What age teenager would you let roam?

[Red1116]

Going to Disney on Friday for 6 days. We have park hoppers. My boys are 19 and 14. I am wondering at what age do you feel comfortable allowing your kids to roam the parks without you? At what age would you allow them to hop to a different park? If I knew they would stay together I would have no issues. But they are complete opposite that probably won't want to stay together. Of course my question is primarily about the 14yo. TIA.

 

[SJSloan]

I know it depends on each child, but I feel if the child is knowledgeable enough with Disney and is comfortable going off on their own I would easily allow it. I wouldn't recommend it for a first-timer, going to a different park that is. I went off on my own a lot at Disney, although sometimes I was with 1 or more other 14 year olds, there were many times I was by myself.

I am looking forward to the days my kids are old enough to go off on their own. It's good for their independence and no more arguing about where to go, eat, ect.

 

[imboardgamedawn]

I have a 17 year old and a 15 year old. We have been several times, but not since they were 11 and 9. They don't remember much about Disney..... Both said they can't imagine wanting to roam on their own. I said, what about when mom and dad get tired. They then decided getting familiar with the maps was a great idea! LOL

My best advice, make sure your teens are familiar with how to contact a CM. Disney is so well informed, any CM can help your teens.

I would say with the proper tools. Cell phone with a tracking app, map apps attached to their smart phones and the ability to talk to CM.....You have the tools needed for your teenagers to go it on their own!

Good luck, I hope this helped.

 

[Sepo]

Going to Disney on Friday for 6 days. We have park hoppers. My boys are 19 and 14. I am wondering at what age do you feel comfortable allowing your kids to roam the parks without you? At what age would you allow them to hop to a different park? If I knew they would stay together I would have no issues. But they are complete opposite that probably won't want to stay together. Of course my question is primarily about the 14yo. TIA.

Great question. Times are different now than we were kids. Having said that, many safety nets around in Disney (CMs, buildings). Also with phone location services could essentially track your kids I would think.

I've seen tweeners alone which can seem scary.

Curious to hear more responses. Wondering the same thing for my kids.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

For my kids, 17 and 14, I let them roam together, and would allow them to stay a little longer in the parks than you care to. I do think it is important that they stick together though. It is a family vacation and I find it amazing how well my kids get along when "everything else" isn't in the way.

 

[BudgieMama]

I've seen tweeners alone which can seem scary.

I'm not sure what Disney's rule are, but I work in a high school here in the UK and our young people join us at 11 (tweenagers). Most of them are already catching the train in alone, with some travelling over an hour, making changes, etc... If I were one of their parents, I can't imagine having an issue with them having some free time at WDW. If the child is sensible, knows the rules and is used to being responsible for themselves, WDW is a pretty safe place to do that!

 

[dmaxdmax]

If you allow them to roam a mall I would allow them to roam a park under two conditions: They keep their cellphones on and check-in every hour on the hour. If they follow these instructions then I would consider letting them go to another park provided they've been once before and have used Disney transportation.
Have fun!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

When I went with my high school, the 10-12th graders came on the trip, and we were all allowed to roam freely. I was 15 at the time and felt perfectly safe walking around with a group of friends. I would require them to stay together, however.

 

[hsmamato2]

around 14-15 should have no problems I would think.... even younger(12 or so) if they have an older teen sib to hang out with! I never have the same energy level as the kids do....

 

[kathy884]

Whatever you are comfortable with and whatever your teen/teens are comfortable with. When I was 14 and my brother was 12 and another girl we were traveling with was 12, the three of us did some things on our own without parent. We were staying at Fort Wilderness and we used Disney transportation to do some exploring of WDW on our own. And this was before cell phones in 1975.

 

[bluezy]

We let our oldest sons go off on their own on their second trip to DW. They were 14 & 16 at the time. DH & I would do rope drop with the little kids and usually be back in the room shortly after dinner to put the kids to bed. The older boys preferred to stay at the parks late and sleep late in the morning. This was back in the days before everyone had cell phones. DH did have one and the boys knew the number so if there was an emergency, they could get in touch with us.

Fast forward 10 years and our two middle kids went on a school trip to DW. They were 15 & 16 at the time (and had 4 Disney trips under their belts at that point), but there were kids as young as 13 on the trip. They were allowed to come and go at their leisure from the resort to a specific park each day (no park hopping). They had to always be in a group of at least 2 students and they had to check in with their chaperone via text or phone call every 2 hours and face-to-face twice during the day. Two chaperones stayed at the resort each day and the rest went to the designated park so that there were adults at both locations. The kids loved the freedom and had no problems navigating the buses and parks.

You might be surprised at their ability to tolerate each other at Disney. Our oldest 2 are polar opposites and when they were teenagers, each one thought the other one was "the weird" one. Yet when they were at Disney, they were like best friends...probably because we told them that their options were to: a) Tour the parks on their terms and schedules *but* they had to stay together as a pair; or b) stay with us and their pre-school aged siblings and do everything we were doing. In their eyes, there was no decision to be made.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

My DH left dd at Epcot last month..she is 15. I told her I wanted her back by 4 and she was like...why can't I stAY til closing? Then when she got back to hotel (POLy) she went shopping at the hotels around the monorail by herself. She's been going forever and knows her way around.

