New Haunted Mansion and TSM ride policy (kids under 7)

[ttintagel]

I think the point is that if you don't think your over-7 is old enough to ride by himself or with someone else, you don't ride.

 

[Sleepy425]

When I read these things, I tend to think a person has never been to WDW. Has no idea of the setup of these rides and has no children.

If you've ever been on TSM, you would know that at all times you are in a row of 4. 2 in each vehicle side and next to another vehicle. 4 people on each side that can all see each other if they so choose to.

Also you are under video surveillance at all times on the rides.

Also how exactly is a molester (going way off the deep end that they could ever possible manage to do something to child while strapped in at the gut) planning to escape the thousand plus pissed off parents that would be attacking this person the second a child hollered that this person touched them?

I get that people are afraid of other people for some bizarre reason. But child molesters are not brave people. They groom children to accept their advances. They hide their true selves away. You don't see them advertising themselves all over the place. So no, WDW is not a molesters paradise. It's their nightmare. Over protective parents every where they turn. A park that there is no easy/quick/unnoticed escape from. Rides where every moment is on video. Unmarked security walking around. Lots and lots of dads....annoyed/hot/tired/grumpy dads.

I think it's important to base fears and conjecture on reality.

You don't want to drop your kid off with Uncle Charlie for the weekend because you don't trust men with your child. Fair enough. The reality of child molestation supports that fear.

You don't want your child to ride with another adult on a theme park ride because someone might 'get them' during it? I can't even come up with anything but a sad head shake.

Thank you, finally a voice of reason!
We currently have 2 children, one foster child, and are waiting to be matched with 2-3 kids to adopt. It would suck big time for us to have to skip certain rides due to seating arrangements.

 

[suevr]

I don't have a problem with this new rule and I have two boys, 5 and 8. In the past we have let them ride together on TSM and now we won't. When I travel to WDW by myself with the two boys we'll either skip the ride, all three of us will sit in one row and I won't play, or my 8 year old can sit by himself.

We used to let them ride together on HM but one time we were on the ride and it broke down. The boys were riding together (they were 4 and 7 at the time). We had to sit there for 45 minutes and we couldn't see them but we could talk to them. They didn't try to get out of their doom buggy, but I could see that some children might try. It's totally understandable that Disney has created this rule for safety reasons. We never considered what would happen if the ride broke down for a long period of time until it actually happened to us. Now, the kids don't ride together alone. No problems or complaints.

 

[Sparkly]

On TSM you're pretty well secured in, aren't you? I guess you would have to be with sudden sharp turns to get to a game. The lap bars on HM are on pretty tight too from memory.

They probably have CCTV on rides to monitor guests so they don't do anything stupid so even if somebody did try something it's caught on camera. But the chances are still pretty slim.

 

[kohlby]

I didn't know that wasn't already a rule. I thought you had to be 7 to ride alone on anything. We had three kids, but one is over 7 so it's not an issue for us. When we had three and one wasn't over 7, we still did fine. The youngest would be in my lap for TSM so we could fit three together. We very easily fit 3 for HM. There were some other rides that they asked how old my oldest was so he could sit in his own row - even if I was in the row right behind him. (Like BTMRR).

I didn't think it was a child predator issue since the security is good in those places - there's people all around watching, both security and other park go-ers. But I've heard of young children getting off of rides, so they started enforcing having young children not on the edges as a result. This was a pain last trip. DD was 5 years old and hated that she was never allowed on the edge. But they don't know that my daughter is a rule-follower and wouldn't dare try to get off a ride.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Ts not a child predator issue at all; but any time you mention child with 'stranger' - some people automatically define "stranger" as "opportunistic molester".

 

[IcedMudd]

For a large family, this rule is awful. I have three kids, fourth on the way and splitting up, especially while I'm pregnant, will make riding two of their favorites very difficult. My 8 and 6 year old daughters would much rather ride together, alone, than with an adult they do not know.

 

[cgattis]

And I will note again that there ARE folks out there who do understand that not every single rider is a child predator, some children (my DD included) who do not feel comfortable going onto a ride with a strange male. And I personally don't think she should have to. And for the posters who just adamantly believe that Disney NEVER seats a child with a stranger (or anyone who suggests that might happen has never even been to Disney...), it happened to us twice on Everest a month ago. Disney definitely doesn't do it all the time like Universal does, but it does happen. And also for those who snarkily reply "then don't ride," we won't. We were prepared to hop out of line if DD didn't feel comfortable with whomever they seated with her. 90%+ of children are molested by people they know. I'll bet those other 10-ish % would tell you it was just as bad.

