Multi-generational trips are priceless. My first trip to Walt Disney World was a road trip with my grandparents when I was 8 years old, and it was pure magic to me – it set the foundation for my love of Disney and of travel! But how do you meet the needs and wants of such a diverse range of ages and interests? This post is first in a series on Walt Disney World Vacation Planning: Traveling with Teens.
This is #1 in my series on planning your Walt Disney World vacation with teenagers – for more detailed planning, check out Part 2: Advanced Planning Disney Vacations with Teens and stay turned for upcoming posts:
- Part 3: Walt Disney World FastPass Planning for Trips with Teens
- Part 4: Planning your Rope Drop Strategy – coming soon!
Disclaimer
This series is your Step-by-Step Guide to planning your Disney vacation -especially when traveling with teenagers, parents, and grandparents. But please hear me – no one, myself included, can tell you what you should do on your Disney trip. It’s completely unique to every group and every visit. So I’m going to give you
- questions to think about,
- explanations for best practices when planning a Disney trip,
- points to talk over with your family,
- opportunities to consider, and
- a look into what our upcoming multi-generational trip will look like!
My Experience
I have traveled to Disney with my children and parents many times. Sometimes my husband has come along, but I’m the travel bug, so more often – it’s been just the five of us (now four, with just Joseph left at home!), and we have a diverse range of interests, for sure.
Here is how we plan our trip to Walt Disney World to make sure everyone has a great time at the Most Magical Place on Earth. I’ve even included our itinerary, but yours might look different – perhaps a LOT different, and I’d be happy to help you craft one uniquely for your family!
Step 1. Communicate with your Travelers as you begin your Walt Disney World Vacation Planning
It’s important that no one person makes all the decisions for the entire trip for a group – especially a large group, and especially when you’re talking about teenagers and other adults. You don’t want to get to the end of the trip to find out your mother is disappointed she didn’t get to ride “it’s a small world” like she did when she was a kid, or that your teenager wanted to spend more time at the pool with kids his age and less time following the adults around Disney Springs.
Questions to ask your travelers:
- What is important to you on this trip, overall? What are your MUST-DO rides, activities, or experiences?
- How important is the resort? Do you want it to scream “Disney”? Would you prefer more subtle theming? How important is ease and speed of transportation to the parks?
- Which parks are priority to you? How many days do you need at each park to fully feel satisfied without being “over it”?
- Which rides and experiences -both at the parks and on the property as a whole- are important to you?
- Are there any restaurants or food preferences to consider?
Pro Tip: I always recommend no more than two back-to-back days at the parks with a “Resort / Rest Day” in between – trust me on this! Everyone needs a break!
My Experience
Now when I ask my kiddos these questions, their biggest concerns include riding specific rides and making sure there is pool time & down time. In planning for this trip, my youngest isn’t particular about the food and resort, but the important part is that I asked. Sometimes, our kids feel like we don’t listen to what is important to them. Now that I asked, I can make sure that Test Track and Mission: Space are top priorities on our FastPass+ List, even though they aren’t rides I’d choose for myself.
Pro Tip: I get motion sick. REALLY motion sick. But I’m willing to do everything I can to help make this his most memorable Disney trip possible (see my interview with my 17-year-old in “Travel with Teens: Finding Balance”).
I use Motion Sickness Patches and SeaBands (both non-medicinal) to keep my stomach where it belongs! He’s hoping it will work on Mission: Space – I’ve never ridden it before!
Step 2. Choose the Walt Disney World Resort that is Right for your Family Vacation
We spent many early years, when our boys were younger, at the All Star Resorts. They are heavily themed and are designed to appeal to young families and teenagers. All Star Resorts provide a great, budget-friendly option with multiple great pools at each resort, kid-friendly activities scheduled throughout every day, poolside movies some evenings, a game room, and an easy-to-navigate food court that has something for everyone. They are even happy to make allergy-friendly meals upon request – as do all Disney restaurants!
All Star Sports All Star Music All Start Sports
Now that we’re older, much more experienced at Disney travel, and have just one teenager left to travel with, we enjoy the moderate and deluxe resorts and villas. They are tastefully yet subtly themed with amenities appealing to a family ready to explore beyond swimming pools, games, and poolside activities.
Staying Off Disney Property
Sometimes, larger family groups find value in staying off-property. For us, though, staying within the “Disney Bubble” is the only way to go. A couple of years ago, my youngest teenager and I took a fairly last-minute Spring Break trip to Disney and stayed at a really nice off-Disney resort property (we had an entire 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment with laundry and kitchen -all to ourselves), and my son thanked me at the end of the week, then asked me to make sure we stay on Disney property from now on. It just wasn’t the same for us!
Pro Tip: When staying off-property, be sure to take into consideration transportation time and availability. Even Good Neighbor Hotels, who partner with Disney, share a contracted shuttle service – not Disney’s transportation system. A friend of mine who travelled recently and stayed off-property had the experience of her shuttle driver getting lost trying to make his way among all of the hotel pickups on the way to the park! From then on, they called Uber.
For us, a notable part of the value of staying on-property is the ease and fun of the Disney Transportation system!
Consider the layout of Walt Disney World when you choose your resort
Where you plan to spend your days may play into which resort you choose. If you plan to primarily visit the Magic Kingdom Park, the Contemporary Resort, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian are a monorail ride (or short walk!) away. Wilderness Lodge and Campground are a quick water taxi over the Seven Seas Lagoon. But if you book a really nice room at Animal Kingdom Lodge, for instance, then spend all your days over at Hollywood Studios, you just invested a whole lot in a really nice room that you didn’t spend much time in, as far away as possible from the park you most wanted to see! Hmm…
ProTip: MagicGuides has a great interactive map that shows where the Disney Transportation goes and how long it takes to get from each resort to each park!
