Kids queuing/riding by themselves?

[Shbean]

Hi Disboard experts!
It's our first trip to Disneyland in 4 weeks (coming from NZ). We're all very excited!
However my husband and I are real theme park wimps - neither of us like roller coasters or big drops.
We're planning on riding BTMRR, Splash Mountain, RSR etc with our 2 boys, but when it comes to rides like Space Mountain, ToT and California Screamin' there's no way either of us want to ride!
Our boys are 9 1/2 and 11 1/2 and are both keen to ride everything. Do you let kids queue and ride by themselves? Or can we queue with them and then not get on the ride?
I'm not quite sure what the protocol is, or whether if we won't do a ride then they can't either.
Also, given that it's their first time riding these things, if they can queue by themselves and then get to the front of the queue and change their mind, is there an exit they can use?!
Thanks for your advice!

 

[Geemo]

I've followed along with my group in the queue for rides and used the exit at the loading platform. Many of the queues are themed and enjoyable along the way.
I'd be uncomfortable letting my kids at that age go by themselves all the way through the queue. You never know how long overall it will take for Tot or Space Mt. At least with Screamin' you can see them while their in line.

Remember you can view the rides on YouTube if you want.

 

[Comicbookmommy]

You can get in the queue with them and just exit when you get to the loading area of every ride that I know of. And at their ages, should be able to go on by themselves. It's only if a child is under 7 they need someone over 14 to ride with them.

But if it's helpful, I'm a huge roller coaster wimp too, but none of the coasters were too much for me. Space Mountain is mostly just fast and circular, no huge drops. And it's in the dark, which takes away any height issue for me. The theming is worth at least one ride.

I FINALLY rode Screamin' for the first time on my last trip. Because it looked so traditionally "Roller Coaster" I avoided it like the plague. But my 13 y/o talked me into it, and I'm glad I did. It really was not bad at all. Incredibly smooth and no crazy turns. Even the one big drop felt better to me than Splash Mountain. So I'll be riding again.

Anyway, have fun on your first trip! How exciting!

 

[Westcoastwild]

Yeah, there's a chicken exit. I've seen people leave on both DCA rides. I can't speak from a parents perspective- I ride everything, often more times than the kids want to- but I've often been in line with kids that age. That seems a lot more common in CA than FL, but I don't know if it's the size of the parks or the fact Ca's more a local park.

I will say that if they do back out, they're more likely to do it before they reach the front. Tot- most of the terror is in the anticipation, it's actually pretty tame. And California Screaming is out in the open- it's like a classic coaster. You know before you get in line if you want to ride.

I don't ride SM because I find it uncomfortable. Don't ride the Matterhorn- it's even worse. CS is a good ride for even wimps because it's the smoothest coaster I've ridden. Have fun!

 

[BriannaRuth]

It really just depends how mature your kids are. At that age, they're old enough to ride on their own per DL, just depends if you're comfortable with it and if they're comfortable. The biggest issue would be getting stuck on a ride. How would they handle it if they were stuck on something for 20 minutes or so, or if they had to be walked off a ride without you?

With ToT and Space Mountain especially, it's difficult to know how long it will be before they're off the ride because there's such a large waiting area inside. Then you exit into a fairly large area as well. Do they have phones so they can keep you updated? Maybe start with something easier just for the heck of it and see how they do.

My girls starting riding alone when they were 10 and 14, but they always had to be together.

And I hate Space Mountain, btw. I rode it ONE time just to see if I could. Never again. I can do ToT but my kids will NEVER get me on Space again.

 

[Malcon10t]

I FINALLY rode Screamin' for the first time on my last trip. Because it looked so traditionally "Roller Coaster" I avoided it like the plague. But my 13 y/o talked me into it, and I'm glad I did. It really was not bad at all. Incredibly smooth and no crazy turns. Even the one big drop felt better to me than Splash Mountain. So I'll be riding again.

Anyway, have fun on your first trip! How exciting!

My granddaughter (5yo) was tall enough to ride Screamin' last trip. After her first ride, she called her dad and described it to him. "It's not scary at all, it doesn't really go upside down, it's like sitting on your bed!!" It took 4 rides before we could convince her the ride did go upside down.

That said, you can walk through with your kids if you want, or do it once or twice to get comfortable. Just make sure they are comfortable if they get stuck and understand it may take some time and you won't leave. A phone is a must for our group. While they often will not have the ability to text or call while in queues, they can call you when they come off. And making sure they know they must stay together.

 

[lorijohnhill]

My daughter goes through the queues by herself. She's 9, will be 10 in October, but started when she was 8. There are a lot of rides my mom and I can't/won't ride, so it was let her go, or she can't ride. We started her off with the rides in DCA: Goofy's coaster, the jellyfish, and the Zephyr. We sat at a table at Corn Dog Castle and let her go by herself. She came back to check in between each ride. That gave us the confidence that she (and we) could handle it. We always set a particular place near the exit where she knows to meet us after the ride. She was on Screamin' when a selfie stick incident shut it down. She had to be walked off and handled it like a pro. Luckily (for me) she wasn't in the car that got stuck at the top of the high hill!

She always has a card in her lanyard pouch with our names and cell phone numbers, so if need be, someone could call us. We got her a Gizmo in December, so now when we go anywhere she can call us if we get separated or she needs us.

We are trying to teach her to make good decisions and build her self-confidence. We look at Disneyland as a "safe" place to help teach her these things in a real world scenario. I put safe in quotes because I do realize that there are dangers everywhere, but I feel that at DLR there is always someone nearby who can help.

