12 & 13yo.... let them roam alone?

[It's A Happy Day]

Mom of a 12yo girl & 13 yo boy here.... In the process of planning a late fall trip - DH, Me, and the kids. While I know 99.9% of the time we will be together - we always have been, I know the kids may ask if they can go here or there.

While IN the parks, at what age would you let your kids go wandering? I know ultimately it's what we're comfortable with.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Every family is different. At 12-13, I would prefer to limit the geography (only Tomorrowland) and time of separation (meet at the Star Tours FastPass machines in 3 hours). I've used my 14-year-old nephew as a FastPass runner without any worry. My parents let my sister and I wonder all over Disneyland for 4-6 hours when we were teenagers.

 

[PocahontasLookALike]

I was allowed to go off on our own with my sister when we were 12 and 13. Usually for an hour or two max. Just long enough to ride something or shop and get a snack. But that was 20 years ago (eep!).

With cell phones I'd prob allow very trust worthy 12'year olds some freedom.

 

[texasroni75]

It depends on the kids. My DD(12, almost 13) would have trouble navigating the parks alone. However, my oldest DD at that age was fine to go on rides and make it back to meet up with us at a certain time.

If you feel they would stick together (even if they had a disagreement over something), keep a cellphone on them at all times and ANSWER it if you called, if they can handle reading the maps and find their way around, and if they would know what to do if there was an emergency (someone trips and falls, they accidentally get separated, etc.), I would let them go with specific instructions on where and when to meet back up.

I will say that I'm a worrier by nature, and the stress of wondering if they are okay would probably drive me bonkers. I'd rather split up and have DH take the older kids to where they wanted to go than have my younger teens go solo.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

at that age our girls were on own doing what they wanted with a meet place and time. if they were not on time rest of afternoon was spent doing what parents wanted. they were never late and they knew to follow park rules because if kicked out they were stuck. this was before cell phones and we are now working with grandsons 13 and 9.5 years old.

 

[Hannathy]

Those ages I'd have no problem with letting them go within a park or the resort.

Add another yr or two-(high school). I"d let them go to a different park or come back to the resort on the bus later or come to the park later.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Every family is different. At 12-13, I would prefer to limit the geography (only Tomorrowland) and time of separation (meet at the Star Tours FastPass machines in 3 hours). I've used my 14-year-old nephew as a FastPass runner without any worry. My parents let my sister and I wonder all over Disneyland for 4-6 hours when we were teenagers.

This is what I've been thinking.... They are pretty responsible - I know they won't be the kids you see trying to cut lines, causing trouble, etc. and that they can be trusted - they're more likely to give me trouble than cause it out & about Usually when we go to places with high volumes of people we've picked out "meeting places" in case we get seperated. If they lose sight of us they are to go to that particular place and wait. They both have cell phones too so that makes me feel better too. And they've been threatened with bodily harm if I find out they seperate/don't stay together I don't foresee it happening alot but DH & I like to people watch and wander while I know they will likely want to go on Splash Mountain or some other ride 9x in a row

 

[J'aime Paris]

If your kids have been to WDW before, they probably know the park layout better than you
My DD has been to WDW many times since she was 2 years old. She could walk those parks blindfolded. Plus, there is a CM almost every 10 feet.
DD and her friend will go off on there own when we go in Oct. However my DD will be turning 16 and her friend is 15--a couple of years older than yours.
Have a great time!

 

[mm1971]

Mom of a 12yo girl & 13 yo boy here.... In the process of planning a late fall trip - DH, Me, and the kids. While I know 99.9% of the time we will be together - we always have been, I know the kids may ask if they can go here or there.

While IN the parks, at what age would you let your kids go wandering? I know ultimately it's what we're comfortable with.

I know things have changed, but when I was that age we were running wild through the parks. That was before cell phones, texting and such. Mine are DS14 and DD11 right now. Last August while there (ages 13 and 10)they would disappear for an hour or two and then either call or meet up for a while after. I would be OK with it, but it depends on the kids really. I know my DS is very careful and trustworthy so no concerns. They did great. We allowed charging by DS so if they needed food or drinks they could get them. I think he spent a total of $26 all week.

