Would you leave a 9-year-old while you go on a ride?

[ZephyrHawk]

Yes.

 

[rastahomie]

I don't know your daughter, but by 9 I was riding the city bus back and forth to the library by myself every day during the summer. Of course, that was 1979 and things were just a little bit different, lol.

For what it's worth, your daughter is safer at Walt Disney World than she is at a city park or, likely, even her own school.

EDITED TO ADD: I would make sure she doesn't have to pee before you get on the ride. If she leaves the exit area for the bathroom she may never find her way back!

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

I don't know your daughter, but by 9 I was riding the city bus back and forth to the library by myself every day during the summer. Of course, that was 1979 and things were just a little bit different, lol.

For what it's worth, your daughter is safer at Walt Disney World than she is at a city park or, likely, even her own school.

EDITED TO ADD: I would make sure she doesn't have to pee before you get on the ride. If she leaves the exit area for the bathroom she may never find her way back!

It's not uncommon here to have kids riding the subway/bus by themselves starting in middle school. In fact, if you live beyond walking distance, your MetroCard is a gift from the city because it's expected that you will use it. Would I expect a middle schooler from Podunk to be able to navigate the subway system alone? Of course not. It's just a different way of life & that's why it's so much more important to look at individual maturity/life experience over age.

 

[mjkacmom]

It is reality that my child will never drown while I'm watching him. If more parents watched, fewer children would drown. Not a comforting fact for self-indulgent parents, but it's the truth. (I am not saying you are that kind of parent- just speaking in general.)

I don't know how old your children are, but the best way to keep them safe in water is to make sure they are strong swimmers. All of mine were able to freestyle at least 50 meters by the age of 4, and had year round lessons until they perfected all of their strokes. Prepare the child for the path, not the path for your child, because you won't always be there, at a swimming pool, or at an amusement park. Benign neglect, give them opportunities for independence in relatively safe areas to start. Calculated risk.

Dd19 is on a huge college campus, and moving off campus next year in a sketchy area. She's flown alone since 10, taken the bus 4 hours away alone since 16, has gotten lost many times, had her flight and bus cancelled, learned to use Uber... I worry, but figure there are many more young ladies who have been much more sheltered, and therefore more likely to be victims.

 

[TJDisneymama]

EDITED TO ADD: I would make sure she doesn't have to pee before you get on the ride. If she leaves the exit area for the bathroom she may never find her way back!

Omg, she would never dare leave and go the bathroom. Pretty sure she would pee her pants before she ever did that, lol.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Omg, she would never dare leave and go the bathroom. Pretty sure she would pee her pants before she ever did that, lol.

It is not uncommon for rides to break down and cause lengthy delays. This would cause you and your daughter additional stress.

 

[ZoZo]

What would happen if you and your other child got stuck on a ride? That would be out of your control, and your daughter could be by herself for an extended period of time. Also, sometimes, the exits for the rides aren't where you think they are - what if you had her wait in the wrong place by mistake? That would be scary.

 

[kangamangus]

http://www.pollyklaas.org/about/nat...g.html&usg=AFQjCNE9Q1Kn0uY7Q6jFspKGQMvzni4MbQ
Na......definitely less than 1%.

 

[kangamangus]

 

[kangamangus]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...ee398c-b8b4-11e2-aa9e-a02b765ff0ea_story.html
Here is another great statistic website.

 

[JimmyV]

I think each theme park, water park and DisneyQuest would be considered a "gated attraction" not each ride.

Thanks. That is incredibly ambiguous wording given that Disney insists on calling its rides "attractions" and not rides. The phrase "all gated attractions at Disney Parks in the United States" sure looks like it is referring to the individual attractions given the use of the word "at" earlier in the sentence. If each Park is considered a "gated attraction", then the sentence actually reads: "all [Parks] at Disney Parks in the United States" which makes no sense. Thanks for straightening me out.

 

[kandb]

Does the 9 year old waiting have a phone you can call her on? What if by some chance you got stuck on the ride for 30 minutes? How would she feel if you didn't come out of the ride right away? At least explain this is a slim possibility but you wouldn't want her to get scared if you took a long time.

