New JTA age restriction

[AngiTN]

I honestly can't remember, do they scan MBs at all for this? Wouldn't their ages be somehow linked to the MBs, or no?

No, MB are not scanned, needed or anything, to do JTA.

 

[RachaelA]

No, MB are not scanned, needed or anything, to do JTA.

They definitely scanned my husband's back in December when we signed my daughter up. I wasn't right next to them so I don't know if they said why.

 

[hiroMYhero]

They definitely scanned my husband's back in December when we signed my daughter up. I wasn't right next to them so I don't know if they said why.

Perhaps it was during EMH. Only onsite resort guests can sign up during that EMH period; offsite guests who had early ADRs can't sign up during EMH.

 

[starjazz]

Way to teach your kid the right way to act.

Cool. Then they'll add some arbitrary restriction or age verification process to the rest of us.

Lol. Yeah, it actually took longer than I thought before the flaming began.

In reality, if they asked her, we'd be out of luck, because I wouldn't tell her to lie about her age. But, as mentioned, I'd positively round up if she's a month or two from the required age, and they asked me only. Especially because she has always acted older than her age.

Why? Why would I do such an abhorrent thing as round up a month or two when asked about my child's age? Mainly because I don't have the heart to tell her that because she's 1,430 days old instead of 1,460 days old, she can't do this totally awesome, once in a lifetime thing. And not only can't she do it, but she has to watch her older sister have a super fun experience. I just don't have the heart. I think 1,430 out of 1,460 is just about close enough for JTA.

But please, continue to flame on - I'm sure there's a special level of hell for those of us who round our kids's ages up on occasions like this.

 

[AngiTN]

They definitely scanned my husband's back in December when we signed my daughter up. I wasn't right next to them so I don't know if they said why.

Perhaps it was during EMH. Only onsite resort guests can sign up during that EMH period; offsite guests who had early ADRs can't sign up during EMH.

That may be it. Or if they have EMH evening hours they may need to scan to be sure you can sign up for a late one. If they go that late. I know they went right up till close when we were there but it wasn't an EMH day.

I signed DGD up on 12/21 and our MB was not scanned. She's also done it back in Aug and May and our bands were not scanned then either.

 

[AngiTN]

Lol. Yeah, it actually took longer than I thought before the flaming began.

In reality, if they asked her, we'd be out of luck, because I wouldn't tell her to lie about her age. But, as mentioned, I'd positively round up if she's a month or two from the required age, and they asked me only. Especially because she has always acted older than her age.

Why? Why would I do such an abhorrent thing as round up a month or two when asked about my child's age? Mainly because I don't have the heart to tell her that because she's 1,430 days old instead of 1,460 days old, she can't do this totally awesome, once in a lifetime thing. And not only can't she do it, but she has to watch her older sister have a super fun experience. I just don't have the heart. I think 1,430 out of 1,460 is just about close enough for JTA.

But please, continue to flame on - I'm sure there's a special level of hell for those of us who round our kids's ages up on occasions like this.

See, I don't see it as lying about the age. That is not the issue for me.
For me I see it as more an issue of learning life isn't always going to go the way you want it to. Sometimes life is disappointing, even when you are 3. Yes it sucks to learn it that early but I think a lot of the issues we have in this world are from people who think rules don't apply to them and sometimes, they start to learn that as early as 3 from something so innocent as lying about an age by a few days. I get that it hurts but being told no won't kill them. Even at Disney. Even though your sibling can. Instead, we'll find something else special for you to do.

 

[starjazz]

AngieTN - I totally respect that. My personal feeling is that I don't think a 3 year old likely learns anything from that experience. Instead, I think she probably doesn't understand why her older sister continually gets to do things that she doesn't. There's already gonna be rides she can't do (and this is all in the past for me now, so its not a current issue, just FYI). So, in this particular instance, I'd try to see if I could get her in. But, like I said, it probably wouldn't work anyway cuz they'd ask here, and then she'd be out of luck. I'm just saying I don't think the month or two is that big of a deal, especially if the kid holds herself as well as one a month or two older. I don't view it as a valuable teaching moment. Just my opinion. If it makes me a terrible person/parent, meh, I can deal with the judgement.

 

[JJZMgailey]

See, I don't see it as lying about the age. That is not the issue for me.
For me I see it as more an issue of learning life isn't always going to go the way you want it to. Sometimes life is disappointing, even when you are 3. Yes it sucks to learn it that early but I think a lot of the issues we have in this world are from people who think rules don't apply to them and sometimes, they start to learn that as early as 3 from something so innocent as lying about an age by a few days. I get that it hurts but being told no won't kill them. Even at Disney. Even though your sibling can. Instead, we'll find something else special for you to do.

