how old until you let your kids roam free?

[rutgers1]

At what age did you allow your kids to roam the resort and parks alone (without adult supervision)?

My sons are a grade apart. I am thinking I will let them roam a "section" of a park when the oldest is in 7th or 8th grade.

 

[disfanforlife]

At what age did you allow your kids to roam the resort and parks alone (without adult supervision)?

My sons are a grade apart. I am thinking I will let them roam a "section" of a park when the oldest is in 7th or 8th grade.

I haven't let mine roam free yet, but then again they haven't asked either. Oldest are in 10 th and 11 th grade!

 

[mom of princessx2]

I think I would let them roam a "section" of the park and even the resort at that age. DH and I talk about this quite often even though we have a ways to wait but at this point we would let our girls roam a section or the resort at 13 & 11 provided they show the maturity to do so.

Our dd's will basically be raised going to WDW all the time so they should know their way around pretty well.

 

[Judique]

At what age did you allow your kids to roam the resort and parks alone (without adult supervision)?

My sons are a grade apart. I am thinking I will let them roam a "section" of a park when the oldest is in 7th or 8th grade.

Age 13 in 7th grade with a cell phone and check in instructions. She was also pretty tall and not teeny - so your mileage may vary. She would mostly go do an attraction that was not one I was interested in - anything fast, spinny, high,etc. I would usually give the appropriate amount of time and then meet at the exit or in the gift shop or the game area at Space Mountain or the game area t Mission Space or where the cars are at the Car ride thingy in Epcot. Also she was the fastpass go getter, the snack go getter, fill the mugs,etc....go to the screen door for extra milk. She's almost 19 now and still willingly does these little chores - guess I'm really lucky there. And, unlike the older siblings she hasn't turned down a trip to Disney yet, although she doesn't always want to go to the parks as much as I do.

She was older before I felt comfortable letting her stay in the room if I wanted to go to a park and she didn't.

 

[supersuperwendy]

Our oldest is 13 and hasn't gone out her own just yet. Next summer 2012 we are bringing her best friend and they will go out on their own together. She'll be 14 which how old I was when I started going out on my own with my best friend in WDW. I think she's perfectly capable of going on her own now since she knows every inch of WDW property and how the transportation and such works, but she doesn't want to be alone and I understand that.

 

[delmar411]

At what age did you allow your kids to roam the resort and parks alone (without adult supervision)?

My sons are a grade apart. I am thinking I will let them roam a "section" of a park when the oldest is in 7th or 8th grade.

DD12 (13 tomorrow!), she's been allowed to roam a bit for about 2yrs. This past trip she took DS6 with her and they explored together for a few hours. The 2 of them together are very trustworthy. The other 2 kids are not at that level IMO so they stick close to DH and myself.

I'll probably let them do the same this coming trip.

They all know their way around the parks and SSR very well so I'm not worried about them getting lost. ODD has a cell phone so we can check in as much as we like.

Once the little kids reach middle school we'll probably let them explore on their own a bit as long as they are demonstrating proper public behavior.

 

[DizGirl20]

Been wondering the same thing - my oldest is 13 but she hasn't asked yet. If she had a friend and a cell phone I would be comfortable given her maturity level, but usually it's just the 4 of us when we visit (we have a younger daughter). I am thinking maybe when the youngest is 13 and the oldest is 16... ?

 

[dgaston]

This depends so much on the child. Our youngest was able to go off in the same park when he was in 7th grade. Our DD was about 15 when she went to see "You've Got Mail" at the AMC theater. She just had to take the bus back to the cabin by herself. I think you need to judge on your child's maturity coupled with cell phone. (Does anyone beside me remember the days of the unreliable walkie talkies and millions of people on the channel your family had chosen?)

 

[crisi]

We let them go off a little last year - 11 and 10 - same park. They had 2 sets of fastpasses for Rockin Rollercoaster and their Dad and I had no desire to take the walk or ride the ride. So they went down by themselves, and met us in about half an hour.

 

[quirty30]

My kids are 9 & 11 and we visit WDW 3-4 times a year - they know it as well as I do. I routinely let them go off on a few rides by themselves while I shop or relax with a cup of coffee. As long as they have a cell phone, I'm fine with this. A few weeks ago at AK, they went off to ride EE after dinner, and forgot to take the phone....after about an hour I was getting a bit nervous. I started walking back to EE and they were strolling towards me. Turns out there was not much of a line, so they rode it again....and again....and again. So next time, they will definitely have the phone so they can text me and tell me what's going on.

