Anyone do anything special at MK for their boys ages 8-15?

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Going through reader comments from 2014, there are several that note the WDW newest attractions tend to be directed to pre-teen girls, and there’s relatively little developed that is supposed to appeal to boys.

If you have 'tween and teen boys, do you approach the MK differently for them? I’m interested in hearing whether this opinion is shared widely, and if so, whether you tour the MK differently because of it.

Here’s a quick list of the new MK attractions:

2014 - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Festival of Fantasy parade
2013 - Princess Fairytale Hall
2012 - Casey Jr. Splash and Soak, Pete’s Silly Sideshow, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Under the Sea: JOTLM, Ariel Meet&Greet
Not counted - Dumbo, Barnstormer, and the FL train station, which existed in similar forms prior to New Fantasyland,

If anyone wants to comment on whether the Frozen stuff at the Studios seems targeted to girls, I’ll take that too.

Thanks!

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We took our boys (ages 7&10) to WDW last February and for them the Magic Kingdom land priorities seemed to be opposite of what is usually recommended. Adventureland was their top priority, followed closely by Frontierland and Liberty Square. The requested that we saved Tomorrowland and Fantasyland for our 2nd day. Then they chose to skip most of new Fantasyland and go back to the left side of the park on that second day so they could repeat-ride Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and BTMRR.

Also, it seemed like we spent a lot less time meeting characters than families with girls seem to do. They enjoyed the Pirate’s tutorial, but they didn’t want to stand in line for any dedicated character meets. Doing Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom was the highlight of the trip for my 10-year-old. He would have been happy to do attractions the first couple hours of the day when lines were short, plus 3 more attractions later with FPP, and then spend the rest of the day playing Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom.

In general, I found that doing things always trumped seeing things for my boys. I don’t know if this is a general boy thing or just MY boys.

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I have a tween boy (11) and a teen girl (13). We were there last April and will be again this April. Both kids enjoyed meeting A&E in Epcot, but it’s a one and done. Only other characters we see are at 1 character meal. No interest in princesses. They also liked ETWB but it won’t be a priority in April. Both kids are excited for 7DMT since it wasn’t open last trip. My son loved SOTMK and would be happy to spend all day playing it with a few rides- BTMR, Splash, Space are all favorites. Age is also key here, my kids would now much rather be riding EE, RNRC, TOT, and other more thrilling rides these days. I don’t think the new rides/activities are geared towards girls too much, just geared towards young children. New Fantasyland is much more exciting for kids in the 1-8 age range than for my kids. MK, and WDW as a whole, could use more tween and teen rides, they are losing them to Universal IMHO.

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I’m talking Disney quite a lot at home. Ds12 was last in Disney prior to 7dmt. But basically, our plans no longer include M&G’s or anything princesses. So CRT is also off the table.

We focus on Tomorrowland (his favorite is SM) and every thing else except NFL. We tried barnstormer for the first time in 2013 and it was a one and done for him. Otherwise, there’s nothing really in NFL now except for 7DMT, that he says he needs to do.

SOMK is the best thing to come around and he’s looking forward to doing that again the next time he’s there. Otherwise, he’s big on finding hidden mickeys. And now he wants to do the tours since he’s old enough for a couple.

ETA: he IS more interested in US/IOA because the coasters are more thrilling and he’s into that like me. Disney does need to add some more stuff to bring the tween boys back into the fold.

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Warning— this has more than MK info on boys-- includes meals & accommodations.

My ds12 in June 2014 along with dd13 and I visited the world with friends that had a ds14. Yes, I think the touring was somewhat different than the March 2011 trip when I had dd13, dd12,dd10, ds8, along with 2 families that had only girls.

(and as a side note---- with all those girls in our group in 2011 and ONLY the ONE BOY— at the stepsisters meal at CF-- my poor son was mortified, he was picked out as a suitor for stepsister, he was lipstick kissed and Lady Tremain was approached and wanted to know my ds intentions toward her daughter, as well as what property he owned— he hid under the table— it was toooo much! for him)

On the 2014 (mostly boys) trip, BTMR was the Major hit, along with Potc, Space, JC, Speedway & LF. But everyone did enjoy 7Dwarfs-- but probably because we had fpp+ each day for it-- I know the boys would NOT have waited standby for that one. My ds12 favorite rides of all time are BTMR and TT. If he could he would do those all day long. Also, he LOVED the monorail, that WAS a ride to him— it is an absolute must-- even if you aren’t going to Epcot, ride the monorail over and back-- he loved that!