But I started letting them go on there own two years ago...at age 13 &16 as long as they stayed together. But when I tried calling them to check on them, they didn't answer for a while because they were on a ride......

The year before when they were 12 & 15 I let them go off for an afternoon at Epcot, we were staying at the bcv. And wouldn't you know I meet them in the bathroom at the land...I was coming out of a stall and they were next....what were the chances of that!? so I went off with the 12 yo and let the 15 yo go back to hotel by herself..but then she bumped into my DH and ended up hanging with him.

My parents let me go off with brother at age 14 and he was 16.

 

[smiths02]

My oldest is 9...he has been several times, so at 14, I could see letting him ride some things alone (in same park as us) but I don't know that he would want to be alone that much?
ETA: My twins are 3, but I see them as able to go around the parks with each other at 14

 

[erij11]

My DD16 and her friends ages 16 and 18 spent an evening at MK alone while my mom and I went to Epcot. It was great. They had a great night and so did we. My mom and I made sure they got into MK ok and then took the monorail to Epcot. It worked out great. We met up at MK at the end of the night.

 

[Ensusieasm]

I'm not sure what Disney's rule are, but I work in a high school here in the UK and our young people join us at 11 (tweenagers). Most of them are already catching the train in alone, with some travelling over an hour, making changes, etc... If I were one of their parents, I can't imagine having an issue with them having some free time at WDW. If the child is sensible, knows the rules and is used to being responsible for themselves, WDW is a pretty safe place to do that!

Disney's rule is a child must be 14 years old to enter a park alone, or be accompanied by someone 14 years or older. Also, children must be 7 years old to ride an attraction alone or be accompanied on the ride with someone 14 years old or older.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

My daughter is able to go on her 8th grade school trip to Disneyland; I believe that once inside they can wander on their own. I would have no problem (she is 13) as long as she has her phone. I would also be fine with her wandering around DW.

However, my kids (both!!) are like little marsupials and never venture far from me (despite my encouragement and, at times, insistence).

 

[Tony Amore]

I have very fond memories of 1981-1984 when my mother and I lived in FL and had season passes to the MK and Epcot. She would drive us there, give me some money for lunch (or tell me to meet her at a restaurant at a certain time that day) tell me what time to meet her to go home, and send me off on my way to ride the rides. This gave her some much-needed "alone time" to relax, and I had a blast riding all the rides.

I was 9 years old in 1981.

No cell phones, no GPS tracking, just a small digital watch and some pocket money for food. And I did just fine.

Just my two cents.

 

[MrInfinity]

Going to Disney on Friday for 6 days. We have park hoppers. My boys are 19 and 14. I am wondering at what age do you feel comfortable allowing your kids to roam the parks without you? At what age would you allow them to hop to a different park? If I knew they would stay together I would have no issues. But they are complete opposite that probably won't want to stay together. Of course my question is primarily about the 14yo. TIA.

It's just a progression that you become comfortable with over time. Depends on the kids, how much you've been, how independent you are with them, and so on.
We've let our older kids go on a ride by themselves since maybe 6 & 10 while we wait there for them, watching the entrance and exit.
We've let them go in an area like BTMRR / Splash by themselves a little after that.
We've let our oldest (12) wander the parks on his own, same park as us. He might go single-rider a ride or something and meet us later. We would be ok w him getting home from the MK to Poly or CR. But parks that require a bus, no.
Separate park? I can't see wanting to do that. Even if our kids were old enough to do that (maybe 15?) I wouldn't want to. I'd still want to meet up for a family lunch or dinner even if they wanted to run around the same park on their own.
Our kids have been to WDW 5 times so they know their way around, especially the MK-Poly circle. That is very different from if this is their first time.

 

[jsrj21]

You know your children better than anyone so if you feel comfortable, that's what matters. That being said, my son knows the parks inside out....and has for the last 4-5 years I'd say. He's 20 now but when he was 15, we went with another family and they have triplets that are the same age and we went to MK for EMH one night but my wife and I got tired and went back to our resort. I really felt comfortable/safe with him being on his own with a few friends - can't say the same for home though! Plus knowing that he knew his way around, and how to get back to the resort etc. really put me at ease.

I would also agree with another poster; if you do it, tell them that they have to check-in every ???. They can't be without looking at their cell phones for more than 5 minutes anyway so this won't be something that they have to go out of their way to do. Have them text you and keep you posted as to where they are etc.

Good luck!

 

[ChelleB]

I have pondered this too. On our upcoming trip we'll have my just turned 17 yet old stepson plus our 2 boys (almost 10 and 6). The 17 race old is responsible but he is not a good problem solver and is painfully shy about asking strangers like CMs for help. I think we are fine if the 2 older boys explore a bit or are willing to wait in some ridiculous line while we are still in the park and maybe grabbing a snack or cooling off elsewhere. I don't know that I am comfortable w them taking the bus back to the resort on their own