Step 3. Check the Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars before choosing your vacation dates
Once you know how many days you’re planning to spend at each park, and therefore, how many days you’ll be spending on your Walt Disney World vacation (taking into consideration rest days every couple of days), check the Crowd Calendars to avoid peak times at the parks, when possible.
There are a number of crowd calendars out there, all based on historical data. They are not a guarantee, but I’ve found them to be pretty reliable! If you find them overwhelming, give me a call – I’d be happy to navigate it for you!
Crowd Calendar Strategy
While many people gravitate to the parks with Early or Extended Magic Hours, we actually avoid those parks, since that is, theoretically, where most other people are headed. For us, avoiding those busier parks works. I have literally walked across Liberty Square in Magic Kingdom without seeing another soul – during Spring Break!
By checking the crowd calendars, we decide which days we will spend in each park – usually ending on a Magic Kingdom day. That’s the “icing on the cake” for us!
Pro Tip: Did I mention that I recommend no more than two full park days back-to-back? Seriously – Take a rest day in between to rest at the resort, enjoy the pool and the activities, and perhaps even take the shuttle, boat, or walkway over to Disney Springs. Taking a day off from the stimulation of the parks helps keep your stamina and interest alive – no matter what age you are!
Step 4. Outline your Itinerary
Now you’re ready to start planning the individual days of your Walt Disney World Vacation! Here’s what the skeleton of a July trip might look like for us, based on how may days we want at each park, crowd calendar data, and our planned Rest Days:
- Sunday – arrive at MCO 10:30; Magic Express to Saratoga Springs; check in; 5pm Dinner reservations at EPCOT
- Monday – Hollywood Studios / Galaxy’s Edge
- Tuesday – Magic Kingdom
- Wednesday – Rest Day
- Thursday – Animal Kingdom (Pandora)
- Friday – Easy / Rest Day / Keys to the Kingdom Tour at Magic Kingdom
- Saturday – EPCOT
- Sunday – Magic Kingdom
- Monday – Fly Home
Pro Tip: Always buy one more park day than you have planned. This way, if someone in your party is feeling like they just need a bit more Disney Park Magic, they can do so on a rest day! We actually have part of one of our Rest Days planned at the Magic Kingdom – and you’ll see why here in a bit! The more days you add on, the less expensive each day is – it may only cost $20 a person to add one more day, and that’s worth it to us!
Pandora in Daylight is incredible! Pandora at Night is Magical. The entire “world” fluoresces!
Step 5. Layer in Dining Reservations
Dining at Disney is a whole topic unto itself, so I’ll stick to the basics here. When planning your Walt Disney World vacation, consider, and then ask your family:
- Are we heavy eaters?
- Do we need 3 full meals a day? A light breakfast and 2 meals? Snacks?
- Do we want primarily counter-service / quick-service meals?
- Do we prefer sit-down, table service meals (usually with reservations)?
- How about formal dining experiences?
- Would we enjoy character dining?
- Do we have any dietary needs to consider?
Pro Tip: Regarding food allergies and dietary needs, Disney is on point! My oldest is allergic to coconut, and I am allergic to wheat and I am vegetarian. The chefs are always wonderful and sometimes even seem excited to whip up something special just for us!
Every restaurant menu lists allergy-free options now, and it you have serious allergies, you can always ask to talk to the chef, who will be happy to talk to you, show you around a buffet and provide for your needs! For dining reservations, you can indicate your needs when making the reservation, and they are happy to accommodate.
Tangierine Cafe in EPCOT An amazing Gluten-Free, Vegetarian meal the chef at Trails End cooked up for me! Gluten-Free Savories at Trails End in Wilderness Campground
My Experience
We usually eat a light breakfast in our room (protein bars or cereal & milk), counter service at lunch, and three or four evening reservations throughout a week-long stay. Check out this post to see some of our favorite counter service restaurants in Walt Disney World.
Ready for a Breather?
Before going forward, let’s first of all address the fact that this is a LOT of information. (But it’s only the tip of the Disney iceberg!) If you are overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I’m a licensed travel agent completely schooled in the College of Disney Knowledge, with years of Disney travel under my belt, and I’d be happy to help. The difference is in the experience and level of personal service that you have guiding you!
My Recommendation: Have a Plan!
Second, let’s acknowledge the “planners” versus the “go with the flow” types of visitors. It would take literally years to do everything there is to do in Disney World. And if you are frequent visitors, or you know you’re going to be back really soon, or you really truly don’t care what you get to see / do / experience, then you can definitely approach Disney without a plan in mind. But if you have kiddos who have expectations of riding rides and seeing their favorite characters, or adults who are looking forward to reliving an experience from when they were younger, you’ve got to have a plan, my friend! – or face hours of standing in line and likely missing some of those experiences you’re so anticipating!
Ready for More?
With that aside, if you’re ready to fine-tune your Walt Disney World Vacation Planning, be sure to come back for the next post in this series Part 2: Advanced Planning Disney Vacations with Teens (including FastPass+) and Part 3: How to Plan Your Rope Drop Strategy. If you want your trip to operate like a finely-oiled machine, I’m your girl!
Information Overload? Let Me Help You!
I specialize in Disney World Cruises and Vacations, and I’m always just a text, email, or phone call away!
Kimberly@NextAdventureVacations.com
816.866.8883
