The Expertise of the Destinologist
With more than 120 attraction designers and strategists, PGAV’s Destinologists run the gamut of generations – our team is comprised of this year’s college graduates, grandparents, and everything in between. Being that we spend our careers honing our expertise in innovating destinations, intimately studying guest behavior, and choreographing leisure experiences, we’ve come to know a thing or two about family travel. But sometimes studies and statistics are no match for good, anecdotal life experience. Some of PGAV’s parents were brave enough to share some “lessons from the road” of traveling with their own teenagers.
Just as our 2012 Destinology, Te Art of the Family Vacation, confirmed, it’s essential to make teens part of the planning process.
“Tere’s nothing worse than getting on the road and discovering that they don’t actually want to be vacationing in the place you’re headed,” says Senior Creative Designer Dave Cooperstein.
As a mother of two, Senior Director of Branding and Marketing Karen Baker strives to co-plan trips that have elements that appeal to everyone.
“I first pick a destination region and mention a few interesting options, knowing their primary interests, and then encourage them to research the area themselves and offer other suggestions. Following up with a TripAdvisor link they can scroll through has been really helpful.”
Once on vacation, teens want to keep connected to their network; so before you depart, make sure you have enough phone data to go around for the week.
“Teens suck up a ton of data, even when they’re not streaming movies,” says Architectural Designer Joe Poelzl, traveling with three teen boys. “Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and more will drain all the data on your shared plan. Make sure your accommodations have excellent WiFi as well.”
Vice President Diane Lochner, mother of two teen boys, also notes, “Having a portable speaker to play their music is a great mood lightener, and the boys love to post to social media directly after an event – preferably about thrilling, funny, and unique vistas.”
PGAV parents suggested that during the waking hours, teens will want lots of high-fidelity activities that keep their brains engaged and their social media feeds lit: interactive exhibits and experiences, hiking, climbing, running, swimming, “really anything they can do to challenge themselves and push the limits of their nerves and bodies,” says Poelzl. But once the adrenaline stops pumping and stomachs are full, it’s time to rest. Lochner’s boys covet the luxury of sleeping in, and enjoy having down time – away from their parents. “Allowing for downtime with teenagers is important – they don’t like to cram too much activity into a day or be too programmed,” says Baker. “Some quiet time to read or catch up with friends is a necessity.”
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