SURVEY - Leaving kids alone at WDW

[rubyrain]

ok moms calm down, i'm not saying that I'm going to drop them off at wdw them come back for them!lol
here is my question and I want to get as many answers as possible for this will be our first trip ever to wdw! yeah

we will be going to wdw in june and our 2 dd's will have just turned 13 & 15. We booked a family suite at the all star music resort. as being first timers i'm not sure how far the pool for this resort is away from the suites, so first question is :
1. would you let them go to the pool area by themselves, with a time to be back and their cell with them.

Next, my dh and i would like to go out one night to downtown disney. not sure as how far this is from the resort so the next question is:
2. would you let them stay alone in the resort room, with rules, for a couple hours.

I am so leary about doing either of the 2 with all that you hear that goes on in the world. Plus wdw to me seems like it would be the perfect place for pervs and kidnappers to hang out. lol
maybe i'm just being an over protected mom, so that is why i would love to get all the feedback i can.

thanks so much, ruby

 

[squirrel]

My neighbour let her 9yr old son go down to the pool by himself.

I would think that if they stay together, that they should be fine. If you think they will follow the rules that you set before, than let them have some space.

 

[Katy Belle]

I am a self proclaimed overprotective mother, so read this knowing that!

I would probably walk them to the pool area, then leave them there, with a cell phone. Especially if they are together, I think they would be fine for an hour or so.

I personally would not leave them alone and go to DTD. We travel a lot and I have been tempted over and over to do this, and I cannot. Nothing is likely to happen, but it could. We are going to New York City in December and I would LOVE to leave the boys and go do some grown up stuff, but I won't.

Good luck making your decision and have a fantastic trip!
Katy

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

my eldest is 11, if she'd have had a friend with us at ASMo (her sibs are all significantly younger) then I'd have been happy for her to go to the pool with a friend as they are very open areas, always busy and overlooked by poolside bar. Also they have life guards during certain hours, if you stick to those hours they always have an adult they can go to if they needed.

As for staying in the room alone that would be a big no for me- my mother and i ventured out to DTD for my sisters batchelorette in August (pleasure island which i am now told is closed?) and left the kids with DH and my dad, it is a long bus ride, buses aren't always there when you want them and if you had to get back in a hurry it would be too difficult IMO.

At 13 & 15 I'd probably allow them some time to explore the parks alone (with me in the same park and cell phones) but not alone in the resort room.

 

[scottish mum]

I would let them go othe pool themselves but I don't think i would leave them at the resort while i went somewhere else.

 

[glesgalass]

I think you should do whatever you would do at home, if you leave them at home with access to phone etc., then why not? I also understand what the PP said about buses etc., but if there was a real emergency, you'd jump in a taxi, wouldn't you?

 

[cherjp]

This year in october , we stayed at the Contemporary resort , my 2 sons are 14 and 11 and we let them go MK for 1 hour on their own, they had wanted to get specific pins that they had seen in a shop , so we let them go, may i say though they are both sensible and i gave my oldest my mobile phone and right enough they were back by the time agreed, this was the first time we had ever done this on holiday and i think you know your own children as to whether they are capable of being sensible.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I would probably let my older two do both of those things, so long as I had established rules and so forth ahead of time. I might consider having regular cell contact throughout the evening for the DTD thing, and also would call to let them know if we got held up with buses and so forth.

I also let my older two do some park touring on their own. Interestingly, they prefer to stay with us, unless we're shopping in World Showcase. Then, we typically stay in the same country. I establish specific guidelines, though--stay in this land or whatever. My oldest is 13, she's very responsible, never had an issue. DS11 isn't a bad kid, but the type to lose track of where he is--we let them go together, he doesn't go by himself.

I would say, try the pool thing first, see how it goes. Give them some more freedom in the parks, see how it goes. Then, ask them how they feel about the DTD thing with established rules.

 

[tripplanner]

I'd probably let them go to the pool on their own. I wouldn't leave them at the resort on their own.

 

[mjkacmom]

At that age, yes and yes, and I'd let them go to the parks without us, also. We let dd11 and ds9 go to the pool for a bit at the Beach Club. I leave my older 2 home without me.

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

You know your kids best.

I have left my dd11 with my dniece14 at the resort for a evening with the strict rule of "don't leave the room!!" LOL I allow my dd10 to go to the resort pool alone any time she wants if the is a lifeguard on duty. She is an awesome swimmer, and a very responsible child. Some might not think this is "right" but I know my child and how she reacts to situations, and someone elses almost 11 year old may not have the same level of maturity as my girl. I know that "anything can happen" but I choose not to live my life in fear of "what might happen" because that is no way to live.

Just my opinion

 

[Belle4mygrl]

We have kids the same age!

