Special Trip With Son (12)

[dvcdudes]

I posted this on another forum but it might be more appropriate here:
As luck would have it my younger son is ill and will not be able to join us on our next WDW trip. My wife is going to stay home with the little guy and I'm going to bring my 12 year old.
It will be just me and him. At first devistated that we were'nt going together as a family, I've started to look foward to the "special" trrip with my 12yo DS.
NOW I NEED YOUR HELP!
I need to know of any tips (in the parks or out) of special things a dad and his 12yo son might do to make it an extra special time.
We go twice a year so we're pretty familiar with WDW but we've always gone as a family of 4. I'd like to do something a little different this time.

 

[annsteere]

Maybe your son is a bit old for this one. But, my DH and DS had the big "birds and the bees" talk at Disneyworld. They went to the Epcot production on the making of me and then sat down for a long chat. We wanted him to get that info from us and in a positive way. It worked great. (It was also a good excuse for another trip when DD reached the right age).

A father-son video game competition either at your hotel or at the cavernous video area at the Contemporary might also be a hit. Be ready to lose graciously

 

[dvcdudes]

Great Ideas so far.
Please keep'em coming...

What's this "lose graciously"???
I'll have to do all I can not to be embarrased.
He whoops my but all the time on playstation and x box.

 

[Disneydenise]

My husband and son usually get watermice and get out of my site so they can behave poorly without listening to me telling them to be careful. DH also got some sort of fishing trip once when we were there for 10 days. I think it was rather expensive but they had a great time. I really don't know what you would do with the fish you caught they must have given it away to someone because we didn't get any. My husband and son also have certain video games they love to play and they always get a few air hockey games in. Have a great trip. It has been my experience that you will be seeing your son trying to become a man real soon so make some great memories now. The boys have a difficult time when they turn 15 and when my son would admit to being a jerk he was amazed by the way we kept telling him we loved him and even if he was going to be a jerk we were going to be loving a jerk... DS is turning 17 soon and he really is someone that I am proud of. He and his dad can still go at it but it's to be expected. He still loves watching the video of all our trips to WDW. He gets a real kick out of hearing his voice when he was little. Make sure you get lots of video of him talking. Have him tell you what you guys did that day, then you can watch the movie together and make sure you keep telling the others how much you missed them when you were doing ... Have a great trip and bond nicely.

 

[bjakmom]

I'm also going alone with my 13 yo DS this summer. I'm definitely planning on the mousesprites - first 1/2 hour with me in the boat, second 1/2 hour for him to 'cruise' (maybe - depends on how he does while I'm still in the boat!) - this will be his first trip down since he turned 12 and can drive himself. We're going to catch the first show at the Comedy Club - he loves 'who's line is it anyway?'. I will submit myself to an afternoon of 'fun' at Disney Quest, endless rides on RnR, SM, ToT - I think I will have to beg and barter for my ride on PPan! We'll spend one evening at the Boardwalk - dinner at ESPN (hopefully will catch a trivia contest again - he loved that!) and walk the boards - was a big hit last trip. He likes to line up early for the shows that choose audience members to participate so that he can sit on the end, act enthusiastic and try to charm a CM into picking him - he's been very successful over the years with this ploy, so I'll let him have a go at it this time - I sit in the audience and video tape him. I offered the surfing morning at Typhoon Lagoon, but we live at the beach and it didn't sound exciting to him to surf in a wave pool, but it might sound good to your son - have a blast - I've been blessed to do some vacations inividually with each of my 3 kids and they are treasured memories for us all!!

 

[dvcdudes]

Bump Leaving in one week

 

[DixieDreamer]

I am doing a "girls only" trip with my DD in June. I am REALLY looking forward to it! Some of the things we are doing to make this our special time together:

Doing the Behind the Seeds tour
Swimming together every day - either at the resort or at BB or Typhoon Lagoon
We have our list of "overlooked items of WDW" from the DIS - and we intend to check out alot of them together!

 

[dvcdudes]

I have to check that list.
Thanks,
Keep'em Coming

 

[bjakmom]

Where can I find the "overlooked items at WDW" list? - sounds like it might fit with this trip- thanks!

 

[daveb]

Don't know your particular interests but at fort wilderness you can go for a hayride or a horseback ride or the hoop de doo review and also the campfire program.Also if you swim the shark reef at typhoon lagoon would be good togetherand I certainly stongly endorse te water sprite rentals and if he's asports fan a night watching his favorite team on the big screens with his dad aat the espn club would be good. daveb

 

[Thumper's Dad]

isn't nearly as important as THAT you do it together!

Don't make your son the center of the trip. What I mean is don't put all the focus on him and his likes and dislikes, attempting to fill the time with doing memorable things, or buying memorable thing. Involve your son in the planning, in choosing what to do each day, where to eat, when to come and go. But be sure that the focus is on the two of you together, doing whatever you do TOGETHER.

That's gonna mean you're going to have to treat him often as "your equal" and sometimes put yourself in the position of being his. Don't ever hide the fact that you are the father and he the son. Just let him see that it is your love for HIM that motivates you on this trip.

He'll remember your time together and the way you loved him and valued being with him, long after he's forgotten the specifics of what you do--long after what you buy is worn out.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Take most of your magic with you and you'll find more magic than WDW could ever create.

 

[bjakmom]

Well said, Ted, that's been my experience, too!