Can a child sit alone without a stranger next to her?

[cecij10]

I wonder if anyone can help. On our next trip we are going 2 adults and 3 children ages 3, 6 and 9. On the rides that have 2-seat seats, my 9 year old daughter will have to sit alone, as she won't be able to sit with any of her siblings because they are under 7 years old. What I don't want is for any stranger to sit next to her. Is it possible that I can tell this to the CM? Can I ask that no stranger sit next to my daughter? Thanks

 

[CarolynFH]

I wonder if anyone can help. On our next trip we are going 2 adults and 3 children ages 3, 6 and 9. On the rides that have 2-seat seats, my 9 year old daughter will have to sit alone, as she won't be able to sit with any of her siblings because they are under 7 years old. What I don't want is for any stranger to sit next to her. Is it possible that I can tell this to the CM? Can I ask that no stranger sit next to my daughter? Thanks

Yes, you can ask, and I believe the CMs will be understanding and allow her to sit alone.

 

[lockets]

The 9 and 6 year olds can’t sit by themselves right? That’s how my Dad situated us when we were that age. There are many reasons this can’t work for other families with kids that age so I’m just askin…

 

[subtchr]

The 9 and 6 year olds can’t sit by themselves right? That’s how my Dad situated us when we were that age. There are many reasons this can’t work for other families with kids that age so I’m just askin…

No, they can't.

If the younger one were 7, they could. But any guest under age 7 must sit with someone 14 or older.

 

[lockets]

Got it. Makes sense.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

You can ask. You can't guarantee they'll comply especially on the few rides with single rider lines. Odds are they will but I would prepare for what you'll do if they do not comply. Prepare her or decide if y'all will bail.

If you put her between you and your spouse's rows maybe you'll feel better?

 

[coasternut22]

I’m trying to think where this will happen though? Thunder possibly but I’ve seen three small people fit in a row. Spaceship Earth, probably not. Figment, probably not. My guess is Mine Train, Slinky Rockin, and Everest are likely. I can’t think of any other rides where there is this possibility. One thing you have to watch for on Slinky is that there are no single riders, but they may put one person from a party of three with another old numbered person to fill both seats. Had that happen.

Heres my story. I’m a grown man with a daughter and son who single rode Space Mountain at Disneyland (2 side by side seats) Because no one else wanted to ride. When I was called to board, I was put with a girl my daughters age (7-8 at the time). Her parents were riding together behind us. I thought it was strange and even asked if they wanted to sit with her and I’ll sit with one of them. They said no, that she wanted to ride without them. Okay, whatever. That girl chatted me up like nothing else. She was so excited to ride. She told me how she was going to go no hands and scream and all that. I told her that my daughter was scared to go on and how brave she was. She told me that I need to convince my daughter to go on. All this while waiting to get on next and boarding. We rode together, screamed, had a great time. The point of this is that kids will find a way to have fun, and if they want to be there, they may not mind a complete stranger who will genuinly want to be their ride buddy for the next several minutes. I understand your situation because I too have an 8 and 10 year old. Do what you feel is comfortable. However, us single riders aren’t so bad.

 

[Jangles]

Why not use rider swap?

 

[Anna131517]

We had to do this on a couple rides with our son. On Slinky Dog Dash he sat next to a mom who was also in a party of five. It was fine. The CM did ask us if it would be OK first. On SDMT he sat next to another kid. The CM didn’t say anything to us before telling them where to sit that time.

 

[SirDuff]

Why not use rider swap?

But everyone is tall enough to ride and wants to ride.

 

[AnnaS]

On each ride the CM will ask you how many in your party. They distribute those to the number of seats and many times a row will have just one person for an odd number of people. They don't fill up every seat. NP there.

For the rides that they do fill up every seat, I would think you would be on the row behind or in front of the child. I would sit/make sure you are behind her so you can see her. You can double check and mention it to the CM when you give the CM the number of your party just in case you happen to get cars that are separated (cars not connected). You can let a party behind you go in front of you if you think there is a separation of rows. (not sure if I explained it right ).

 

[buzzrelly]

I'd be very surprised if the 3 year-old was tall enough for RnRC or EE. Mayyybeee SDD and 7DMT, but I think 3 year olds are more likely to be on Goofy's.

OP, I think those 4 rides is where you'd be more likely to run into this but depending on how tall your 3 year old is, it might not be an issue because you'd have to use rider swap anyway.

 

[tjmw2727]

This will depend on the ride and the CM loading - how tall is the 3yo and which rides are you curious about?

For the attractions you use RS for (if the 3yo isn't tall enough) you can just take turns riding with the other 2 who are tall enough, one child with each parent.

If the 3yo is tall enough - you can squeeze 3 into a row on barnstormer, splash and btmr, TT seats 3, dinosaur seats 4 so that would be 3/2.

Generally speaking; If there is a single rider line than yes, your 9yo would be seated with a stranger, no exceptions and Slinky was very strict about this as well as they alternate even/odd parties to avoid empty seats. 7dmt was 50/50 when we asked seems to be at the discretion of the loading cm's.

 

[nancipants]

If you are going after Cosmic Rewind opens and are able to ride that, she'll definitely be seated with someone else. Basically any coaster with a long line, they're going to want to fill all available seats.

 

[MomOTwins]

No, they can't.

