How old before you let your child go off alone?

[famy27]

I let my older DD ride a few rides by herself at 8. She had no issues. She did Soarin' while younger DD and I did LwtL. She also did TT in single-rider while the little one and I waited at the ride exit. That all went so well, that I let her do Space while I took the toddler on WtP. I met back up with her in Tomorrowland.

Now that she's 10, I'd let her wander around by herself for finite periods. If she had a friend or cousin with her, I would be fine with her spending a larger block of time (a few hours) on her own. She would have a cell phone, and she has charging privileges on her MB.

We are WDW semi-regulars, so she knows the parks well. She's confident and independent, so she would be fine alone.

 

[Under the Library]

My 11 yo will NOT ride some things so he has hung out in the end gift shop areas while the 3 of us ride Splash or TT. He loves it. He and his then 9 yo brother have gone ahead at parks before and we've caught up with them in the same park, if we are still at a table or in a store.. my 9 now 10 yo goes and does single rider all the time. RnR, ToT, TT, Splash. He doesn't mind being alone. Oldest likes to hang with me. We do a mix of whatever is comfy for us all that day.

 

[disneydreaming96]

I was allowed to start going off alone with my older sister when i was around 13 (she was 17). It was when i was more of a friend for her to go with and less the little sister for her to baby sit. I started doing busses and monorails alone at around 16 but I was going to meet with friends in the parks or resorts. My mom just recently started letting me go into parks totally alone. On our last trip I was 18 and she let me go to AK for an afternoon while her and my sister when to the resort to take a nap.

 

[china mom]

We are regulars and my kids know the parks like the back of their hands. But it depends a lot on the kid and your comfort level. My kids figured out at ages 6 & 9 how to go on ToT by themselves by claiming to be 7 & 13. No, I didn't tell them to lie .. that was suggested by a CM.

They have had progressively more freedom every trip and this most recent trip saw my 13 year old son going to and from the resort/park by himself. He was not challenged at the gate and was able to enter alone (he is 6'1 ).

 

[mjkacmom]

I was allowed to start going off alone with my older sister when i was around 13 (she was 17). It was when i was more of a friend for her to go with and less the little sister for her to baby sit. I started doing busses and monorails alone at around 16 but I was going to meet with friends in the parks or resorts. My mom just recently started letting me go into parks totally alone. On our last trip I was 18 and she let me go to AK for an afternoon while her and my sister when to the resort to take a nap.

You are an adult, of course you can go to a theme park by yourself! My oldest started taking a 4 hour bus ride to Boston by herself at 17. Why would you need permission? I thought this discussion was about children?

 

[Magpie]

You are an adult, of course you can go to a theme park by yourself! My oldest started taking a 4 hour bus ride to Boston by herself at 17. Why would you need permission? I thought this discussion was about children?

Hah... Some parents would never let their kids grow up, if they had a choice!

I ticked off a former nightmare neighbour on this topic of 18yos being adults. She'd stopped to chat and was going on about how much trouble she had "making" her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend do their college (!) homework. I said, "She's 18, she's an adult. Let her do her own darn homework." And my neighbour got really upset and said, "NO! She is NOT an adult! She's not an adult until I say she's an adult!"

Yeah, there was a lot of drama (and some police cars) over at that house. I was SO happy when that girl finally decided she'd had enough of her mother's insanity and found a place of her own to live. (Weirdly, despite a spectacular fight we had, my ex-neighbour now smiles and acts like we're old friends whenever she sees me... I really don't understand her.)

 

[disneydreaming96]

You are an adult, of course you can go to a theme park by yourself! My oldest started taking a 4 hour bus ride to Boston by herself at 17. Why would you need permission? I thought this discussion was about children?

My mother only worries because she cares so much. And i grew up very well with a really great balance of being able to go and be an adult and times when my mother told me she didn't feel comfortable. I'm now a totally independent college student that is functioning beautifully on my own and can take care of myself better than most of the other people i live with. I posted along with being older and alone in disney in case there was anyone on the thread looking for advice on what to do with their older kids as well. Just trying to help...

 

[ttintagel]

My sister and I were cut loose in the Parks at 12 and 13. It worked out great. Granted, the parks are busier and more crowded than they were back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid. But, we have cell phones now which probably evens things out.

 

[aprilgail]

My daughter was 13 and she and her cousin who was the same age would take the bus from our hotel and go to the parks on their own. We are going in a few weeks again and this time she is bringing a friend-they are both 16- and they will be off on their own a lot of the time. One day I am dropping them at Universal and heading out for the day with a friend of mine that lives in Florida. The kids will Uber back to the hotel when they are done at Universal.

 

[aprilgail]

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??

Exactly! Our local amusement park you can get a job at starting at 14! I figure my daughter has been taking the train into NYC to shop/sight see/hang out with just her and her friend since she was about 14 so she certainly can be on her own at Disney LOL.

 

[robinb]

I allowed my DD to roam alone when she was about 12. She knew WDW like the back of her hand. She went with the teen daughters of my friends when she was about 7.