I would let them go to the pool alone but I would not leave them alone to go to DTD. It would take a total of 2 hours traveling time back and forth and of course, I just couldn't do it. Now, I have left the room 30 minutes earlier to go to BBB and they met us. I should say they LOVED the freedom. I tend to be very overprotective. They have cell phones and we get our money's worth out of them. And we let them explore the park by themselves while we are on the younger attractions.

 

[kldmom2000]

I'm a mom and my girls haven't reached that age yet-my girls are 6 and 8....

I can tell you though that when I was that age, I was off exploring WDW with my friends w/o my parents. I was very mature for my age and had a father who was a police officer so he was well aware of what "could" happen. We always stayed at Ft. Wilderness and every time we went, my friend came with us on vacation. We were allowed to go off (before the time of cellphones) to the parks all day but would check in mid-day at lunchtime and then go back out again in the evening. My parents just weren't into "doing" the parks as we became teenagers so they elected to stay back at the cabin or stay by the pool.

I think you need to evaluate how mature your DD's are and if they're comfortable with it. Now that cellphones are available-that's a bonus. If they're just going to the pool or staying in the room w/ rules-I see no problem.

Good luck to you in your decision!!! (I still don't know what *my* decision would be when my girls get to that age )

 

[crisi]

Pool at that age, sure - if the kids are normally responsible kids and are of at least average maturity for their age - but no cell phone. What are they going to do with it while they are in the pool? Its a good way to end up with one less cell phone.

Resort in the room - sure - same caveats (though this time they get a cell phone).

We let our ten year old have limited freedom in the parks (he has been many times) - i.e. last trip he was tired and wanted to go back to the room, but we'd promised by daughter Minnie - and it was the last chance of the trip. So he walked back from Epcot to the Boardwalk.

There are SO many parents at WDW that anyone behaving inappropriately to a young teen where the young teen is not encouraging the behavior is going to get noticed - NOT the ideal place for pervs who really would prefer no audience. However, it isn't a bad place for your fifteen year old to flirt with a 21 year old.........

 

[pixiepower1971]

I have not read the other replies-

I have dds 12 and 10. They can already move around the resort together, with cell phones. Pool, arcade, store,food court, etc.

They have freedom to do things in the parks and DTD without parental supervision. They can be in the same park as me and go do something else and they can be in a different store then me at DTD. They have to stay together and they both have phones.

Going out at night? They can stay in the room together or if adults are going to DTD they go to DisneyQuest and have a great evening there while the adults go out.

At 13 and 15, I anticipate that they will be able to move around the world using busses and monorail without direct parental supervision.

If they are mature and follow rules well, they should be able to handle the situations you have described. WDW is no more dangerous then the regular world they live in.

Good Luck and have fun.

 

[delmar411]

yes and yes to both questions. My 10yr old DD is allowed to the pool on her own and walked from our room in Congress Park at SSR over to the main pool to go swimming and return the little ones life vests for me. I wouldn't leave her alone in the room while I went out for the evening at 10 (and we have other much younger ones anyway) but by 13 and 15 that wouldn't be any issue.

Just show them what the castmembers look like at the resort so they can quickly find one if needed. If they stay alone in the room, no one is going to know or notice anyway. I'd actually give them money to go to the video arcade actually and money to grab a fun dessert at the food court. These places are highly lit and bustling with activity late into the night.

 

[crl]

At age 14, my parents let me go to Disney with our band. (We were from PA) You know how those school trips are, so I was alone with a group a of friends for many hours at a time.
That being said and having a DD now, I think you would need to use your best judgment. My kids would kill each other if left alone for too long. (But they are only 5 and almost 3) My brother and I probably would have killed each other too. (He broke my toe while my parents were out and we were 14 and 11) You know if your kids can handle being together alone in the room to follow the rules or not. I might feel ok leaving them in the room with strict instructions if they are normally trustworthy.

 

[dislal]

My DD's will be about your DD's ages the next time we go to disney and I think I would give them some freedom (because they are both very responsible), even though DD13 is a chicken and probably won't want to go anywhere alone for long periods of time Now DD11 is a different story she would love to go anywhere alone. It is amazing how different kids in the same family are, but they are really different from family to family so I think you probably would be the best judge of whether they would be responsible enough.

 

[sherreis]

If you would normally go out and leave them alone together I say "go and have fun." When you get to DTD figure out where you could get a cab if you needed one. I would leave my kids in our room at 13 and 15. We left our kids in the room at 13 and 8 for an hour this past trip and we went and hung out in Pepper Market. The kids were tired and needed to go to sleep and we weren't ready yet. I didn't let them go to the pool by themselves this trip but I will on our next trip because DS8 just became a good swimmer this summer.

 

[keywestbride]

Yes to both- in a heartbeat, assuming they are mature, reasonably responsible kids.