7 year old riding alone?

[MEP2013]

So my BIL is thinking of taking his 3 kids to disneyworld on his own. Ages 4, 7 and 9. My question is would he be all set to go on all the rides if the 7 and 9 year old sat together and he rode with his four year old? Is it definite that 7 year olds can ride alone or is it up to the cm?

 

[mesaboy2]

So my BIL is thinking of taking his 3 kids to disneyworld on his own. Ages 4, 7 and 9. My question is would he be all set to go on all the rides if the 7 and 9 year old sat together and he rode with his four year old? Is it definite that 7 year olds can ride alone or is it up to the cm?

It is as definite as can be. I have not heard of CMs going rogue on this one.

 

[HopperFan]

From Disney's Rules on website

 

[daisy37]

My daugher rode by herself when she was 7. The CM would ask how old she, after that no problem.

 

[Drusilla99]

I don't think he'll have any issues on the rides he's riding with them. When my girls were both around 7, or one under, one over, as long as I was boarding the ride with them, they were never questioned about their age. It was only when I tried to get out of going on the tea cups that they were sometimes questioned.

 

[staceyeileen]

I'm curious, how does Disney define riding alone? If I'm sitting in the row directly behind my 5yo do they consider that riding alone? As a mom, I certainly do not.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm curious, how does Disney define riding alone? If I'm sitting in the row directly behind my 5yo do they consider that riding alone? As a mom, I certainly do not.

This is where I think the line will blur from ride to ride. As an example I was getting on 7DMT and the family in front of us was trying to sit the parents together and the kids together. The oldest was not 14 or older. The CM absolutely refused to let them do this stating the parents had to split up and each sit with a child. Guest starting yelling. CM held their ground and the train left without them.

 

[staceyeileen]

This is where I think the line will blur from ride to ride. As an example I was getting on 7DMT and the family in front of us was trying to sit the parents together and the kids together. The oldest was not 14 or older. The CM absolutely refused to let them do this stating the parents had to split up and each sit with a child. Guest starting yelling. CM held their ground and the train left without them.

Personally, I think that's really silly. The parents were literally inches away from both of the kids; there's no way you can say they were riding alone. Just to point out how inconsistent this can be, I have had the total opposite experience on 7DMT. I rode with 2 4yos, and the CM instructed me to sit the 4yos together with me in the row behind them.

 

[HopperFan]

Personally, I think that's really silly. The parents were literally inches away from both of the kids; there's no way you can say they were riding alone. Just to point out how inconsistent this can be, I have had the total opposite experience on 7DMT. I rode with 2 4yos, and the CM instructed me to sit the 4yos together with me in the row behind them.

This is where I say the line will get blurred. CMs are instructed on the procedures for their attractions. Some will follow to letter, some will somewhat follow and some will let things slide. DD works one of the most popular attractions at WDW and one of her biggest issues is not following procedure. It's drilled into them safety is a priority. Not following can bring consequences to CMs.

I imagine each ride may be different. I can understand this rule. I was on RnR with my DS when he began to have a panic attack. He had been on it many times, absolutely loved the ride. It was completely unexpected. Small children can wiggle and move and put themselves in an unsafe position. There would be no way for a parent who is properly locked in to reach forward to the next row or car and try to calm or assist.

 

[LaurenT]

My dd rode triceratop spin alone when she was seven.... Over and over again. DH and I hate spinning rides ...
As long as the child will tell the cm they are 7, they are good to ride alone. Actually, my dd and her friend had trouble once at the Mexican boat ride because the staff didn't believe them, so I went over and told them they were seven and then it was fine.

 

[AngiTN]

My dd rode triceratop spin alone when she was seven.... Over and over again. DH and I hate spinning rides ...
As long as the child will tell the cm they are 7, they are good to ride alone. Actually, my dd and her friend had trouble once at the Mexican boat ride because the staff didn't believe them, so I went over and told them they were seven and then it was fine.

There are 2 different things here.

1 - riding alone
2 - riding with another child

1 - children 7 and up can ride alone
2 - children 13 and under can ride with someone 14+ but not with someone else 13 and under.

At least that's how the rule is written. Based on reports above I guess enforcement varies

 

[HopperFan]

There are 2 different things here.

1 - riding alone
2 - riding with another child

1 - children 7 and up can ride alone
2 - children 13 and under can ride with someone 14+ but not with someone else 13 and under.

At least that's how the rule is written. Based on reports above I guess enforcement varies

Children under 7 need to ride with someone 14 or older. Two 13, 10 or 7 year olds could ride together because they are all old enough to ride alone. The rule is for under 7.

I think you are confusing the age rule with entering the park with the age rule about on going in/on attractions.

 

[MEP2013]

Thank you everybody for your responses! I'm excited that it shouldn't be an issue, they could really use this trip!!

 

[Madame]

My DD rode PW alone. DH had taken one DS to ride EE & DS2 was not tall enough for PW (nor would he have wanted to ride).

When she got off she said - 3 people asked me how old I am!

 

[cjparker0110]

A lot of it comes down to individual rides I think. The base rule is designed to keep kids from wandering the parks unsupervised. I used to go off on my own when I was 8. Times have changed and it's not considered safe to do that (even at Disney). If a parent has 3 kids, the CMs are going to do everything they can to let them all ride. Obviously, the kids are not "alone" because they are with their parents. However, some rides may have specific rules for seating that party based on evacuation procedures in the event of a break down. I used to work for Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Evacuations of a boat ride (picture "Small World" boats) would have been down one row at a time. Not a big deal in this case where They could probably all sit in a row. Evacuations of a roller coaster (picture Rock N Roller Coaster or Expedition Everest) were down one "car" at a time. Each of the roller coaster trains had 7 cars. So we would evacuate them one at a time (meaning 4 people at maximum). If the small children are in a different car, they may not allow it. If they are in the same car, they might.

 

[Allison]

There are 2 different things here.

1 - riding alone
2 - riding with another child

1 - children 7 and up can ride alone
2 - children 13 and under can ride with someone 14+ but not with someone else 13 and under.

At least that's how the rule is written. Based on reports above I guess enforcement varies

That's not correct.

 

[Jewel3k]

I think they asked my 9 year old and 7 year old how old they were every single time they did not ride with an adult. While it was clear they take it seriously, there was never an "are you sure question" or debate about their answer.

 

[Applemomma]

I suspect the age requirements are sometimes not safety based but behavior based. For example, I noticed the "under 7 with someone 14" sign on Haunted Mansion and I wouldn't have thought that wasn't much of a safety issue but more of a "sit down, behave yourself and stop trying to lean out of the doom buggy to touch that" issue. Now if we could just figure out how to get some teens to do that....

 

[Doug M]

We went last summer and had a day with friends of ours from winter garden. They have a son my son's age, 6, and on BTMRR it was myself, my son, their son, and our friend. We were each required to sit with a 6 year old, the boys wanted to sit together but were required to sit next to an adult.

 

[staceyeileen]

This is where I say the line will get blurred. CMs are instructed on the procedures for their attractions. Some will follow to letter, some will somewhat follow and some will let things slide. DD works one of the most popular attractions at WDW and one of her biggest issues is not following procedure. It's drilled into them safety is a priority. Not following can bring consequences to CMs.

Are you saying that Disney DOES have a definition for "riding alone" and that some CMs may follow it to the letter and others not? Or, are you saying that Disney does not have a definition for "riding alone"?

Does "following procedure" = must ride in same row?