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

[Malcon10t]

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

At Disneyland you do. There is a 5 foot hallway you cross to enter the lift. What they usually do is have the child wait at the queuing area. The rest of the family would enter the ride and the CM would have the child wait inside. Just before the ride finishes, the CM will take the child thru the door the CMs uses and has them in the hallway to exit.

 

[Niltiac]

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

This was discussed in depth in the other thread. Apparently you do, but the way it's set up makes it feel like a different place. When you load you walk through a doorway and then a hallway, which no one seems to notice because they're too excited to start the ride. When you unload the original doorway (which leads to the queue) is closed, but you're still in the same hallway. That's where the kid would be waiting.

 

[Lynzer Torte]

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.

I really appreciate you (and others) letting me know of this option. I never really considered taking him through the lines with us. He said he's willing to give that a try.

And a big thank you to everyone that has responded! DH have gone through them all and it's really helped us figure out how to deal with our little anxious dude.

Now if only there were a way to get him on Pirates again....

 

[bumbershoot]

At Disneyland you do. There is a 5 foot hallway you cross to enter the lift. What they usually do is have the child wait at the queuing area. The rest of the family would enter the ride and the CM would have the child wait inside. Just before the ride finishes, the CM will take the child thru the door the CMs uses and has them in the hallway to exit.

Fwiw I was talking about Disneyland. I think I’ve been on the dhs version twice.

Apparently you do, but the way it's set up makes it feel like a different place.

Interesting.

Perhaps it would have been better and perfectly accurate to say that you don’t leave through the exact same way? The child doesn’t just stand there in the load area. There is some moving of the child involved. It’s not exactly the same place.


As a kid I’d rather hang out in the gift shop though.

 

[disneychrista]

My first thought was 12+ but it also depends on what you would do at home. Would you let him wait outside a store (say Victoria Secret) while you shopped? Does he stay home alone while you run to the grocery store for milk?

 

[Malcon10t]

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

Fwiw I was talking about Disneyland. I think I’ve been on the dhs version twice.

Since you stated that you don't load and unload at the same spot, I thought you might have been confusing the 2. DCA you load and unload at the same spot. They frequently would let my nieces (they were 10-12 yo) sit on my scooter while the rest of us rode while TOT. One CM even let my niece welcome us back. Now with GOTG, they wait inside the line up area and exit them when the ride returns.

 

[az4boys]

I agree with all the above comments about having him go through the line. I was the one that skipped the ride for space mountain. My kids were 10 and 7 at the time. They wanted to ride but neither me nor my husband wanted to ride. I went through the line with them then stepped through the car and waited for them until they were done. Now they are 14 and 11 and we send them off while the rest of us do something nearby.

As for what age to leave alone, it varies greatly, even with my 4 boys. I think a big indicator is if he is comfortable with it and you are comfortable that he will follow directions.

 

[cobright]

So, were talking about letting the kiddo wait while the parents hit a ride.. hmmm.

Okay, for most rides, if I had a fastpass I would have no qualms about letting my 11 yr old chill on a bench while his mom and I hit a ride. That's at most a 25 min wait. He's got a smart phone. For trips like this I load it with that stalker-ware that lets me see where he is in realtime. When we're at WDW I have a Gizmo that lets me track the distance to his magicband. I don't worry about losing him. Plus he wouldn't likely be alone as we would also have his 13 yr sister with. But if it was just him... 10 or older would be appropriate.

Nature of the park seems to have a little shadier crowd at Disneyland. I'm don't mean to make sweeping generalities and I certainly don't mean that with any sort of ethnic connotations. I just mean that I saw a lot more non-family-vacation groups at Disneyland. It's an easier park to get into and out of. I saw a lot more single men compared to WDW. To be clear, I've seen nothing at DLR to trigger any sort of predator vibe, but if someone back home in Michigan were to tell me there was a creepy guest at one of the Disney parks ... based on what I've seen so far, my first thought would be to predict a DLR park. Even considering that Florida seems to be just one big convention center for creeps. But I'm digressing...

At WDW we let our 10 and 12 yr old son and daughter split off for a ride at a time without worrying about it.

 

[AndreAggie]

Just to piggy back on your decision, I have back issues and don't do some of the rides with big drops (Guardians, for example). I wait in line with my family and take the chicken exit. There are cast members along the way that will point you in the direction of where your family will be exiting. Just have to ask. And he can still use the phone in line to keep in him occupied. I've noticed the lines at DLR seem to be less interesting than the ques at WDW.

 

[nikerbokers]

Stay behind with no one? Probably 12. Maybe older depending on the maturity of my daughters at that age.

 

[starshine514]

I would let my 13-yr-old do it, but wouldn't let my just-turned-11-yr-old do it. 13 feels like the right age. I'm not sure if I would have felt comfortable leaving my 12-yr-old out last year.

Also, were we talking GOTG? My 13-yr-old hated it as TOT, but loves it as GOTG. I guess the theming creeped her out.

