WDW with tween/teen?

[Twoboos]

We're headed to Disney in April. Both DDs said they really wanted to go - which surprised me! I figured at 11 and 13 they would be done with the very idea of WDW. We are also meeting my brother and his fam there (surprise for both groups of kids, if we don't mess it up), so trying to coordinate dinners and some FPs with them. Their kids are 5 & 7 so a bit of a challenge for overlapping interests.

Any suggestions for "older" kids? And things that are great across all ages? I'm going to review the restaurant recommendation threads but I'll take any of those, too.

TIA!

[kdeunc]

We may be outliers as our whole family loves all things Disney but my boys were this age last summer when we went and they really enjoyed everything, even the "kid rides". We were with younger cousins too and they liked sharing the excitement with them. If the 5 & 7 year old are adventurous you might try Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. My boys liked those a lot. Pirates of the Caribbean is always a huge hit for us as is Micky's Philharmagic (spelling) Show. In EPCOT, Soarin, Test Track and the Frozen ride were all favorites this time.

[georgiegirl]

We are heading to WDW for spring break and DD turns 11 while we are there. We are going to do pin trading for the first time, since a friend who took her tweens (11) recommended it. My kids seem very excited about pin trading. They do love all of the rides, especially space mountain and thunder mountain


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[Gracemom]

We went in December with my 10 year old son and 13 year old dd. We loved the faster rides, going on each multiple times. There is a card game at Magic Kingdom they loved: Sorcerers of the Magic Kindgom. The Star Wars fireworks at Hollywood studios were awesome too. We loved trying foods from the countries in Epcot. Have fun!

[bnme]

We've been to WDW 5 times over the years, the last time was last summer with 13 and 11 yo boys. They would go again in a heart beat. Just some notes--
-They love the bigger rides, and they are not too big for me to ride with them (Rock and Roller Coaster, Everest). They love riding multiple times.
-They are more into the fire works show then when they were little and cranky at that hour
-Not into the characters that much anymore, except Star Wars
-Spent more time browsing Epcot countries
-I think it is a great way for older cousins to interact with the younger ones - there are still rides for everyone and the bigger kids may enjoy them more with little ones (wouldn't normally be caught dead on IASW, but would do it with their little cousins. Same foe character meals).
-My kids also like pin trading and the card game thing
-Pool time is great for the them to interact with the younger ones

[erosenst]

In addition to the above - check out the Hidden Mickeys book. They all should have fun looking.


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[jayali]

We stay in Disney every Spring when we head down to Spring Training. DS is almost 13 and he loves it.

In Epcot we did some sort of Spy thing that is guided with phones. That kept him and DS occupied one afternoon for a couple of hours (including stops for beverages!).
He loves extra magic hours and riding the kiddie rides at night. Too cool to wait on line with me for them during the day!
We fast pass the bigger rides.
He LOVES lunch at the Animal Kingdom hotel. Seeing the animals that close up is cool and he really likes the food. Me not so much!
We used to love to sketch the characters at Hollywood Studios, but I think that has closed or moved to Downtown Disney.
We all love pool time and usually schedule it when the little kids are in the park. This way the slide is not too crowded.
They also usually rent a boat and ride on the lakes. He really likes that.

They will have fun just being together! Have fun.

[mytwosons]

Just a warning - We have always been rope drop people, but that turned out to be impossible with a 12 yr old. I had to really adjust my expectations on what we could ride in a day!

[Gracemom]

Just a warning - We have always been rope drop people, but that turned out to be impossible with a 12 yr old. I had to really adjust my expectations on what we could ride in a day!

That's a benefit of fast pass plus. You can make them for the afternoon and let them sleep in! And take advantage of evening extra magic hours. My DH and dd stayed at mk until 2 am! They also aren't into parades so we went on rides when the lines were shorter.

[teresah00]

We just back from a trip. My girls are 11 and 4.5 and my boys are 9 and 6.5. We went w friends that have boys that are 4.5 and 6.5. My 11 yo had a great time. She's great w younger kids and enjoyed going on rides w the younger kids, and we also split a few times so she could do some extra big kid stuff. We were at the parks when they opened every day. One night I took her back to Epcot until 11pm. Her favorite ride (and my 9yo) was Rockin roller coaster. Everyone except my 4yo loved tower of terror. There were really only a handful of things that they weren't happy with.
Rides everyone enjoyed: Kali river rapids, any of the roller coaster (7 D mine train), splash mountain (4yo favorite), safari, toy story ride at Hollywood studios, test track, tomorrowland speedway.