Help me, teens! Taking 14 year old boy to WDW, looking for fun things outside of parks!

wildernesslodgelover

<font color=darkorchid>LOTW charter member!<br><fo
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Jun 3, 2004
Ok.... so he and his 12 year old sister would prefer IoA but I’m such a WDW lover I selfishly would prefer Disney! I’m more familiar with the resorts and the general layout. However, alllll that I know is from taking my daughter (she’s now 20) to Disney. These are my boyfriend’s grandkids so I’m trying to impress! 😊
Bottom line is, they will be missing two days of school and staying at a resort hotel...so it’s going to be good no matter what! I thought about Disney Quest and Richard Petty Driving but DUH.... I’ve been out of the loop so long I just found out both are closed!
Is NBA thing any good? It doesn’t have the greatest reviews. He’s definitely a sports nut so anything athletic related is good. He also loves fishing.... anyone do a fishing charter that WDW offers?
Give me some ideas.... we haven’t decided on a resort hotel yet... because it depends on the activities we choose to do. Also, I’m not a Star Wars fan and know nothing about the new park but I think he is so we are open to doing it.... is it really that great? We are trying to avoid crazy crowds and long wait times. We just took his younger grandkids to MNSSHP and had a great time with 5-20 min wait times.... so if there are any after hour park activities that aren’t as “babyish” at any of the parks, let me know!
Thanks for your help!
 
My teens love Disney - and so do all their friends. It was about age 12 that my son was a little squirrely about it, but that was one trip and it passed quickly. Outside the parks, I like your fishing charter idea and I personally don't know of any other ideas. Sorry. But inside the parks, I wouldn't miss all the big rides - FOP in my book would be an absolute must do with them, and I'd do it whatever way is possible: 60 day FP reservation, rope drop, just before close (they inflate the wait times then), endure a long wait - whatever it takes to get on. They should like EE, ToT, RnRC, Splash, Space, BTMRR. Maybe book a neat TS ADR if they like eating. Have they ever been to Disney? Because seriously, the only people I've ever met who rebuff Disney are people who have never been there.
 
Honestly?

I took my 13 year old nephew to Disney. I was really worried that he wouldn't be into it, but we really just emphasized the big thrill rides. He had never done a rollercoaster that went upside down. And part of the fun was making sure the magic was alive for his 10 year old sister, and the other young guests around us. Disney is only lame if you're trying to push the kids to do things and rides they're not interested in. Don't expect the kids to want to get on the Winnie The Pooh ride. But at the same time, kids love competitions and challenges. Try gauging their interest by challenging them to do all the rides in a park in one day (this can be kind of fun because they'll be hopping on rides with short lines like Small World just to check it off the list, and trying to prioritize when to do what). Or letting them have some sort of control over what lines to wait in.

They might be huffy while waiting in lines, but the truth of the matter is: you're in disney. They'll probably forget about what the other parks offer if you try to keep things fast-paced. Remind them that they could be in school and chances are you'll get a lot less complaining.
 
14 year old boy - The Void in Disney Springs. Virtual Reality game. Currently, they have a Star Wars version and a Wreck-It Ralph version.
 


I would encourage you to just do the NBA Experience. I don’t think it’s the best thing in the world, me being a sports fan myself, but the kids and teens I’ve seen doing it always seem to have a blast. Highly prioritize E ticket attractions. I just got back from the parks yesterday, and the wait times were nonexistent. I was able to get many Fastpasses for big rides, Everest never had a wait above 15 minutes. If you’re going anytime soon, you should have no trouble riding what you want to.
 
Ok.... so he and his 12 year old sister would prefer IoA but I’m such a WDW lover I selfishly would prefer Disney! I’m more familiar with the resorts and the general layout. However, alllll that I know is from taking my daughter (she’s now 20) to Disney. These are my boyfriend’s grandkids so I’m trying to impress! 😊
Bottom line is, they will be missing two days of school and staying at a resort hotel...so it’s going to be good no matter what! I thought about Disney Quest and Richard Petty Driving but DUH.... I’ve been out of the loop so long I just found out both are closed!
Is NBA thing any good? It doesn’t have the greatest reviews. He’s definitely a sports nut so anything athletic related is good. He also loves fishing.... anyone do a fishing charter that WDW offers?
Give me some ideas.... we haven’t decided on a resort hotel yet... because it depends on the activities we choose to do. Also, I’m not a Star Wars fan and know nothing about the new park but I think he is so we are open to doing it.... is it really that great? We are trying to avoid crazy crowds and long wait times. We just took his younger grandkids to MNSSHP and had a great time with 5-20 min wait times.... so if there are any after hour park activities that aren’t as “babyish” at any of the parks, let me know!
Thanks for your help!
maybe take them to Universal Studios, theres a lot of stuff there they would probably like
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.... I should have clarified we are only staying 2 nights, on Disney property (I just booked a cabin at FW) and only doing ONE park.... which will probably be IoA because that’s what they want😪
So I was looking for stuff to do on WDW property without going into any parks.

