4. Don’t skip thrills

While every teenager is different, by and large, most tend to appreciate thrill rides. It’s easy to assume that Epcot has no thrill rides since it doesn’t have any traditional roller coasters. In the eyes of a teen, however, that isn’t necessarily the case. Teens appreciate larger than life, epic experiences, and Epcot has several of these they are likely going to want to visit.

The big three that tend to be a major hit with teen visitors are Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission: SPACE Orange Team (for teens who aren’t claustrophobic or prone to motion sickness). When Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opens, it will also be on that list. When planning your itinerary, you’ll want to make plans to hit these particular attractions if you have an adolescent in the group.

“But what if I—the obligated adult--don’t want to go on those rides?!”

Disney has two wonderful tools for this sort of scenario. If you are comfortable letting your teenager tour on their own or with a friend for a bit, they can use the single rider line on some attractions. Waits in these lines tend to be very low, and they can get your teenager onto rides far quicker than the standby queue.

The other option is to take advantage of Rider Switch. The system has gotten a little convoluted lately, but the short version is this: if you have someone in your party (child or adult) who doesn’t want to (or can’t) ride a ride, stand in line together, then let the attraction cast members know you want to do a rider switch. Your whole party, minus the person staying with the party member not riding, will ride the ride first. Once they are off, the person who was hanging out with the non-rider can ride the ride. In the past, you could split into two even groups, but you may want to clarify this policy with cast members as Disney has tightened policies surrounding Rider Switch lately to prevent double rides.

5. Use slow rides as rest times

We found this trick the last time we brought a group of teens and young adults to Disney (joys of being a Florida resident). Our group was mostly made up of girls , most of whom were interested in some of Epcot’s more chill experiences. Our 16 year old boy wasn’t nearly as keen on a leisurely cruise through Spaceship Earth or Living with the Land.

The way we got around this was we treated the slow rides as rest times.

Most visitors are going to walk a lot at Walt Disney World—an average of 20,000 steps a day. When teens get tired, they tend to make it known. When we sensed our teens getting tired, we suggested taking a rest by jumping on a slow ride like Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, or the Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Using this phrasing helped our 16-year-old feel like there was a tangible purpose to visiting these rides—we even told him we didn’t mind if he took a quick nap on Spaceship Earth (which he did). Everyone felt included, and we got a chance to pace our day more evenly.

6. Food, glorious food!

Food is part of the magic of Walt Disney World, and nowhere is this truer than at Epcot.

Touring Epcot’s incredible food scene is a huge selling point for teenagers—it comes back to choice and curiosity. Particularly if you visit during one of the park’s major festivals, there is a lot of choice for things to try, and the somewhat more reasonable pricing on festival plates gives lots of opportunities for teens to sample specific things that hook their interest.

Our teens spent a good part of the day on our last visit just touring the food possibilities throughout the park (the 16-year-old particularly enjoyed the fresh Belgian Waffles with chocolate from the Epcot Food and Wine Festival). We made sure all of the kids had festival passports so they knew what options they had (during non-festival times, the My Disney Experience app offers similar info), then we let them make stops as we toured the park.

“But my kid is a crazy-picky eater!”

Picky eating is definitely a common issue with teens, enough to prevent some from trying anything too adventurous. The great thing about Epcot is there are a lot of great options for fussy eaters. Instead of being relegated to hamburgers and chicken tenders, you may find surprising success bringing a teen to Regal Eagle Smokehouse (offering familiar favorites like roasted chicken or amazing mac n’ cheese) or Sunshine Seasons. Both offer a good amount of choice and will let picky eaters try something familiar but elevated from what they might find at home.

Oh, and don’t forget sweets! We highly recommend making a stop at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie, L’Artisan des Glaces, or Kringla Bakery for some spectacular sweets that teens will love.

7. World Showcase is selfie-heaven

This doesn’t apply to all teens, but these days, kids sure do like taking pictures of themselves. While many teens tend to loathe others taking photos of them, they don’t mind if they’re the ones with the camera, particularly if they have a friend in tow and a cool setting.

Enter World Showcase.

Many adults assume teens won’t like World Showcase, but the opposite is true: we’ve found teens really seem to enjoy exploring World Showcase so long as they can do so at their own pace, ducking into pavilions that hook their curiosity. Some frequent winners include the Japan, China, Morocco, Mexico, and German pavilions.

The teen obsession with selfies might seem a little silly to adults, but this can actually be a significant source of fun for teenagers—let them go to town taking their pictures to share with friends! Sometimes just giving them that freedom can open doors for connection as a family.