at the pool. My dd who is 14yo loves sea world and petting the stingrays you should check it out if you have transportation. We normally stay values since that is what my kids love so I can't say how she will feel about the mod/deluxe resorts. Have fun!

 

[slmaynard26]

I took my bil who was 13yo on one of our trips and took his medical card and a temp poa just incase. My dd if given a choice would stay for the full 10 day. I don't think you have to worry about her getting bored at all and it would give you guys time to just hang at the pool. My dd who is 14yo loves sea world and petting the stingrays you should check it out if you have transportation. We normally stay values since that is what my kids love so I can't say how she will feel about the mod/deluxe resorts. Have fun!

I think the longer stay might be nice too. I was also thinking that perhaps we might leave the Friday after school gets out for SB and head down that night. I have never arrived at night before but it would give us a chance to calm down, have a nice dinner then plenty of sleep before the next day. I am torn between thinking it would be a waste and thinking that it might be beneficial since we wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of midday check-in. Does anyone have any opinion on that?

We could possibly take a day trip to Sea World, I'm not sure. I do love Sea World but since we won't be renting a car, I think we might stay on site the whole time. I would like to check out some of the hotels and the Boardwalk and such -- never been there!

 

[irene_dsc]

Hm - leaving after school might get you there pretty late, I'd think, tho I don't know how quick it is flying out of Indy - do you have to be there 2 hours before flight time to go through security? Maybe not a big nice dinner, but it would give you a good head start.

Btw, for character dinner, we really enjoyed 1900 Park Fare. It is Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, and the stepsisters, and they are all quite entertaining. Plus, the food was excellent - some of the best we had all trip. There were a lot of little girls all dressed up - I'm guessing an older girl wouldn't want to do that part, but if she still enjoys the princess stuff, she'll probably enjoy it.

As for where to stay, do you have a planning dvd you could review with her?

 

[slmaynard26]

Hm - leaving after school might get you there pretty late, I'd think, tho I don't know how quick it is flying out of Indy - do you have to be there 2 hours before flight time to go through security? Maybe not a big nice dinner, but it would give you a good head start.

Btw, for character dinner, we really enjoyed 1900 Park Fare. It is Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, and the stepsisters, and they are all quite entertaining. Plus, the food was excellent - some of the best we had all trip. There were a lot of little girls all dressed up - I'm guessing an older girl wouldn't want to do that part, but if she still enjoys the princess stuff, she'll probably enjoy it.

As for where to stay, do you have a planning dvd you could review with her?

I believe there is a 5:00 or 5:30 flight out of Indy on Friday nights. It takes two hours to get to MCO. Her school lets out at 2:45, so that would certainly help some. I am thinking that it might be easier to go in the evening because I think on Saturday the airport would be a nightmare. I don't know. I will have to ask more about it. I sincerely doubt her parents would like me to take her out of school for even a half day. I think the school system now imposes a penalty of sorts for people who do that. Which I can understand, though.

1900 Park Fare sounds interesting. I could definitely offer up the idea to her.

I do have a planning DVD, several in fact, but I will probably order a new one just to see if it has been updated. She and I do enjoy watching those.

Has anyone played the putt-putt courses there? When I've stayed at ASMu, I could always see the one course nearby but never knew how to get there!

 

[DevilDuckie]

Let's see...

1. A note from her parent authorizing you to transport her across state lines and to consent to medical treatment is enough. Make sure you have her insurance card and brief medical info (like allergies).

2. and 3. Sorry, I'm a DL girl. Dunno.

4. My experience is that teens can totally appreciate nicer hotels and restaurants.

5. See 2 and 3.

 

[slmaynard26]

Let's see...

1. A note from her parent authorizing you to transport her across state lines and to consent to medical treatment is enough. Make sure you have her insurance card and brief medical info (like allergies).

2. and 3. Sorry, I'm a DL girl. Dunno.

4. My experience is that teens can totally appreciate nicer hotels and restaurants.

5. See 2 and 3.

I am really tending to agree with you on the nicer hotels and restaurants, especially if the hotel has something interesting to see and do. I have a friend who just returned from the Poly, so I will have to get some firsthand information on that.

Does anyone have any opinion on on-site hotels that might be appealing to teens? IMO, I think Pop and AS hotels might be a bit overboard for her, but maybe not. Probably this is Cousin Samantha talking here, who likes to stay at the nicer hotels!

 

[irene_dsc]

I am really tending to agree with you on the nicer hotels and restaurants, especially if the hotel has something interesting to see and do. I have a friend who just returned from the Poly, so I will have to get some firsthand information on that.

