Naps & Mishaps- Traveling with Teens!
(17 Reviews)
100% Recommended
Nicole Newfield
Mahtomedi, MN
Magic Coordinator & Travel Specialist
Walking down Main Street with the scent of Magic in the air...is there anything better?! Let me help get you into that moment and so many more, where your days are full of fun and memories to last a lifetime! I love planning and will design an i...
Walking down Main Street with the scent of Magic in the air...is there anything better?! Let me help get you into that moment and so many more, where your days are full of fun and memories to last a lifetime! I love planning and will design an itinerary based on what is important to you and yours. I will share tested tips and tricks to make your vacation stress-free! Want an incredible experience outside of Disney? I can make that happen for you as well! Let's get you set for your journey!
Can Be Reached At
1-651-307-0503
If you have teens, you know that traveling with them is very special and at the same time there are challenges that will arise! I myself have 3 teens (currently 18, 16, 14) and so we are in the thick of it with the teenage years! Here are my top tips for traveling with teens!
1) The Family Meeting: An essential part of pre-travel with kids, especially teens, is gathering together before travel to talk about what everyone is looking forward to, what the days will look like, AND to make clear expectations for some non-negotiables! Some of the expectations we talked about before our recent Fall trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando were:
-There will be times when we are all tired, hot, etc. and we need to try to still be kind or recover and redo when we catch ourselves being crabby with each other.
-There will be unexpected things that will happen (more on these in a minute!) and despite these inevitable events we will remember that the most important thing is we are all together and making memories!
-And on the topic of memories, I remind them that PICTURES are important to Mom and will be important to you someday, so you will smile for the Disney PhotoPass photographers and Universal Photos photographers! We will be visiting these photo spots because we want to take advantage of that feature we have paid for in our vacation package. Photos are invaluable!
2) Itinerary & Menus: With my teens, I share my itinerary cliff notes with them (cut/paste from my Notes app and text) so they don't need to ask me over and over again what is happening on a given day. They can save the notes and have them on their device. I also print out the menus and have family members initial next to what they might want to eat. This is helpful so that if there is NOTHING a picky eater will eat somewhere, we can scope out what is nearby or think of a different plan.
3) NAPS- for teens! Yes, for everyone! Particularly in Florida in the middle of the day it is hot and humid, and it can be a crowded time at the theme parks. Our routine has us heading back to the hotel after lunch and the kids can chill in the A/C- often they fall asleep. We all look forward to this down time and it is so easy to do when staying on property! Then we hit the parks refreshed around dinner time and can stay late into the evening, even if we have woken early that morning. Also related to down time is the concept of a date night for the adults (perhaps downstairs at the restaurant/ bar/lounge) while the teens do pizza or takeout and a movie in the room! We all love doing this!
4) My 4th tip is about Mishaps! Mishaps WILL happen, especially with teens! The following are examples of real-life things that have happened with us:
-Tween drops phone and shatters screen on 1st day of vacay
-Teen rolls ankle after stepping up to retrieve item from a shelf in the room and then landing on her shoe that was on the floor (her bulky platform shoe that I had told her was not the best to even have on the trip but who listens to Mom?!)
-Teen feels queasy in the theme parks in the heat after not eating or drinking enough
-2 sister teens cough on the airplane and over the 1st few days of vacay even though they have been checked out for all nasty viruses and deemed safe to travel (should have pasted NOT COVID signs on them)
-Teen's ears plug after flying and once finally unplugged, said teen goes underwater in pool and replugs ear!
What to do in these instances?! Don't panic, know that the vacation will still be amazing despite these blips as long as everyone remembers to not sweat the small stuff! Oh, and practically, here are tips for some of the above mishaps!
-Bringing your ankle brace if you are prone to sprains (and leave your dang impractical shoes home like your Mother said!)
-Making sure to hydrate in the morning and have a little protein before heading out to the parks
-If your ear/s tend to plug in the plane, especially if you have some congestion going on, during take-off and landing time periods take frequent sips from a water bottle, chew gum or suck on hard candy or even pretend you are chewing on something. If your ear does plug, repeat these methods to try to unplug it. Plugging your nose while drinking water can help. Taking a shower and holding a warm washcloth up to your ear to use some steaminess to unplug it has worked for us too. Using a saline nasal spray in your nostrils can sometimes help too since the nasal passages and clogged ears are related. Know that eventually the ear will un-plug, even if it is not until the next day.
5) My final tip is: During that Family Meeting and on the day you depart for your adventures, remind everyone to savor these moments of vacation where each day is about FUN! No one is having to go off to school or work, each morning holds so much promise!
Traveling with teens is not always easy, but it is most definitely rewarding and will create lifelong memories for all of you!