I couldn't agree with this more!

Remember folks, one of the reasons that Disney has been so wonderful about so many things is because they trust their Guests to be honest when answering questions they're asked. When they catch enough people lying about things, they change rules and make things more difficult so that people can't get away with it as easily.

Also, just want to remind everyone that here on the DISBoards, we do not enable, condone or promote discussion of ways to circumvent established Disney company policies.

 

[hiroMYhero]

AngieTN - I totally respect that. My personal feeling is that I don't think a 3 year old likely learns anything from that experience. Instead, I think she probably doesn't understand why her older sister continually gets to do things that she doesn't. There's already gonna be rides she can't do (and this is all in the past for me now, so its not a current issue, just FYI). So, in this particular instance, I'd try to see if I could get her in. But, like I said, it probably wouldn't work anyway cuz they'd ask here, and then she'd be out of luck. I'm just saying I don't think the month or two is that big of a deal, especially if the kid holds herself as well as one a month or two older. I don't view it as a valuable teaching moment. Just my opinion. If it makes me a terrible person/parent, meh, I can deal with the judgement.

Not judging your parenting skills because there are many lying 3 year-olds who make it to the Jedi stage. The Padawans deal with these kids on a daily basis: 3 year-olds who can't follow directions, can't activate their lightsabers, and pee on the stage.

The concern is that a 12 year-old, who is within the required age range and is only 2 days away from turning 13, goes to sign up and all the slots are filled right before it's his/her turn to sign up. Would all the slots be filled if the lying 3 year-olds hadn't signed up?

That's what bothers the Jedi cast the most. The kids who shouldn't participate and have to be led back to their parents because they are screaming onstage have taken slots away from kids of the correct age range who would have thoroughly enjoyed participating.

 

[TXStormtrooper]

They will ask her how old she is. This will be after you initially sign her up, but before they put her through to get her robe and instructions.

 

[starjazz]

hiro - that's a fair point. If my 3 yo was still peeing in her pants, and couldn't follow directions, I, personally, wouldn't try to get her on stage. That's probably no consolation, but I'm just telling you my personal position. I don't think its quite as sinful as some, apparently.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I think they should raise the age requirement to 5 or 6. Even the most mature 3 and 4 year olds freak out on stage and can't work the light sabers.

When my dd was a young 4 she signed up for JTA. She was very excited and could answer all of the questions about being scared ect. I never in a million years thought she'd be the one to chicken out but right before they went on stage she decided she didn't want to do it. It was a very hot day and they had the kids sitting outside in the hot sun with no shade, wearing the robes. Kids just don't have the maturity/patience at that age to be counted on to follow through. She has since done JTA several times.

My son, at 4, ended up chicken isn't out at some point also. Although, he is my scary cat so I sort of expected that from him. When he was an older 4, he did end up completing JTA, but only because dd was up on stage with him.

 

[wilkeliza]

I have to admit now that there is yet another video of a kid not following directions at JTA we are going to see rules change again. People are all over the video saying how funny it is. All I could think was if the Jedi trainer was hurt since the kid starts hitting him in the crotch for stepping in front of Vadar because the kid was hitting Vadar over and over and over (Vadar blocked every hit) then the academy won't have been able to go on the rest of the day. It was so bad that the Jedi trainer had to sit down on the stage for a little bit. Also people were saying the storm trooper laid down to "play along" I think he laid down because he was actually hurt.

I could easily see the age requirement going up to 7 or 8 soon.

 

[disnut8]

They will ask her how old she is. This will be after you initially sign her up, but before they put her through to get her robe and instructions.

And that's something for everyone on this thread to remember. Yes, you as the parent signs the child up for the training BUT, the child will be asked questions before they are accepted. You will have to go back with the child after the signup and a Cast Member, in your presence, will ask the child questions. Our grandson did this when he was five and my son and daughter-in-law later said he did fine with the questions but was shy and they were fearful he wouldn't get in because of that. Only one parent/guardian needs to be with the child so if you have other kids, another adult can take them for the time of the interview. And BTW - our five year old grandson was the smallest child on stage and the instructor kept saying he was training a hobbit.

And as a hint - if you have a child in the class, you might want to send someone there early enough to "save" a spot for you. We were able to get there and get a good spot with our granddaughter and then our son and daughter-in-law joined us after they saw our grandson off before the show.

 

[subtchr]

I think 1,430 out of 1,460 is just about close enough for JTA.

So where WOULD you draw the line? 1429 days? 1420 days? 1400 days? My point is that Disney set the 1460. If every parent decided to choose "how close" their child should be to that age to qualify, you'd have 2 year olds up there.

