Backstage Magic with children?

[DrMomof3]

I'm seriously considering the ABD trip to California with the podcast crew in February. I would obviously have to leave my youngest child behind (he'll be 2.5 years old at the time). (My nanny would be thrilled to only have one child for the week!) My other 2 children would be 7 and 5 at the time. I'm pretty sure my 7 year old would really love this trip but less sure about the 5 year old (she's very mature for her age but can get a little restless).
My kids are pretty knowledgeable about Disney. They're about to take their fourth trip to Disney World (and their 5th in January so mommy can run the 1/2 marathon) and they've been to Disney Land once (although my daughter was only 16 months old and only remembers because of pictures). They are generally well-behaved for their ages and have experience eating at "grown-up" restaurants.
Can anyone tell me about their experiences doing ABD with younger children? I'd love to hear about any ABD trips and, especially, this one!
This would be an expensive vacation so I want to make sure it's appropriate to bring them before I start convincing my DH that we have to do this!

Amanda

 

[ragtopday]

Hi Amanda,
I just got back from this trip this past weekend, and it was FANTASTIC! I had a great, awesome, stupendous time. There simply are not enough adjectives to use to describe it.

I have two girls, ages 6 and 9, who I left home. They both love Disney but they would have been bored to tears on this trip. In my opinion it would be a very rare child under the age of 15 or so who would enjoy this. There were all adults on our particular trip, so I'm not sure what accommodations they make for younger adventurers (which I'm sure they do very well), but all in all the activities are very adult oriented in terms of material presented and attention span. As you say, it's a very expensive trip and everyone should be able to enjoy it to its fullest, including you. Personally, I would not have wanted to be a mom on this trip since it would have meant forgoing too much to appease my kids.

Whatever your decision - have a magical time - this was my first ABD trip but will NOT be my last!

 

[disneyphx]

We took our 5 year old on Enchanted China and she loved it. In advance I knew there were some things she would like - pandas, Great Wall - and some things I was not sure about. A couple of things I did not really think through were the guides talking at spots and on the bus (she just did her own thing) and the length of some meals. She has travelled a lot, including internationally, but the tour did mean a lot of things were more structured.
Someone who has been on the particular trip can speak better to it, but I suggest thinking about what itinerary things would interest your 5 year old.

 

[DrMomof3]

Hi Amanda,
I just got back from this trip this past weekend, and it was FANTASTIC! I had a great, awesome, stupendous time. There simply are not enough adjectives to use to describe it.

I have two girls, ages 6 and 9, who I left home. They both love Disney but they would have been bored to tears on this trip. In my opinion it would be a very rare child under the age of 15 or so who would enjoy this. There were all adults on our particular trip, so I'm not sure what accommodations they make for younger adventurers (which I'm sure they do very well), but all in all the activities are very adult oriented in terms of material presented and attention span. As you say, it's a very expensive trip and everyone should be able to enjoy it to its fullest, including you. Personally, I would not have wanted to be a mom on this trip since it would have meant forgoing too much to appease my kids.

Whatever your decision - have a magical time - this was my first ABD trip but will NOT be my last!

Thank you for sharing your experience. I know we won't be able to go on the podcast trips without taking at least one child (it's hard to leave kids being during the school holiday!). Maybe we just have to skip this one.

We took our 5 year old on Enchanted China and she loved it. In advance I knew there were some things she would like - pandas, Great Wall - and some things I was not sure about. A couple of things I did not really think through were the guides talking at spots and on the bus (she just did her own thing) and the length of some meals. She has travelled a lot, including internationally, but the tour did mean a lot of things were more structured.
Someone who has been on the particular trip can speak better to it, but I suggest thinking about what itinerary things would interest your 5 year old.

Thank you! China is a long way to fly with a 5 year old!!! That helps me think about things.

Amanda

 

[DisneyCruisin']

We're taking our 9 year old on the Backstage Magic trip that starts Sunday. Will report back when we get back on how he did. He's a Disney Nut and sat through all the D23 Magic and Merriment activities last year with the help of a camera and taking everyone's photos when things were slow at dinner. He's more excited for this trip then we are.

 

[DrMomof3]

We're taking our 9 year old on the Backstage Magic trip that starts Sunday. Will report back when we get back on how he did. He's a Disney Nut and sat through all the D23 Magic and Merriment activities last year with the help of a camera and taking everyone's photos when things were slow at dinner. He's more excited for this trip then we are.

Awesome! I hope you have a great trip and I'll eagerly await your report!!!