We also let them go off while on vacation in the Dominican in February. They had a lot of fun and no problems at all.

 

[MandiC]

I agree, just depends on the kids. My oldest will be 11.5 when we go back...I doubt we will let her go off on her own because she is just the kind of kid who likes to push the limits (mom said stay on Main Street but I bet she wouldn't mind if I went over to Tomorrowland for a bit...). My second daughter is a rule follower, there is a good chance that when she is 12 I'd let her.

 

[laughinplace199]

Last spring our kids were 13, 11, and 6. We let them go off on their own in Epcot for a while. DD13 had her cell phone if we needed to reach them or vice versa.

Also, when DS6 would go to bed at night, we let DD13 and DS11 explore the resort (AKV Kidani), they mostly would go to the arcade or the movie being shown out by the pool.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I was there last year by myself with DS and DD, then 14 and 10. While we were always in the same park together, I was having some foot/ leg issues and had to visit first aid a number of times.
Rather than them having to sit and wait in first aid for me, I sent them off together and then met up with them after. I generally sent them to something I don't care for. For example, when we were in AK they headed to Dinoland and rode Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl multiple times
While I think they would have been fine for longer periods by themselves, I don't like to miss out on anything while at Disney. I'm like one of the kids!
We did let the boys stay at Islands of Adventure without us before when they were 14 and 11 so they could take multiple rides on the Hulk coaster and other such wild rides while DH, DD and I went back to chill by the pool.
I think 12 and 13 are reasonable ages, just depends on the kids and what you want out of the vacation.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Thanks everyone for confirming what I was feeling. I can't see us not being together on a WDW vacation but that doesn't mean we have to physically be together every second of that trip either They are responsible (enough) to be given some space and I'm sure they will appreciate being together w/o mom and dad hanging over their shoulders. It will also give mom & dad some alone time to wander around and celebrate our 15th anniversary - remembering 15 years ago when we were there on our honeymoon pre-children

 

[Shleedogg]

When my parents took us last I was 14 and my sister was 5. They let me take her on rides alone or go ahead from where they were with her, ride a couple of rides and meet up at some point later. This was in 1998.

As a parent now, I don't know when I'd let them go alone. I'm hovering over 15/16 in my head because I'm a crazy overprotective helicopter parent. But my kids are 3 and 5 so take that with a grain of salt because I haven't been there yet .

 

[asmit4]

As always it depends on the kid. Most kids at that age can handle riding 2 rides and then coming back to a meeting point. I'd say give them a cell phone- know what rides they are headed to and plan a time in 2 hours to meet back or whatever time they need to ride. The disney app will give you standby times so you will know how long things will take.

 

[lovin'fl]

This past Xmas, our 10th WDW trip, my DDs were allowed to go off on their own with their cousin-15...DDs were almost 15 and most of the time they were also with DS-17 and nephew-18. Our last Xmas trip, 2 years prior, they were not allowed to but DS was...he was 15 at the time. Now, Jan 2013 we also let our 3 kids do things on their own (was just us 5...no cousins) but they all 3 had to be together and meet up with us (ie: we went to park while they slept in and then would meet us around lunchtime)...DS was 16 and DDs were almost 14. So, I think more 14-15 is a good age to let them roam at WDW....just my opinion though.

 

[sb682]

If your kids are responsible, I would go for it. Waves of middle schoolers from all over Florida wander around the parks with no supervision every year on end-of-year trips. Set a meeting point and time with your kids, have your cell charged if they need you, make sure they have some money for snacks/drinks and let them go!

 

[RayRay13]

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[RayRay13]

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[Zooshoveller]

Mom of a 12yo girl & 13 yo boy here.... In the process of planning a late fall trip - DH, Me, and the kids. While I know 99.9% of the time we will be together - we always have been, I know the kids may ask if they can go here or there. While IN the parks, at what age would you let your kids go wandering? I know ultimately it's what we're comfortable with.

I think 12 & 13 is a great age.

We plan on giving our kids a little more independence every trip. Last trip they were 9 and they would explorer around but stayed within eyesight. They climbed the Swiss Family Tree while we got Dole Whips. They rode the Magic Carpets while we checked out the gift shop.