Try these picks for low-cost Disney fun!

1. Visit Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club Resort.

The legendary kitchen sink sundae would set you back quite a bit more than $10, but there are many hand-scooped ice cream creations to be had for less than $10.

2. Explore the Crescent Lake Resort area with a cruise on a Friendship Boat.

These boats run all day, making a circular trip between Epcot and Hollywood Studios parks, and stopping at each Crescent Lake Resort in each direction. There is no charge to ride these boats, which leaves you with a little money to spend when you get to your destination.

3. Is it time for a meal?

You can grab a slice of pizza and a drink at the Boardwalk Pizza Window, and sit at one of the outdoor tables while you eat.

4. Spend some time browsing for souvenirs in the shops on the Boardwalk.

Be sure to visit Seashore Sweets or the Boardwalk Bakery if you’re looking for a sugar rush!

5. Roast marshmallows and watch an Outdoor Movie at Yacht and Beach Club.

Smore’s kits are available for around $5. After you’ve made your snack over an open fire, grab a beach chair and watch a Disney film under the stars.

6. Stop in to ESPN Club.

A Full meal will be out of reach here for less than $10, but sports fans can stop in to grab a snack and a drink and immerse themselves in the world of Sports at SportsCentral.

7. Enjoy some arcade gaming.

You can head to The Yard at ESPN Club for sports themed games. For games of a different variety, visit nearby Side Show Games at the Boardwalk Inn, or the Lafferty Place Arcade at Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney’s Beach Club Villas. There is also a game room at the nearby Dolphin Resort.

8. Hang out and take in the entertainment on the Boardwalk.

Try your luck on the Midway Games and watch live entertainers, called Buskers, perform outdoors on the Boardwalk. You’ll find performers with a variety of talents, from sword swallowers and jugglers to magicians and strolling musicians!

9. Rent a bike at the Boardwalk Inn.

The trail that winds around Crescent Lake passes 5 Epcot area Resort hotels and extends for almost a mile.

10. For some fun out on the water, visit the Cabana Beach Club outside the Walt Disney World Dolphin.

Both pedalboats and hydrobikes are available to rent for less than $10.

I’ve included a bonus activity: miniature golf is a short walk away at Fantasia Gardens.

This activity doesn’t quite qualify for our 10 under $10 list, because of the regular price of $12 a round. Fortunately, there are many discounts available that will bring the price down a bit closer to our $10 threshold.

• Anyone can get 50% off a second round of miniature golf on the same day.
• Look for the coupon in the back of Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2012. It is good for 10% off one round of miniature golf before 4:00 pm, and it’s good for up to 4 people. It expires 12/31/12.
• Disney World Passholders get 50% off rounds of miniature golf, and Disney Vacation Club members get a 15% discount. These discounts are for the passholder or member and up to three guests.
• All Magic Your Way vacation packages include a voucher for one round of miniature golf per room. If you are on the Magic Your Way Premium or Platinum vacation package, unlimited miniature golf is included.

Are you heading to Downtown Disney? Visit our teen-friendly “10 under $10″ recommendations here.

To discover even more activities at Disney World for teenagers, visit “A Teen’s Guide to Walt Disney World.”

Visit our “Activities by Interest” section at Disney For Teens for a sneak peek at teen-friendly, fun activities available around the World. We have recommendations for Sports Fans, Theater Lovers, Outdoor Enthusiasts and more. Do you have an interest that isn’t represented on our site? Just write in the comments to let us know what you’re into, and we’ll give you our top picks!

Our newest list at Disney For Teens is up here… Disney World for Car-Lovers! Check it out!

Disney trip planning can become an obsession, and even the most tolerant among us can grow tired of the endless number of choices and decisions that can be made in pursuit of the perfect Disney trip!

If you don’t want to wear your teenager out before you even get to Disney, you can come to us and get a teen’s opinion first!

Visit “Ask a Teen” in our Disney For Teens Community, and ask away. We’ll get real teens to let you know what they think!

You can register and post in our Forum, or send your question to DisneyForTeens@hotmail.com!

What do you think?

