What age do you let your kids roam the parks?

[msmith07101]

...without a parent/adult? I know this is very subjective...and might even vary from park to park, but I am curious at what age you are comfortable with letting kids or teens go and do their own thing? Planning a trip this fall, and my 16 year old is on the fence about coming on the trip
So I get it...he doesn't want to hang with me the whole time. But we will be there with my sisters family, which includes my sons cousins, the oldest, being 13. Would you let a 16 and 13 year old go off to ride some rides by themselves? Why or why not? The cousins are girls, if that makes a difference.

 

[LadyBeBop]

As long as they have a cell phone, I'd have no problem with them roaming the parks by themselves. My daughters were a little bit younger (about 11 and 12), and I let them roam Kings Island freely ( we had season passes at the time). And this was in the pre-cell phone era.

 

[kmoore7]

Our last trip, our oldest of 5 was 17. We let him strike out on his own after dinner. He got back to hotel a little after midnight. Wife and I were completely stressed out by then, but he had the time of his life. It's not an easy thing to do, but.....it has to happen sometime.

 

[msmith07101]

As long as they have a cell phone, I'd have no problem with them roaming the parks by themselves. My daughters were a little bit younger (about 11 and 12), and I let them roam Kings Island freely ( we had season passes at the time). And this was in the pre-cell phone era.

Oh! You're close to me...northern Cinti suburbs! They both have phones, and I think they would be fine...and have a lot of fun with just a little taste of freedom.

 

[msmith07101]

Our last trip, our oldest of 5 was 17. We let him strike out on his own after dinner. He got back to hotel a little after midnight. Wife and I were completely stressed out by then, but he had the time of his life. It's not an easy thing to do, but.....it has to happen sometime.

Ok...after midnight would make me a wreck...I am comfortable with him being in the same park as I am in, but don't think I can handle going back to my room and letting him stay out! That would be tough!

 

[ttintagel]

My sister and I were 12 and 13 when our parents cut us loose in the Magik Kingdom for the day. We didn't have cell phones, but we had strict times and places for meetups, and failure to appear on time would result in the loss of freedom. With phones, you could have set times you want to be called for a check-in.

 

[msmith07101]

My sister and I were 12 and 13 when our parents cut us loose in the Magik Kingdom for the day. We didn't have cell phones, but we had strict times and places for meetups, and failure to appear on time would result in the loss of freedom. With phones, you could have set times you want to be called for a check-in.

I like the check in idea...or even meeting up every so often.

 

[Orreed]

I was twelve when my parents let a group of us kids explore the parks by ourselves. We had cell phones. The group was 12, 11, 13, and 15. We would usually start off with the three families doing things things together and then the kids would go off my themselves. We could check in with them often with the phones and mealtimes. We also park hop but at Disneyland it is very safe and easy too. I feel like Disney is one of the safest place on earth. There are so many mothers and cast members who would keep an eye out and help protect teens if something happened. I also found going with friends made the amazing experience of Disney even better. Good luck deciding and have a magical trip!​

 

[nchulka]

I would say around 9-10. That's my kids ages and I have no problem with them doing this at Six Flags where we have season passes and go all the time. I see Disney as more of a family vacation so I wouldn't let them do that there simply because I want us to spend time together, but I think by those ages they are perfectly fine to go around by themselves

 

[kaligal]

Eleven or twelve for normal, well-behaved kids.

There was a thread a while back where someone posted that she wouldn't allow her eleven or twelve year old go to the bathroom by himself, though. He had to go with her into the Ladies' Room.

Different parents, different styles.

 

[ChelseaIsMyBelle]

It really depend on the maturity of the child. My DSs (12 and 14) were able to separate from us. We live in NYC and they travel to and from school on their own on public transportation. They both have cell phones and are pretty street smart. That being said, we would set up meeting places and times throughout the day. If they missed one, they knew their freedom would be over, it worked out great for me cause we were able to do the character/ princess thing with my then 4 year old without cramping their style!!

