How old before you let your child go off alone?

[Disney_1derland]

At what age would you let your child go ride their own rides and meet you back up for say a couple of hours?

14?
16?
21?
Not until they move out?

It's definitely a different time. When I was a kid, my parents let me run off alone for the entire morning and meet them for lunch at 12. i don't think I would do that now! And I know each kid is different and has to be judged independently, yaadaa yaadaa. Just in general.

Here are the factors we used to decide:

How well do they know the park? Can they answer multiple questions about how to get from point A to point B? (especially important when you set a meetup destination!)

How responsible are they on a daily basis? (do they take care of responsible, take personal responsibility for their actions, do things on time?)

Do they have a cell phone to carry with them? Do they know how to approach a cast member if they need help?

That being said, our girls have been on their own in the same park we were in from the time they were 11 & 12. They have never had an issue. Last year they began using transportation themselves and entering different parks than we were in (15 & 14). For us, having a much younger child to entertain, the ability for the girls to branch out has been wonderful and led to some hysterical stories.

Best of luck!

 

[AZMermaid]

My kids are 17 months apart- so I look at it like they would be alone, but together. They are young now... but I could see myself allowing this at Disneyland (our home park- we go about once a year, so they would be pretty familiar) somewhere around Jr High age. So... 11 and 12 or 12 and 13. I would allow them to ride one ride and meet me in a shop afterwards a couple years younger than that. But, at WDW, since we only go every 4-5 years, I would probably wait until they were a little older- like 13/14.

 

[Planogirl]

I would say 12 or 13. DS never had a desire to tour by himself but I would have been OK with it.

 

[smiths02]

My oldest is only 9. I don't see him wanting to do anything alone, but he's old enough to use the bathroom alone or wait outside a ride or go on ride while we wait. I can see letting him go off with a friend at 12 or so BUT we don't go to Disney with friends, so again, he would be lonely.
Just alone...around high school age.

When he is 14, his brother and sister will be 8...I'm not sure I could trust them altogether by then, but maybe if I was in the same park.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

It depends on the kid. It also depends if, by alone, you mean with a group of kids his/her age or really alone.

I've come to find that many people would consider my views on children's capabilities to be warped, so I'm probably not the best person to ask. My and my friends' parents used to send us off to go night skiing on black diamonds while they stayed back in the hotel room for cocktails when we were 9-10.

 

[GEM]

My son is almost 13 and he's been heading off by himself (in the park I am in) since he was 11.

Earlier, actually, if you count using the single rider line and meeting me at the exit as "going off alone", lol. In that case, I'd have to say since he turned seven and was old enough by Disney standards.

Then, between the ages of, say 9 and 11, we did lots of....."You can ride these two rides and then meet me in this spot" kind of stuff.

But, since he was about 11 1/2 he's been trusted enough to spend pretty good sized chunks of time alone in the park I was in. For instance, he would head off to do Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom or explore Tom Sawyer's Island or do Agent P Missions or whatever and we would set a meet up time and place for two or three hours later. He had a watch, a cell phone, and knew every inch of every park by heart. And, he was never so much as a minute late for a meeting, so as he got a little older, being responsible and trust-worthy earned him a little more freedom.

When we were there again a few months ago, in January, I felt comfortable enough (at age 12 1/2) to leave him in a park doing his thing and go meet up with a friend for lunch at a resort or something like that. Never any problems and I had no qualms doing it.

I haven't sent him into a park alone yet, because he knows the rule for that is 14 and we follow the rules. But, when he turns 14, just over a year from now, I'll have no problem letting him hop a bus or monorail or boat and head off to whatever park he wants while I do some shopping or enjoy a few drinks by the pool.

Of course, we do spend the vast majority of our time at Disney enjoying things together, but he has always been a very independent kid who enjoys exploring things on his own, and I like to encourage that independence and confidence. I think it's important to be able to strike out confidently on your own, and to be able to actually ENJOY that time by yourself, and I think Disney is a wonderfully safe environment to practice that in. Believe me....we have plenty of time together. I work from home and he's homeschooled, so we are pretty much together all day every day! So, I don't mind letting him do his own thing for a few hours in the afternoon each day at Disney. Of course, he does know all the important safety things about how to make safe, smart decisions when he's off without me - whether in a Disney park or riding his bike to our neighborhood Walgreens.

If he was a different kind of kid, I would have felt differently. But, he's always been extremely responsible and reliable and a very serious rule-follower. Whatever guidelines or restrictions I gave him, he would abide by, and I knew that. He was also very good about keeping up with his stuff, using good manners, etc. Otherwise, I wouldn't have turned him loose.