Amanda

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

We're taking our 9 year old on the Backstage Magic trip that starts Sunday. Will report back when we get back on how he did. He's a Disney Nut and sat through all the D23 Magic and Merriment activities last year with the help of a camera and taking everyone's photos when things were slow at dinner. He's more excited for this trip then we are.

DisneyCruisin--

I would also love to hear your thoughts after the trip with your 9 year old. My 9 year old is also, for a lack of a better word, a "Disney Nut," and she has read Backstage Magic trip reports and is begging me to take her on this ABD. I think she would love it, but I could do a weeklong cruise AND a week at Disney for what it would cost to do this 6 day trip, so I am on the fence. Thanks in advance, and have a great trip!

To the OP--my friends and family think I am nuts for all the traveling my daughter and I did when she was younger. "She won't remember it." "Why spend all that money" But I was not leaving home without her--I would not have enjoyed my trips as much if she was left behind! I think your two older ones might very well remember this trip, especially if you do as I did and gave them talks about the history, background, and "importance" of each event in advance--help them anticipate what they will see and hear. For example, my daughter clearly remembers things from Italy (especially Rome and Venice and Pompeii) and Greece and Croatia and Turkey from the trip we took when she was in Kindergarten (five and a half). I think if your kids are good travelers and YOU WANT to take them, go for it.

 

[DrMomof3]

To the OP--my friends and family think I am nuts for all the traveling my daughter and I did when she was younger. "She won't remember it." "Why spend all that money" But I was not leaving home without her--I would not have enjoyed my trips as much if she was left behind! I think your two older ones might very well remember this trip, especially if you do as I did and gave them talks about the history, background, and "importance" of each event in advance--help them anticipate what they will see and hear. For example, my daughter clearly remembers things from Italy (especially Rome and Venice and Pompeii) and Greece and Croatia and Turkey from the trip we took when she was in Kindergarten (five and a half). I think if your kids are good travelers and YOU WANT to take them, go for it.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. My kids are good travelers but they are still kids. We would definitely present this as a more "adult" type trip where they would have to be on extra-special good behavior. They enjoy going to "adult" restaurants and practicing good manners!
It seems that the previous podcast trips were pretty much child-free. And yet the upcoming ones were intentionally scheduled for school holidays. It's hard for me to get a handle on what activities area available for kids (it seems that many of the ABD trips have special kid things).
I had emailed Kevin (from the podcast) about bringing kids and he was very encouraging. Other people have been less so. Again...
I'm not in a rush to book the trip so I'm hoping that I get more opinions and information!

Amanda

 

[DisneyCruisin']

DisneyCruisin--

I would also love to hear your thoughts after the trip with your 9 year old. My 9 year old is also, for a lack of a better word, a "Disney Nut," and she has read Backstage Magic trip reports and is begging me to take her on this ABD. I think she would love it, but I could do a weeklong cruise AND a week at Disney for what it would cost to do this 6 day trip, so I am on the fence. Thanks in advance, and have a great trip!

I agree with the cost. Our 10th wedding anniversary was in June and we had originally planned an "adult only" trip for the first time since DS came in the picture. We then started talking about Disneyland as we had been to Disney World many, many, many times (DS has been there more than 15 times in his short life) and knew that we couldn't leave him at home if we did go. We had planned for a nice trip (CL, etc) and had actually booked it and paid the deposit. We had talked about ABD and wanting to do the Backstage Magic trip but knew finances wise it didn't make sense to spend that much on one trip. I had a midnight (well 2 a.m.) revelation one night that if we took what we had planned to spend at Disneyland and our DVC points that we had available it was doable for this year and it wouldn't kill the budget either. So, after a 2 minute discussion after I woke DH up in the middle of the night, I booked it the next morning.

We told DS the next day what we were up to and he was honestly more excited than we were and I wasn't sure that was even possible. He's been on shore excursions with us on cruises, he's done a D23 event with a talk and touring around, he goes with us to many adult events (we don't live near family and have work obligations that he dutifully tags along) and we've made it clear he needs to be on his best behavior or else.

For him, he's looking forward to meeting new friends as we do have quite a few kids on our trip, travel - the kid is a traveling nut - I guess it helps that his dad works for a major airline, and he loves being on the go all the time. He loves seeing new things, trying new things (except for food!), and just being in new places. I know there are going to be moments of boredom for him - but we've prepared him for it.

We are considering this a once in a lifetime trip and I can't imagine leaving him at home and not taking him.

I will do an honest report when we get back on how he does as well as the other kids on the trip.

