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

[lindsroc]

Most people are claiming the side of this debate if you will, that disagree with not letting your child be left alone, that we are all psychotic, obsessive, bubblewrapping loons who need to control every move of our loved ones which IS delusional. Not EVERYONE who disagrees with you is over obsessive and controlling
All I basically ever said was that I don't personally like the idea of leaving a kid at 10 years old in a big place and that is MY opinion. Lol I never even disagreed with anyone until the backlash started. I also never said, oh my godddddd guys okay so there's abductors in every single area we go and OHGOD SUCH A HUGE PLACE YOU WILL DEFINITELY GET LOST.
I just am not willing to take the small chance of something happening. Maybe at 12 years old or 13, but not 10. End of.

 

[lindsroc]

Everyone keeps saying THERE HAVE NEVER BEEN ANY ABDUCTIONS IN WDW! We know that.... why keep focusing on that ONE thing. There are a myriad of things that would make a parent feel uncomfortable leaving their 10 yr old outside a ride. Its not just because they are scared their child will be abducted.

My kids have been all over, we are frequently in NYC and we live outside of Boston so are frequently in the city here. They know about "stranger danger" and they know to scream or run etc if someone approaches them with bad intentions....do I want them to have to put those skills to use in Disney?? NO WAY! Because what is now their happiest place on earth would quickly become a place where they would feel nervous or associate negative feelings.

Can people agree to disagree or does one side have to be right???

 

[fitzperry]

I hope to lean more towards how I was raised -- more freedom. But I still sense within myself that somehow times have changed as evidenced by all the people so vehemently saying they wouldn't allow their 10 year old to wait.

I hope when my kid's 10 he is comfortable enough and confident enough to do something like wait nearby at WDW which I consider basic and easy. But obviously we all do what we think is best for our families.

Times have changed, but not in the way so many people think. Violent crime rates of all kinds are much lower today than they were 30 years ago in the U.S. But nothing is really local anymore. Every terrible thing that happens to a child seems so close and terrifying that we can't think rationally about it. I'm just trying to keep a clear head and take a reasonable approach, knowing I can't protect my kids from everything.

 

[fitzperry]

My son is just a toddler so I don't know how I will feel when he is this age, but I am just curious- at what age are children staying home alone or walking home from school alone these days?

Mine started staying alone for very brief stints (1/2 hour or less) at about 10 and gradually progressed from there. That seems the norm in my neck of the woods.

 

[robinb]

No child has ever been assulated or abudcted from a WDW theme park in 40+ years, ever.

There was a pretty famous case of sexual assault back in 2001 that took place at POFQ. The girl was assaulted by someone she knew ... her adopted father: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/01/child.porn/

ETA: The only reported sexual assault of a child on Disney property was done by her father. Not an unknown stranger or boogyman.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

The first time we went to Disney my youngest son was 11 and he waited for us in the exit gift shop of Rock N Roller Coaster. I ended up making him ride it after I rode it and saw it wasn't bad and knew that he would like it. And he did. But the first time we rode it I didn't make him ride it either.

I can't imagine a bigger kid being scared of HM though. Maybe if you let him see a You Tube video of it he would know there is nothing to be scared of.

 

[MacDalt]

There was a pretty famous case of sexual assault back in 2001 that took place at POFQ. The girl was assaulted by someone she knew ... her adopted father: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/01/child.porn/

That's completely different from stranger assault or abduction.

 

[Gracie09]

That's completely different from stranger assault or abduction.

exactly. The vast majority of assaults and kidnapping is by people the victims knows and trust.

 

[mjkacmom]

My son is just a toddler so I don't know how I will feel when he is this age, but I am just curious- at what age are children staying home alone or walking home from school alone these days?

Staying home alone - around 10. Walking to school - 6 or 7 with others, 9 or 10 alone.

 

[Granny square]

Staying home alone - around 10. Walking to school - 6 or 7 with others, 9 or 10 alone.

That sounds about right.

 

[baleeve]

I love the point about it not being fair to make a child wait while you go on a ride. IMHO this demonstrates that the child is less important than the ride.

Last month we went to Six Flags and my 8 year old had to wait while we took advantage of the child swap. While I stood at the front ready to go on the ride with my 10 year old, I watched my little guy just stand at the exit looking around and look bored. He was patient but there was no ride for all that waiting. I vowed not to do it to him again. I let him pick the next ride and told him if he couldn't ride something, I would take him on something he could and my older son would take my 10 year old on the ride. I promise you - I didn't miss going on the ride.

