7DMT: how rough is the ride for 7.5 year olds to ride alone?

[PrincessesX3]

We are a family of 5. I have a set of twins and a single child. Would you allow your 7.5 year olds to ride alone? or if we do ride swap, how would that work?

 

[famy27]

It's totally fine. DD8 and her cousin who is 7 rode together and absolutely loved it.

The ride is fun, but it's pretty mild.

 

[Missymouse18]

This is a family friendly ride. It's very smooth. I see no problem whatsoever with letting 7.5 y/o ride alone.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

Just FYI - we saw during our trip first week of June younger children in SDMT (and Soarin) being required to sit with a parent. Rides were delayed until a parent was next to the child. There were really being strict about it. Also smaller children were not allowed into single rider lines.
I'm sorry, I don't remember what the age was and if it was that age and younger required a parent or that age and older was OK. Be prepared for child to be questioned unless they look old for their age and possibly be told that they can't ride without a parent. It's a new policy as far as I know because we never had this problem when our children were younger, but we sure did see it a lot at WDW first week of June.

 

[PrincessesX3]

Yes, my girls have been asked on TSM, how old they are? but since they were 7 they were allowed to ride. They will actually be a month shy of 8, but they are petite for their age. I just don't want to hold up the ride bc of age issues.

 

[DebbieB]

Just FYI - we saw during our trip first week of June younger children in SDMT (and Soarin) being required to sit with a parent. Rides were delayed until a parent was next to the child. There were really being strict about it. Also smaller children were not allowed into single rider lines.
I'm sorry, I don't remember what the age was and if it was that age and younger required a parent or that age and older was OK. Be prepared for child to be questioned unless they look old for their age and possibly be told that they can't ride without a parent. It's a new policy as far as I know because we never had this problem when our children were younger, but we sure did see it a lot at WDW first week of June.

A child has to be 7 to ride alone. On Toy Story, they would not allow an 8 year old and 5 year old to sit on one side of the car and mom on the other side. The 5 year old had to sit with mom, with the 8 year old alone on the other side. The kids were really upset, I guess they wanted to compete for scores together.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

I am so glad that my children are older and I don't have to worry about this. Does anyone know why the magic age was set at 7? This really seems nutty to me - I know 5 year-olds that I would trust to ride alone over some 12 year-olds I know. Likewise, some younger sibling pairs are behaved and helpful together and some older sibling pairs are a sneeze away from WWIII.
Some of the "control" that WDW is enforcing now just doesn't add up to me.
I hope your petite almost 8 is believed when asked for age. Is there a copy of a school ID or unofficial birth cert to carry just in case...

 

[DebbieB]

They have to be 14 to enter the park alone. Under 14 requires someone 14 or older.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/minimum-age/

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

I think the family is in the park together just not all on the ride together.

 

[livndisney]

If your 7 year old is allowed to ride alone, don't expect her to be alone. "Alone" means with a stranger-they want to get as many people thru the ride as possible and try not to send any trains with empty seats.

 

[Disney Dad 88]

No, I go with my 8 and 5 year old all the time, the 8 year old rides alone all the time. I have only had one time on BTR they tried to put someone with her, and when I said she wanted to ride alone they adhered to my request.

 

[karly05]

I'm going to make a wild guess here, but looking at her sig, she has two 7-year-olds and one 4-year-old. The 4yr (if tall enough) would have to sit in a row with Mom or Dad, but the two 7yrs could ride in a row together. (If all 5 ride, it would be the two 7s in a row, the 4yr and one parent in a row, and the other parent as the "odd number.")

Regarding being able to ride alone in a row: As a solo, I've always had a row to myself on BTMRR, but that's a different set-up with a single lap bar for the row. Someone in another thread indicated that they are filling every seat on 7DMT, which makes sense, since it has individual lap bars like EE, AND it's super-popular right now and they need to get as many people as possible through the queue and on the ride.

 

[TDC Nala]

Children must be 7 to ride alone. If they are under 7 they must ride with someone 14 or older.

They chose that age because a child at 7 is probably capable of following directions in case of a ride breakdown or evacuation. I know, somebody will say that "my 6 year old is capable" or "my 5 year old is capable." They have to set it somewhere. They likely won't allow a 5 year old to ride with a 7 year old because they need someone mature to take charge of the younger child in case of an emergency or evacuation.

They ARE filling every seat on 7DMT that they can. It is likely they will place another person in the ride vehicle with your child.