Guidelines for kids in row alone on rides?

[MamaCrystal]

Are kids allowed to sit in a row without their parents on a ride (in 2-person rows)? Since we have 4, I'm thinking DH and I could each sit with one of our girls since they're younger, and our boys could sit in a row together.

 

[Hannathy]

You need to be 7 to ride alone. On some rides like barnstormer sometimes they will let you ride behind them but the magic age is 7. On a lot of rides if the adult isn't very large you can easily fit 2 small kids and an adult. like on BTMRR,

 

[MamaCrystal]

Ok, thanks for the info. I'm a little nervous about it now! I'd rather that our boys could ride together than having our 8 y/o ride next to a stranger or completely alone. Hmm.

 

[kohlby]

We found that a lot of rides were fine with 3 people across but I'm a small adult. We're a family of 5 but had the three of the kids under 7 years old on couple trips. Since then, we have had our eldest go without an adult before, and that hasn't been a huge issue. They always put him in a row that was in front of or behind us. I gave him instructions to meet us near the exit if we get separated but that was never an issue. The only ride that caused us issues was Speedway, as the child needs to be above a certain height to ride without an adult. Even using riderswap, that one would be tricky, as someone needs to wait with those not riding slowing down the trading out.

 

[MamaCrystal]

Thanks for more info! That makes me feel a little better. My husband and I aren't small though - He's 6'3" and I'm 5'10". I also have "birthing hips"

Is there information about seating on the rides before you get in line? I'd hate to stand in line and then realize there are issues for the 6 of us to ride together.

 

[kohlby]

There's usually a CM before you get in line that you can ask questions to. My husband isn't small either - but since we have three kids, I was the only one who had to triple up. It really wasn't a big deal to have the 7+ child ride in a different row. It didn't feel like he was by himself since he was still very close. There's also some rides that they'll let you have the smaller child in your lap. It isn't every ride though - like of course not allowed on BTMRR. (But 3 across fit for us on that one). It was allowed on TSM. It meant that I didn't get to shoot, but the child in my lap did and it helped that child reach better.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

It never hurts to try to seat your two sons together. I know my boys sat together on Thunder Mtn when they were 8 and 4, and I sat by myself right behind them. That trip, my husband was on TDY and not with us, so instead of making my 8-yr-old sit alone all the time, I tried to let him sit with his brother when possible. I can't remember what attractions we did that, but I know for sure Thunder Mtn and probably others.

 

[angelmom27]

We are a family of 10 but last yr we had 9. No one under 7 was allowed to ride alone and the person riding with them had to be 14 or older. Thankfully my oldest was 14 and could ride with his 2 sisters. We ran into some pretty strict CM who would not bend the rules for nothing. One even stopped the ride to question me about my sons age cause his sister thought he was 13. We did get offered to do child swap for some rides too.

 

[kohlby]

BTMRR did not let my middle child ride with the eldest. She was 6 and he was 9 and they wanted to ride together instead of with me. However, I didn't have another child with me as the youngest was too scared to ride. So I'm not sure if they would have allowed it if there was no other option. There was even something the eldest did at Innoventions which was just a walking around thing and they wouldn't let him do it at his own computer unless he was old enough! So, some are very strict. But it doesn't hurt to ask. (Also, we have fit three in a car at BTMRR before, as we did rider swap when my eldest two were 3 and 6 so we only had one adult).

 

[lucifie]

When we went last year my kids were 9, 7, 4 and 2. My 9 year old has special needs so on most of the rides an adult sat with her and an adult was with the 2 year old and the middle 2 rode together. Even though they're almost 3 years apart, my DS (now 6) is as big as my second DD (now almost 9) and looks much older than he is. I don't think anyone ever questioned it. If the ride would fit 3 across each adult would go with 2 kids.