Kids on their own?

[ryansmom]

Does anyone let their kids go off on their own through the parks? If so, at what age do you let them?

 

[Eeyore2U]

Mine went off with a buddy at 12 and on his own at 13. They had times to be places and were armed with a watch. We explained that if you were in line and were late it was not a good excuse. It worked for us. We knew DS was responsible and it made giving freedom easy.

 

[DrTomorrow]

We let DS on his own at 13; he had already earned our trust in other situations, so we weren't too worried at Disney. He was back in time both nights, and he - and DW and I - had fun.

 

[dclwdwlover]

Very personal decision.
My oldest was probably old enough at 10 (altho I didn't allow him to yet for MY sanity) - but my 3rd wasn't ready until about 15.

Last time we went I bought 4 walkie-talkies & gave each of the 2 kids one (15 (just shy of 16) & 10) & my husb. & I kept the others.
The rules were:

1) Stick together. If one wants to ride a ride the other doesn't then the other must either wait near a Disney Castmember NEAR the ride OR the other could go on a ride in the same vicinity & have a meeting place pre-planned. But, if one gets off prior to the other they MUST wait at the designated meeting place - NOT go off to another ride.

2) They must check in with us every 30-45 min. on the walkie-talkies AND we met every few hours.

3) They MUST stay in the same park as us (i.e. MK, MGM, etc.)

4) They MUST go to the restroom together

As long as they followed these rules they were ok to be off - AND THEY DID!

This trip, as my oldest will be a few days shy of his 18th bday and has been to WDW many, many times, I will probably allow them to go to other parks.

 

[wld]

I see these questions and I guess I am suprised sometimes. I must have weird kids. We have been going since they were 8 and 11 with the last time 16 and 20. They have never wanted to go off on their own. The one time they did on the last trip we were having dinner with some friends of ours from MI so they went around Epcot but checked back at the restaurant we were at before going back to the hotel. We just enjoy the time together I guess.
We went one time with a large family group with kids from 4 to 18 and again no one really broke off for more than a few minutes and it wasn't the teens.

That being said I think it does matter about maturity and if they have been without supervision before. If they had asked I would imagine I would have been okay with it around age 14, in the same park, with time limits, and radios. This last time when they were 16 and 20 I had no problem with them going back to the hotel, but then 20 is pretty old!!! I would also make sure they were familiar with the park and bus system.

 

[sha_lyn]

DS has gone on his own for short times in other parks from about 11 (only to do 1 or 2 rides, with us stayingbehind in one area with DD). Last yr at age 13 at WDW we let him go on his own at MGM for a few hours, but we knew he was going back and forth between RnR and ToT the whole time.
This yr at14 at 6-flags he went on his own for a few hours armed with a radio

 

[Eeyore2U]

To add:

DS was in other parks at 14and he was at DQ by himself at 11. At 16 we let him and his buddy to IOA for the day. I just asked DW about it and she said we never felt he was in danger. We brought him up right and he's a smart kid. To reiterate, the key is KNOWING your kid.

 

[zurgswife]

We are letting our DD 12 and DS 11 do parks we are in on there own this Christmas....DD12 did the same thing this past March with her friends from school and it worked fine..they had watches and radios and we agreed to meet at specific times at specific places....but I agreed it depends on each individual child....

 

[Mouseteacher]

Prior to our trip last summer when DSs were 17 and 19, they wanted to stay with us. Last summer they did go off on their own but at 17 and 19 they were plenty old enough and kept in contact by cell phone.

 

[doryfan]

My 14 yr old wanted to go to disney quest on his own, however we didnt let him. We did let him take his 5 yr old brother to the arcade at the hotel, and we let him run and get fast passes for us while we were at dinner or at other attractions. I also let him and his 11 yr old sister go off at disney quest while I was there trying to entertain the 5 yr old. If he had a friend w/him I probably would have let him go off even more, but there are soooo many people and it can be a bit overwhelming even for me. I also let him go off on his own at the waterpark, but I did start to worry after an hour of me not seeing him. He was fine and eventually did find me. I also let my 11 yr old go to the older kid section for about half an hour by herself, while I had the 5 yr old at the smaller kids section of Blizzard Beach. Just as I started to worry and go look for her, she came to me, so it worked out fine.

Tracy