 

[delmar411]

And I will note again that there ARE folks out there who do understand that not every single rider is a child predator, some children (my DD included) who do not feel comfortable going onto a ride with a strange male. And I personally don't think she should have to. And for the posters who just adamantly believe that Disney NEVER seats a child with a stranger (or anyone who suggests that might happen has never even been to Disney...), it happened to us twice on Everest a month ago. Disney definitely doesn't do it all the time like Universal does, but it does happen. And also for those who snarkily reply "then don't ride," we won't. We were prepared to hop out of line if DD didn't feel comfortable with whomever they seated with her. 90%+ of children are molested by people they know. I'll bet those other 10-ish % would tell you it was just as bad.

I don't really understand why you can't get that people are not talking about EE. EE DOES seat singles with other singles. So does RNRC. So does TT.

We are talking about Haunted Mansion and Toy Story Mania. Neither of those rides are EE. You keep referring to EE for some odd reason. Everyone here agrees that EE seats singles with singles and if you don't want to ride with a stranger then don't experience EE as a single or odd number.

This NEW policy only applies at TSM and HM. Very odd that you keep posting about EE.

 

[chartle]

For a large family, this rule is awful. I have three kids, fourth on the way and splitting up, especially while I'm pregnant, will make riding two of their favorites very difficult. My 8 and 6 year old daughters would much rather ride together, alone, than with an adult they do not know.

Not singling out your post it was just closer, but its not like they came up with this policy just to mess up your vacation.

Disney must be seeing things that they don't like such as small kids getting out of the cars on these two rides.

This is a SAFETY issue. It would be much worse if a kid gets out of the HM car while stopped and gets crushed by the mechanism or falls through the floor.

Also I don't see how this policy makes it more likely that you will get a stranger in a car with your kid. Its not like they have random people hanging around as designated adult ride partners. Did I miss a post somewhere or misread the policy? Do they do that now?

 

[cgattis]

I keep referring to EE because some folks seem to think nobody EVER gets seated with strangers at Disney. I prefer to speak in specifics than in generalities.

 

[MrsDuck]

I support the rule but see the problems with actually implementing it...

 

[chartle]

I keep referring to EE because some folks seem to think nobody EVER gets seated with strangers at Disney. I prefer to speak in specifics than in generalities.

The big "but" is that EE has a single rider line. The other rides referred to in this thread doesn't. So I don't see how it applies at all mostly because I'm not even sure why this policy change makes riding with a stranger more likely. (see two posts up)

 

[gwmort]

Then ideally the goal of having a reasonably mature person in the ride vehicle to keep the young child without great judgment skills (which generally come with age) from trying to exit the ride vehicle, will have been achieved.

I think this is the problem.

Disney is assuming the adult stranger will stand in loco parentis and correct someone else's misbehaving kid. If I'm an adult stranger getting sat with some strange child I am dang sure not going to say or do anything to that kid no matter what they do.

Instead of the phantom molester, get upset about the person doing what Disney wants them to, correcting your misbehaving child.

 

[Peachkins]

While I agree that this new rule is going to be inconvenient for some, I can totally understand why it's being tested. I'm sure that it's a safety issue. I can't tell you how many times I've been on HM where it has stopped for some reason or another, and I can easily see a small child slipping out from under the lap bar if they decide they want to get off the ride.

 

[mom2rtk]

The big "but" is that EE has a single rider line. The other rides referred to in this thread doesn't. So I don't see how it applies at all mostly because I'm not even sure why this policy change makes riding with a stranger more likely. (see two posts up)

Additional "buts" include that EE is so fast moving I wouldn't care if my child was seated with a stranger. And I think with the restraints and split seat, it's just not the same thing at all.

Why do I all of a sudden see this ending with more elaborate restraints on HM and TSMM?

 

[chartle]

Why do I all of a sudden see this ending with more elaborate restraints on HM and TSMM?

"Mommy why does HM have over the shoulder restraints? Does this go upside down? "

 

[mom2rtk]

"Mommy why does HM have over the shoulder restraints? Does this go upside down? "

Yep.

Or....... "Mommy, why does Splash have a lap bar?

Oh........ wait.......

 

[larryz]

Or....... "Mommy, why does Splash have a lap bar?

How about, "Mommy, why does Splash have a lap bar AND seat belts?"

Coming soon to a Splash Mountain near you!

 

[mom2rtk]

How about, "Mommy, why does Splash have a lap bar AND seat belts?"

Coming soon to a Splash Mountain near you!

Isn't that what they were installing when it was down last week?