Five Useful Tips for Visiting Disney with Teens
By Allie Lippert
How to Have a Magical Time with Young Adults at Walt Disney World!
Often, people think of Disney World as being “babyish” and that once kids are past a certain age, it’s too late to enjoyably take them there. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Today’s vast complex that comprises Walt Disney World has so much to offer the 13-19 year-old set— you just need to know where to find it. Let’s explore doing Disney with teens…
1 - RESORTS
Photo by Allie Lippert
Typically, older kids and young adults gravitate toward having something to do (unless, of course, they’re my kids, who gravitate toward lying around on the couch). Thankfully, Disney offers several Resort options that capture teen-interest. My top choice is Disney’s Beach Club Resort.
With its 3-acre, outdoor waterpark-like recreation area Stormalong Bay, teenagers will be anything but bored, instead enjoying one of the highest and longest waterslides on property, a lazy river, sand volleyball court, and tanning deck, plus fitness center nearby. This Resort is also host to Beaches & Cream, a retro soda-fountain shop featuring a working jukebox and highly Instagrammable ice cream dessert, The Kitchen Sink. Beach Club is a Deluxe category Resort and a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) Resort which means it offers accommodations beyond a standard hotel room, including 1, 2 and 3-bedroom Villas; what teen—and sanity-maintaining parent—wouldn’t appreciate separate bedrooms and bathrooms for their stay? And heading to the parks with kids who *might* complain about having to get up early is a breeze; it’s only a 5-minute walk to EPCOT, where families can also hop onto the Skyliner for a quick ride to Hollywood Studios.
2 - PARKS & ATTRACTIONS
While the Disney Parks have plenty of nostalgic, slower-paced attractions to entertain guests from ages 1 to 92, there is no shortage of thrill rides to draw in those action-seeking teens. Disney World’s flagship Park, Magic Kingdom, hosts the newest shiny coin on its rollercoaster roster: TRON Lightcycle/Run. Amidst TRON’s dark yet exhilarating and computerized world, guests ride their very own Lightcycle, racing through The Grid on a seamless track at some of the highest speeds across all of Disney’s parks.
At EPCOT, you’ll find Disney’s other new thrill ride, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Often called the best ride in all of Walt Disney World, Guardians of the Galaxy features a riveting reverse launch and is a hybrid of dark-ride, rollercoaster, and Ominmover, taking guests on a wild, 3-minute+ journey through space and time, intermittingly rotating the ride vehicle 360 degrees along its intergalactic path.
Revered for its beautiful and calming natural surroundings, Animal Kingdom still brings its thrill-game to the table with Expedition Everest, one of the most intricately themed—and tallest—rollercoasters in all of Disney World. Embarking on a chilling, Himalayan adventure to Mount Everest, guests will encounter high speeds, plunges in darkness, a “broken” track, and a harrowing encounter with the Yeti.
Lastly, at Hollywood Studios, thrill-seekers delight in the greatest abundance of exciting options at one park. A teen’s paradise awaits just beyond the front gates, from inside Galaxy’s Edge, where guests can experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, one of the most immersive and technologically advanced attractions at any theme park anywhere and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, a ride through hyperspace in the most famous cockpit in the galaxy, over to Sunset Boulevard, where screams can be heard coming from plummeting drops on Tower of Terror as well as Disney World’s only upside-down ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
3- DINING
With over 400 distinct eateries on the grounds of Walt Disney World, there is literally something for everyone—and a lot more options than just dining with those Princesses. Have a picky middle schooler wanting a deep-fried vacation? No problem. There are dozens (and dozens) of Quick Service restaurants scattered throughout the Parks and Resorts where junk food-lovers can chow down on pizza, burgers, mac & cheese, chicken tenders, fries, sodas and sweet treats to their hearts’ content. And the best part? No planning or reservations are needed; simply place your mobile order on the app and pick up your food later.
Got an 18 year-old burgeoning foodie with a more adventurous palate? Disney’s got them covered, too. With a long list of Table Service and Signature Dining restaurants on property, steak- and seafood-seekers will not be disappointed. Globally inspired menus from regions across Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe—and of course, the good ol’ US of A—can be discovered around every corner. (And of course, if you do happen to have a teen who wants that Princess breakfast, that can be arranged as well.)
4 - TECHY TEENS
When the world moves quickly, Disney likes to be in the fast lane. Out with the old, in with the new! Today, when families head to the parks and resorts, they are afforded digital and virtual tools for success that teens appreciate and tend to figure out quickly—hey, an opportunity to actually be helpful! Instead of paper tickets, maps, menus, and the like, now mostly everything can be found on the My Disney Experience app. In a flash, a teenager’s fast, fluid fingers can locate anything from those Quick Service mobile menus and ride wait times to pool hours at your Resort and where to find the nearest bathroom. Teens can also use the app to play games in the Parks, enhance PhotoPass videos and photos, and ask a question in the Chat. The addition of Genie and Genie Plus, Disney’s newest day-planning and attraction-booking systems, also requires a bit of tech-savviness… “Calling all highschoolers: Please help Mom snag that Virtual Queue spot for TRON in 0.025 seconds on your phone!” Done. More often than not, it is the teenagers who are conducting a Disney day; to a 15 year old, these activities are challenging, fun, and second nature.
5 - SHOPPING/DISNEY SPRINGS
If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed since the 80s, it’s that teenagers still like to shop—i.e. spend their parents’ money. There is certainly no shortage of opportunity to do so at the Parks and Resorts, but the undoubted reigning supreme of shopping destinations is Disney Springs. With almost 100 retail locations, Disney Springs offers guests just about anything they can dream of buying: classic Disney merchandise and souvenirs, high-end apparel and jewelry, art, housewares, and more. Some teen favorites include Anthropologie, the Coca-Cola Store, Disney’s Candy Cauldron, Free People, Lululemon, the Pearl Factory Kiosk, Ron Jon Surf Shop, Uniqlo, and ZARA. (And if kids have MagicBands, they don’t have to pester Mom and Dad for cash!) In addition to retail locations, teens will find an abundant selection of entertainment offerings such as Aerophile: The World Leader in Balloon Flight, AMC Dine-In Theatres, Splitsville Luxury Lanes, Vintage Amphicar Tours, and Waterview Park for live music and DJs. Just like the Resorts and Parks, Disney Springs can be an immersive, age-appropriate world of discovery for teenagers.