 

[kandb]

Accidents happen - even to supervised children of responsible parents. To suggest otherwise is certainly a defense mechanism - "it will never happen to my child because I'm doing it RIGHT" - but it's not reality.

I think the poster is just trying to say, if your child does not swim/is not a good swimmer, you cannot take your eyes off of them when they are in a pool or around a body of water. If the parent's eyes are off the children, yes, unfortunately that is when they can drown. If your eyes are on your child at all times, if they start going in distress, you can grab them.

 

[ariane37]

You all can't even IMAGINE the amount of bribing I have done. I have promised her the world. She is THE most stubborn person on earth. She says she's not scared, she just "doesn't want to".

Your DD sounds like my younger DS, and I'd bet you $$ mines more stubborn than yours lol!

Just want to say I think a mature 9 year old is fine to wait at the end of a ride/use chicken exit and wait. Older DS started waiting for us at 11 WITH his brother who was 8 when neither of them wanted to ride something with us, and shortly before turning 10 younger DS started waiting alone occasionally. If you and DD are comfortable, that's what matters

 

[puddleduck]

I think the cited sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation; National Crime Information Center; U.S. Justice Dept.; Vanished Children's Alliance; Redbook, February 1998; State of Washington's Office of the Attorney General; United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Juvenile Justice Bulletin, June 2000 stating that it's 24% are a little more reliable than one study by the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children by the same author that wrote this opinion piece, but that's just me.

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/n...n-and-unidentified-person-statistics-for-2014

The Missing Person Circumstances (MPC) field is optional and has been available since July 1999 when the NCIC 2000 upgrade became operational. Of the 635,155 records entered in 2014, the MPC field was utilized in 314,523 (49.5 %). When the MPC field was utilized in 2014 entries, 301,851 (96.0 %) were coded as Runaway, 2,249 (.7 %) as Abducted by Non-custodial Parent, 332 (.1 %) as Abducted by Stranger, and 10,091 (3.2 %) as Adult – Federally required entry. In 2013, the MPC field was utilized in 306,538 (48.8 %) of the 627,911 records.

The FBI website actually states abductions by strangers as .1%.

 

[Ensusieasm]

lol, well a bag of money can't kick and scream and bite like my daughter would, lol.
Seriously, her getting stolen is not even on the top 100 things I might worry about. I'm thinking more along the lines of the ride breaks down and we're stuck for an hour.

Yes! What IF the ride breaks down and you are stuck in there. A nine year old should not be left alone so you can ride a ride. Take another adult along or a friend of your son's.

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

I think the poster is just trying to say, if your child does not swim/is not a good swimmer, you cannot take your eyes off of them when they are in a pool or around a body of water. If the parent's eyes are off the children, yes, unfortunately that is when they can drown. If your eyes are on your child at all times, if they start going in distress, you can grab them.

There was a story at the beginning of the year - a toddler ran outside, and while his family was looking for him, he decided to play a game with them & hid in the recently drained pool. Unfortunately, it had just rained, and about an inch of water had collected at the bottom. The little boy drowned. You just never know.

 

[jrt1176]

My niece just turned 10 during our last trip. Thankfully she enjoys all the rides... But, she would probably rather ride something scary than wait alone for 10-15 minutes.

I certainly understand it being tough for you, but I'd almost rather make her ride the big rides than wait alone. To be honest, none of the rides at Disney are bad. Trust me, I don't really like roller coasters, well I don't like the big drops, but I love everything at Disney.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Just some food for thought. My husband and younger son went on RNR and it broke down. They were stuck on the ride for over 30 minutes so I guess while not often it does happen. Would that be okay?

It happens quite a bit.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

It depends on your kid.

My dad totally would have done that with me. I was allowed to stay home alone beginning at age eight. Now, probably not the greatest idea, but I didn't burn the house down.

But if you trust your child and if you feel they are mature enough, I don't see a huge issue with it.