 

[Darcy03231]

DD was 14, DS was 12 and DN was 11. DD had a cell phone and they had to stay in the same park. When DD was 16 & DS was 14 they were allowed to go off on their own and go to different parks, but they had to let me know when they were leaving one park and hopping to another.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We didn't go until our son was 10/11. He wasn't allowed to go off on his own. But it was just the three of us, Dad, Mom and son. Riding rides with Mom and Dad was a lot more fun than riding alone.

Our next trip, he was 15. He wasn't interested in going to a different park, but did wander around the same park. I would have been fine with him taking transportation or going to a different park. I wouldn't have allowed him to go to Downtown Disney alone.

Our last few trips he was an adult, 18 or older. He still hung with us most of the time and stayed at the same park. But at that age, he had charging ability on his band, had his ID and could do what he wanted. He wanted to vacation with his family.

 

[DiannaVM]

The last time I travelled with my family my parents let me and my sister go off on our own in our late teens. This was before we had cellphones (my sister and I anyway), so the times when we were left on our own were brief, but then again it WAS a family vacation, so we didn't mind.

 

[gtpoohbear]

When I was a kid, my parents would come down to Orlando a couple times a year for a convention, and often brought my sister and I along. They would drop us off at a park in the morning, and arrange a pick up time and place in the evening. Usually at a different park. This started when I was probably 10 or 11, my sister 5 years younger. And this was before cell phones! But we always had a blast, and never got into any trouble. While I don't like to think of myself as a strict parent, my own parents were probably still a little braver than me, lol!

A couple years ago we were at MK with my niece and nephew (ages 12 and 14), and the plan for for DD (11 at the time) to hang out with them all afternoon. The rest of us had different FPs and even a dinner ADR. Within an hour, DD called and said they had all gotten in a big fight, and her cousins had taken off without her. My instinctual response was to tell her that she had to work things out with them, or hang out with us. To her credit, she very calmly and maturely protested, reminding me that she had a FP for 7DMT coming up, that I had worked REALLY hard to get for her. And she knew her way around. And had a phone. I finally admitted she was right, and agreed that she could go on her own for a while. We did meet up a couple times throughout the evening, and the cousins finally calmed down so that they could spend the last few hours together.

But she actually ended up really enjoying her time alone, I think it did a lot to build her confidence. These days with cell phones, they are never really "alone" anyways, not like my sister and I were. Makes it much easier to give them some freedom.

 

[MrsHull]

my son was 14 on our last trip. He quickly became bored touring with us, desperately wanting to head to HS early in the trip. So, we let him go on his own while we were at MK. I figure he will be driving in another year. He needs to learn to be on his own at some point.

He took the bus to HS and then back to MK later in the day. Later in the trip, he took the resort bus to HS and we met up with him after lunch. The only "trouble" he got into was spending a little too much on his favorite snack-- roasted nuts. Darn enabling magic bands.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

We usually have 5 or more adults along so I'm not sure there will ever be a huge need for them to go off alone as there is always an adult willing. That said, with their brother or a friend, probably Jr. High age, 11 or 12? Once they hit High School age, 14, I'd be OK with them going around the park alone. At that age they are usually going out with friends by themselves so why not WDW? Probably 16 before I would let them go from resort to park or park hop by themselves. At that point they can drive by themselves so they ought be able to use WDW transportation. Always with a cell phone though. Each kid is different though. My youngest is more of a rule follower and my oldest has ADHD and is very impulsive so it's possible those ages would be older or younger when we reach them.

 

[jacksonsmom]

My son just came back from WDW on a HS trip. The kids were allowed to go off on their own (but could not leave the park) My son went with a group of 5 other kids, he was the only one that had been to WDW before so he was kind of the leader of the group and showed them around. He really like that.
We are taking a family trip in July and for the first time I am letting him bring a friend. I have no problem with them going off on the their own, even hopping on the bus and going to a different park (as long as he tells me he is hopping). My son has been going to Disney since he was 3 (he's 16 now) so he is very comfortable with the park. If DH and I are tired, we will just go back to the resort and my son and his friend can close down the park if they want and just come back to the resort at that time.

At 12 I was letting him go across the park and get paper FPs or if he wanted a dole whip I would let me go to the stand and just meet us back at our spot.
I would of had no problem at 13 if he wanted to go do things by himself at the park, but since he is an only child and we never brought a friend along, he would get bored by himself so he just stayed with us.

But my son has flown by himself twice, and we have traveled a lot in general so he is a pretty independent person.