As the crowds descend upon Walt Disney World to enjoy all that Holiday fun, we thought it might be nice to highlight some special Holiday activities you can enjoy while you take a break from the busy Disney theme parks.

Visit us over at the Dragyn’s Lair where we highlight some special “Outside the parks” fun! As always – our picks are 100% teen-friendly!

Holiday fun around Walt Disney World – outside the Parks! 

]]> http://www.disneyforteens.com/2011/12/holiday-fun-at-walt-disney-world-outside-the-parks/feed/ 0 http://www.disneyforteens.com/2011/12/disney-gifts-for-the-ipad/ http://www.disneyforteens.com/2011/12/disney-gifts-for-the-ipad/#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:38:48 +0000 admin http://www.disneyforteens.com/?p=1671 Two Disney gifts for tech-savvy teens, and one for the younger sibling.

The Disney Spotlight Microphone

Rock out and sing along – Karaoke style – to your favorite songs using a pro-quality, digital microphone. Features like built-in pitch enhancement and pro-voice effects will make you sound like a star, and you can record your own music video to share with friends.

The price is $69.99, or $99.99 for the wireless version.

Disney‘s AppClix Digital Camera

Disney’s $79.99 AppClix 7 mega-pixel digital camera connects directly to the iPad. Once the pictures are uploaded, they can be customized with the free “Disney Pix” app.  A large collection of frames and “stickers” can be added to the pictures in layers – like Disney characters or props, or silly face and hair pieces.

Disney Appmates

The third Disney iPad gift is probably not going to be exciting for the family teen, but younger kids will love it. Disney and Canadian toy maker Spin Master teamed up to create “Appmates.” A toy car based on the characters from the “Car’s 2″ animated movie can be moved across the iPad screen to explore the virtual world of Radiator Springs, race Cars characters and solve missions to collect hubcaps.

One car sells for $12.99 while a two-pack goes for $19.99, and the app is free.

We’ve talked about the benefits of things like Disney transportation and the use of cell phones for giving older teens some freedom to explore on their own.

But how do you balance the needs of families traveling to Disney World with younger teens?

These kids may not have any interest in riding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh with the rest of the group, but they aren’t really ready to take off exploring completely on their own. The answer is the same, but on a different scale: splitting up for individual attractions.

In about the same time as it takes to experience the Winnie the Pooh attraction, your younger teen could head off to nearby Tomorrowland and experience the Tomorrowland Speedway. Both groups could easily meet up at an established location, and little time would be lost.

In this way, your younger teenager can be taking small steps toward independence, rather than being dragged unwillingly along to experience Disney World attractions that don’t interest them.

Attractions of different types are spread throughout each Disney World park, and this layout means that you are always steps away from some “teen-friendly” alternative destination. This also works in reverse.  For example, you can give your teenager time to ride Splash Mountain while you make a roundtrip on the Magic Kingdom railroad. The keys to successfully splitting up are to choose an attraction with a similar combined wait and ride time, and having a clearly established meeting place. (We also think cell phones, used politely, are helpful tools in this situation!)

How do you choose an alternate attraction? You can’t tell by looking at a map how long a ride experience will take, so you need some knowledge of the park to be able to make a decision like this on the fly. The wrong choice could mean stress and time wasted while you try to get your group back together again, so you may want to have some choices planned out in advance.

If you aren’t able to rely on your own knowledge of the parks to make a ride substitution decision, don’t despair! “A Teen’s Guide to Walt Disney World” has suggestions for an alternate attraction or activity for each ride in all four Disney World parks, and a clearly defined suggested meeting place for getting your group back together again. We like to call this the “Disney Shuffle,” and this resource is available at Disney For Teens. The “Disney Shuffle” can provide greater flexibility so that you can better balance the needs of everyone in your group.

You can improve the quality of the time you spend together by allowing your younger teen to make some choices during your touring of the Disney parks.

Be sure to include some of the attractions they want to ride, and allow them to skip the ones that they don’t!

Would you like to be able to provide a special experience at Disney World for your teenager, but are worried about the expense?

