What age teenager would you let roam?

[Red1116]

We are going to Disney on Friday with park hoppers. My sons are 19 and almost 15. I have no problem letting them go to different parks together but am wondering at what age you would let them go separately? I doubt they will stay together if they head to a different park on their own. They have very different tastes and don't get along that great. Obviously I am not worried about the 19 year old. What about the almost 15 year old? Opinions? Experience? TIA.

 

[Alesia]

I would let my 15 year old go alone if she wanted to.

 

[slzer0]

As long as your 15 year old has a fully charged phone so you can touch bases, I think that's fine.

 

[LisaInNc]

I am letting my almost 15 year old go alone on this upcoming trip. She is really excited about it.

Lisa

 

[Red1116]

Y'all are definitely making me feel better. So, if he wants to go to a different park, using bus service on his own, do you still agree? He's not immature in any way. He is intelligent. Definitley looks his age (over 6 feet). I say that because I'm not really concerned anyone will mess with him. He has a phone. We are staying on property. Not sure what I am concerned about. Just worrying. He is very excited. But I am second guessing myself.

 

[HopperFan]

They'll be fine. Mine have been there without parents at 14. I never worried about them at all.

 

[LisaInNc]

My DD is planning on playing bus roulette and taking the first bus that come by. DTD or a park doesn't matter to her. at 14 she has the run o my small town. She can bike to the library, the core house or favorite lunch spots. I am not at all worried about Disney. I am going to want a check in occasionally but off
[
she goes!

 

[mom2rtk]

I let my 15 year old leave DL park, walk to Earl of Sandwich in DTD and bring dinner back to the park for us. I also let her go do some rides on her own while I staked out my spot to photograph fireworks. She enjoyed the freedom. In another year, she'll have her driver's license, so I figure it's time to start trusting her judgment.

 

[BTDTGB]

My daughter would always bring a friend, only child, and we would let them go off on their own at 14. That was with permission from her friends parents and they had to stay in the same park we were in. By the time she was 16 we would let them leave the hotel and take Disney transportation and do what they wanted. Just had to check in from time to time.

 

[magicaldisney]

It sounds like your younger son is very capable and mature enough to handle it on his own. However, let me just say, for others that might be reading this, you really need to know your own child. My own boys (now 18 and 24) were totally capable of going out on their own at a younger age. I just had my 14 year old nephew come and visit me for the weekend and I would never trust him to go off on his own at Disney.....NEVER!

 

[Red1116]

It sounds like your younger son is very capable and mature enough to handle it on his own. However, let me just say, for others that might be reading this, you really need to know your own child. My own boys (now 18 and 24) were totally capable of going out on their own at a younger age. I just had my 14 year old nephew come and visit me for the weekend and I would never trust him to go off on his own at Disney.....NEVER!

Okay. So (if you can say) what about your nephew makes you think that? I feel that my son is mature enough. He is very polite and won't act like a fool. I'm not worried about him causing any kind of disruption. He walks/rides several miles to friends houses in our neighborhood. BUT...all teenagers make dumb choices sometimes. He isn't nearly as mature as my older son was at this point but I don't want that to make me think he isn't mature enough. His brother was an anomaly.

 

[magicaldisney]

Okay. So (if you can say) what about your nephew makes you think that? I feel that my son is mature enough. He is very polite and won't act like a fool. I'm not worried about him causing any kind of disruption. He walks/rides several miles to friends houses in our neighborhood. BUT...all teenagers make dumb choices sometimes. He isn't nearly as mature as my older son was at this point but I don't want that to make me think he isn't mature enough. His brother was an anomaly.

OMG, I hope my sister isn't on these boards!! He seemed totally oblivious to anything and everything going on around him. For a Disney example, I could see him getting himself to Epcot and not remembering where to go to catch to the bus to leave and not asking anyone for help. I think he would just wonder. If he did find the buses, I very easily could see him not getting on the right bus and ending up someplace he didn't want to go to, and again not asking anyone for help.

Now, this being said, all of these things are not the end of the world and could be controlled with constant phone calls back and forth. I just wouldn't want to be worried all the time. Another thing to throw into your scenario is how familiar is your son with Disney? Is Disney second nature to him? For my own boys, they are and were always very comfortable with working their way around WDW.

 

[Red1116]

This will be his 4th or 5th visit to Disney, but it has been approximately 5 years. I am thinking I will try to get everyone to stay together Day 1 and Day 2 and by then he should have a pretty good understanding of the transportation and parks. I plan to have visited 3 of the 4 parks all together by the end of Day 2. After that, he can make his own choices. I am guessing he will want to wander the same park we are in Day 1 and Day 2. I am not too worried about that.

 

[journies_end]

I'd say just go over some ground rules beforehand:
- How late he can stay out (curfew)
- What he can take with him (backpack, phone, portable gaming devices, wallet, umbrella/poncho, any other valuables)
- Where on property he is allowed to go (Disney Springs, other parks, other resorts)

And of course the basics (not to talk to strangers, how to contract you if his phone dies/breaks/gets lost, money spending rules).

 

[gtpoohbear]

According to Disney, they can enter a park alone at 14 so unless you have particular reservations about you kid specifically, I would say it's fine.

My sister and I were much younger than that when my parents would drop us off for the day (obviously before Disney had set the age limit) and even before cell phones!

And I let my 11 yo DD roam free for a while at MK last year, though we were still in the same park. Honestly though, I think she would even be fine catching a bus to a park totally alone, if Disney allowed it.

 

[BrownHP800]

We plan on letting our almost 15 year old son go alone when we do our trip to Disneyland next summer. Right now he is 6'2" but looks and acts older than that. As long as your teen is responsible should not be any issue.

 

[momimouse27]

I let my daughters roam in park alone at around 14 and they were ready to park hop alone around 16. That is subjective, though. Sounds like you have a pretty intelligent kid. If he has a phone and knows how to get around within Disney, that sounds completely acceptable. Have fun!

 

[okilydokily]

I let me 9 year old go and buy a snack while I watch from a seat all the time. Or I will let him go to the shooting arcade and tell him to meet me in a store. I think if I give him small amounts of freedom more often, he responds well and it wont be a problem as he gets older because he understands making choices and being responsible, rather than keep him under my thumb until he is a teenager. I am thinking by 14 I will be able to let him go off on his own, but I have a few years before I have to decide that.

 

[Chelley00]

I don't think there is a set age. I think it depends on the kid. We let our oldest two boys wander around the park we were in starting 13 or so, who cell phone and each other. Both are responsible, careful kids


DD is almost 14. We don't even let her wander around our neighborhood She's kind of a ditz

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We started letting our kids wander in the same park at 14......and we had meeting points and time for meals.


At 15/16 we started letting them go around WDW, however again with meeting points and times.


AKK