Would you let your child wait for you outside of ride???

[ZephyrHawk]

First, I am not someone who believes that in "this day and age" we need to keep any shorter leash on our children than we did in previous years. Accordingly, as my parents left me to wait for them while they went on thrill rides (sometimes for over an hour), and we're talking about Disney World and not some county fair, I think it's perfectly fine to have the kid wait.

BUT...there are chicken exits and rider swap options at Disney, so I don't know why you'd bother. Personally, I'd force the kid to stay in line with me and cajole him the entire time to try and get him on the ride. Then I'd make a big deal of leaving him ("If the ghosts get us and we don't come back remember to call your grandparents and let them know!"). Plus, I remember being supremely bored and unhappy when my parents would leave me to go on roller coasters, and I'd rather not put my kid through the same thing.

 

[disney1990]

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/kidnap.asp

No child has EVER been kidnapped from a Disney Park.

 

[FancyNancy]

My only concern would be what if the ride breaks down while your child is waiting for you? You could be stuck in there an extra 10-20 minutes and your child would be sitting outside wondering what happened to you.

 

[brymolmom]

Well, you should live your life your way and others will live our life our way. If you are comfortable letting your 9 or 10 year old wait alone for you in a crowded, public place, have at it. That's your business. Just as it is my business to believe that leaving a young child alone in a public place, regardless of how responsible, is a dangerous thing to do. I would not even consider leaving my son alone in a public place. And as for the ridiculous statement of not letting your child go to school or stay with a babysitter...these are controlled environments where a responsible parent easily can and should investigate the background of any individual who will be spending time with his or her child. Not possible in a public place with thousands of strangers.

OK - I will bow to you on this. If you are being that responsible and investigating the background of every teacher and maintenance staff with whom your child is encountering at school...Then you get my award for most responsible parent and then I can understand your comment and reason why you wouldn't leave that child alone. I assure you, many, many parents are not that responsible and 'assume' that teachers, etc. have been screened by the school board. Heck - I don't even know the last names of the maintenance guys at my kids school...so obviously I haven't done background checks on them. And I don't think I'm that unusual.

Did I see that your child is 6? Not saying that you'll change your mind but I would never have imagined it at age 6...By age 10 there is a BIG difference.

 

[AddictedtoDoleWhip]

My only concern would be what if the ride breaks down while your child is waiting for you? You could be stuck in there an extra 10-20 minutes and your child would be sitting outside wondering what happened to you.

That happened to me as a child, and it wasn't that big of a deal. I think people blow things out of proportion, when I went to amusement parks, I would bring my handheld game with me to keep me entertained as everyone else went on the ride. I had clear instructions to sit on that bench over there, do not move or talk to anyone (look around for people who work here in case something were to go wrong.)

Well... a ride broke down for 20 minutes, I'm obviously fine and not scarred over the event. I was to involved in my game to even care about the time, it gave me more time to get past certain levels.

 

[cheer25mom]

Well, you should live your life your way and others will live our life our way. If you are comfortable letting your 9 or 10 year old wait alone for you in a crowded, public place, have at it. That's your business. Just as it is my business to believe that leaving a young child alone in a public place, regardless of how responsible, is a dangerous thing to do. I would not even consider leaving my son alone in a public place. And as for the ridiculous statement of not letting your child go to school or stay with a babysitter...these are controlled environments where a responsible parent easily can and should investigate the background of any individual who will be spending time with his or her child. Not possible in a public place with thousands of strangers.

But WHY is it so dangerous? What do you think is going to happen to them sitting on a park bench in the middle of Disney world. I am not being sarcastic here, I would really like to know what the fear is because the statistics just don't bear out any real danger to a child form sitting on a bench in a public place. If we are talking strictly about molestation and not any other kind of danger, this is actually one of the LEAST likely places for it to occur. A child is more likely to be in danger for playing sports, going to church, going to schoool, and riding the school bus, even when parents do thier homework about who thier child is with. Not every child molestor is revealed by a background check. In fact more than half of those procesuted for child sex crimes have no previous sex offenses on thier record so a backgound check does no good. Is it simply the lack of control, or is there some sort of bigger danger I am missing?? If we are just talknig about some random stranger snatching them, I don't see that as a big enough risk to let it control my actions.

 

[bdklein]

What has ever happened between a stranger and a kid at a WDW Theme Park??

Anybody have anything factual?

 

[cheer25mom]

Anybody have anything factual?

There isn't anything, becuase it has NEVER HAPPENED, ever. I thin kthere was one report that was completely proven false. The parents were looking to sue Disney for big bucks so they made it up. There are a few reports of girls being groped in the wave pools, but its hard to determine what is intentional when everyone is bieng tossed around in the water, and as far as I know there was not enough evidence for charges in any of those cases.

 

[Sarya]

If I feel uncomfortable at all... i would not. And my first reaction was no. I would not leave my 10 year old alone.

 

[mjkacmom]

OK - I will bow to you on this. If you are being that responsible and investigating the background of every teacher and maintenance staff with whom your child is encountering at school...Then you get my award for most responsible parent and then I can understand your comment and reason why you wouldn't leave that child alone. I assure you, many, many parents are not that responsible and 'assume' that teachers, etc. have been screened by the school board. Heck - I don't even know the last names of the maintenance guys at my kids school...so obviously I haven't done background checks on them. And I don't think I'm that unusual.

Did I see that your child is 6? Not saying that you'll change your mind but I would never have imagined it at age 6...By age 10 there is a BIG difference.