 

[Olivejuicy]

Eleven or twelve for normal, well-behaved kids.

There was a thread a while back where someone posted that she wouldn't allow her eleven or twelve year old go to the bathroom by himself, though. He had to go with her into the Ladies' Room.

Different parents, different styles.

That is immediately what I thought of.

I think it depends on the maturity of the kid, but I remember going on a field trip to Six Flags (I think it was still Great Adventure back then, and we had to walk uphill both ways from the horse and carriage to get there) in sixth grade and we were allowed to roam. Without cell phones. I was ten or eleven, as I was young for my grade. However, I know some of the eighth graders I teach would make me nervous on their own. Not because they aren't street smart, but because they would misbehave,

 

[wendylovesdisney]

My 9 year old doesn't go in the front yard without someone watching her. Ugh.

 

[Hannathy]

Depends what you mean by roam the parks. My 8 yr old could go to the food court to refill his mug, or go to a gift shop or go get a snack on his own at the parks, or go anywhere with his sister who was 14 (like the pool, other rides, the arcade) My DD at 14 was allowed to stay in a park if we were leaving and ride the bus back on her own.

I think in upper elementary and middle school they can go off on their own in the park we are in. By high school they can go off completely on their own, ride the bus, return by themselves. And especially if they are with another kid.

 

[danceintherain]

I think my parents let us strike out on our own when I was about 11 at normal amusement parks. Usually with a friend or sibling though.
Heck, I babysat other people's kids at that age.

Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Some kids can't handle going to the mailbox alone without getting into some sort of shenanigans.

 

[cluvsdisney]

...without a parent/adult? I know this is very subjective...and might even vary from park to park, but I am curious at what age you are comfortable with letting kids or teens go and do their own thing? Planning a trip this fall, and my 16 year old is on the fence about coming on the trip
So I get it...he doesn't want to hang with me the whole time. But we will be there with my sisters family, which includes my sons cousins, the oldest, being 13. Would you let a 16 and 13 year old go off to ride some rides by themselves? Why or why not? The cousins are girls, if that makes a difference.

I don't see why they wouldn't be allowed to go to the parks and on rides by themselves. Here at 16 a person can get a job and a learners permit to drive and at 13 may already be babysitting.

 

[smidgy]

I don't see why they wouldn't be allowed to go to the parks and on rides by themselves. Here at 16 a person can get a job and a learners permit to drive and at 13 may already be babysitting.

. at 16: too young to roam around wdw alone or with cousins. .. at 18: old enough to go to Afghanistan?

 

[drinkme]

I think at 11 they're old enough to spend a few hours at a park by themselves. For example, taking off on their own after lunch and meeting up for dinner.

By 12-13 they are old enough to ride the WDW buses by themselves.

That is how it is with my kids.

I was also thinking of the 12 year old boy who had to go into the ladies room with his mom.

 

[Jedana]

Depends on the kids.

I let DD2 and her friend roam when they were 13, and we were at DL--but they could only be at DL (not DCA--we were at DL as well).

I wouldn't let her roam WDW until she was 16.

DD1--I could have let her roam at 13. She was very independent.

DS--not an issue yet, he's only 8. Maybe at 13 with a group. At 8, he can roam our cul-de-sac at will, as long as he lets me know and checks in hourly. He cannot leave the cul-de-sac, nor play in the woods (houses on other side of the woods and a very active road on the other).

Edited to add: I let DD2 roam parts of Vegas when she was 16; DD1 went on a mission trip at 15 and 16 to Belize. I'm not an overprotective mom by any means--I just know what my kids are able to handle. DS will be heading off to camp next summer without mom (dad will be going, as he is the den leader)--but dad will have limited contact with him--the camp is run by Boy Scouts (adults are just there to supervise).

 

[Nomad70]

At WDW I would have no problem with my 15 and 13 year old going out on their own, with their phones of course.