Do you let your preteens go alone?

[all4disneyworld]

Does anyone let there kids venture off in the MK and have a meeting place/time? Our 12yr old girls and their 13 yr old cousin may ask in September!!!

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

wondering too? Next June I'll have a soon to be 13 dd who will be with her 14 yr old cousin and I'm comptiplating letting them go for a short spell by thenselves then check back in with us. They will have a cell phone with them,and my daughter has been there several times and I think could navigate around the parks pretty good.

I realize it depends on the child,but at what age do you consider doing such?

 

[pixiedust23]

Our parents let us go off when we were that age. My brother and I would be allowed to go off with our 2 cousins, before the time of cell phones. However, this was in the early 90's so quite some time ago...not sure how much in the kidnapping world has changed since then. I think as long as they have their cells they should be fine.

 

[Disneyhappy]

As long as you are comfortable that they are mature enough at that age, i think you should be fine. Just make the rules up front that they stick together, do not leave the park, check in at certain time periods, etc. It is a good learning experience for them as well. I left my DS at age 12 go off with his cousins who wer 14 and 16. That was pretty easy. When he was 13, I left him roam around the park with a cousin also 13, but we were also in the park. This past Janaury when DS was still 13, he had a headache and wanted to go back to the room. There were things DH and I still wanted to do but I thought it would be best to return to our room. DH convinced me to let DS return on the bus by himself. The fact that he has a cell phone helped me to agree. However, if he had not been familiar with WDW due to his numerous visits, I probably would have nixed the idea. It worked out great and made me realize my son was more mature than I gave him credit for.

 

[minkydog]

In Disney World? No. I'm just now starting to get okay with allowing my DD13 to have some freedom in our local mall(btw, I was the same way with DS19) I recently took DD13 with her friends to Six Flags(killmenow) and even though their were 4 of them, I just couldn't let them go off alone. I didn't ride the rides with them, i held their stuff. But I knew which ride they were going on and they stayed together at all times.

Maybe a few more years for me

 

[Frantasmic]

Maybe for an hour or two, but not the whole day. I would keep to one area or an adjacent area of the park too.

Say, you are in Fantasyland, let them roam in Liberty Square or something like that.

 

[01Sweetpea]

My kids will be 13, 11 & 11 when we go in Nov. I'm not sure if I'd let them go alone. They are very good kids, always stick together. I'm just not sure how relaxed I would be. I know they think they'd be fine.

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

DH and I let our dd's go off on their own for the first time last May ... they were 16 and 14 then. We've been many times, they know their way around, and I trust their judgement. They met up with us a meal times (don't give them money for food ... they'll come looking for you!!!) I did require that they spend some of each day with us.

They both have cells and they had to be in the same park as the rest of us. They did FINE.

 

[all4disneyworld]

Thanks everyone. Nice to hear other parents opinions. I will be in the same park and thought it would be okay for a few hours. As of now I don't drop them off at malls but will let them go off on their own if I am there. They usually don't want to since I am the one with the money!
Both my girls have cells and would never split up, they don't even fight.... we are truly blessed.
I will have to think about this some more!

 

[Disneydenise]

We did it but it depends on the children. Our kids had cellphones so we could get in touch with them.
They really didn't go for a very long time just for the experience of being there without supervision. Once they found out it wasn't anymore exciting they didn't care. DH loves to ride all the rides they like so it wasn't as much fun without dear old dad being a goof. Now they are 21 & 22 and they are planning what we old folks are going to do.

 

[Hannathy]

Yes I would let them. We left our 12 yr old go on her own to different parts of the park or to the pool. If she would have had a friend with her I would have left them go all day. And she didn't have a cell phone.

 

[d.kurz]

When my kids were 13 and 15 we let them use the bus system themselves and go! It worked out great.

 

[tink1978]

I don't think letting them run alone the whole day is a great idea. Maybe they could go for a couple of hours while you go do something else? It depends on if you think that they are mature enough to do this. If you do let them go, you should probably review the rules of how one behaves in public. I have seen teens going free in the parks, who are knocking people over, shoving people so that they can get to the front of the line, etc. Not all teens are like this, but it's always a good idea to review rules of etiquette.

 

[all4disneyworld]

I don't think letting them run alone the whole day is a great idea. Maybe they could go for a couple of hours while you go do something else? It depends on if you think that they are mature enough to do this. If you do let them go, you should probably review the rules of how one behaves in public. I have seen teens going free in the parks, who are knocking people over, shoving people so that they can get to the front of the line, etc. Not all teens are like this, but it's always a good idea to review rules of etiquette.

I agree, a whole day would be too long. They are very polite girls and I think it is just that they would like to try it and would probably be a one time thing. The cell phones are great but, also may be on a ride and cannot hear their phones.... I have no problem with them going to the pool at our hotel on their own.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

In Disney World? No. I'm just now starting to get okay with allowing my DD13 to have some freedom in our local mall(btw, I was the same way with DS19) I recently took DD13 with her friends to Six Flags(killmenow) and even though their were 4 of them, I just couldn't let them go off alone. I didn't ride the rides with them, i held their stuff. But I knew which ride they were going on and they stayed together at all times.

Maybe a few more years for me

yeah i wouldn't be able to let preteens go off themselves either. i mean, maybe if an older cousin or something was with them, but not 12 and 13. that's still too young to be off alone, EVEN if it's Disney.

 

[debbi801]

We did last month. My kids are 11 and 13. Only for a couple of hours at a time in the same park, though. We'd split up for a little while and meet up for lunch and the rest of the day. THey had a cell phone and walkie talkie with them.

We also let them go back to the hotel from MK before us a couple of times to go to the arcade or the pool. We were at CR, so they only needed to hop on the monorail.

It's funny, someone said they'd only started trusting their kids to go off on their own at home... I felt MUCH more comfortable letting my kids wander on their own in MK than I ever would our local mall.

 

[zurgswife]

My older kids are 12, 13 and 15....I started letting the kids go in pairs when they were about 12....The have visited many times. They are very responible. We keep in touch by cell phone every half and hour or so....Since my dd is older she usually went with friends...

 

[cocowum]

No, I would not let my 12 and 13 yo's go off on their own.

 

[Amity 3]

our daughter's 12 and we let her roam at WDW, Universal, Seaworld, & Busch Gardens if she has a friend and her cell. never had a problem.

 

[all4disneyworld]

My older kids are 12, 13 and 15....I started letting the kids go in pairs when they were about 12....The have visited many times. They are very responible. We keep in touch by cell phone every half and hour or so....Since my dd is older she usually went with friends...

Do they really want to be on their own? or has that worn off now? Just wondering if they think it's more fun on their own still??