15yo First Trip

[EPSmyth]

Hello all, this is my first time posting here, and I'm very new to this site.
First a little back story! My wife and I were married last Sept, and and went to Disney world as a bit of a late honeymoon a few weeks later(wanted to make sure we had a little extra cash on hand) and stayed in the Wilderness lodge, in one of the standard rooms. It was a great trip overall. Between that and a co-worker talking it up, I ended up joining the vacation club.

That being said, my baby sister just turned 15, and as soon as I got everything squared away with the vacation club, I decided I needed to take her for her first trip. My grandmother had been talking about taking all of us before my sister went into highschool, but fell ill and died very suddenly a few years ago, before it could happen... sooo... she's had years of being told all about Disney and really, she has no idea what she's in for.
We've got a room in the Contemporary for the last week in January, and everything is all booked and ready to go. She'll be finding out she's going on christmas, but before any of that, I was hoping to try and get some feedback from people on "musts" for a first trip to Disney.
Is there anything you guys try to do every trip? Anything your kids loved doing? Anything that really NEEDS to be done on your first trip? (note: the castle is closed for renovations so we can't eat there, and we'll be avoiding the water parks, cause, ya know, winter)

I'm not too worried about cost for the trip, I'm more concerned about making this trip so awesome that it completely blows away all her expectations and makes other vacations boring in comparison

Thanks in advance for any help! I hope to be an active part of the site!

 

[zurgandfriend]

I’m not sure how long you’re going for but here are my suggestions;
1. Get your little sister a guide book e.g. “The unofficial Guide to WDW”, for Christmas when you tell her and let her plan out some of the trip. She might not like roller coasters and will want to skip Space Mountain, etc. or she might hate animatronic and want to skip hall of the presidents. Sit down together ahead of time and figure it out.
2. Get the Disney vacation planning DVD and watch it so she gets the scope of the parks.
3. Slow down and enjoy the parks. Don’t just run up Main Street to get to say, Haunted Mansion, enjoy the whole atmosphere of the parks.
4. Take a few hours and explore the world showcase you might be surprise at what you see and find.
5. Ride the monorail around the resort loop and explore the 3 resorts, take the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge and check that out as well.
6. Plan one “fun” meal e.g. Hoop De Due revue, or Whispering Canyon and get into the fun.
7. Plan a character meal, Crystal palace, Chef Mickey’s etc. and don’t forget to get pictures of each other with the characters.
8. Plan one “nice” meal California Grill, Yachtsman Steakhouse or Jiko for example but have a nice family meal together.

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

You need to find out what she would like best : meeting characters? Dark rides? etc Your FP+ choices could be based on that.
What is her favorite Disney movie? You will definitely need to do something linked to said movie.
She will also need a shopping budget... she's 15, so it's most probably something she will want to do! Maybe get family to offer her Disney gift cards for Christmas

 

[Courtney6682]

I would def take her to Chef Mickey's ...even tho she's 15. It's an experience she'll never forget lol...I would also allot at least 2 days for both the MK and Epcot

 

[EPSmyth]

Thanks for the feedback! I sat down with the wife and we booked a few meals and things...
We're going for 8 days, but only going to the parks for 6. Day 1, we're just going to downtown and having dinner at Trex since I want to make sure she'll miss the fireworks until she gets to see them in the park, and we plan to go back there the last day just to do any last shopping. We have the dessert party at tomorrow land terrace booked for our first day in the parks(which is of course MK).
We also booked a dinner at Crystal Palace for another night which will probably be the day we do Animal Kingdom since they close earlier and it really is more of a one day park.
I plan to leave all the fast pass+ stuff for her to pick, but she hasn't had any real... vacations or trips to any kind of amusement parks, so all of us will be guessing at what she might be more interested in.

I had already planned to do the dvd along with a pendant I had a friend of mine who runs a jewelry store on etsy make for her (a picture of Wendy trying to kiss Peter Pan, he's her favorite) but the guide book sounds like a really good idea, so I guess I'm getting that too!

 

[Britt]

Oh my goodness! What a magical sounding trip! What I'd give to be 15 and on my first trip (instead of the adult with financial responsibility) haha

 

[SkipperButler]

I plan to leave all the fast pass+ stuff for her to pick, but she hasn't had any real... vacations or trips to any kind of amusement parks, so all of us will be guessing at what she might be more interested in.

I had already planned to do the dvd along with a pendant I had a friend of mine who runs a jewelry store on etsy make for her (a picture of Wendy trying to kiss Peter Pan, he's her favorite) but the guide book sounds like a really good idea, so I guess I'm getting that too!

I would tentatively make your Fastpass+ selections now, that way you don't miss out on getting a Fastpass because you waited too long. The great thing about the new system is you can always rebook or exchange your choices incase she wants something else. You know she's a Peter Pan fan, might as well book her Fastpass for Peter Pan's Flight.

 

[rsoxguy]

You know EPSmyth, you're probably going to receive a plethora of strategies and must-do type of advice here, so I'll keep it overly simple. Read the online information available regarding the Parks, try to familiarize yourself well with the Park maps so that you know where to find everything, and just allow yourselves to have some low pressure fun. It's all mostly good.

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I think no matter what you do you'll all have a great time. She's lucky to have such an awesome brother!

 

[Figaro928]

When checking in, make sure the front desk knows that it is her first visit - they will give her a pin on button to wear and get a little special extra attention everywhere she goes.

Look into the magic maker photo deal. They do magic photos with characters which could be really special.

As you have already been there, you know to just go for it & completely immerse yourself in the magic. A smile and some interaction with the cast members always goes a long way.

For the big christmas reveal, you could also get her a cute pair of mickey ears!

If you really want to splurge Disney sells Dooney & Burke or Vera Bradley bags - if i was a 15 yo girl i would FREAK OUT about a sweet purse

 

[EPSmyth]

I would tentatively make your Fastpass+ selections now, that way you don't miss out on getting a Fastpass because you waited too long. The great thing about the new system is you can always rebook or exchange your choices incase she wants something else. You know she's a Peter Pan fan, might as well book her Fastpass for Peter Pan's Flight.

I believe I can start making them next month. Since we plan to hit a park a day for the first 4 days, and leave the last two up to what she wants to go back to, I guess there's no harm in grabbing what I know we don't want to miss.

When checking in, make sure the front desk knows that it is her first visit - they will give her a pin on button to wear and get a little special extra attention everywhere she goes.

Look into the magic maker photo deal. They do magic photos with characters which could be really special.

As you have already been there, you know to just go for it & completely immerse yourself in the magic. A smile and some interaction with the cast members always goes a long way.

For the big christmas reveal, you could also get her a cute pair of mickey ears!

If you really want to splurge Disney sells Dooney & Burke or Vera Bradley bags - if i was a 15 yo girl i would FREAK OUT about a sweet purse

I was wondering if the photo thing would be worth it, since knowing my sister, she'll be so busy taking pictures and making me take pictures... I'm not sure she'll care about any of the professional ones. Can you still get individual pictures from this if you don't have the package? Guess I'll have to do some research!

The purses are a great idea, but I can't shop for something like that for her. Her taste changes so rapidly anymore, that I'm always a beat behind. If all goes well though, I might be able to get her something day 1 while we're in downtown disney.