Kids >14 in Parks without Adults

[jones235]

I tend to be over-protective when allowing my now 16 yr old to go places without adult supervision. He just turned 16 & I'm just now allowing him to go places by himself. But on our last trip he was 14 & his BFF came with us & because we're so comfortable at WDW, we let them come & go as they pleased as long as we had immediate contact via their cell phones.

That trip was our 4 yr old's first trip so my DH & I were trying to really make it special for him & the 14 yr old boys had no interest in hanging with us. They are well behaved kids & they had a great time without the parents around. I felt the boys were so safe that I let them take the bus to & from the hotel alone & I had no problem with them staying for EMH when we'd go back to the room for the night. There is no other place in the world that I would ever let this happen.

 

[3happydancers]

I tend to be over-protective when allowing my now 16 yr old to go places without adult supervision. He just turned 16 & I'm just now allowing him to go places by himself. But on our last trip he was 14 & his BFF came with us & because we're so comfortable at WDW, we let them come & go as they pleased as long as we had immediate contact via their cell phones.

That trip was our 4 yr old's first trip so my DH & I were trying to really make it special for him & the 14 yr old boys had no interest in hanging with us. They are well behaved kids & they had a great time without the parents around. I felt the boys were so safe that I let them take the bus to & from the hotel alone & I had no problem with them staying for EMH when we'd go back to the room for the night. There is no other place in the world that I would ever let this happen.

Glad to hear you all had a good experience! DH and I feel my 15 year old can handle going off on her own with a friend. We do think, however, that not all children are ready for certain responsibilities at a given age. And as much as we love and feel very comfortable at the world, we try to keep in mind that Disney is still a public place. Predators can purchase a ticket and enter a park, and accidents can still happen.

 

[Tekneek]

I strongly dislike that Disney charges adult prices for children that cannot enter without an additional adult fare. I've never sent a kid in by themselves, and don't intend to do so (beyond maybe testing out this new policy), but I find the policy to be a dumb one.

Regardless of what they might be trying to accomplish, all this change does is require an additional adult ticket be used to enter the park. Nothing requires this adult to be the parent, legal guardian, or really have any relationship that extends beyond any questioning a CM might pose during entry. Additionally, this "adult" is free to then leave the park and never return. If the goal has anything to do with behavior in the parks, this policy does nothing to address it. The only thing it is sure to accomplish, if anything, is additional revenue.