What age do kids keep their own KTTW cards?

[monkeydawn]

Im traveling with a 1 year old and a 4 year old and Im wondering at what point do the kids typically start carrying their own KTTW cards and how (lanyard, pocket, small bag)?

 

[Marc D]

Ours started wearing his lanyard around age 5 or 6. We would still keep it with us when he went to the kids clubs or if he played too much with it. We left it permanently at 8.

 

[MillauFr]

My son is 18 and I still don't let him carry it. He would lose it immediately

 

[Lisa F]

If your kid is responsible enough to have run of the ship independently they are responsible enough to keep track of their card. If your kid is not responsible enough to check themselves out of kid clubs, then I would be the one holding the card. There's no reason for them to have it anyway if they are not independent of you - there is nothing they need it for. At that age they are not going to be charging stuff and not going to be letting themselves into the room without an adult present and not going to be leaving the ship without an adult so I just hang onto it. When they are out of your care and in Disney's they will have the band for ID.

My son's doesn't even have charging privileges although on our next cruise he will be 11 and will have some independence and he has his own bank account for allowance now so I am thinking of giving him charging privileges and a budget based on him bringing his own spending money for it. But not at 4.

 

[deliela999]

At 6 my DD likes to do what we're doing so she had a princess lanyard and wore hers just because we were. She was always with at least one of us, but she thought it was awesome to run ahead down the hall and open our door with her card.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Our youngest was four on our first dcl cruise and he wore his then.

 

[Calantha]

We carried my son's on the cruise this summer. He is 4. His cousins (ages between 6-10) - the oldest had hers - I think the others were all carried by their parents.

 

[hnthomps]

Our children always wanted to have theirs with them because it made them feel grownup. We let them wear them on lanyards last time at ages 4 & 6. On our first cruise, when they were 2 & 4, we had lanyards for them, but usually just wore them ourselves. The kids were never out of our sight, but they still liked being in charge of the cards, and alternating who got to open the door.

This time they will be 8 & 6, and will both be allowed to be responsible for their KTTW cards. The 8 year old will have self-check privileges, so this will be meaningful. The 6 year old will just want to feel like she's the same as her brother.

 

[ghtx]

OP with a 1 and a 4 year old, I am pretty sure there is no reason they would actually need their cards - they will never be on their own other than in the kids' clubs or nursery. So, if they want to have them, it's just for fun. Older kids might actually need them if they want to go around the ship and in and out of their stateroom on their own.

 

[monkeydawn]

Thanks everyone!

 

[bcwife76]

We held on to their cards until we allowed them to have self-check out priviledges for the clubs.

 

[apathetic]

You can turn charging privileges off, which is our biggest fear of them losing the card. But if they can't self checkout from the club or get freedom of movement on the ship, there is no reason to have the card. It's really a personal decision. Though, I've seen many times a family about to leave on an excursion only to realize one of the kids lost the card. Great way to ruin your cruise is to pay for an excursion you can't go on because somebody dropped their card somewhere.

 

[lklgoodman]

You can turn charging privileges off, which is our biggest fear of them losing the card. But if they can't self checkout from the club or get freedom of movement on the ship, there is no reason to have the card. It's really a personal decision. Though, I've seen many times a family about to leave on an excursion only to realize one of the kids lost the card. Great way to ruin your cruise is to pay for an excursion you can't go on because somebody dropped their card somewhere.

You can go to Guest service and get a new card. Had to do this for my dd one time, only took a few minutes. We realized it had fallen out of her lanyard pocket during lunch, so there was no rush to get it like there would be if getting ready for an excursion.

 

[hcox31]

The only time our kids had their cards was when getting on and off the ship. Otherwise, it hands on a lanyard in our room.

 

[KantLose]

My 5 year old wore hers on a lanyard on our first cruise. We got her a cute character one and she was happy to keep it on the whole time. She also liked being able to use her card to unlock the door when we went back to our room.

 

[monkeydawn]

Thank you everyone for sharing!

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

Don't know what the typical age is, but the MacSpiff boys got the run of the ship and charging privileges when they turned 11; before that, Mr. MacSpiff and I carried their KTTW cards for them. Kids who carry their own cards don't seem to wear them around their necks in our experience, they usually loop them through a belt loop and then put the card in a pocket so that the lanyard swags down almost like an old-fashioned watch chain; it's like a DCL kid lanyard style thing. Can't imagine any reason why a 1 and 4 year old would need to carry their own card, except that the lanyards and the responsibility would be fun for them and make them feel grown-up. Have a great cruise!!