McKelly I’m not familiar with the Void so thanks for mentioning it, I will look into it!

Stayouttathedamnlakes- yeah I think it might be something we should do, thank you!

Disneycountrygirl and itbesjamie I think if we had to go to MK because of younger kids (Like if we ever take them with their younger cousins) they will enjoy it.... since we are only taking them I want to focus on their tastes so IoA it is but I admit I’m not thrilled! Lol. Thanks for your suggestions and input!

Justanotheruser thx!
 


The cabins at ft Wilderness are great and you will find plenty to do there without ever leaving. Rent bikes (or better yet a golf cart!!) or fishing poles, go horseback riding, spend time at the pool, play basketball, the campfire singalong is fun for all ages, and who doesn’t like s’mores??? Honestly, there is enough there to make any kid happy for a day
 
The cabins at ft Wilderness are great and you will find plenty to do there without ever leaving. Rent bikes (or better yet a golf cart!!) or fishing poles, go horseback riding, spend time at the pool, play basketball, the campfire singalong is fun for all ages, and who doesn’t like s’mores??? Honestly, there is enough there to make any kid happy for a day
Thanks! Yeah I’ve always been a big believer of enjoying the things going in at your own resort rather than doing parks all day, every day. We are already planning a trail ride and golf cart was already discussed and decided on! I’m very excited!
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.... I should have clarified we are only staying 2 nights, on Disney property (I just booked a cabin at FW) and only doing ONE park.... which will probably be IoA because that’s what they want😪
So I was looking for stuff to do on WDW property without going into any parks.

McKelly I’m not familiar with the Void so thanks for mentioning it, I will look into it!

Stayouttathedamnlakes- yeah I think it might be something we should do, thank you!

Disneycountrygirl and itbesjamie I think if we had to go to MK because of younger kids (Like if we ever take them with their younger cousins) they will enjoy it.... since we are only taking them I want to focus on their tastes so IoA it is but I admit I’m not thrilled! Lol. Thanks for your suggestions and input!

Justanotheruser thx!

If you’re staying at fort wilderness might want to look into a fishing excursion on bay lake !
 
If you are looking for things outside of the parks... the Eye over Orlando, along with the Swings over I-drive is something fun...( they are right there together)... wonder-works..... If you have a car, you might want to hit the beach over in Cocoa... and check out Ron Jon's over there... I know there is one at Disney Springs now, but hitting the one on over at the beach is pretty cool... as well you can have lunch at the port right on the water, next to the cruise ships... as well Cape Canaveral is just another thing that age group my like...

Our friends have their grandkids every year for 3 weeks ... and their grandson who is 14 almost 15 and dislikes everything or at least act's like it, he loved the Void at Disney Springs, the Eye and the Swings, and really got into Cape Canaveral which they were totally shocked about as he really doesn't say much or seem interested in any thing... could not stop talking about how cool it was and even asked questions on a tour... he did asked for this book that he saw when they were there for Christmas... they had lunch at the port and the kids loved being up close to the cruise ships.. So when they came for Christmas and all he wanted was to go back to the Cape Canaveral... so my friends DH took him just the 2 of them and they spent all day there...
 
My experience with the fishing charters is that the waters are so overfished that the chance of catching anything (of any size anyway) is very slim. I’d look for a better way to spend those few hours especially since you only have a couple days this trip.
 
A place that is an absolute MUST for our family outside the parks is Fun Spot America. (They have two locations - one in Orlando and the other in Kissimmee). It is an amusement park place with roller coasters and other thrill rides but the ENTIRE reason we go is the go-cart tracks! (The Orlando Fun Spot has much better go-carts.)
They have multi story tracks and it is so much fun! Whenever we go to Orlando, we always take an early flight and we land in Orlando around 12:00 - 1:00. We immediately head to the Orlando Fun Spot. We ride the go-carts for about 4 - 5 hours. Everyone in the family loves this. We have had ages as old as 78 going and as young as 6 (younger children ride with an adult). Everyone has a blast!
They also have an arcade. Personally, we don't do that, but if you need a break from the heat, I think a 15 year old boy would like it.
They have a really nice website with all information. Just look up "Fun Spot America".
Have fun!
 
You don’t say whether it’s a 2-day trip or 2 days out of school running into a longer stay in the holidays, but if you’re willing to go off-site (you would need a car) I would recommend an airboat tour - we always do one when we come to Florida and try to use a different company each time. I think most teens would find alligators in their natural habitat both fun and fascinating (not to mention the other wildlife, and the experience of whizzing across the water). The airboat folks never guarantee gators, of course, but we’ve done a good half-dozen of these tours over the years and have never failed to see some.
 

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