 

[kikiq]

My DDs are older and times have changed since the time we let them roam free. But here it goes. Our DDs are four years apart. They were 11 and 15, the first time we let them go alone anywhere. It was a Disney Institute day long session, we dropped them off at 8 and met them at RNR at 4. That meant they had to take a bus to get the Disney MGM Studios or DHS now( like going from SSR to DHS) They were already at the time Disney vets as well as travel vets. And before there were cell phones on every corner. Our family had one cell phone, that we let the girls have.

 

[Donald is #1]

Interesting thread! My sister and I have been having the same discussion. I don't have any kids but I have gone with my niece and nephews a couple of times. My next trip will be just me and my 12 year old niece. I took her brother last year.

In 2012, we are planning on a family trip with both of my sisters and their kids. My oldest nephew will be 19 this month so no question there. However, my other sisters kids will be 15 and 13 (almost 14) for this trip. I have been suggesting to my sister that we let the kids go off for a few hours together with out us while we are all in the same park. They will have cell phones. So far my sister agrees (since we were wondering around places by ourselves much younger than that back in the 70's). It will be interesting to see if she changes her mind. Of course, the kids already know about this plan and are excited.

 

[jazmyin]

Last year my ds age 13 did not want to stay with us in MK so...he took the bus back to AKL and just hung out at the pool for a few hours. This was his first time being by himself. He met up with us about 4 1/2 hours later for dinner. At that time he was about 6 feet tALL! We have gone to WDW about 8 times prior to this trip sometimes for 2 weeks at at time. He knows the parks inside and out. He is a very mature/responsible kid and proved himself by being on time & not getting lost. This year he just wants to "chill" so not sure how much he will come with us into the parks for our trip in Aug.

 

[daveyk]

I have set my 11 & 8 year old free together for a short time, in an area of the park. They had no interest in waiting to see a princess with their sister, so we just met up with them a while later. They had a cell phone, so it wasn't a big deal.

Incidentally, my parents set me free in the magic kingdom when I was about 11.

 

[moredisneyplease]

so i guess i still have a way to go with my 3 and 6 year olds. I'll give it another year or two and then let them free

 

[BabsBunny]

The boys were just shy of 11 and 13 when we let them take off a couple hours while we were all in Epcot. They were to meet us at R&C for dinner. They showed up but wet from the fountains. They had to freeze in the air conditioning during dinner. Life lesson. lol.

They were 13 and 15 when they started going to parks alone.

 

[WDWMom]

I think we started to let our kids roam the resort at about 10. DD would take her brothers down to the pool and we would follow. At 12 or so, we could go out at night and leave them in the room, 13 or so we would let them go to DTD on the boat and roam. I know the boys (who are 4 and 5 years younger than her) started to go shoot hoops at around 9/10 by themselves.


Kids are now 20, 16 and 14. They have been going off by themselves in the parks for 3-4 years staying together. Last year was the first DD didn't go with us because she is in college. We let the boys go back to the room alone from the parks and DS13 (then) met up with us at another resort for dinner. This year DS16 had some friends at BWV and he went by himself to meet with them and then also into MK the next day to meet them.

Since we have been going to WDW since DS16 was 6 weeks old, and he has been to WDW more times than he has had birthdays (same with all the kids), we feel they know the place well and don't worry. They know how to get around, be polite and not goof around. But it's your kids and you have to know what they can handle.

 

[Donald is #1]

The boys were just shy of 11 and 13 when we let them take off a couple hours while we were all in Epcot. They were to meet us at R&C for dinner. They showed up but wet from the fountains. They had to freeze in the air conditioning during dinner. Life lesson. lol.

They were 13 and 15 when they started going to parks alone.

They definitely got a life lesson.

 

[rcchello]

When my kids were 12 and 14 we let them wander the parks on their own. We just told them a time and a place in the park to meet up. A year later they were allowed to go to return back to the rooms via the Disney buses.

The 14 year old was male and 5' 9" and we knew his younger sister would look after him and keep track of time.

My daughter knew our touring pattern so well she could find us even if she wanted to get back together early, especially in EPCOT.

 

[nickspace]

I feel that hotel rooms can be dangerous so you have to be careful. How would you ever find your child if someone took them in a hotel room?

Sending kids in pairs is a good safeguard.