Question about kids on rides

[MommyHolly]

Hi, I have a question about sending my kids on rides without me. I am not sure yet about my comfort level for some of them, but first wanted to find out what is allowed.
We are going over for a quick trip this friday and saturdayl. We are me(mom), and five kids: 10,9,6,4, and 2. On our last trip, there were other adults, and we used the baby swap alot. I have, in the past sent the big kids on rides that the little ones could not go on and waited for them.
Last time we went my four-year-old is tall enough for some rides. Will disney allow me to send the four of them on a ride without me?? I would prefer to wait in line with them, and then wait for them to get off. The rides that I think I would consider doing this on would be: Barnstormer, Splash Mtn, Thunder Mtn, Everest, Soaring, Test Track, and Star Wars. I have, in the past sent the three older ones on most of these with no problem. I just don't know if they will allow the older ones to taike the 4-year-old on without me. Like I said, I would like to wait in line with them, if I would be allowed.
Please don't tell me that I am nuts taking 5 kids to Disney by myself. My husband died in December, and we are trying to make the most of the life we have. My kids understand quite well that in order for us to still do the fun stuff we did when daddy was alive, they all have to help with their younger siblings, and sometime they cannot do all of the stuff they want to because it is just me and them. We just try to do our best. I would love for them to be able to ride the rides that they love, and I am trying to find a way. If not, we will still have fun riding the stuff that we can. TIA!

Holly

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Will disney allow me to send the four of them on a ride without me??

Sure - as long as your 4 year old meets any height requirements, the parent does not have to ride as well.

 

[mdoc]

If your 4 year old is tall enough to go onto the ride, I'm pretty certain Disney will let him ride with the older siblings. I put my 5 year old on rides with her older sisters (then 11 and 8) last year with no problem. It has to do with your comfort level. I have no worries about them getting on and off safely (especially if I'm in the line with them and then waiting when they get off). It's a question of whether the child is likely to enjoy the ride or get scared if you're not there. And of how mature your 10 year old is. For instance, if a ride gets stuck (we've been on Splash Mountain when it got stuck for half an hour), could your 10 year old keep your 4 year old reasonably calm for the duration? In my case, the answer was no when my oldest and youngest were 10 and 4, but yes when they were 11 and 5. Good luck and have a wonderful trip!

 

[stacy6552]

I had this problem on one trip. We walked my oldest through the line, then the lil one and I would ditch out the "Chicken out" exit and meet him at the exit of the ride. YOu will have the explain your intentions to the CM"s but there shouldnt be a problem.

 

[tjmw2727]

I don't think you will be able to. In my experience they requires a child to be 7 to ride alone. Prior to that they must be accompanied by a "responsible adult". I don't know what the age requirement is for the "responsible adult" but I doubt a 10yo would qualify.

I experienced this on the Barnstormer when my then 6yo wanted to ride with her older sister rather than me and she was not allowed to. I had to sit with my 6yo and have my oldest sit alone.

Of course like everything else it probably varies with the CM boarding the attraction but based on my experience I wouldn't count on it.

This may be a good question to send an e-mail to guest services or do a search for the ride restrictions.

Sorry -
TJ

 

[tjmw2727]

I had this problem on one trip. We walked my oldest through the line, then the lil one and I would ditch out the "Chicken out" exit and meet him at the exit of the ride. YOu will have the explain your intentions to the CM"s but there shouldnt be a problem.

This won't work for the OP because her 2yo dosen't meet the height restriction. They won't even let children in the line any more now that they have the baby swap ticket rather than having parents switch at the end. I tried to do this on RnRc and TOT with my girls in October and since my youngest wasn't tall enough to ride she couldn't enter the queue.

TJ

 

[stm61]

I'm can't do alot of the bigger rides but 2 of my kids love them. My smallest dd is the most fearless of the bunch! She was just about 45" last Sept so she was tall enough for almost everything. My ds12 took her on anything I couldn't ride. They even let them on MS with no questions, ds said they never even checked her height. For barnstormer I had 3 kids who wanted to ride, they couldn't all fit in one seat, and nobody wanted to go alone. I sat with one dd while the smallest sat with ds in front of us.

 

[SueM in MN]

On the Disney website, Expedition Everest says "Adult Supervision Required" , so it's possible they may not even allow your older children to ride that attraction without an adult.

The park maps say that you must be 7 or older to ride alone, so (at least from what it sounds to me) if the CM is following the rules, the kids who are older than 7 would be able to ride everything they are tall enough for (except Everest, according to what is posted on their website). But, they would not be able to be the responsible person for someone younger than 7.

 

[goofy's friends]

My girls wanted to ride alone on several rides and we were asked by almost all ride CMs how old my DD was (she had just turned 7, but is small). When told her age several looked sceptical and several gave her extra instructions even though we were usually getting seated right behind them. They were all very cautious, which I appreciate, but would make your situation more difficult. I think you will run into problems on some rides.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Kids must be 7 to ride alone. If they are not 7, they must be joined by a "responsible adult" 16 or older.

 

[rlovew]

You may want to see if you are going when someone else you can meet on the board is going and maybe someone could meet up with you. I always ride those rides alone as we have no children yet and my DH can't go on them. I have met up with plenty of families in line where there are two kids and 1 adult and many times I would join there party and ride with one of the kids. Part of this is having annual passes and going up on a regular basis it never bother me to do what someone else wants to do and I find it thrilling to ride with those that have never been to Disney.

 

[MommyHolly]

Thanks for all of the replies!
This is what I have settled on. If only that three older ones want to go on, any of these rides would work. I can always bribe 4yo with some shopping while the others go on. Being that I cannot go into the que with the baby, that makes the list of rides that I would let the 4yo go on really short. I would be OK with barnstormer since I can see most of the line, I also know that on Star Tours, I can go thru the line, since they do the baby swap right at the ride. We will be going again in May with other adults, and she can wait until then to go on the bigger rides. I think that everyone can be happy with that. We will be at disney world and anything that we do will be fun!!
Thanks again!

Holly

 

[alisonbestford]

Just to say have a fantastic break

It sounds as though you all deserve it and well done to the 'big' kids for helping the little ones

 

[Vijoge]

Sure - as long as your 4 year old meets any height requirements, the parent does not have to ride as well.

Absolutely not true! We took our granddaughters last month. They're 6 and 8 and tall enought to ride everything and they wouldn't even let them ride Aladin by themselves. We had to ride with them on everything