At what age would you let your child wait for you outside of a ride alone?

[Lynzer Torte]

Our 10 year old son has a lot of anxiety about rides. He simply will not ride certain rides no matter how much we convince him they're safe and try to bribe . We've done rider swap but we really don't like riding rides alone- especially rides we haven't been on before (Guardians).

I realize it's a case-by-case basis but at what age would generally be appropriate to leave your child to wait on a bench outside of the exit? He would have one of our cell phones.

 

[Summer2018]

13.

In my case, my DD would not have been comfortable even at that age. She was 16 when she was able to be alone in public, but that’s just her.

 

[Mamato4boys]

Our last trip we let our son, who was a week from 11, go on rides with his older brother (who was 14). They would leave for an hour or so on their own. He wouldn't have been ok without his brother, though.

He will be 12 this trip and if he wanted to, we would let him. We will let him and his 15 year old brother go off together while we do little kid things with our 2 and 4 year olds.

We will also consider letting our (responsible, size of a full grown man) 15 year old watch our 2 year old so we can take our 4 year old on a couple of rides (RSR and Splash) with both mom and dad.

If, at 10, one of our kids were ok with sitting right outside a ride, I would consider it, but the thought does make me a bit nervous.

 

[sherilaine]

I would not have been comfortable doing this when my kids were that age. This trip my son is 14 and the only ride he won't go on - odd as it is - is Big Thunder. So he says he is just going to sit and wait for the three of us to ride. He was not comfortable doing this our last trip when he was 12.

I think this type of thing depends on the kid more than the parent - if your son says he's comfortable and you know he's going to be staying in one spot then it would likely work out but the one thing I find is that kids can agree to terms and conditions and then change their mind half way through - so be prepared for a text saying "come back out now" if you try this.

 

[momof2n2]

Daytime - a mature 10 - mine could have handled. But if he’s anxious in general, it might be hard if it’s going to be a long wait.
At 10 I let mine go into the grocery store to make quick purchases, etc. I might even let certain of my kids wait even younger if it’s a really short amount of time.

 

[smartlabelprint]

High school. Depending on the kid. They’d need to be very mature for their age.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Officially Disney says age 14 to ride alone and I guess just go to the park alone. But if he’s willing to just sit calmly outside the ride exit, and he’s mature enough I’d say 10 could work. Especially if he has a screen to occupy him! So, it would just depend on the kid.

 

[Angrose]

My son just turned 10 and he would totally be fine with this. He's a good kid and would never wander off and knows all about stranger danger. If he had my phone and/or his 3ds to pass the time, he probably wouldn't even know we were gone, lol! You know your kid best, so follow your instincts!

 

[BWCSH]

I let my son do this when he was 10. If your kiddo is responsible enough to either stay put or make it to the exit for the ride while you're riding, I don't see a problem with this. If your kiddo is likely to wander, I wouldn't allow it. The threat is more your own kid than what anyone else might do!

I'll add...hang in there! By our next trip, 3 years later, the same kid was willing to ride everything the rest of us wanted to ride. (That trip was to WDW...and since I don't like coasters and didn't want to do TOT, he was fine. Had anyone else wanted to do those rides, he'd still probably have wanted to sit it out.)

 

[Malcon10t]

Officially Disney says age 14 to ride alone and I guess just go to the park alone. But if he’s willing to just sit calmly outside the ride exit, and he’s mature enough I’d say 10 could work. Especially if he has a screen to occupy him! So, it would just depend on the kid.

Disney's rule is age 7 for riding alone. 14 to enter the park alone. My granddaughter just turned 7 and that was what she wanted to do for her birthday, ride single rider. If the child is under 7, they must be accompanied by someone 14 years or older.

To the OP, it really depends on the child. For my granddaughter, she is 7, technically allowed by Disney, it would really depend on which ride. She is very familiar with Disneyland and DCA. I would have him go with you thru the queue, then use the "last chance" (aka Chicken) exit and wait for you. Then you are only talking about 5-7 mins. Talk with him regarding the fact that you might get delayed due to a breakdown. We have gone over things like breakdowns and what to expect with my granddaughter. Show him the exit you should be using, and where you want him to wait. He will exit out the exit and can stay at your meeting point. Example, GOTG, I would have them wait at the picture area. Screamin', by the pictures, Big Thunder, at the end of the exit where you can watch the trains go by, Indy, there is a rock bench just where you come off the cars.... Feel free to ask if you want an idea.

