Age for Boneyard & Honey I Shrunk the Kids play areas

[jefflisaf]

I have seen a few places that have Boneyard and the Honey playground at DHS listed as 'ages 4 and up'...but I have seen other places that make no mention of a minimum age requirement. Are those suggested ages or are they enforced by CM like height requirements are? I have a daughter who will be turning 3 a few days after we arrive home, and I had hoped she could enjoy those areas, obviously with close supervision. Thanks!

 

[vettechick99]

She'll be fine. DD went at 3 and loved it! Had to pull her away crying after 30 mins.

 

[vettechick99]

I was speaking of the Boneyard. Haven't been to the other.

But another of the playgrounds she loved was at Splash Mt. There's nothing to it, but they love to run in circles: go in the house, up the stairs, down the slide, and back in again. We went twice for at least 45 mins each time. Another one you have to pull them away from. LOL

 

[RMulieri]

The boneyard is fine.You just have to be careful at all the playgrounds since there are kids of all ages in there( I have yet to see a CM enforce the 'No kids over age x rule') and sometimes when you have kids of varying ages , the little ones get knocked down.My daughter is very petite for her age and she was fine though

 

[vettechick99]

The boneyard is fine.You just have to be careful at all the playgrounds since there are kids of all ages in there( I have yet to see a CM enforce the 'No kids over age x rule') and sometimes when you have kids of varying ages , the little ones get knocked down.My daughter is very petite for her age and she was fine though

You are right. When 5-7 year olds get in there, they think they own the joint. That's why I like the Splash Mt. one. Anyone over 3-4YO is just too tall to get into the house. It's a great, easy to watch playground for the 2-3yo set.

Epcot has several playgrounds they installed for F&GF. If they are still there for your trip, one is for the young ones, and the other is for the older age group.

 

[jefflisaf]

Okay, thanks. I just wanted to make sure the CMs weren't going to be asking everyone if they were 4. Something I read had mentioned Boneyard was good for those who couldn't get on Dinosaur, so I was hoping to take her there then.

That's good to know about the playgrounds at Epcot. We'll have check into that for things to do while her sister is on Soarin' and Test Track.

 

[design_mom]

It is recommended age, but I think it's pretty accurate if the kids want to do the "big things" (haven't tried HISTK, but I have been to the boneyard.)

Two trips ago, when DD was 3-1/2, there was a lot of stuff in the boneyard that she had trouble doing without help (climbing toys, rope ladders, etc.) There was still some stuff she could do, but she couldn't do everything. On our most recent trip she was 5. She *loved* the Boneyard and could do everything by herself.

 

[POOHDRMR]

The boneyard is fine.You just have to be careful at all the playgrounds since there are kids of all ages in there( I have yet to see a CM enforce the 'No kids over age x rule') and sometimes when you have kids of varying ages , the little ones get knocked down.My daughter is very petite for her age and she was fine though

Yep be careful on the rope climb thingy in the Hollywood studios playground.My dd is very petite also and when she was 5 she was climbing in it and a parent actually knocked her down and stepped over her.She was wearing a long tinkerbell necklace that has a metal chain and when the woman stepped over her it pushed the roping down and the necklace got stuck on the netting under the rope.My dd was freaking out trying to get up and I was trying to get to her-she was closer to the exit so i try to tell the attendant at the exit she is stuck and hurt can she help or let me under to help her but thankfully another mom was in and went and helped her.She had red welts from the metal balls on the necklace in her neck.So the moral of the story is-don't wear long hanging necklaces and they don't stop parents from going in so be careful with little ones.She went back on it last year but made sure she went faster and didn't wear her lanyard or necklaces in.

 

[Lizzie Beth]

We went last week and my 3 and 5 year olds would enthusiastically reccommend both to your DD!

The boneyard is a little intimidating because there's an area with a bridge that goes over a walkway and leads to a huge sandbox. DH was afraid there was another exit over that way, but there's only one exit for both playgrounds. There are a lot of rope walkways and slides, so if your DD is good with those, she should have an excellent time.

At Honey I shrunk the kids there's a play structure/cave type thing that is really too short for an adult to climb through, so constantly having your eye on them is pretty difficult, but mine were so enthralled by the playground it wasn't likely they'd leave on their own.