If the younger one were 7, they could. But any guest under age 7 must sit with someone 14 or older.

That's not true for virtually all rides. On most rides, they will allow the 9 and 6 year old to sit together in a row with a parent in the row behind them, provided they are in the same ride vehicle (think the front and back of each train car on 7DMT, a pooh honey pot vehicle, Splash mountain with its multiple rows in each log), etc. On those rides, they do not consider the child to be "unaccompanied by an adult age 14 or older" if the adult is right behind them in the same ride vehicle. I did this all the time when my twins were under 7 and I was with them as a solo parent, they would sit in front of me and I would sit with a stranger behind them. The staff members asked the kids their age in the boarding area and made sure we were seated in the same ride vehicle instead of split between two cars.

Now there are a handful of rides where this does not work. Typically, these are the rides where there is an open side and you go up high, because an adult (over 14) must sit on the open side--I recall for example Dumbo, Magic Carpets and Barnstormer all turned me away at the gate for that reason. I know there were a couple of others but my memory fails me, but it really wasn't more than 4 or 5 rides in all of WDW.

Now to answer the original question: if the 9 year old really wants to sit alone, it is going to to depend on how popular the ride is. I actually did try to ask at rides if I could ride alone in a row last year after they lifted the mask requirements because I wasn't quite comfortable with the covid risk of being shoulder to shoulder with a stranger without a mask, and they pretty much always said no if it was a popular ride. If they allow it for one person, then everyone wants it.

 

[Feberin]

My seven year old was asked a lot how old she was to see if she could ride alone or not. Spaceship Earth did put her with my four year old in front of my twelve year old and me. On Slinky she was seated next to a random kid but I didn't ask for her to sit alone.

 

[AZMermaid]

At DL, there was a mom in front of me with three kids similar ages for Gadgets go coaster (basically barnstormer). They were not going to let them ride and I could tell the little one was going to be reallllllly sad when he figured that out. I offered for my then 8 year old to ride with her older child, I rode with the 6 year old and she rode with the little one. She gratefully accepted. The CM let my daughter and I ride again together, which was unexpected and unnecessary but appreciated.

But to OP- I agree that you can ask. They’ll probably say yes. And i like the idea of putting the older one between you.

FWIW though, my recently turned 10 year old daughter sat between two strangers on a recent flight. It was Southwest and I checked in late and we got C. It was only an hour flight and she was across aisle and one row behind. Although she’d have rather been with me, she also appreciated the independence.

 

[Mexacajun]

I’m trying to think where this will happen though? Thunder possibly but I’ve seen three small people fit in a row. Spaceship Earth, probably not. Figment, probably not. My guess is Mine Train, Slinky Rockin, and Everest are likely. I can’t think of any other rides where there is this possibility. One thing you have to watch for on Slinky is that there are no single riders, but they may put one person from a party of three with another old numbered person to fill both seats. Had that happen.

Heres my story. I’m a grown man with a daughter and son who single rode Space Mountain at Disneyland (2 side by side seats) Because no one else wanted to ride. When I was called to board, I was put with a girl my daughters age (7-8 at the time). Her parents were riding together behind us. I thought it was strange and even asked if they wanted to sit with her and I’ll sit with one of them. They said no, that she wanted to ride without them. Okay, whatever. That girl chatted me up like nothing else. She was so excited to ride. She told me how she was going to go no hands and scream and all that. I told her that my daughter was scared to go on and how brave she was. She told me that I need to convince my daughter to go on. All this while waiting to get on next and boarding. We rode together, screamed, had a great time. The point of this is that kids will find a way to have fun, and if they want to be there, they may not mind a complete stranger who will genuinly want to be their ride buddy for the next several minutes. I understand your situation because I too have an 8 and 10 year old. Do what you feel is comfortable. However, us single riders aren’t so bad.

This was my first thought. Are all single riders bad? Do we hear stories of bad things happening in these situations? I think we live in a very sensitive society.

At the end of the day do what makes you feel comfortable but know not everyone in the world is out to get you.

 

[kwdw]

I’ve been a frequent solo traveler and I’ve gotten the third kid in the 7-11 age range as a seat mate on both 7DMT and SDD. A few have been happy to be a chatterbox with a stranger, a few a bit nervous and quiet. I’ve never not been paired with someone on those two rides. I’ve also never seen a CM violate the age rules and let two little ones ride together. Now, I have seen that a couple times with kids in the older range, but your kids are too young to pull that game.

Either assume the stranger is harmless in this setting, which is almost always true, or use rider swap.

 

[mom2rtk]

At DL, there was a mom in front of me with three kids similar ages for Gadgets go coaster (basically barnstormer). They were not going to let them ride and I could tell the little one was going to be reallllllly sad when he figured that out. I offered for my then 8 year old to ride with her older child, I rode with the 6 year old and she rode with the little one. She gratefully accepted. The CM let my daughter and I ride again together, which was unexpected and unnecessary but appreciated.

But to OP- I agree that you can ask. They’ll probably say yes. And i like the idea of putting the older one between you.

FWIW though, my recently turned 10 year old daughter sat between two strangers on a recent flight. It was Southwest and I checked in late and we got C. It was only an hour flight and she was across aisle and one row behind. Although she’d have rather been with me, she also appreciated the independence.

And good for you letting her take these little tastes of independence! That's exactly how you build to the bigger stuff.