 

[Niltiac]

In another recent thread I saw people saying that a child can wait in line for GotG and then talk to the CM loading the ride, and they'll let them wait right by the ride vehicle. Then he wouldn't even have to take the chicken exit. The only problem with the chicken exit plan is that I think you should show him ahead of time where he'll be coming out so it's not disorienting.

I also think 10 is fine to wait outside if you have FP (so the wait isn't as long), so long as he isn't scared and doesn't wander. But then, I don't have kids so my judgment may be off. I just remember riding my bike to the grocery store alone at that age (times have changed, I know). Disneyland is just about the safest place for him to practice being independent.

 

[Calee]

My son will be 10 when we go next and for certain rides, I plan to leave him if he is ok with it at the time.

 

[Cactus girl]

Our daughter waited outside the door for GotG (then TT). Actually, she did this for several rides. She would go through the line with us and then just walk through the cars at Space Mountain and then wait by the railing—same for BTMRR and Splash. The CMs were always so nice to talk to her while she waited. She started doing this when she was around 10.

 

[DharmaLou]

I let DD at 7. She knows our #s and where to sit put.

 

[Disney_Alli]

At 10 my sister and I used to walk to the mall from my grandmother's apartment. I'd have him wait in line and use the chicken exit if he's anxious so he's alone for the shortest amount of time possible.

 

[minnieralyks]

An alternative to this is to have him wait outside the loading areas. He can travel through the line with you then when everyone else loads onto the ride, he can skip getting in the ride vehicle and wait at the unloading area. That way he's only waiting 3-5 minutes alone instead of 30-45 minutes. All rides should do be able to do this.

My mom took the "chicken exit" on Tower of Terror when she wanted to see the queue and wait with us but did not want to ride due to motion sickness. We did this also with my brother at It's Tough to Be a Bug. He hated that show because of all the things that jump out, so he would just wait with us then go down the full row and out the exit door and sit on a step to wait for us. He was probably 11-12 or so at the time.

 

[andersonsc]

Our son was 9-10 when we left him to ride tower of terror in DCA. He went on bugs life rides and bought himself a churro while waiting. He had a phone. He's very mature and has been going to Disney all his life so was very comfortable.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Depends on maturity and the length of a line for the ride I think. When I was around 10, my parents let me wander around Disneyland alone to grab a snack or wait by an exit, but for no longer than about 30 minutes at a time. My oldest son isn't as mature as I was. He is 7 and I currently allow him to wait outside the women's restroom if I need to go and he doesn't want to follow me in, but unless he matures a lot, he will probably be 12 or 13 before I let him be totally alone without supervision for the length of a ride.

 

[bumbershoot]

In another recent thread I saw people saying that a child can wait in line for GotG and then talk to the CM loading the ride, and they'll let them wait right by the ride vehicle. Then he wouldn't even have to take the chicken exit.

But you don't load and unload at the same place. So some sort of exit has to happen.

He went on bugs life rides and bought himself a churro while waiting.

That's awesome.

's very mature and has been going to Disney all his life so was very comfortable.

That's a pretty big part of it. My son has been going to Disneyland since he was 17 months old. He's familiar with the place. He's brave. He does, and always has, think of the "what ifs", but he's been comfy being alone. When we decided (all of us) that he could start being alone a bit, we started with the little coaster in ToonTown. He was 7 or over and went into the line by himself. We could see him almost the entire time, and we watched to make sure he wasn't cutting, or getting lost in his own world and irritating others, or irritating others in any way, that he got onto the ride OK and paid attention to the CMs, then rode happily. Then he found his way out of the line as well. Once we realized he was good at that, for the rides he wanted to ride alone, if we didn't want to ride, it was game on.

So he was born in '04 and that was the year Radiator Springs opened, so he would have been a late 7 or early 8 b/c we went that year. We have literally NEVER gone in the standby line for RSR because everyone has always been comfy riding alone.

Now is that the same as sitting on a bench? Not entirely, but it's also more dynamic with more moving parts. So YES I'd be comfy with my son sitting on a bench waiting for us, with our background in the parks, pretty young.

Now he's 13 and gigantic and I have very few worries about him LOL. (as long as he doesn't run wearing Tap shoes and break his arm again, that is...)

 

[NannyBeBe]

I would not do this until my child was in high school.