Kind of a Spinoff........

[goofydad99]

Forgive me if this has been discussed already..........

I am sure your children are somewhat like ours.....They are comfortable navigating the parks and could be a tour guide/give directions to those who are lost. This of course has been a side effect of our DVC membership. So I have a question that we have been pondering here at home.

If you are touring the parks, do you let your children go on their own? I think our kids would be fine, but goofydad thinks they're not ready. Our oldest is 15. He will be 16 by the time we tour again. When did you let your children venture out on their own?

We of course would make sure they have a cell phone. We will most likely be in the same park as well. I am curious about what others have done?

 

[akl-fan]

Disney has recently said that children should be 14 to tour the parks on there own. My parents certainly left us from about the age of 12. My DD is only 3 so not a worry for me yet.

I think 16 is plenty old enough. Here in the UK you can legally marry and have kids at 16.( Not that I am advocating teen marriage)

If he is happy to be left and you know that he can negotiate the bus system then he should be fine.

Why not try it slowly be splitting up in the park and arranging to meet back in a few hours.

 

[CarolynFH]

Our son was 12 or 13 when we started letting him go by himself for an hour and a half or two hours. He had to stay in the park that we were already in, and we made it very clear that if he was not at the appointed meeting space at the appointed time, there would be consequences including loss of that privilege. He did fine. When our daughter made it to that age, Fast Pass had come into existence, and we needed her to be our runner! Again, her "alone time"was very specifically limited and we set a very specific place to meet up at the end of that time.

 

[CarolynFH]

I wanted to add that we did not let our kids go to the parks separate from us. Once the entire family was in the park, we would let them go off on their own for a limited amount of time. They had to stay in the park that we were visiting at that time.

 

[Doug7856]

Disney has recently said that children should be 14 to tour the parks on there own...

I know that a child now has to be 14 to enter the parks alone, but I thought that to ride a ride by himself/herself, the minimum age was 9 or 10. Does anyone know if this changed?

 

[stormer]

I know that a child now has to be 14 to enter the parks alone, but I thought that to ride a ride by himself/herself, the minimum age was 9 or 10. Does anyone know if this changed?

I think it is 7 to go on a ride without an adult.

 

[goofydad99]

You know, 2 years ago, I took our youngest 2 children to the world by myself. After riding Everest 3 times in a row, I couldn't ride it any more. I sent the kids on their way and they proceeded to ride it 3 more times while I waited in the shop. Nobody questioned them at all. I walked with them to get in line and then walked back into the shop. They were 10 and 8 at the time.

A cast member in the shop asked how many people I was waiting on and they knew what we were doing.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Forgive me if this has been discussed already..........

I am sure your children are somewhat like ours.....They are comfortable navigating the parks and could be a tour guide/give directions to those who are lost. This of course has been a side effect of our DVC membership. So I have a question that we have been pondering here at home.

If you are touring the parks, do you let your children go on their own? I think our kids would be fine, but goofydad thinks they're not ready. Our oldest is 15. He will be 16 by the time we tour again. When did you let your children venture out on their own?

We of course would make sure they have a cell phone. We will most likely be in the same park as well. I am curious about what others have done?

I sort of commented on this in the other thread but not this direct question.

My DD7 is the same way. Bless her heart, she thinks WDW is home.

I will turn her loose when she thinks she's ready. First for small time frames, maybe an hour or two, and then longer as she gets more comfortable. I don't expect it to happen soon but it won't be long. I'll be surprised if she isn't running around in close proximity within a couple of years. By the time she's 12 and taking friends, I'll be surprised if we see them again until they need money!

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You know, 2 years ago, I took our youngest 2 children to the world by myself. After riding Everest 3 times in a row, I couldn't ride it any more. I sent the kids on their way and they proceeded to ride it 3 more times while I waited in the shop. Nobody questioned them at all. I walked with them to get in line and then walked back into the shop. They were 10 and 8 at the time.

A cast member in the shop asked how many people I was waiting on and they knew what we were doing.

I know you know this and this is not what your post is about, but your children were escorted into the park, and were not dropped off at the gate. They may have been out of sight, but they weren't out of mind.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Our son was 12 or 13 when we started letting him go by himself for an hour and a half or two hours. He had to stay in the park that we were already in, and we made it very clear that if he was not at the appointed meeting space at the appointed time, there would be consequences including loss of that privilege. He did fine. When our daughter made it to that age, Fast Pass had come into existence, and we needed her to be our runner! Again, her "alone time"was very specifically limited and we set a very specific place to meet up at the end of that time.

