Children on this Trip

[KrisKid]

It's normally just us two adults in Disney but we will be bringing my 12-year-old niece and my 13-year-old nephew with us in May. We are used to only thinking about what we want to do as adults. What sorts of things should we be thinking about when bringing kids along? What should we watch out for? What don't we know that we don't know?

 

[Think Tink]

The only thing that would be different in my mind would be if they like character meet and greets. Maybe pull up the MDE app and let them take a look and see if anything stands out to them. The wonderful thing about Disney and especially at their age is that there isn't much you couldn't all do together. At their age they probably won't need a mid day break, though, I do and I don't go with children most times. I'm sure you will give them a super amazing vacation!

 

[Jiggs]

To Kids, A Donald (Or Whatever other Character with a different suit) with a different suit, is not the same to the Donald they just met 30 Minutes ago, they view each Meet and Greet as a new Character.

Get an Autograph Book, I Can't remember where they sell them, but They Make tiny autograph Books for a decent price.


Don't Ride Haunted Mansion or Stitches Great Escape, If they Kid says they can Handle Haunted Mansion, then sure, not too scary. Don't do Stitches Great Escape, However it's pretty scary from a child's stand point, and it generally stinks.

And last, Fastpasses, Fastpasses FASTPASSES! I can't stress this enough, some rides have long wait lines, and if it's a ride your kid wants to ride, but it has a crazy long wait line, Get some fastpasses, every year when we go, we get them, and they are lifesavers.

 

[Dave B]

Why would you not ride Haunted Mansion with a 12 and 13 year old, please don't tell me you think it will be scary for them? please don't? Maybe a 5 or 6 year old, MAYBE

 

[Jiggs]

Why would you not ride Haunted Mansion with a 12 and 13 year old, please don't tell me you think it will be scary for them? please don't? Maybe a 5 or 6 year old, MAYBE

Speaking in the 5 to 6 Year Old Range.
I forgot this guy was going with 12 and 13, sorry xD

 

[disneyworlddad]

I'd just say involve them in the planning. I have worked with kids that age and you never know what they will think is fun and what they will think is lame. One kids that age may love meeting characters while the other might not. One might love an attraction like country bears but the other will be bored by it and the third one might think this is so lame it is awesome.

 

[Jiggs]

I'd just say involve them in the planning. I have worked with kids that age and you never know what they will think is fun and what they will think is lame. One kids that age may love meeting characters while the other might not. One might love an attraction like country bears but the other will be bored by it and the third one might think this is so lame it is awesome.

No better way to word it.

 

[jloucks]

It's normally just us two adults in Disney but we will be bringing my 12-year-old niece and my 13-year-old nephew with us in May. We are used to only thinking about what we want to do as adults. What sorts of things should we be thinking about when bringing kids along? What should we watch out for? What don't we know that we don't know?

Well, good news is WDW is a kids place, so just being there is 90% of the mission. As far as customizing for kids go... first off, these kids (one of them anyway) are not kids, they are young adults, so pretty much anything you do, they will enjoy. I think the only exception is fine dining, which they would not appreciate. Note, I did not say they wouldn't enjoy it. I am saying they wont enjoy it enough to validate the price.

I would also let them ride stuff that might be more aggressive than you care for. Plan to wait outside an attraction occasionally. Don't deny them aggressive rides because you are too whatever to ride them.

They are going to possibly have more energy than you, so allow for a longer day than maybe you are used to. Do not drag them back to the resort because you are tired. You could try to take a break at the parks while they run around alone. *GASP*, yea, I said it, I think it is OK to give a 12 and 13 year old some afternoon run around time solo. I did this last time (technically at Universal Studios) and it worked great. I recharged for a while and they did some stuff that I was not in the mood for.

Thats all I have atm.

 

[JimW]

Why would you not ride Haunted Mansion with a 12 and 13 year old, please don't tell me you think it will be scary for them? please don't? Maybe a 5 or 6 year old, MAYBE

My nephew is now 16 and would still not ride Haunted Mansion given fears driven by his developmental delays. Would you please like to explain to him why he shouldn't be scared to ride that ride? MAYBE?

 

[larryz]

My nephew is now 16 and would still not ride Haunted Mansion given fears driven by his developmental delays. Would you please like to explain to him why he shouldn't be scared to ride that ride? MAYBE?

You're not the OP, and OP didn't say anything about developmental challenges.

 

[Cat_M]

Make sure they drink a lot of water.

Prepare to go at a bit slower pace (they should be fine for most of the day but I’m with my 12yo doing the parks at the moment and sometimes he just wants to chill)

Accept they might be too old for the meet and greets, or conversely, maybe still be too scared to go on some of the faster rides (not sure there is that many at MK) and may still love tw ‘babyish’ rides (but won’t admit it)

Suntan cream, mobile phone games for long queues...

You’ll have a blast x

 

[thomas998]

The girl will probably enjoy more things than the boy. Meet and greets are probably not something that the boy will want to do but may be something the girl will enjoy. Big thing is you need to ask them so you know what the enjoy. Character dining is another thing that may or may not be something they are into.. big thing is to ask them. Don't assume because who knows what they like... Your best resource for what to plan on is them.

But I will give this word of warning, lots of local school will have graduation trips in May so be ready for some serious but unpredictable teen crowds. Unfortunately you can't look at any WDW site for a good feel on them because WDW stopped doing official grad nights, now they are just randomly done by outside groups.

 

[jloucks]

My nephew is now 16 and would still not ride Haunted Mansion given fears driven by his developmental delays. Would you please like to explain to him why he shouldn't be scared to ride that ride? MAYBE?

How about just pointing out all the people riding it without issue? Of course if there is something about a person that makes them unusually scared, then that is a whole different topic. Like, why did you even crowbar that in here?

 

[Dave B]

My nephew is now 16 and would still not ride Haunted Mansion given fears driven by his developmental delays. Would you please like to explain to him why he shouldn't be scared to ride that ride? MAYBE?

Soooo, I am speaking in generalities, there will always be an exception to a rule, YES I would expect someone with Developmental Delays not to fall in the same bucket, just like my father who had a stroke and did not recover 100% would have different challenges than a man of his age without the stroke, so please do not take offense, but you're situation is not the norm

 

[Tom 55]

When I took my best friends kids down to Disney World I found that one did not like the rides and preferred the meet and greets. You should probably ask the kids what they want before making plans.

 

[graphite1326]

I bought the Birnbaum book. I wrote in it what rides/attractions I wanted to do. I then gave it to my kids and told them to write next to each ride/attraction they wanted to do. It really helped in our planning and at that age if us adults wanted to do something they didn't and visa-versa we could separate for a short bit. Of course my kids were mature enough to do this not like the 16 year old above.

 

[Gabe1]

My nephew is now 16 and would still not ride Haunted Mansion given fears driven by his developmental delays. Would you please like to explain to him why he shouldn't be scared to ride that ride? MAYBE?

Does the teen take advice????? There is nothing frightening in the Haunted Mansion, it is rather benign that way. Me, the worst part is the split second of the pre show when it is dark for a very split second. The rest of the attraction is well done but without any shock unlike situations like Uni Halloween.

A conversation if the comprehension and trust is there I'd say this attraction is so OK if the teen has that trust to the adult explaining the attraction to them. The details are awesome but never frightening during the ride itself. Best wishes for him.

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

Add pool time in. My kiddo just turned 13. As far as parks go, she likes everything we do. Have fun!

 

[RememberWhen]

Snacks are always good. Either bring some or plan to buy them. Hungry=cranky. It goes for everyone, not just kids.