Well, there’s one option that can actually save you money. Please visit our friends over at Nerd Wallet travel, and read our guest post to learn more! http://tinyurl.com/6qrtj2j

Touring Disney World with teens makes cell-phones a “necessary evil.” But here’s how you can make them a little “less evil!”

In my last post, I discussed my reasons for believing that cell phones are a necessary tool for touring Disney World with teens, but a discussion of cell phones at the parks wouldn’t be complete without talking about a little bit of cell phone/ theme-park etiquette.

As I mentioned before, there is a strong anti “cell phone on vacation” contingent out there. People who prefer to leave their cell phones at home often complain about being forced to listen to loud but one-sided cell-phone conversations while waiting in line for an attraction, or having a show or dark ride experience disrupted by the glaring light of someone’s cell phone display. This is why we prefer texting to calling, whenever possible, and always save our texting for after the show or the ride!

What does this mean for parents and teens?

1. Part of the agreement for teens tethered by cell phones should be to respond quickly to texts from their parents, but parents should expect that at times a response won’t come immediately.

2. Teens – if you know you won’t be available for a while, you should send a text telling your parents why. Some shows and experiences – like Ellen’s Energy Adventure at Epcot’s Future World – are long, and could result in a panic-inducing wait for your parents!

3. There will be times that only a phone call will work, but you can still minimize the obnoxiousness. Make sure to lower your voice during the call, and try to step away from others while you talk. (Also, be sure not to block any high-traffic areas during your call!)

Just for fun, here’s a list of some rules of Cell Phone Etiquette that serve well in the real world, as well as at Disney World. Can you think of anything that should be added to the list?

Via: Cell Phones

So go ahead and use your cell phones, but be sure to use them politely while touring Walt Disney World with teens!

When you’re traveling to Walt Disney World with teenagers, a little bit of flexibility goes a long way.

It’s totally inevitable – the members of your group are going to have different priorities. By far, the easiest way to get everyone to the attractions that they’ll like the best is to be able to split up on occasion.  But even with a good plan and an established meeting place, the process of meeting up again can burn up a lot of park time – not to mention the grumpiness you’re likely to find in the group that spent longer waiting for the reunion.

We’ve heard all the arguments in favor of ditching technology so that you can “let go and enjoy your vacation.” While we think this is a nice sentiment, it’s only nice if you plan to stay together ALL THE TIME. In reality, even a trip to the bathroom can cause frustrating delays. (“What? Cosmic Ray’s has more than one entrance?”)

We believe that text messaging is the best thing to happen to Disney World Vacations since, well… Disney World itself. Text messaging gives you the ability to send a runner for fastpasses, and the flexibility to jump into a line with a 5 minute wait. The group can adjust plans on the fly, and avoid the crankiness that comes from knowing you stood in one place waiting while the rest of your group fit in some extra fun without you!

The benefit of touring Walt Disney World with cell-phones for teenagers and their families just can’t be overstated. Mom and Dad are going to be much more comfortable giving their teens a bit more freedom with the lifeline of a cell phone. Teens and their parents can send photos and texts to keep in touch, and easily adjust if there’s a change of plans. Everyone wins!

If you’ll be bringing your cell phones from home, be sure to check with your cell phone provider beforehand so that you understand the details of your plan. Make sure that there will be no extra charges for roaming or texting while you are away from home, and change your plan temporarily if necessary to avoid unwelcome surprises in your next bill.

What if a cell phone isn’t practical or necessary for your teenager in your normal life? This trip doesn’t have to be the “gateway” to a new cell phone contract for every member of your family. A great option is to purchase a “pay-as-you-go” cell phone, and load it with minutes (and text messaging capability) especially for your trip. Many cell phone providers now offer such an option, and retailers like Wal-Mart and Target also have options that might work for your family. If you plan to get the phone before you leave for your trip, just make sure there won’t be any barriers to using the phone in Florida!

However you go about providing one, a cell phone for any member of your group that might want to venture off alone is a ticket to better touring. With a teenager that can explore on their own, and a parent that can call them back again, you’ll find great balance.

With the help of a little technology, your family will discover that Disney World is great for teenagers, too!