The CM at the boneyard was great about not letting kids out unescorted. I told my youngest it was time to go and she darted out ahead while we were still trying to corral her older sister and he was like a defensive end countering her attempts to move around him. And that girl is FAST, I was really impressed with him!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We haven't been to the Boneyard yet (it's on DD's list for the next trip), but she loves the HISTK playground at DHS. We went when she was 3.5yo. No one said a thing about an age requirement. I followed her up into the rope climbing structure and I'm glad I did. There were some older kids who almost pushed her down in their haste to get around us. I didn't mind that they wanted to go ahead and was fine having DD move aside to let them when we could, but one time she was climbing through a passage and there was no room to move aside. One kid came close to kicking her in the face as he climbed ahead of her. When we went back when she was 5, she was good to do it on her own. And I was thrilled I didn't have to climb through that thing.

Your DD should be able to enjoy the playgrounds but may not be able to do everything in them. Your plan of "close supervision" is a good one.

 

[imthatgirl]

They do get really crowded so keep that in mind. My kids are 4,6 and 9 so I just relaxed while they played. But a younger child, I don't think I could relax. there is no CM supervision in there...well sure there are CMs in there but they can keep up with all the running screaming kids. I didn't care for the play ares when my kids were younger, it made me too anxious. Now that they're older I can just let them play while I sit back.

Other great play ares for that age are poohs playful spot under splash and in Epcot the play area as you leave mission space is awesome for the little kids.

 

[gillenkl]

I think it's important to observe the age requirements as well as your childs own ability. It's drive me nuts when I see parents bring tiny toddlers who can barely walk into these large playzones. Children will have plenty of time to play in these areas when they are older and there's no need to rush them into things they aren't able to physically do. I don't really like to see other adults crawling in these areas with my child - you just never know who these adults are or if they are freaks.

 

[Jdougherty]

I might get flamed for this BUT.........

It's a parents right to supervise thier child(ern) at anytime any where.

" I don't really like to see other adults crawling in these areas with my child - you just never know who these adults are or if they are freaks. "

If you don't want me a parent or any adult near your child DON't take them to public or in this case not so public play areas. It's because I don't know all of the other childern and what type of manners they've been taught that I am in there with my childern, plus the fear of a as it's been put "freak".

While Disney put min. age limits on these area's I belive it should be the parents choice to let thier child(ern) play or not as long as they don't impeed or create a danger to everyone else.

I would be okay with my almost 3year old who's VERY athletic in the play area WITH an supervising adult.

 

[Ava]

( I have yet to see a CM enforce the 'No kids over age x rule')

What is the maximum age allowed in these areas? And is this a firm rule, or just a guideline (like the minimum age of 4)?

I remember playing in the HISTK area when I was 11 (with my sister who was 6) and no one said anything to me about being too old to be in there. (This was in the early '90s, so rules could've changed since then for sure.)

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I couldn't find a maximum (or minimum) age listed on WDW's website. And I don't remember seeing either on the park map or on signs at the playground. Since there are many parents that choose to climb along with their children, and I've never seen a CM stop a parent from doing so, I'd guess there is no maximum. And I don't see why there would need to be. The HISTK playground is fun for older children too. The main thing is to be respectful of all people. Older children (and adults) should take care not to knock over a smaller child. And the parent of a smaller child should let the older, faster kids get around them if possible.

 

[livndisney]

I couldn't find a maximum (or minimum) age listed on WDW's website. And I don't remember seeing either on the park map or on signs at the playground. Since there are many parents that choose to climb along with their children, and I've never seen a CM stop a parent from doing so, I'd guess there is no maximum. And I don't see why there would need to be. The HISTK playground is fun for older children too. The main thing is to be respectful of all people. Older children (and adults) should take care not to knock over a smaller child. And the parent of a smaller child should let the older, faster kids get around them if possible.

The playgrounds set up for the Flower at Garden show did have signs limiting ages on the playgrounds. There was one for 2-5 and one for 6-12. I did see CM's ask older children (unsupervised teens) to leave the playground.

AT Poohsplayground at MK (now closed) there was a sign right at the entrance that said 2-5. http://allears.net/tp/mk/pps1.jpg.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

The playgrounds set up for the Flower at Garden show did have signs limiting ages on the playgrounds. There was one for 2-5 and one for 6-12. I did see CM's ask older children (unsupervised teens) to leave the playground.

AT Poohsplayground at MK (now closed) there was a sign right at the entrance that said 2-5. http://allears.net/tp/mk/pps1.jpg.

Sorry, I was specifically referencing the HISTK playground. I know some of the other, smaller, playgrounds do have age and size limits.