Changes coming to minimum age requirement for unaccompanied park entry

[tjmj9801]

Because some of us are not afraid of crime and child predators, especially at Disney.

Are you that hardened to it or that naive? I agree that Disney is safer than most places but you're seriously not afraid of crime or predators? It's kind of irresponsible, unless you, at minimum, are trained in self defense.

 

[gortman65]

Thank Heaven the BTGs are all 15, right? Whew. Crisis averted.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Are you that hardened to it or that naive? I agree that Disney is safer than most places but you're seriously not afraid of crime or predators? It's kind of irresponsible, unless you, at minimum, are trained in self defense.

Neither. Crime is down across the board from when I was growing up (the 70s and 80s). It's only media reporting of these things which has increased significantly. It is greater than a million to one chance that my child will ever be targeted by a predator.

Meanwhile, car accidents are still a major killer of persons aged 18 and younger. How do I get over the fear of my child dying in a car accident? I'm not sure, but it's something I manage to do every day.

 

[Suellen]

The current rule (on rides) is enforced, it's just that it's allowed as long as you are in the same ride vehicle. E.g. in October my 5-year-old rode on Barnstormer in a row all by himself, while I and my 2-year-old rode right behind him in the next row. He wasn't riding "by himself" since we were right behind him. But if he would have been waiting in line by himself and tried to get on without me there (or someone with him at least 14), he wouldn't have been able to ride.

Exactly what I was saying. So all those families of 5 that are concerned should be all set unless they change how it is currently done.

 

[tjmj9801]

Neither. Crime is down across the board from when I was growing up (the 70s and 80s). It's only media reporting of these things which has increased significantly. It is greater than a million to one chance that my child will ever be targeted by a predator.

Meanwhile, car accidents are still a major killer of persons aged 18 and younger. How do I get over the fear of my child dying in a car accident? I'm not sure, but it's something I manage to do every day.

Right. So when your child IS that 1:1M it'll be ok, because that's the statistic? I'll go with naive then. Car accidents are still a major killer because parents refuse to use and use properly car seats and seat belt boosters, texting among teens, distraction, I could go on. None of those are natural occurrences. Very preventable. Just as protecting my child by being with them or teaching them better about strangers and how to protect themselves.

 

[heyitsmejosh]

well the problem with this is its not like they can just check id's or anything.. a kid whos 12 or 13 could just say they were 14

 

[CarolineB]

Basically this keeps the locals (for the most part) from dropping their kiddos off at the parks for the day. More space for me!

I can see how for some folks they will NOT be happy with this though. I'm sure there is something that happened that has brought about this change though.

I'm curious how many local people drop their kids off at Disney parks or water parks for the day -- to mean this doesn't sound very safe. My son is 9 now and I wouldn't do this or even let him stay in the park without me. I've let him go on rides at Sea World, Universal, and Disney by himself but I'm always near by. I've also let him go on the slides at Aquatica while I waited at the exit.

 

[iheartdisney]

Exactly what I was saying. So all those families of 5 that are concerned should be all set unless they change how it is currently done.

i wasn't referring to rides that split up a family of five. I was referring to rides that are too intense for a "chicken" sibling of adventurous children. So if the rule change applies to attraction admission as well as park admission, the children of solo parents are going to be hit hardest. This is going to encourage either:
A) traumatizing the timid child by forcing them on a ride, because if they don't go, no one does; or
B) Causing a whole lot of sibling resentments (it is all YOUR fault we can't go on Tower of Terror!!)
Sounds like a no-win for everyone.

 

[CarolineB]

On Sunday, my 9 year old son walked ahead of me when going in one of the three playground areas at EPCOT's Flower and Garden Festival while I parked my wheel chair (I was going to walk in and sit on a chair.) A CM asked him where his parents were when he saw him walk in alone.

 

[keishashadow]

Obviously you never went to AstroWorld in Houston. That was all that park was in the summertime and it got so bad that families started staying away and it finally closed down. Not saying that would happen at WDW but, yes, there are many parents would would drop their pre-teens/teens off at an amusement park all day, they already do it at the mall.

Apparantly many in Houston roll differently than those in Pittsburgh.

It's certainly not uncommon to see hordes of tweens in my nearby mall (as in 3 miles from our town). All my kids hung out there on the weekend; parents would carpool & take turns dropping them off for several hours of entertainment. They'd hit the IMAX, get a bite to eat, do some shopping and socialize...same as most suburban kids do every weekend. I have friends who have businesses located there, the merchants welcome them & depend upon their discretionary spending. It has private security and the local police department has a branch there...tends to keep things in line.

Our hometown amusement park (Kennywood) is heavily staffed by private police department that hires many moonlighting policemen from the area. They don't put up with any foolishness and I can't recall ever reading of any incident of merit on park grounds, despite it being located next to a high-crime area.

 

[World Showcaser]

Right. So when your child IS that 1:1M it'll be ok, because that's the statistic? I'll go with naive then. Car accidents are still a major killer because parents refuse to use and use properly car seats and seat belt boosters, texting among teens, distraction, I could go on. None of those are natural occurrences. Very preventable. Just as protecting my child by being with them or teaching them better about strangers and how to protect themselves.

Is this thread really going to turn into a discussion about whether overprotective parenting is a good idea or not? I do think it's not really relevant to the topic at hand. Whether or not a parent wants to be strict is up to that parent.

well the problem with this is its not like they can just check id's or anything.. a kid whos 12 or 13 could just say they were 14

Well, children do have ID in the form of birth certificates. Maybe they will requiring seeing them before letting teenagers in? You can also get ID cards for minors if carrying around a birth certificate seems less than desirable.