 

[wilkeliza]

So where WOULD you draw the line? 1429 days? 1420 days? 1400 days? My point is that Disney set the 1460. If every parent decided to choose "how close" their child should be to that age to qualify, you'd have 2 year olds up there.

That right there is why DCL has gotten stricter in their age rules for the clubs. They have always been strict on "adult" since they have that information but for the clubs people would argue that their kid was 2.5 and potty trained and very advanced so he/she would be bored in the nursery and should go to the clubs. Kid gets to the club and gets pushed or shoved by 9 year olds, gets left out, or can't follow the rules of the games etc and has a miserable time but hey they got the experience!

 

[eeyoreandtink]

AngieTN - I totally respect that. My personal feeling is that I don't think a 3 year old likely learns anything from that experience. Instead, I think she probably doesn't understand why her older sister continually gets to do things that she doesn't. There's already gonna be rides she can't do (and this is all in the past for me now, so its not a current issue, just FYI). So, in this particular instance, I'd try to see if I could get her in. But, like I said, it probably wouldn't work anyway cuz they'd ask here, and then she'd be out of luck. I'm just saying I don't think the month or two is that big of a deal, especially if the kid holds herself as well as one a month or two older. I don't view it as a valuable teaching moment. Just my opinion. If it makes me a terrible person/parent, meh, I can deal with the judgement.

No passing judgment, just trying to explain a different point of view. Taken a single incident, it might be no big deal, people are overreacting, but taken as a child rearing philosophy, I see a problem. There are ALWAYS going to be people who are bigger, older, better, stronger, smarter than you that get to do things you can't. At what point do you stop trying to work around those things and start teaching that life isn't always fair? Why is it ok to lie about your age(not fair because older sis gets to do it), but not to cheat at sports to get the win (it isn't fair because that kid is faster), or have someone else take your SAT(not fair because that kid is smarter than me)? When and where you draw that line is a slippery slope at best and a disaster waiting to happen at worst.

The more working around the rules and smoothing the way you do for kids, the fewer coping skills they have as adults. The epidemic of "offended" college students that need "safe spaces" on campus is evidence of this. It starts with mom or dad getting them into an activity that is "3 and up" because they are so "advanced for their age". Then ,w hen the inevitably struggle mom starts with the "it's not fair" Because they are younger so they start trying to fix that. It's an unending cycle. If you aren't willing to tell your kid they are too young for JTA, what will you do when they don't make the soccer team, don't get accepted to their first choice college, ect? It may seem like reaching but its being proven over and over that it isn't. We are raising a generation of over parented, under skilled kids.

 

[starjazz]

No passing judgment, just trying to explain a different point of view. Taken a single incident, it might be no big deal, people are overreacting, but taken as a child rearing philosophy, I see a problem. There are ALWAYS going to be people who are bigger, older, better, stronger, smarter than you that get to do things you can't. At what point do you stop trying to work around those things and start teaching that life isn't always fair? Why is it ok to lie about your age(not fair because older sis gets to do it), but not to cheat at sports to get the win (it isn't fair because that kid is faster), or have someone else take your SAT(not fair because that kid is smarter than me)? When and where you draw that line is a slippery slope at best and a disaster waiting to happen at worst.

The more working around the rules and smoothing the way you do for kids, the fewer coping skills they have as adults. The epidemic of "offended" college students that need "safe spaces" on campus is evidence of this. It starts with mom or dad getting them into an activity that is "3 and up" because they are so "advanced for their age". Then ,w hen the inevitably struggle mom starts with the "it's not fair" Because they are younger so they start trying to fix that. It's an unending cycle. If you aren't willing to tell your kid they are too young for JTA, what will you do when they don't make the soccer team, don't get accepted to their first choice college, ect? It may seem like reaching but its being proven over and over that it isn't. We are raising a generation of over parented, under skilled kids.

Hey - to each their own. But I thank you for the unsolicited parenting advice.

 

[Ursula's Apprentice]

I have to admit now that there is yet another video of a kid not following directions at JTA we are going to see rules change again. People are all over the video saying how funny it is. All I could think was if the Jedi trainer was hurt since the kid starts hitting him in the crotch for stepping in front of Vadar because the kid was hitting Vadar over and over and over (Vadar blocked every hit) then the academy won't have been able to go on the rest of the day. It was so bad that the Jedi trainer had to sit down on the stage for a little bit. Also people were saying the storm trooper laid down to "play along" I think he laid down because he was actually hurt.

I could easily see the age requirement going up to 7 or 8 soon.

Any chance you have a link to this video? This is the first I've heard of it...

 

[wilkeliza]

Any chance you have a link to this video? This is the first I've heard of it...

Not sure if it will work but here is the link

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=577141429101387