This. Exactly.

 

[goofydad99]

You're right about that! They looked at me like I had 2 heads. I was waiting in line to meet Merida. It was going to be a while so I sent them over to the tea cups. They went over but man they weren't sure. After they came back I asked them if they wanted to get fast passes. They felt confident and off they went to space mountain.

 

[lakohls]

You know, 2 years ago, I took our youngest 2 children to the world by myself. After riding Everest 3 times in a row, I couldn't ride it any more. I sent the kids on their way and they proceeded to ride it 3 more times while I waited in the shop. Nobody questioned them at all. I walked with them to get in line and then walked back into the shop. They were 10 and 8 at the time.

A cast member in the shop asked how many people I was waiting on and they knew what we were doing.

Exact same set of circumstances for me as well, except I waited on rock/ seating area just outside gift shop so that I could get the photo of the two of them as they were on the ride. This was during an am emh the day of our departure so it was pretty quiet in the park!

This trip, next week , girls will be 12 and almost 10, and we will frequently have ds4 with us as well. I picture multiple rides where we will be letting the girls ride alone while I entertain DS nearby with a specific meeting point.

 

[fishermouse]

Time to turn him loose, at 16 he os old enough to drive in most states, to drink in many countries, to marry in some places and 1 year away from legal age to enlist.

 

[disfam2012]

I was 12 when my parents let me go off with my cousin, same age.

 

[AmyB2006]

I was 12 when my parents let me go off with my cousin, same age.

Yes, I was around 11 or 12. I think 15 and 16 is plenty old enough. But that's me.

 

[dbs1228]

We would let DD's take the boat from Ft Wilderness to MK when they were 15,14 and 12. Rule was they had to stay together, text when they got off boat, again when into park and again when they were heading back and a call when they got on the boat so we could pick them up in the golf cart! They would go on rides by themselves much younger while DH and I would wait in shops.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It depends on the maturity of the child.

At 12 I let my son and a friend or 2 walk around the same park where we were but on their own. All had cell phones, they were told to not separate and we had appointed times to meet for let's say lunch and/or dinner. They wanted a bit of freedom and I felt they could handle it.

At 14, we let them take the bus and go to whatever park they wanted. The deal is always when I call, answer and as you go from park to park, or resort, text me and let me know where you are. Again, generally always meeting for main meals!

At 12 I would not have been comfortable letting my son alone, to enter and negotiate park/buses etc. without my being in the same park and at the entrance. I'm sure he could have done it and may have wanted to do it but it wasn't within my comfort level.

Several years ago at MK, around 9pm I encountered a brother and sister, clearly a bit freaked out, they were 10 & 12. They had been frightened for a lack of a better word by aggressive older boys. I asked if they were lost and needed help. I felt strongly about their un-easiness that asked if they would like to call their parents, he said no. I then offered and since they did not protest very much, to escort them home to SSR. I left them at their building, and left it up to them to discuss with their parents the nights events! I knew the girl was scared, nightfall may have changed how she felt about being alone with her brother in the park. I don't really know.

Some kids are more mature, some aren't but I would never have wanted my son to be fearful and me, not nearby! 14 for us was the right age, a member of DVC since he was 2 1/2, he could give his own DVC presentation and Disney tours! Thankfully now 16, he's looking for that buddy trip alone, DVC rules - 18 years old, next hurdle!

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

Just wait till the first time your kids come back home from a day alone in the parks, and you realize 3 table service meals are missing from the dinning plan.

 

[rutgers1]

My sons will be ages 13 and 12 when we arrive in July. The older one will be a month away from his 14th birthday.

Here is how I see it playing out:

1) When the oldest is 13 (this year), they can go on a ride on their own if my wife and I are in the same area of the park. I figure this might happen once or twice if they want to go on a ride a second time while my wife and I would prefer to hang out in the closest store. When I was around the same age, my mother and father would sit on a bench and drink a cup of coffee while my brother and I went on roller coasters again and again and again.

2) When the oldest is 14 through age 15, I think we will let them roam around the same park that we are in...provided they stay together. I am hoping that they will still want to stay with us most of the time, but I won't worry if they want to run off for an hour or so as long as they have cell phones.

3) When the oldest is 16, they are free to do what they want. Once again, I will hope that they will want to stay with me, but I won't mind if they want to go to a different park one day. My older son is super responsible, and they know Disney World like the back of their hand.