 

[KaChow]

18

 

[taaren]

For the kids I usually travel with, my niece and my son were fine at at 11 and 10. They are now 11 and 12 and we're 100% comfortable with them as they have phones, check in with us, stay in the same spot, etc. My nephew who is now 10 probably won't be ready for another year or two, although by next year he should be able to be under big sister's supervision. It totally depends on the kid and their ability to not wander ... that being said we're glad that the youngest is the one who is fine with all of the rides for some reason while the older two have certain fears. YMMV.

 

[ddwlms]

We rode GotG (then HToT) without our youngest when she was 9. We only did this when we had a fast pass. At first, we walked her to the bench outside the store / exit, and directed her not to move from the bench until we came out. Eventually her dad (I'm a bit more paranoid) let her wander around bugs land with a time limit, and she was at the bench waiting for us when we exited. FWIW, I was never not nervous about it, but my husband was always just fine with it. DD also had been to DL a couple times a year from the time she was a baby, so very comfortable with being left alone. --In fact, I'm pretty sure by the next year, she liked HTOT, but liked the feeling of freedom / responsibility even more, so she feigned being to scared to ride so she could have her moment of "maturity".

 

[maltdizzy]

Kids are generally smarter, safer, more self-reliant and more resourceful than we give them credit for.

Age 10 was when we started letting our kid head out start exploring parts of theme parks on this own (that includes DL and WDW and a few other locale parks). He knows how to order food (I learned that by surprise) so he won't starve and he knows the parks like the back of his hand so he won't get lost. He does what he wants to, we do what we want to, and we just keeping going by a meeting spot to check in, if one of us isn't there we know they will be soon enough if we wait (or come back). I think that’s less stressful and less anxiety-inducing than a child having to sit put the whole time, plus they learn a sense of independance and confidence.

Come to think of it, we started at age 8 in the WDW water parks, he knew where the towel was, so we let him roam free.

 

[lalasmama]

We decided on 13 for our daughter... She's a rule-follower, and stays where she is "put," lol, so we were comfortable enough with the idea. Of course, we didn't just throw caution to the wind--first we left her home alone for a while, then let her roam small parts of the local mall alone, then let her roam the whole mall on her own, then roam small parts of the parks on her own. If, at any point, she didn't return on time, privileges would have been pulled back; contrarily, she was always about 5 minutes early to check-in, along with texting random things she thought I would like to see.

 

[mich311e]

I left my 12-year-old at Animation Academy while I rode ToT. He had instructions to do one drawing and go in for the next one if I wasn't back in time. He ended up staying for a second drawing because I used our two fast passes at ToT. It was no problem at all.

My husband and I rode Splash Mountain - standby even - and my son didn't want to ride it. He rode Winnie the Pooh 3 times and got pictures with all the Pooh characters while we waited. It ended up being a 45-minute wait.

We've told him to look for a cast member if he ever needs help.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I let my son wait outside Big Thunder as early as age 7 because he hated it and it was my daughter's favorite. But by then he had been to Disneyland over 100x and he knew to stay put even if it seemed like we were taking too long. I made sure he had used the restroom beforehand so he wouldn't need to leave that spot. I find it easiest to park kids at the ride exit, except for Space Mtn and Guardians (ToT), we used to have them browse the Star Wars/Guardians store and that was a good way to pass the time. They are great shoppers, never touch stuff. Obviously each kid is different. Unless a kid looks worried or wandering aimlessly I assume he's where his parents parked him!

 

[Leslie0915]

This really depends on your kiddo. I was just there with 2 - 14 year olds an had zero issue letting them go places without me as long as we all had phones and a game plan. My daughter has a lot of anxiety around large crowds and was fine waiting on a bench for me last time we were there in 2012, she was 9. I had a fast pass for a ride and was gone 15 minutes.

We were just there 2 weeks ago, used fast pass for Guardians and were in and out in 15 minutes. My daughters friend finally decided to try the ride and was so glad she did. I found it to be so much better than when it was TOT. Much more "fun" feeling and super entertaining. Maybe he will change his mind, you never know! I'm was really surprised at how much more my daughter enjoyed her time a DL this year. For both girls it was all about the rides and meeting the princesses and characters. I could never get her near a character when she was younger. LOL

That said if he can hang out with the cast members or even spend time in the store at the end of the ride (Guardians) that would be great! Have fun

 

[olafgypsy]

I have been thinking about this too because I really want to ride GoTG at EPCOT in December but my 9-year-old son would NEVER go on a roller coaster. He hates thrill rides. I know that if I put him on a bench and told him to stay put, he wouldn't move a muscle (he's a rule follower, and definitely not a risk taker, hence the dislike of thrill rides) but I think HE would be freaked out more than mom. I'm considering booking some time at the Swan & Dolphin kids camp for one evening at EPCOT instead. OP might consider that as well if budget and time allows.