We missed the MK afternoon parade, but ds enjoyed the night parade and fireworks. And he will do PP once a trip and likes to do Mickey’s Philharmagic at least once a trip.

My ds loved POFQ in 2011. In 2014, we stayed in AoA family suite-- Cars! it was a hit-- he really enjoyed it.

HWBD— I LOVE!! My ds12 did NOT like the wait at all. He was ready to continue hitting the parks, and this extended meal was NOT to his liking. But friend’s ds14 liked the break and the meal.

And surprisingly, the Star Wars breakfast at Sci- Fi was not as big a hit for ds. He liked it, but he didn’t want too much character interaction. Once he had eaten his meal, he was more than ready to leave.

On that 2014 trip, we did not make the sing-a-long, but this April 2015, I actually think my ds12 will like it ok. (not a favorite, but he will endure-- and since his dad Loved it in October and had to see it twice, I know my ds will follow his dad’s lead) He will of course be happier to do ST and Toy Story, but he did like Frozen, so it will be ok.

Weather wise, we didn’t make it to AK in June 2014-- much to son’s dismay. He doesn’t do EE, but he likes the park, and likes It’s a Bug’s Life-- he also will enjoy The Lion King show. (not so sure about the Nemo one, but we will see) Since my ds is not a huge coaster fan (no EE, no RnR, no ToT, and only Space once or twice) he likes the midway rides of Dinoland fine.

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I don’t have a boy, but my sibling does. Her young teen son enjoys finding hidden mickeys, BTM, space mountain, buzz light year, HM, POTC, splash, the shooting arcade, 7DMT, philharmagic, the night parades, and wishes. He will tolerate PP, barnstormer, and Astor orbiter, and monsters inc. With his siblings.

I do think they should do something cool with the Tom Sawyer island, such as a ropes course or obstacle course.

I don’t find the MK geared too much to females, as it’s geared to young children. At age 10 this will probably be our last trip for our child that is focused on “princess and kids” stuff. She will probably only want to do the same things mentioned above as her older male cousin in the future.

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Our teen DSs (17 and 19) enjoyed the following at MK (listed in order beginning with most enjoyed):

Buzz
Pirates
Splash
7DMT
BTMRR
Tomorrowland Speedway
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Space
Monsters Inc
Philharmagic
Barnstormer

We skipped all the M&G, and parades. They did enjoy the fireworks. NFL was a one and done for the most part. Tom Sawyer Island, PeopleMover and the train were both enjoyed to a lesser degree, mostly as a break during higher crowds.

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Bit late adding into this but we have just been asking our (UK) boys what they want to go back to next October - they will be almost 9 and 11, They would never want to miss the uni/IOA rides - harry potter, avengers, transformers and minions win out over everything plus the thrill rides - DS8 is trying to grow to 54 inches in time.
But def did not want to miss MK out. Their choices are similar to lovebug’s - the mountains take priority and we just missed 7DMT last April. They don’t like haunted mansion, will do philharmagic and jungle cruise if there is time but also have asked to do small world, peterpan and winnie the pooh for pure “Disney”.
They’ve asked to go to chef mickey’s rather than crystal palace and will do non princess M+G as long as not a long wait.
Never miss the daytime parade- they still love it. Haven’t don’t the nighttime ones yet as was too late last year. Planning on doing a Halloween party in Oct this year.

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I know what you mean though… Taking my teenage girl to the grand Floridian tea but can’t think of a darn “extra” thing for my 12-year-old son. He’s too old for Jedi Training, too old for pirate adventure…I get it. But also, he doesn’t care lol.

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This is an old question, I see, but I’m always one to throw my opinion in to the ring.
We just got back from a 10 day trip with my family that includes 2 boys ages 14 (almost 15) and 12. This was their third trip, but first in four years.
We had two MK days. On the second day, my DH and I did a tour and let the kids do their own thing. Remarkably, the boys were front of the line for RD all on their own. Next gen liners. Haha.
In the few hours on their own, they did Splash back to back, BTMRR and Space x 2.
As to new attractions, we used UTS as a mid afternoon AC break. Kids were ‘meh’ on this. It was a short break time only to them. No amount of AC could get them in to ETWB. They were also not overly impressed with 7DMT, though they admitted it was a smidge better at night. They had no desire to repeat it on their own or waste RD time on it.
Interestingly, I think their favorite WDW attraction of all was Sum of All Thrills (sorry, I know original question was MK centered but I jump around). I think they rode that at least five or six times. Nice that this is not a well known attraction, as lines were quite manageable.

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