When can kids do parks on their own?

[crisi]

Seven! Whoo wooo! Freedom so close.

(I'm kidding, seven seems young - and I have a responsible six year old. Seven however does seem old enough to have them ride Space Mountain by themselves while I sit by the exit not riding Space Mountain).

My own two cents is that you are better off giving your kids controlled freedom at a young (depending on the child - MK at 11-15) age than keeping them in sight until they are eighteen and sending them off to college. Better to learn responsible behavior before they encounter the wonder that is the frat party.

There are, however, some children you need to watch like a hawk until their eighteenth birthday where you will no longer bear legal responsibility for their actions!

 

[jhugge]

I was 13. My brother 12, and my sister 9 when my parents first set us free. That was 20 years ago though.

 

[bdcp]

All kids need limits and my two are great examples of gradual recipients of responsibility as they matured and earned it. And yes, we always knew where they were and what they were doing. Now both in college (18 and 21), very responsible and not partyers. And not just our opinions as parents, but we hear from others what great people they are. The reality is, the kids mine knew (and I knew when I was young) that had freedom at a young age and partied in Middle and High School are the ones that continued that after 18 and/or in college. The ones that were taught responsibility and kept in some kind of rein til they were 18 have all gone off to school, gotten good grades and stayed responsible. It's a fallacy that kids who are given restrictions tend to go wild when they "get free". The ones that were wild stay wild for the most part and those that weren't tend not to. I still feel that a trip to WDW is a family event and a great way to spend some time together without friends taking up their time. Mine also chose to stay with us at WDW at 12 and 14, but that is probably the youngest ages I would consider letting them roam together. I also feel like we always told our kids, it's not as much about our trust in them, but other people that affect our decisions. I don't think I'd put a 7 year old on Space Mountain alone either. No matter how grown up a 7 year old might say he is, they're usually not emotionally mature enough to deal with being alone on a ride that might for example, stop mid-ride.

 

[alicenwonder99]

We just got back from our trip. Our 13 and 17 year old girls wanted to go back to the resort in the afternoons to lay by the pool (it was in the 80's last week). Also, they stayed late for the EMH nights. They relied totally on the Disney transportation. One night, Epcot didn't close until midnight. The girls did fine. One time, they did get on a wrong bus, but they figured out where they were supposed to go and the bus drivers helped them out.

The only place I wouldn't let them go off alone was Downtown Disney at night time. Too much drinking going on there. If it was the daytime, I probably would have let the girls go, as long as they were back before dinnertime. But in the evening, I had my dh go with them.

Oh, and our cell phones didn't work outside our calling area, so we had no way to get ahold of them.

Mary