 

[mom2rtk]

There are some kids who are ready at that age to wait through the line alone. It varies a lot at that age. It helps that they would be together.

I think if I was going to consider it at that age, I would make sure they were riding by fastpass. The bonus is that you can get fastpasses for all 4 of you, then they can use yours and your husband's to ride a second time.

 

[Drusilla99]

My kids have been going to the park regularly since they were babies, so once they hit the 7 year mark they started doing the big rides just the two of them sometimes. I just wait for them at the exit. They never had a problem, but they knew what to expect. People are able to stay in the line all the way, and can even just cross over to the exit upon boarding so you're waiting when their train pulls back up if you don't want to wait outside at the official exit.

 

[colormegreen]

I don't think they are to young to wait inline alone, especially since there is two of them. My son won't, he's 9 very close to 10, but it's mostly because he doesn't want to wait alone. We went to Knotts when he was 8 and he and his cousin who was about 11 waited alone, they behaved and didn't bother anyone. We could see them from where we were sitting...

 

[bumbershoot]

Our boys are 9 1/2 and 11 1/2 and are both keen to ride everything. Do you let kids queue and ride by themselves? Or can we queue with them and then not get on the ride?

Yes and yes!

down, it's like sitting on your bed!!" It took 4 rides before we could convince her the ride did go upside down.

. That's because loops don't feel like loops. They feel like sitting and you suddenly get heavier or very tired. Smart girl, IMO.

 

[grnflash]

I think at those ages your kids will be totally fine, and maybe even have fun, queueing on their own. Our son rode alone the second he turned 7, but that was with tons of rides under his belt already. But here's what we prepped about prior to him going solo:

If a ride breaks, nothing you can do about it so sit tight and don't worry. Eventually it will start up again or a CM will come to your car and help you. This is 100% true without fail.

If you're having a hard time with a restraint, don't worry about that either. A CM will take care of it without even asking. We practiced this together on Screamin since he was concerned about that ride. Without fail, a CM always secured the restraint.

Pick a very visible place to meet after the ride. Right by the exit for some rides is not really great btw. Such as Screamin, it's just so congested. Or Matterhorn if you don't know which track they'll be on. Pick a nearby spot that can be seen as the kids exit and is easy to walk over to.

Both FP and Single Rider are great for kids riding alone. If they single rider though, they won't ride next to each and often will be in different cars. Imo though this tradeoff trumps say a 45 min wait in standby for Matterhorn.

 

[Shbean]

Thanks for your replies everyone, that's very helpful. We will do lots of rides together to see how they're going and play it by ear. They're very well behaved so I have no worries about them queuing by themselves in that regard, so it's good to know others do let their kids do that if necessary. And the FP idea is a great one.
Thanks heaps!

 

[BriannaRuth]

Let us know how it went!!

 

[bcla]

Yep - the minimum age is 7, and I've personally found out when I asked if my kid could use single rider or our only FP for Radiator Springs Racers. I asked if we could go together in the single rider line and split up at loading and was told no.

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

Definitely. I allowed my 8 year old to go on a few rides by himself while I waited in line for passes. We also both did the single rider line a lot so he rode lots of rides without me.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep - the minimum age is 7, and I've personally found out when I asked if my kid could use single rider or our only FP for Radiator Springs Racers. I asked if we could go together in the single rider line and split up at loading and was told no.

I don't actually understand what you asked of the CM, and I bet the CM didn't either. (Disney CMs tend to listen to the first half of what you're asking and answer based on what they think you're ending with, I've noticed...so they heard "can we go together in the SR line" and said "no" because you can't RIDE together if you're in the SR line, and they've heard THAT question 18,333,496 times that week and figure you're asking it too)

What was your intention? Were all of you going to ride? If you were going to split at loading, well, that's exactly what they do. Everyone is in line chatting with each other, then right at the loading area, on the other side from the main line, they tell each individual where to go.

My family has literally never been in the RSR line other than the SR line. It opened after my son was SR-line-legal, and we cannot even imagine dealing with the FP line or the line for FPs, or going standby.

 

[Malcon10t]

Last trip, the standby line was 20 mins, FP line was walk on, and the SR line was out to the starting point.

 

[bcla]

I don't actually understand what you asked of the CM, and I bet the CM didn't either. (Disney CMs tend to listen to the first half of what you're asking and answer based on what they think you're ending with, I've noticed...so they heard "can we go together in the SR line" and said "no" because you can't RIDE together if you're in the SR line, and they've heard THAT question 18,333,496 times that week and figure you're asking it too)

What was your intention? Were all of you going to ride? If you were going to split at loading, well, that's exactly what they do. Everyone is in line chatting with each other, then right at the loading area, on the other side from the main line, they tell each individual where to go.

My family has literally never been in the RSR line other than the SR line. It opened after my son was SR-line-legal, and we cannot even imagine dealing with the FP line or the line for FPs, or going standby.

I was asking if I could wait in the single-rider line with my 5 YO, then help with the restraints before exiting or maybe riding myself. I knew there would be no guarantee that we could ride together. What ended up happening was that I had a single FP that someone was waving around when RSR was down, since the guy had to go somewhere. It was still honored later that day because the ride was down during the time on the pass. The CM said he could write up a pass for two so we could take our kid. My wife asked if it could be three, and he said no problem.

 

[bumbershoot]

Aha. 5 year olds can't be in the SR line at all.

Ultimately it's not really about the restraints with that situation, but about "what happens if there's a ride stop". Would the 5 year old want to be in a vehicle with 5 strangers, waiting and listening to the CM's instructions until they could be evacuated? Would YOU want your 5 year old to be in a vehicle like that?