? check out privileges

[younginspirit]

I'd appreciate others comments and thoughts about checkout privileges from the lab for a 10 year old. I have a mature and trust worthy child, but I'm hesitant about this. Thanks, Bev

 

[imgoingtodisney]

DS10.5 will not be having charging priviledges. Before he gets his card I will be removing the charging off it.
We went away this summer and he left it behind somewhere. Luckily, when we went back the room key was still there! That was all it took - we had our lesson.
He is taking his own disney dollars to be used however it will be charged against the room - not his key.

 

[musicgirl]

At the time of our cruise my ds was 11. We did let him check in and out. He thought it was great and so did we. One night he came back to the room after we had turned in. I think it made him feel very responsible. He also ended up making some very good choices when we were suppose to meet. We missed each other at an appointed time and place to go see a show. While we were running all over the ship, he had gone back to change clothes and then went to get a seat at the show for all of us. I think sometimes we under estimate our kids. If you give him a chance, he'll probably be just fine. Give him instructions where to meet at a certain time (I suggest the room then you can wait for each other) If he feels uncomfortable or doesn't do well, change your plans! I say give him a chance, let him spread his wings a little. I can't think of a better place for this.

Good luck, Lorie

 

[disney6]

We gave our DS 10 checkin/out privileges. He said it was amazing! He did have his best friend with him though. They even met my parents for their shore excursion on their own! My DH was at the spa and I went shopping off the ship so gave them the responsibility to meet at Rockin Bar D at excursion time and they were there waiting for my parents. Very responsible. They were not allowed to just roam the ship, had to have a destination in mind. It was great for all of us! I am very proud of them!

 

[DopeysGal]

I gave my son (almost 10 at the time) check in/out privileges and it worked out great. He was not allowed to roam but go from point A to point B in a specific amount of time. If he wanted to stay in the lab until 10pm, then he had to be at our cabin by 10:05. He was never late. Once he wanted to stay in the lab later so he had me paged, I called the lab and he asked to stay until 11:00. At 11:05, there he was. It was the first time I had giving him any type of "freedom" anywhere and it was good for both of us. All children are different and you know your child best. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Michelle]

Bev, do what makes you comfortable. I have a rather immature 9- year-old and she definitely will not have check out privileges next month. I honestly doubt she'll have check out privileges until she's a TEEN, but you never know. It's not an issue to her at all, she NEVER wants to leave the Lab.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[cruisnfamily]

And it worked out great!

The following is a cut/paste from my response to someone else asking about this in the past:

I think this little taste of independence was really the highlight of Amanda's trip. We are relatively cautious parents and don't often allow her this kind of freedom. Yes, we were very comfortable giving her this freedom on the ship and it worked out fabulously for all concerned. She has moved up another notch in showing us her maturity and responsibility.

The way it worked is that we got one pager for our two children. DS6 and DD10. When DS6 wanted out of the club, they would page us and we would go and get him. Pretty simple. We worked out our own rules with Amanda. They were as follows:
1)She could sign out with a friend only...never by herself.
2)She must have a destination in mind...no signing out to wander the ship
3)She would have the lab page us with her destination.."Amanda signed out to go to the movies with friend", "Amanda is back at the lab", etc.

That was it. The lab made it clear to us that it was Amanda's responsibility to have them page us. Once we gave the OK for her to have sign in/out ability, it was not their job to notify us, it was hers. It worked out great! We always knew where she was.

 

[imgoingtodisney]

Sorry guys, I obviously first read this as charging priviledges which DS10.5 will not be having.
He will however have sign in/out priviledges after the charging is taken off. I honestly think he can handle it. If there ever is a problem he will need to call me for the remainder of the cruise.

 

[my3kids]

We are just back and there was no option for the 10-12 year olds...they GET sign in and out priviledges automatically. I don't really agree that it should be automatic, but it was. 8-9's were at the parent's discretion, but we were not offered a choice for our 10-12. It worked out fine, but don't go assuming that you have a choice.

 

[younginspirit]

Is that right? Were you on the Wonder or magic? I don't think that is a good idea. Bev

 

[mog]

I thought I had read somewhere on these boards that although they automatically get sign out privileges at 10-12, you can request that they not have them. Anyone know about this? I don't plan to allow my 10 y.o. to sign himself out. Although I trust him and he is very mature, there are just too many people on that boat and I can't trust all of them with my child when he is alone!

 

[younginspirit]

I agree with you, Mog... same reasoning. My dd will stay in the Lab if I tell her to regardless of the option. But it does not seem like a safe policy for Disney to have. Bev

 

[my3kids]

I was on the Magic. As soon as we went in to register they made a big tadoo with my child in the 10-12 group about how great it was that they got to sign in and out and put a sticker on his KTTW card signifying such. The others have wrist bands and name name tags. Parents select a password and a signature is required for signout(8-9 group)

They never mentioned that we had a choice...it certainly was never offered. Maybe they will make special arrangements if requested(???) but it isn't part of their typical arrangement for anyone 10 or above.

 

[scsagh]

When we were on the 11/2 Magic, when you sign your child up for the the kids club, there was a box to check if you did NOT want your child to have check out privileges. We had talked about it beforehand with DD11. Since she did NOT know any one else in her group, we chose not to give her check-in/check-out. The counselors told us that that was fine and that if we wanted to change it later in the week we could.

That's is what we did after she was used to the ship and had met some other kids. The counselors are great about sending messages to the pagers if you request that your child let you know where they are going, or even if they just want to be picked up if they don't have check in/out.

Hope that's not too confusing!