Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
Hey there!
DS was talking about our last trip to WDW and remembering all these things we did. The next time we go is 2 years from now and he'll be 9. It got me to wondering what he will be like in 2 years. Is he still going to want to do character breakfasts and ride Peter Pan, etc.? I'm sure he'll still love being there, but I'm just curious how different an experience we will have due to the 3 year span that we'll have between trips. Just curious - thanks!
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
At almost 13 and 15, both DS's LOVE Disney! We found that every year as they got older their interests were different. They still love the character meals (I think mainly so they can eat all they want) but they still get autographs (as long as the characters come around-won't stand in line at the parks though-just me!). They still love the rides and have taken much more of an interest in Epcot and the other parks. Before anything bored them except Magic Kingdom! (That is still their favorite park, BTW!) Every year as their interests change we see so many things we never saw before!
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
I totally agree! My boys will be 16 and 14 next year and can''t wait to go. WDW has a lot for them to do. I don't know about Peter Pan and Fantasy land, but Space, Splash and Big Thunder Mountain, they love. They also like Buzz Lightyear.
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
We took my 10 year old step-son in April (he was 7 last trip) and he still loved everything. He had a blast at the Character meals but like Diane, he wouldn't stand in line to see them. As far as rides, it was all about the thrill rides, although he did take his little brother on Dumbo!
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
I can't speak for boys, but my DD's were 13 and 10 on our last trip and I worried too (especially about my 13 year old) that some of the magic would be gone. They had a great time and loved everything just as much as when they were younger. Yes, some things do change... the characters are not quite as important, although they still love them and we do lots of character meals, rides are becoming the number one priority now and as disneymom said, their interests change and we see new things every time. I can honestly say that our Disney vacations get better as the kids get older because they don't get as tired, they enjoy more things and I think they appreciate everything more. By the way, Peter Pan and the Pooh ride are still among their favorites!
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
My 10 year old, Joshua, really loves going to WDW and he's my number one planning partner!! He's really looking forward to trying RNRC and TOT this trip. He loves the character meals(and the food of course), he loves everything about WDW, except that they get rain and storms "all the time".
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
Hi Stephanie! I agree with everyone else, I really don't think the magic ever wears off for kids as they get older, especially if they grew up loving Disney I'm 18 and I CAN'T WAIT for our trip - rides, shows and attractions are my #1 priority, but I still love seeing the characters and stuff. I wouldn't wait on line for them, though My brother is almost 17 and he's being a bit of a pain about the vacation - he doesn't want any characters or "babyish" thing, he just wants to go on all the thrill rides! However, we have two character meals planned (Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's) so he can eat all he wants (one of his favorite things to do, haha!) and I can take pictures with the characters in the air conditioner without waiting! I wouldn't worry about it, he'll have a great time!
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
My 8 year-old loves it still.
He enjoyed the character meals, the pirate cruise, and especially riding the "big rides" last time (RnRC, Space Mountain, Mission:Space).
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
I still remember the look of wonder on my son's face when we took him to WDW when he was 10. He hadn't been there since he was 2 years old and he was completely enthralled with everything. Usually if the parents are excited about WDW and love it, the kids do too, no matter what their ages. Sure, their tastes will change and their favorite attractions will change but the magic remains, just in a different form.
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
Hey Stephanie. I'm busy planning our trip in Oct. and both kids said that they would be interested (maybe) in some of the coasters this time. I was trying to decide if we should start our day in Tomorrowland and get in Space Mt., Buzz, and Stitch or do the usual Fantasyland so we can get Dumbo and the likes under our belt. So I asked Chet which he'd rather do. He shocked me and said we should do Dumbo first like always. So the 9 year old that lives in MY house still wants to do all those Fantasyland rides. In fact, I think we will be adding the Snow White ride for the first time.
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
Kylor was a totally different kid this year. He didn't want to do a lot of the things he previously loved. Luckily he will still pose with the characters (except the princesses ) It's still fun and magical but in a different way.
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
My nephew, who's going to be 11, still loves going and can't wait until our next trip in 1 week. Last year, he still wanted to get the character's autographs but it was too crowded and he got impatient. He now is experiencing the rides he was too scared of before, RNR, TOT etc. so WDW is still new to him. He'd probably go to Chef Mickey's to eat but not Pooh (too baby).
Re: Do 9 year old boys still like WDW and feel the magic?
Um, Steph! My 20 year old boy still likes character breakfasts and magic!! He has grown more attached to Epcot, but he still loves all of the attractions at the other parks and doesn't complain about anything being babyish!