 

[TJA]

We just let our twin girls age 12 (almost 13) wait in line and do Sum of all Thrills while DH and I went on the Land. Then we met at test track right after to use our FPs. All of us have cell phones and kept each other posted at every step (we are on the ride...we are headed to test track, etc). I think it's a good first step. I'm not ready to send them off on disney transportation alone, nor do I think there is any need. However, once inside a park, I can see us splitting up for things like Sum of all Thrills or the Orange mission space as the girls keep asking to go on that and the green side is my limit.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We first let our son be on his own at 15. We were all in AK but he wanted to do single rider at Expedition Everest so we headed back to the resort and he stayed and literally rode it about 20 times lol.

This was probably his 15th trip, so he was well versed in WDW transportation and how to get out to the bus and to our room at POR. He also had a cell phone.

The next trip he was 16 and dd was 14 and they did a lot of stuff on their own that trip.

That was the blissful end of me doing Indy Speedway I might add!

 

[Magpie]

My mother only worries because she cares so much. And i grew up very well with a really great balance of being able to go and be an adult and times when my mother told me she didn't feel comfortable. I'm now a totally independent college student that is functioning beautifully on my own and can take care of myself better than most of the other people i live with. I posted along with being older and alone in disney in case there was anyone on the thread looking for advice on what to do with their older kids as well. Just trying to help...

The whole adult "allowed" thing is a trigger point for some people. My 20yo daughter would happily ask our permission to do everything, but her father won't let her. "You're an adult! Make up your own mind!" All she's allowed to ask for these days is advice.

It's his own way of showing how much he cares, different from your mum, but coming from the same place.

And I think you did help.

 

[OhThePain]

When I was 12, I went to WDW to perform with my junior high school. We were there for a week. We were allowed to roam the parks on our own without any sort of chaperone. We just had to meet with our chaperones at a certain time and place to get our meal cards. I'm in my 30s now and WDW was much less secure than it is now (if you have ever taken a tour and had your guide constantly point out camera locations and other security locations, you'd understand). It was the same deal when I was 14 and went with my camp. As long as a tween or early teen has a good head on their shoulders and checks in once in a while (I would think this day and age a selfie text or phone call should be sufficient), I don't see why they shouldn't be able to venture out on their own, just set up times and locations to meet and if they mess up they lose the privilege.

Your local mall is a much more dangerous place than WDW.

 

[mousefan73]

It all depends on various factors. My kids will be 10 and 11 when we go in September.
Seeing that DS the oldest, takes a city bus to school and has to walk 2 blocks to school and goes out for lunch alone with friends. I am ok with leaving him in a controlled and known environments alone with his sister.

So this is the situation I can see happening. MY kids love splashmountain.. so do I but after the 3rd time, I am sick of the 12 minute slow part. So I would send them off to wait and ride alone if the lines were 15 minutes or less or with FP while I hang out at Peco Bills, take a bathroom shopping break and say meet me at the viewing bridge or shop when done.

I could also see if we are in fantasyland that they do their own thing, while we ride the teacups.

Again my kids have been to Disney 5 times over the past 5 years and know the area, They have cell phones, They know when I say stay in this area, they stay in this area.

I know to check if they are not there, back at the ride to check if there are any shutdowns etc.. or call if still in line.
I am rational and no there is no way my kids can disappear in a closed environment like disney. My kids know if anything happens to go straight to a CM.
I would do this in little blocks of time.. There are still too little to say enter the park at 9am and say lets meet for lunch.. but if we are in one land they can be on their own.

another example I just thought of.. I love Space Mountain, my kids are freaked out.. so I woudl ride this while they do buzz lightyear over and over until I am finished...

The astro ride is a great central area to say anything we see here you can do and lets meet in 30-45 minutes...

Of course this is all crowd dependent... if lines are like 30 plus.. forget it.. too long doing nothing to be separated.

 

[crazymomof4]

Not sure about letting a single child off on their own (btw, my 24 yr old son answered that with "a guy 13.. a girl NEVER" - he's protective of his younger sister) Our sons are 2 yrs apart and when the oldest was 16 and had a cell phone we let he and his brother age 14 go off for a few hours alone while DH and I did things our younger kids like.

 

[Fuhnuh]

We usually go to WDW and DLR with DD15 and a friend. When in the parks, we have given permission for them to ride alone since 10. We have never been to the parks w/o them, but would feel comfortable since she was 14. Since she was 13, we have tried to encourage them to go off and do their own thing while we were in the same park, but DD15 doesn't like that idea. No luck at DLR two months ago. Maybe she'll take some time alone this summer at WDW, but probably not. It's not that we don't like to hang out with her, but would like to see her assert a little more independence when at the parks.

 

[missbrooke06]

Not sure about letting a single child off on their own (btw, my 24 yr old son answered that with "a guy 13.. a girl NEVER" - he's protective of his younger sister)

Ooo, it would great if you talked to him about that. I hate to see girls/women infantilized.

 

[MomofKatie]

Ooo, it would great if you talked to him about that. I hate to see girls/women infantilized.

Not to mention that most girls are more mature at that age than boys...