The Boy is 9!

The boy is 9 today!  A birthday celebration is in the works and yet there have been multiple conversations about what he might rather be doing. . . And, some of them involve Disney!

Last night, he suggested that we take a trip to celebrate his birthday.  Granted, we have been to Walt Disney World two years in a row in November and he has worn a Birthday button while touring the parks, so I sort of understand where he got that idea.  We aren’t going this November.

I followed up with a question.  Where would you want to go?  Disneyland was the reply.  Not Disney World where he has been eight times, but Disneyland!  Then he asked, “How many planes does it take to get to California?”   This is one clue you can tell the boy is well traveled as he measures distances by how many planes it will take to get there.  Can you imagine him as he gets older?  (By the way, he measures car distances by how many “shows” it takes to get there.)

I told him that it would depend.  Most likely it would take one or two planes to fly to California.  I then reminded him that we have flown to California before and it took us one plane.  (Yeah for direct flights!)  He asked why we didn’t go to Disneyland while we were there.  Well, we just didn’t.  We priced it to see if was reasonable to add on to our 7 night Mexican Riviera Disney Cruise in 2008 and decided against it.

The trip conversation ended.  But it did get me thinking about how the boy turning 9 was going to eventually change our Disney travel.

Since he is 9 as of today, we have one more year of him being considered a “child” in Disney years.  Once he turns 10, the park tickets, dining plan, etc. will be more expensive.  We need to get the most out of this year.

Once he turns 10, he will be eligible to participate in the “Behind the Steam Trains” tour at the Magic Kingdom.  This is something we are all looking forward to. 

As a 9 year old on a Disney Cruise Line ship, he is still eligible for the kids’ club on board and is able, with our permission, to enter and exit himself from the club.  This actually starts at age 8.  As a 10 year old, he can authorize himself to enter and exit the kids club.  Eeek!  He will be 10 on our next cruise.  At 11, he’s in the Tween Club on all the ships and can have full run of the ship, except the adult only areas.  Whew!

 (2006)

It is a great joy to watch him grow up and browsing photos from our Disney trips brings back great memories.  His first trip to the World he was 4 years old, just turned 4, as it was a November trip.  He rode the Barnstormer, but nothing else that was adventurous.  Now, he takes on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and Haunted Mansion.  There are still more and bigger attractions for him to tackle as he gets older.

 (2008)

For now, we’ll enjoy him being 9.  And, taking him to Walt Disney World as a 9 year old!