How old should they be before you let roam?

[Iansmom]

I'm guessing you already have your answer...
I think 9 is too young, also. Unless she were with a couple of buddies. As a group, I'm sure they're more likely to get into mischief; however, in a group I think they're less likely to be snatched.

 

[Punkie6]

I was allowed to roam with my 12 yr old brother when i was 14/15. I wasn't allowed to be alone until 16/17. Plus, we definitely had to keep in touch on the cell phones every few hours. I guess I thought my parents were "strict" then (from a teenager's POV), but after growing up I'm definitely thankful, there are too many creeps out there!

 

[duffy]

So what's the earliest age to roam alone?

 

[msmama]

Is she an only child?

I was and I couldn't WAIT to be able to roam by myself.

When I was roughly 9 (maybe a little older) my Mom let me roam by myself at the BC (maybe YC, don't remember). I was to stay INSIDE the resort, don't go outside.

Well, what did I do? I went outside. I was just going to hop from one door to the next and come right back inside when the biggest, hugest, most ginormous frog EVER jumped right into my path.

Scared the bejeezus outta me. I ended up running back inside and never asked to roam alone again.



Okay, the frog was probably tiny and I didn't answer your question but reminded me of this.

 

[BrerRabbit_fan]

I am the family navigator and knew my way around better than my parents did but they wouldn't let me roam free at that age and I don't blame them.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

As a child I walked to school and did so alone from the age of 7 or 8. It was about a 10 minute walk.

However, Disney was a different story. I have been to WDW 30 times and I'm 23...so thats more than once per year, I know it like the back of my hand.

I believe the first time I was allowed to wander the resort alone was age 12. The first time to a park alone was 16. Its an interesting topic though, because Disney's policy for riding rides is that children must be at least 7 to ride alone.

 

[redrosesix]

deleted

 

[ColinCodyMom]

I would have to say no although I tend to obsess. There are too many bad people out there. IMO, I would never let a 9 year old wander alone, especially in a place as crowded as Disney!! But you have to trust your instincts.

 

[portocall]

I would suggest that you get there first to see what your mom-o-meter tells you. I saw lots of children that age roaming when I was at ASMusic ten years ago. I don't think that I would be comfortable letting my two roam, but I am judging that on who my kids are. I was allowed to roam as a child, and always went where I said I was going, checked in from time to time, and was very wary of strangers who seemed a little too interested in talking to me, so I guess my mom was comfortable with it. Just remember that even though it is Disney, they don't control who is there, so you should be carefully guarded. I have noticed an increasing trend of terrified parents who don't let their children out of their sight, most likely due to the increased media reports that make child predators seem like they are lurking behind every corner. Understandable, completely, I am one of those parents, I will admit.

 

[redrosesix]

I was raised by a Marine and was taught to take nothing from no one. Trying to pass that on to my son is proving to be a bit difficult as he is shy and very reserved. But then again if faced with a situation one never knows how he will handle it. Hopefully he won't have to.

Still waters run deep. He may actually be better prepared to deal with his own peers (as opposed to the outgoing, can't live without my friends, type). I actually think I worry more about how my daughter deals with her peers. It is one thing to oppose somebody you don't know, especially if you know that you would be in the deepest trouble for doing so, but a totally different thing to disagree with your classmates.

However, trying to raise a self-sufficient, self-confident child has its drawbacks. I have met with the wrath of her attitude on many occasions. My only real asset is that deep down she knows I will always win -- but this isn't the case with anybody else she knows. I can tell you this has caused many incidents with her grandmother, her father, etc. when they have told her to do anything that she thinks I might disagree with.

 

[missycool]

My daughters are 13 and 10. Not a snowball's chance in he__ would they be allowed to roam anywhere alone. Not in Disney or any other world.