Does anyone have any opinion on on-site hotels that might be appealing to teens? IMO, I think Pop and AS hotels might be a bit overboard for her, but maybe not. Probably this is Cousin Samantha talking here, who likes to stay at the nicer hotels!

I guess another point is, I think Pop and the AS ones tend to get a lot of teens and kids during Spring Break??? Whether this is good or bad is your opinion, but I heard a lot of reports of them being pretty loud. We stayed at CBR, which we enjoyed a lot, but the main pool is getting renovated now.

The different resorts have such different motifs, I think it is more a matter of taste, and somewhat of convenience. With 2 of you, the room size probably isn't as much of an issue.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Welcome to the DIS! I just wanted to tell you that I think it's great you are taking your cousin. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[sl_underwood]

First, I would get POA just in case- My younger brother nearly sawed his thumb off with a chainsaw a few weeks short of his 18th birthday and the ER would not allow me or my grandparents to sign for his medical care. They put pressure on the bleeding but would do nothing more for him. It took more than 1 hour to locate my parents while he sat there in pain with nothing more than a pressure bandage.

My 14 yo dd said you should try CBR, this is the resort she would stay at if given the opportunity. Also, make plenty of time for shopping and boy watching, lol. Straight from the mouth of a teenage girl!

 

[Daisy&Donald]

In September my dd 15 took a friend for 10 days, I had the parents give a medical release form, medical ins. card, dental card, rx card, high school id,
copy of birth cert and a letter giving myself permission to transport her daughter from NJ to FL(the letter included the dates, names). I know this may seem like alot but you want to be covered, just in case of a problem in the airport or a medical/dental emerg.

We stayed at the BW dd's friend was in love...she thought it was so pretty.
I booked all the dinners(LeCellier, Chef's, Coral Reef, etc), they both ate and loved every meal. During the day they ate wherever for lunch(mostly Wolfgang) and went off on their own and we met up throughout the day. But dinner was our time together to check in. So spend the time making nice dinner reservations and planning I think most kids really appreciate it.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

What a great thing you are doing!! I have little ones so I can't give you a lot of help, but maybe a few things.

I am from Indy also, and the airport is usually madness on Friday (well busy for Indy anyway!). We do like getting down there in the evening so we have a full day for a first day, but plan on getting to the airport in plenty of time. I don't know where she goes to school, but in Lawrence Township that Friday is a snow day meaning we get it off if we have not had a snow day. Of course, when booking you wouldn't know this.

We just stayed at the Poly in October and loved, loved it! That said, some of our reasons were because of the little ones - easy and quick access to MK, fun pool, but not an overly big slide for my six year old, big enough rooms for the five of us, and a balcony to sit on while the little one napped. If it were just me and a teen, I would probably think about the Epcot area resorts or my DH and I loved Wilderness Lodge on our honeymoon. It is not quite as expensive. There are people on the resorts board who can answer any question you have about the different resorts!

We are foodies and have at least one sit down meal a day. I am sure my kids think that is what all people do! Frequent the restaurants boards, and you will learn all you need to know about the different restaurants. I would definitely do at least one character meal just because they are fun! Sci Fi is also very fun and different, but the food lacks - stick to burgers if you decide to try it. Have fun! You are giving her such a great experience!!

 

[Cinderellabride]

I can't help with all of the questions, but I can with a few. I am 22, when I was a kid and a teenager my dad and I would go every February break. Now I go as often as possible with my husband. Anyway I know I would have appreciated the deluxe resorts. As far as how long you should stay, I would talk to her about that. As far as I am concerned now there is no such thing as staying to long. When I was a teenager and would go with my dad, I would love WDW and want to stay for a long time, but at the same time I wanted to be home with my friends and/or boyfriend. So by the time we got home I would be glad to get home. It doesn't sound like that would be much of a problem for her the way you describe her. Plus going with your cousin is more like going with your friends than with your dad. I would suggest you talk to her about it and ask her where she wants to stay and how long she wants to stay.

 

[barkley]

have your cousin's parent call their insurance company and find out if they have a specific form that they require a non parent to have in hand to permit usage of the minor's insurance coverage (you should have some type of med p.o.a. for services but that does'nt mean that the insurance company does'nt have their own provisions for covering services). you might also want your cousin's parent(s) to give you a verbal 'crash course' in how their insurance works (with mine for example it would make a huge difference in coverage despite the nature of the injury weather i took one of my kiddos to an urgent care instead of an e/r-any e/r would be covered, any non participating urgent care would not). another thing to have on hand that would be helpfull is just the basic info. that any med provider is going to ask for with a new patient-allergies, med history, name of current doctor, name and address of employer under whom the insurance is issued...if an emergency came up it would be easier to just be able to whip that info. out.