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

I let my son and my nephew, both age 13 at the time, go off on their own at MK while the rest of the family was doing other stuff in the park. That was the first time we had allowed them to venture off alone in a park. Also let my kids, ages 13 and 11, along with some nephews, ages 16, 14, and 11, roam alone at our resort during a trip. They went get ice cream or food from the food court, hung out in the arcade, just walked around the resort, even took a swim one evening while we were all watching Yee Haw Bob.

Last summer we allowed our kids, 15 and 13, to tour the parks at Universal alone while DH and I did other things. We were always in the same park, but I would allow them to head to the parks together at this age even if we weren't going to be in the park with them. I trust them to stay together and not get into any trouble. And I feel they are both mature/responsible enough to know what to do in case of an emergency.

In Jan. we allowed them to head back to the resort in Disneyland while we stayed in the park later. That was our first trip to Disneyland, but the layout at DL is so easy to navigate. Plus we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel. It was an easy walk back for them. I think they may have gone to DTD a few times without us as well.

Now at ages 16 and 14 I would definitely allow them to tour the parks alone, as well as come and go from the resorts. They like to go do a few rides together and that gives DH and I some time to stop for drinks, or just do attractions the kids may be bored with. They've been going to Disney since the youngest was just 9 months old. We have been around 20 times so they know the parks inside and out.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

For our trip this year, my 15 year old and their friend will go off on their own for a bit in each park - thrill junkies. We'll go on the "safe" rides.

 

[Kathryn777]

I think 13-14 sounds about right, as long as they have a phone. I don't get people saying over 16, couldn't they WORK at a theme park then??

 

[serenitynow]

Really depends on the child. One of ours is the kid that shouts its 44 minutes till rope drop, let's go. Before cell phones, we always knew he would be the first one at the meet site. He got his Disney freedom at 10.
Another one of our group gets into the park and gets lost while walking with us because something "interesting" was in his sight line that he must walk toward. We "lose" him all the time as he is easily distracted. We have a set meeting spot, time to meet and his cell phone number. His Disney freedom age was 13 and still we often have to call him, even now, as he "started talking to a CM, saw something cool, stopped to people watch", etc. etc. and "lost track of time". Sigh.

 

[jeneric997]

Here are the factors we used to decide:

How well do they know the park? Can they answer multiple questions about how to get from point A to point B? (especially important when you set a meetup destination!)

How responsible are they on a daily basis? (do they take care of responsible, take personal responsibility for their actions, do things on time?)

Do they have a cell phone to carry with them? Do they know how to approach a cast member if they need help?

That being said, our girls have been on their own in the same park we were in from the time they were 11 & 12. They have never had an issue. Last year they began using transportation themselves and entering different parks than we were in (15 & 14). For us, having a much younger child to entertain, the ability for the girls to branch out has been wonderful and led to some hysterical stories.

Best of luck!

This!!!!!!!
The only other factor I would add is with siblings- How well do they get along/co-operate with one another?

The first time we gave our kids freedom in the park with us, was at 11 and 8. They knew the parks well and did Agent P adventures while we went to Food and Wine booths in the country they were in. After two adventures, they asked to go to Mexico and ride Rio and to go to Figment. They had a phone and were told to text when they got to the rides. I admit, I was nervous, but it worked well!

My girls are extremely close and they usually get along well. The one rule we say to them even today when we leave them is- You are in charge of yourself, you know what you are allowed to do- if you don't act responsibly it's not your sister's problem, it's yours! They say not having one person in charge saves them a lot arguing!

 

[Minnesota!]

I would let my now-11 year old do it if he asked.

My 9 year old, no..not yet.

 

[Momtomouselover]

I have let my son since the age of 9 go get in a line, ride and meet me outside the attraction (or in the gift shop at the end). At 9 I would stand with him until he entered the bldg (Usually a short line or we had a FP), at 10 I would say meet me right here, and now for our upcoming trip he will be 11 with an 11 year old friend and I would definitely let them ride Space by themselves then text me and say "hey, we are now headed to Buzz" and I would meet theM, over there and decide whether or not to ride with them or say "ok, then come to....". Or ride Thunder and Splash then meet over there close by. I consider my son very trustworthy and mature for his age. At 12-13 they could probably be given a check in time but I would go to the park with them and occasionally ride with them (I like to have fun too!). By 14 I imagine he could go by himself if he was with a friend and potentially alone. Anything older than 15 they are old enough to work, learning to drive if not driving, so navigating a theme park shouldn't be a big deal although I would insist they use Disney transportation.