What age freedom?

[RLRDA]

Annual passes say under 7 must be accompanied by an adult.

all I can think is ....."wow". My youngest will turn 7 in October - a month after he starts the first grade...I guess he'll be good to go then ! Why would they choose such an age as a rule of thumb? I'd at least think that they'd use 9yo. Isn't that the age when they need to purchase an adult-priced ticket or AP?

 

[alanapapa]

I think Caro and I let our DD's off by themselves (as long as they stayed together) when they were 15 & 10. They both had cell phones and knew their way around the parks and bus system. The kicker was the 10yo was the more mature one (she still is). They are now 17 & 12 and I would let the 12yo roam the parks with a friend, not sure if I would let the 17yo without her sister.

 

[starbox]

all I can think is ....."wow". My youngest will turn 7 in October - a month after he starts the first grade...I guess he'll be good to go then ! Why would they choose such an age as a rule of thumb? I'd at least think that they'd use 9yo. Isn't that the age when they need to purchase an adult-priced ticket or AP?

I agree - it is bizarro. The first time I read the back of my AP, I was like "dang, that would be cheap childcare if you lived in Florida!".

exact wording:
"Persons under the age of 7 years must be accompanied by a person over the age of 21 years when attending Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney Hollywoid Studios or Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park"

 

[Kelblum]

On our next trip my Son will be 13 and I feel now with cell phones I would be ok letting go off by himself in the same park that we are at, but not hang around with us. I would not let me 10yo.

Don't know when I will feel comfortable letting them take the transportation on their own or go to a different park. I am a little overprotective!

 

[homedad]

I can't be 100 percent sure but i think at 12 we could be let alone checking in every 3 or 4 hours, this also was 78 or 79 and the world was a lot different then

 

[arthur06]

This is hijacking my own thread, but we took a RCCL cruise a few years back, and they asked if we wanted to allow my then-6 son permission to sign himself out of the kid's club if he wished and go back to our cabin. I couldn't believe they would allow or encourage 6-year-olds to be unsupervised around the ship.

Also, to me there just seems to be a difference in letting a child staying at BWV or BCV walk to EPCOT or DHS versus taking a bus to another park. If they were to call me, I could be there in a flash.

I know there is a huge difference between 6 and 9, but we were on the Wonder in December, 6 weeks before DS turned 10, and we allowed self check out for him.

However, I would not allow him to go off on his own at WDW by himself for at least a couple of years. He is a smart kid and understood the decks of the boat, our room, good grasp of the ship, but the size of WDW is a totally different beast at this age. I would think that he needs at least 3 more years, and several trips to be considered.

 

[adminjedi]

What age? Uhhhhh...maybe 30!

A couple years ago our oldest son (25 at the time) was sitting by the AKV pool and some "cougar" asked him up to her room!
No Joke!

 

[Kelblum]

What age? Uhhhhh...maybe 30!

A couple years ago our oldest son (25 at the time) was sitting by the AKV pool and some "cougar" asked him up to her room!
No Joke!

OMG! I would die seeing someone my age trying to pick up my Son!

 

[SamSam]

What age? Uhhhhh...maybe 30!

A couple years ago our oldest son (25 at the time) was sitting by the AKV pool and some "cougar" asked him up to her room!
No Joke!

Ha! I bet he was horrified and flattered at the same time!!!

 

[Buckeye Fan]

What age? Uhhhhh...maybe 30!

A couple years ago our oldest son (25 at the time) was sitting by the AKV pool and some "cougar" asked him up to her room!
No Joke!

OMG. This made me laugh so hard! I KNEW 30 was the magic number!!!

Our DS is 15 (will be 16 in Oct) and DD is 8 (will be 9 in May). Because she's so much younger, he never asked to go off by himself or with her. He took a friend last year, and they didn't ask, but have a feeling they will this year since his friend is traveling with us again. DS's been to Disney almost every year since he was 4, so we'll give them freedom to go to parks, pool, etc. without us, but I'll admit, even at 15, it's hard. You always think about the worst, and pray for the best. We all know there are lions and tigers and cougars, OH MY! STILL dying over that one.

 

[Mlissa88]

What age? Uhhhhh...maybe 30!

A couple years ago our oldest son (25 at the time) was sitting by the AKV pool and some "cougar" asked him up to her room!
No Joke!

Not nearly as creepy as the 15 (I'm guessing he was about 15) year old that kept bugging my friend and me at the hot tub a few years ago at VWL. I guess he thought we'd be impressed with the beer/cigars he stole from his dad's suitcase. We knew it was time to make an exit when he started in about how he could take us to dinner since he had charging privileges on his room key.

My friend and I were well in our 30's at the time and couldn't believe that his parents didn't know/care that he was wandering around the resort at 11:00 PM at night, sharing his room number information, and hitting on women twice his age as well as offering up their beer, cigars and use of credit card privileges...

I spent the next few nights crossing my fingers and hoping that little Romeo would NOT be in the pool area.


So to the OP....I think it all depends on the child as far as when they are ready and maybe start with small periods of time while you are in the same general area.... baby steps before running.

 

[Pixieflip]

My answer is different for my boys than for my girls. My son was bulky and muscular and played football. I was quite comfortable letting him be on his own with a cousin or sibling and a phone at 12....within the same park. Probably to and from the resort by 15.

Now with my girls, that's different. They are very little. My DD12 is so small she wears a size 8 slim jeans! She could be overpowered so much more easily. And I guess I just worry about that scenario more in the hotel than in the park, but really we should be careful everywhere. She hates it, but I haven't let her go alone as early as the others, but prefer to keep within the same "land" of the park. Her day will come, probably more freedom this year.

I guess it doesn't hurt to be cautious. Interesting to hear everyone's responses.