There is a difference between a 6 and 10 year old. By the age of 10, most kids have been in the care of dozens of people without background checks. And a background check only means someone might have never been caught yet. I haven't done a background check on any of my kids' friends' parents (or older siblings).

One of the worst parts about being a parent is that you always worry. As they get older, these situations become more frequent. Dd12 is going away this weekend with a friend - 5 hours away. Ds15 is going on a bus trip 4 hours away on Friday - leaving at 7 am, getting back at 2 am. You know what - it stinks for me, because I will not be comfortable until they get back. I could be selfish, and have them stay home... But I won't, because these are good experiences for them.

 

[mjkacmom]

If I feel uncomfortable at all... i would not. And my first reaction was no. I would not leave my 10 year old alone.

You are supposed to be uncomfortable. If you make choices based on that, your child will never do anything! Think about the first time you left your child in the care of another person. I think I had a panic attack when my mom took my newborn for a walk, and stopped to talk to a friend, and didn't come back for an hour. My baby was 3 days old, and I was so worried. My baby was in no danger.

 

[robinb]

I know in this day and age we have to ultra-careful with our children but I was just wondering if anyone has ever or would consider letting their child wait outside a ride for them. My son will be 10 years old and he does not like haunted mansion (scares him). I won't force him on it but am wondering if I could leave him right outside the ride on a bench to wait for us. He is very mature and would never leave or go with anyone but I would probably be nervous the whole time I am in the ride. Any thoughts?

I'm posting without reading a bunch of "BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!!!!!" paranoia. Yes, I would leave a mature 10-year old on a bench outside of the Haunted Mansion. I would make sure the child had a cell phone so I could contact him/her when we were done. I would also give him/her a couple bucks to get a snack over near the Hall of Presidents.

 

[Mama Who]

I think the first thing to do is talk to the kid. Is he comfortable going through the queue and taking the chicken exit? Is he comfortable sitting alone? Will he be scared, nervous, lonely or bored? Some people actually *like* sitting on a bench and people watching. Find out how he feels and make that part of the decision.

 

[dansamy]

During our February trip, our 13 & 12 year olds toured without us. The 11 year old stayed with us. He waited for us at RNRC, EE, ToT & SM. He went through the line each time & used the chicken exit. So he was only apart for the time it took to load, ride, unload. For most rides, that's 3-5 minutes. A bathroom trip. If you let him go into public bathrooms alone, he can handle browsing a nearby gift shop.

 

[lindsroc]

What has ever happened between a stranger and a kid at a WDW Theme Park??

This is not about a specific incident...however a Disney employee arrested on child pornography charges. There are sick people everywhere. I am not saying that a 10 yr old, or a child of any age would be abducted while sitting there- but I just wouldnt feel comfortable leaving my child in that situation. I wouldnt do it at the mall, a restaurant, an airport etc....so why Disney?

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Di...rges/-/1637132/19620934/-/wvnvpk/-/index.html

Man arrested for "peeping" at Disney World:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/man_arrested_for_peeping_in_disney_luW1uRU5hXKmdUQNzp2WNJ

These are just examples. Chances are that NOTHING will happen to your child while you are on the ride.... I personally would just not be willing to take that chance.

 

[TDC Nala]

This is not about a specific incident...however a Disney employee arrested on child pornography charges.

That didn't happen in the park. The guy was sitting at home looking at photos on his computer. Not that it's a good thing what he was doing, it's a crime and he was prosecuted, but it's not an actual interaction between a child and a stranger in the park. The "peeper" may or may not have been a child predator, but it sounds like he wasn't. Not that there aren't crazy people everywhere, but that is just it, they are everywhere. You would have to lock the kid up in the house and never bring anyone else in to completely shield a child from encountering someone like this. Kids can be taught how to avoid predators and what to do if they are approached by a stranger, when they get to be 10 many of them can understand how to be cautious. So I can't say that I think a parent should never let a 10 year old wait alone while they go on a ride because it's just too dangerous for a child that age. It might be for younger kids but I wouldn't say that every 10 year old who waits on a bench while their family rides Haunted Mansion is potentially being put in grave danger of abduction or molestation. It's for the parents to decide what their kid is capable of.

 

[LBarLRanch]

We did it last year for the first time. We have two 11 year olds who were 10 at the time. Both are pretty mature for their age. We had fast passes so it was only 15 minutes or so. They had a cell phone and waited on a bench for us. They want to go on rides themselves this year. Not sure about that yet.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

My understanding is that Disney does do some screening for registered sex offenders so in that sense, it is safer than the mall.

 

[lindsroc]

That didn't happen in the park. The guy was sitting at home looking at photos on his computer. Not that it's a good thing what he was doing, it's a crime and he was prosecuted, but it's not an actual interaction between a child and a stranger in the park.

Typhoon Lagoon:
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/crime/WNY_man_arrested_at_Typhoon_Lagoon_20090708

http://www.wdwradio.com/forums/walt...ted-molesting-young-girls-typhoon-lagoon.html

The stories are out there. Im not here to argue a point honestly. I wouldnt do it. But, to each his own.
I know things can happen ANYWHERE but to me, is it worth it to ride the Haunted Mansion? No. I just wouldnt do it. Period.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

Honestly the groping could happen whether you are there or not. Of course, I would hate to be on the receiving end of someone attempting that with my daughter. Forget about her two large uncles, he would be lucky to get away from me.