 

[kristilew]

I haven't done the BSM trip, so this is pure speculation on my part, but fwiw:

I've heard there are parts of this trip where Disney "secrets" are revealed, or magic is explained. At 12, my DD would love that. At 5 and even 7, she still very much was caught up in the Magical stuff. It would have broken her heart to find out that anything "onstage" at Disney wasn't really truly exactly what it seemed, let alone how it was done to fool everyone. It would have been akin to getting a backstage tour of the North Pole and realizing that Santa was just some union guy.

Granted, we protected her innocence far longer than most people do, and it's easier to do that with a dreamy only child. But if your kids are still in the stage where they believe that they are meeting THE Cinderella, why would you want to spoil that? It will pass on its own quickly enough.

That's just my two cents. Your kids may be all about the how it's done, or I may be way off base about what the behind the scenes stuff entails. As for big trips in general, I'm all for it for kids.

 

[Bobo912]

it's easier to do that with a dreamy only child.

I have one of those too.

 

[DrMomof3]

I will do an honest report when we get back on how he does as well as the other kids on the trip.

Again, I thank you!!!

I haven't done the BSM trip, so this is pure speculation on my part, but fwiw:

I've heard there are parts of this trip where Disney "secrets" are revealed, or magic is explained. At 12, my DD would love that. At 5 and even 7, she still very much was caught up in the Magical stuff. It would have broken her heart to find out that anything "onstage" at Disney wasn't really truly exactly what it seemed, let alone how it was done to fool everyone. It would have been akin to getting a backstage tour of the North Pole and realizing that Santa was just some union guy.

Granted, we protected her innocence far longer than most people do, and it's easier to do that with a dreamy only child. But if your kids are still in the stage where they believe that they are meeting THE Cinderella, why would you want to spoil that? It will pass on its own quickly enough.

That's just my two cents. Your kids may be all about the how it's done, or I may be way off base about what the behind the scenes stuff entails. As for big trips in general, I'm all for it for kids.

Interesting point! My eldest is already a non-believer. He's very scientific about everything (at age 2 he would take his toys apart and put them back together). He already *knows* that the characters are "just people dressed up like characters" without even asking. My middle child is a bit more dreamy although her brother does everything in his power to straighten her out!

I have one of those too.

Amanda

 

[grizbuzz]

I just went on the ABD BSM trip with ragtopday. I have two sons, ages 5 and 7, whom DH and I left with grandma and grandpa so we could take the trip alone. Many many times during the trip I remarked to my DH how glad I was we did not take the kids. I am all for traveling with kids (we've been dragging them around the world since they were born), but this was not a trip that they would have enjoyed. And frankly, I think my kids would have been disruptive if they came, complaining that they wanted to go on rides instead of visiting an apartment or going behind the park to listen to people give boring talks. Plus we were going from 7am to 10pm on some days, which is too much for my 5 year old.

I had SO much fun on this trip! And it was so special to take a break with just my DH and other grown up kids. My kids had a great time with the grandparents and have no idea we went to Disneyland. They didn't even care to ask where we'd been, funny enough.

Would be interested to hear from someone who had kids on the BSM trip to see how the guides handled it to keep them entertained.

-Jen

 

[DrMomof3]

I just went on the ABD BSM trip with ragtopday. I have two sons, ages 5 and 7, whom DH and I left with grandma and grandpa so we could take the trip alone. Many many times during the trip I remarked to my DH how glad I was we did not take the kids. I am all for traveling with kids (we've been dragging them around the world since they were born), but this was not a trip that they would have enjoyed. And frankly, I think my kids would have been disruptive if they came, complaining that they wanted to go on rides instead of visiting an apartment or going behind the park to listen to people give boring talks. Plus we were going from 7am to 10pm on some days, which is too much for my 5 year old.

I had SO much fun on this trip! And it was so special to take a break with just my DH and other grown up kids. My kids had a great time with the grandparents and have no idea we went to Disneyland. They didn't even care to ask where we'd been, funny enough.

Would be interested to hear from someone who had kids on the BSM trip to see how the guides handled it to keep them entertained.

-Jen

Thank you for sharing your experience. Were there any children on the trip? I ask because after I started this thread, I found an older thread on the same topic and many people posted about special children's activities which took place and children enjoying the trip. I feel like I'm hearing conflicting info.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I found the old thread that asked the same question:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2354772

I wanted to post the link in case anyone else is asking the same question. I'm still totally on the fence.

Amanda

 

[sayhello]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Were there any children on the trip? I ask because after I started this thread, I found an older thread on the same topic and many people posted about special children's activities which took place and children enjoying the trip. I feel like I'm hearing conflicting info.