 

[mommyof3rookies]

No way, No how, Nope, Nadda, NO!! I am an overprotective parent, I'll admit and I don't care what anyone thinks . My 10 yr old ds just started being able to ride his bikes in our subdivision with his friends last summer AFTER he turned 10. He has to check in EVERY 20 minutes and he has to have his cell phone turned on with him because if I call and he doesn't answer his butts in the house and the priviledge revoked, thank goodness we haven't has this scenario yet. NO WAY would I let him "roam" at Disney and if ever TRIED to give me the what for, he'd be punished. I don't let me kids talk to me that way, EVER.

 

[redrosesix]

Oh a poll on this would be a nice addition! Good topic. We will let our 16 yr olds roam the parks with cell phones and only together. Our 12 year old will be by our sides. Probably let him go with one of the 16 yr olds but we are "overprotective" people based on our experience with law enforcement (probation officer who deals with peds).

Brilliant idea! But I don't know how to do that yet.

 

[lyndrajo3]

I would discourage that still at 9 years old despite how comfie you are with it. I heard that there was a child predator wondering around some of the areas in WDW as recently as this past spring (2008--I think).

I plan to let my 16 y/o roam with a pal while in the same park as me but only if she has a cell phone. Thast is just me though.

It is your decision.

 

[scrappinmom]

What the OP is describing in the question, I thought was more of a "can she go up ahead of me" rather than a roaming...Like can she go get a refill for her pop, while she sits at the table, or can she go to the bathroom in the restaraunt..that kind of thing.

With that being said......my 9 yr old is very responsible..& yes I'd feel comfortable with her doing the above.....

 

[redrosesix]

What the OP is describing in the question, I thought was more of a "can she go up ahead of me" rather than a roaming...Like can she go get a refill for her pop, while she sits at the table, or can she go to the bathroom in the restaraunt..that kind of thing.

With that being said......my 9 yr old is very responsible..& yes I'd feel comfortable with her doing the above.....

Yup! That's exactly what I was thinking about. Hard to give her no freedom at all when she has already proved herself to be responsible. It took a lot of time to get her to this point, letting her have some freedom where both of us know she will only do what she is allowed to (more my problem than hers, really) -- just thinking it would be nice to keep this working, so she isn't feeling so restricted that she can't wait to take off. She wasn't allowed to do any of those things last year, but there seems to be a big difference between 8 and 9, at least for her.

Thanks! I think I'll let her off the chain a bit this time (one link at a time). Never thought about the bathrooms... yes, I think she can do that too.

 

[saratogadreamin09]

My parents didn't let my roam alone untill I was about 11 or 12.

Roaming at home is different then roaming at disney. At home you know more people, but at disney your with 1000's of strangers.

 

[NLD]

I know it's different, and MAYBE the times have changed (or maybe we're just more aware of things like child predators now?), but my parents let me roam DL with a friend for a few hours at a time at age nine. We'd pick a time and place to meet up later, and we'd be turned loose.

Back then my dad was a teacher in So Cal and the middle school he taught at would take a day each year to bring the students to DL, and they'd all be turned loose (didn't have to stick with a chaperon). This was all late 1980s....

I THINK (if memory serves) that at age 12 a friend and I went to Universal Hollywood alone for the day (got dropped off and picked up). And I am POSITIVE that at age 13 I was going to Hershey Park with a friend (also 13) alone for the day. (Parents not even coming into the park.)

Survived it all....


Now all that said, as a parent, would I let my own dd go loose in WDW at age 9? Probably not. LOL. But by age 13, yeah, I think so.

 

[missycool]

I thought Disney was a place for families to go to vacation together, spend quality time together, and really have fun together. Sorry, maybe I just don't get it.

 

[redrosesix]

I thought Disney was a place for families to go to vacation together, spend quality time together, and really have fun together. Sorry, maybe I just don't get it.

It is, but part of family time is being able to reinforce the rules that you want them to follow ie. they are with you, not their teacher, not their coach, not their babysitter. So, I think about these things in advance -- I'm not going to just make up the rules as I go along because for my daughter, it is best if the rules are clear and discussed in advance -- I have never had a problem getting her to follow my rules as long as I'm consistent and I know what I'm doing.