 

[tjmj9801]

Is this thread really going to turn into a discussion about whether overprotective parenting is a good idea or not? I do think it's not really relevant to the topic at hand. Whether or not a parent wants to be strict is up to that parent.

Strict has nothing to do with it. Overprotective wouldn't be the word I would use, but, isn't that part of the argument? Clearly CM's and management don't feel that kids under 14 should be left to their own devices in the parks. I know some parents are more comfortable with letting their kids do lots of things by themselves that I probably won't. These kids need adult supervision and its not up to the CM's to do it. I don't see how that could be categorized as overprotective. What I was addressing was specifically to the poster I quoted. I honestly don't care one way or the other if the rule is implemented. I simply replied the first time agreeing with the poster who said the ticketing age could should match the age requirement. It hit me wrong for the poster I quoted to be so flippant about crime and child predators in general, not just as Disney, so I addressed that. And that's all I've got for either argument.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I'm confused by the wording in the link. It mentions 'gated attractions' but then talks about entry into the park. Is it entry into the park or entry on to an attraction, or both?

I would highly disagree if this was entry into an attraction - or at least riding it or waiting. For instance, my kids love Aerosmith but I can handle it ONCE So I let them go in the single riders line as many times as they want while I sit and wait for them. They are 8 & 10 currently. I see no issue with this - they are comfortable with the ride, they know what to do, and I am waiting for them at the exit.

Additionally, my DS10 will not ride Tower of Terror. He goes through the line with us and then uses the 'exit' just prior to the elevators as the rest of us get on the ride. He waits for us at the exit. Last time we were there, he decided he wanted to eat and wait for us while we did the ride. Again, it was all fine.

So if this means my family can not do this any longer, this will seriously decrease our enjoyment of the parks. Many older folks (and not much older than their 20s!) can't handle all the motion rides but the kids can so why would you want to prevent the kids from enjoying the rides if the guardian sincerely can't handle it?? Make the guardian suffer motion sickness or have upset kids because they can't ride it?

I'm hoping it has nothing to do with the attractions. As for entry to the park, it doesn't apply TOO much to me because I'm not a local. For our trips, we do sometimes split up but I do not feel my kids are old enough to go off on their own (even together) in a park. At 10 and 12, I will might let them go off together but I would still be in the same park. BUT, every child is different. I was babysitting babies, younger children, and mentally disabled ADULTs when I was 8 and I personally would have been fine. The problem is that Disney doesn't know if a child is responsible or not so this sounds like a way to mitigate that.

Now, I'd rather encounter 2 12 year old girls walking around the park than 2 15 year old boys So I'm not sure if this is really accomplishing anything.

And to the poster that said the age should be 10 - Disney ABSOLUTELY needs to align this thought of a 'child' and 'junior' across ticket prices, meals, and entry to the park. A 10 year old can not enter the park, but must pay an adult's price so they must be there with an adult but they can not get a kids meal

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Right. So when your child IS that 1:1M it'll be ok, because that's the statistic? I'll go with naive then. Car accidents are still a major killer because parents refuse to use and use properly car seats and seat belt boosters, texting among teens, distraction, I could go on. None of those are natural occurrences. Very preventable. Just as protecting my child by being with them or teaching them better about strangers and how to protect themselves.

No, injury and death to people, including young children, is not prevetable by seatbelts, or laws against drunk driving, or telling idiots to stop texting. Taking these precautions only make driving safe-er, not safe. When your child is in the correct seat of your car, correctly buckled in, with you driving, on a full nights rest, without any distractions, on an un-busy street near your house...they are still in greater danger of injury than they are of being picked up by some sicko at Disney.

I am not flippant about crime or predators. I am just more realistic about the dangers of cars. The question is, "Why aren't more people terrified of cars?" The answer is, because we use them every day, they're useful and common. Also, we see friends and relatives get into "minor" accidents and survive, so we have the idea that, if we were ever in a crash, things would probably be all right. We do not jump to the worst conclusion.

But child predators? Those things are more terrifying to us because of their rarity. How do you deal with a child predator when most of us have never even seen one. They're like wolverines - smelly and mean and rare. We immediately jump to conclusions, because bad thoughts about them are all we have to go on.

If my child was targeted by a predator would the fact that it's a rare "statistic" make it okay? No, of course not. It's also not okay if I get hit by a drunk driver and my correctly strapped in kid dies, either. That's also a "statistic". A considerably more likely statistic. Yet it's not going to stop me from using cars. Similarly, I personally think that some children under the age of 14 would be perfectly safe (and not disruptive to other guests) if allowed to tour on their own in Disneyworld. I'm certainly not against teaching children basic safety to help prevent a tragedy should something incredibly unlikely occur to them. The difference is I know the reality of the likelihood of it happening to them, and it's accordingly among the least of my worries.

I intend to let my kids play in the rain, too, even though they could get hit by lightning.

 

[World Showcaser]

And I still don't see what a philosophical argument about how crime affects individual parenting styles has to do with this thread. While related, I think you're off in another direction.

I'm confused by the wording in the link. It mentions 'gated attractions' but then talks about entry into the park. Is it entry into the park or entry on to an attraction, or both?

I think a gated attraction refers to a theme or water park, not individual attractions. However, that doesn't mean that new rules won't be coming for rides and shows too but that's not clear at this point.