Amanda

I don't know that I'm seeing any real conflicting info in the older thread. Maybe I'm missing something. All the folks who went with kids said their older kids (the youngest one mentioned was 10) enjoyed the trip, but it was a bit over-long for young kids (one person said anyone younger than 11 or 12), and that some of the backstage stuff might be a bit too revealing and/or boring (or "unmagical") for a youngster. And when they say the guides "kept the kids entertained" that does not necessarily mean separate special children's activities.

That seems to match up with what folks are saying on this thread.

Sorry if I missed something, but that's what I read...

Sayhello

 

[DrMomof3]

I don't know that I'm seeing any real conflicting info in the older thread. Maybe I'm missing something. All the folks who went with kids said their older kids (the youngest one mentioned was 10) enjoyed the trip, but it was a bit over-long for young kids (one person said anyone younger than 11 or 12), and that some of the backstage stuff might be a bit too revealing and/or boring (or "unmagical") for a youngster. And when they say the guides "kept the kids entertained" that does not necessarily mean separate special children's activities.

That seems to match up with what folks are saying on this thread.

Sorry if I missed something, but that's what I read...

Sayhello

Thanks.

Amanda

 

[Miss SD]

I posted on that thread and I think the OP was worried the tour would spoil the magic for her children. The thread then evolved (if I'm remembering right) into an overall discussion of kids on BSM. My daughter was 10 and 11 when we went on our trips and she loved them! Granted, she's been indoctrinated in all things Disneyland and Walt Disney. (I volunteer at the Walt Disney Family Museum and she goes there frequently.)

My concern with younger children on the trip is the stamina they'd need to keep up. Our adventure guide said she thinks it's more strenuous than the Southwest Splendors tour, which she also leads. (And I think that trip sounds like an action-packed adventure.) We did a lot of walking in the parks. We got up early and went to bed late. (We had reserved seating for Fantasmic one night and fireworks another night, with World of Color fastpasses sandwiched in the middle.) Granted, you don't have to do everything offered, but those perks are hard to pass up.

The studio, El Cap, Imagineering and (especially) the Jimmy Kimmel tours offer other challenges. We walked around, then stood and listened to the on-site experts, who were fabulous. I think if your kids do well at museums and on field trips, they should be fine on this tour. Have them take naps on the bus in between tour stops. Use the on-your-own time in Hollywood to relax by the pool. The tour guides offer snacks and water frequently so you won't have to worry about food issues.

I hope I didn't overwhelm you with minor details. I'm sure you'll make the decision that's best for your family.

 

[DrMomof3]

I posted on that thread and I think the OP was worried the tour would spoil the magic for her children. The thread then evolved (if I'm remembering right) into an overall discussion of kids on BSM. My daughter was 10 and 11 when we went on our trips and she loved them! Granted, she's been indoctrinated in all things Disneyland and Walt Disney. (I volunteer at the Walt Disney Family Museum and she goes there frequently.)

My concern with younger children on the trip is the stamina they'd need to keep up. Our adventure guide said she thinks it's more strenuous than the Southwest Splendors tour, which she also leads. (And I think that trip sounds like an action-packed adventure.) We did a lot of walking in the parks. We got up early and went to bed late. (We had reserved seating for Fantasmic one night and fireworks another night, with World of Color fastpasses sandwiched in the middle.) Granted, you don't have to do everything offered, but those perks are hard to pass up.

The studio, El Cap, Imagineering and (especially) the Jimmy Kimmel tours offer other challenges. We walked around, then stood and listened to the on-site experts, who were fabulous. I think if your kids do well at museums and on field trips, they should be fine on this tour. Have them take naps on the bus in between tour stops. Use the on-your-own time in Hollywood to relax by the pool. The tour guides offer snacks and water frequently so you won't have to worry about food issues.

I hope I didn't overwhelm you with minor details. I'm sure you'll make the decision that's best for your family.

Your post was incredibly helpful. Thank you. We are members of 2 NYC museums and go frequently but it may be that this isn't the trip for us.

Bottom line is that I highly doubt we'll do this trip in February. I was really excited about doing a podcast trip, even more than this specific Adventure. They were specifically scheduled to accommodate the school holiday schedule. I guess I thought that meant the trips were more child-friendly than most posters have suggested.
I have no problem traveling without my children but I can't, in good conscience, travel without children during a school holiday where we would usually bring the children.
I'll admit that I'm disappointed to be missing such an interesting opportunity but I'm sure there will be others.
For those who posted helpful insights into ABD in general and this trip in detail, thank you.

Amanda