What I gained was special one on one time with my 8 year old.

They only way I would leave my tween alone while I went on a ride is in a gift shop with $10 to spend for being a good sport!

Is this a big deal? NO! It's their business not mine BUT seeing how this is a forum we share our opinions and hope that others are kind in their responses.

 

[cheer25mom]

There was a pretty famous case of sexual assault back in 2001 that took place at POFQ. The girl was assaulted by someone she knew ... her adopted father: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/01/child.porn/

That happened in a hotel room, not at a theme park and had probably been going on in some form well before the trip. Hardly the same as a stranger snatching an older child from a crowded theme park.

 

[KimK2006]

I love the point about it not being fair to make a child wait while you go on a ride. IMHO this demonstrates that the child is less important than the ride.

I disagree. Vacation is for the entire family. It would be one thing if the kid was too short to ride. This isn't the case. He is scared riding it. Mom is great for not making him ride the ride. A lot of parents would. He is 10. By that age he knows this isn't real. Again, if he is scared, you should NOT make him ride it. But, there is no reason he can't wait for 20 minutes or so while the rest of the family goes on a ride they enjoy. Maybe this will even make him face his fears and give the ride a shot!

 

[mjkacmom]

I love the point about it not being fair to make a child wait while you go on a ride. IMHO this demonstrates that the child is less important than the ride.

I feel the opposite. I can't believe people think it's cruel to have a child wait 10 minutes while family members enjoy a ride he doesn't want to go on! Talk about raising entitled children. Maybe mom wants to enjoy this ride with another of her kids - HM is one of my mom's favorite rides.

Although I don't feel a bit sorry for a kid to have to sit on a bench for 10 minuts at WDW (ah the torture), I'd suggest that he run over the It's a Small World to ride, and we'd meet back there. Ds10 would love that!

 

[ChuckGA]

I love the point about it not being fair to make a child wait while you go on a ride. IMHO this demonstrates that the child is less important than the ride.

Or you could flip this very negative view of the situation to a positive teaching moment that even your xx old child must do some things they don't want to do for the benefit of others.

 

[PrincessJo]

I love the point about it not being fair to make a child wait while you go on a ride. IMHO this demonstrates that the child is less important than the ride.

I agree with this. A vacation is different than everyday life. When my family goes on vacation, we make a point to do things together, not separate. That's what a vacation is for, from our point of view.

 

[fitzperry]

I feel the opposite. I can't believe people think it's cruel to have a child wait 10 minutes while family members enjoy a ride he doesn't want to go on! Talk about raising entitled children. Maybe mom wants to enjoy this ride with another of her kids - HM is one of my mom's favorite rides.

Although I don't feel a bit sorry for a kid to have to sit on a bench for 10 minuts at WDW (ah the torture), I'd suggest that he run over the It's a Small World to ride, and we'd meet back there. Ds10 would love that!

I'll endure that form of torture any time

I agree--I'd try to find something else for him to do besides sit and wait--but even that is no big deal. Why should everyone have to skip the ride because one person doesn't want to go?

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

I agree with this. A vacation is different than everyday life. When my family goes on vacation, we make a point to do things together, not separate. That's what a vacation is for, from our point of view.

You ride every single ride, watch every single show & parade, run for every FP together as a family? No one ever splits or separates in any way? I find that difficult to believe.

I also agree that a 10-yr old child waiting 10-15 mins for his family members to ride something is a normal childhood experience when the child CHOOSES not to ride.

 

[d1gitman]

I love the point about it not being fair to make a child wait while you go on a ride. IMHO this demonstrates that the child is less important than the ride...

I think that it's hard to put a blanket statement on this issue. Take for instance our family, we have been to WDW or DLCA 8x in 16mo. and had been going 1x or 2x annually back to 2004. Our DS12 is very familiar with WDW and wouldn't mind waiting for us on a ride anymore than we mind waiting for him on a ride. If it were our first or second trip to the World, then maybe i might be more inclined to say it should be a family thing, but even then we like to allow each member of our household to have their own likes & dislikes. I just don't see how there is a right or wrong answer on this as long as the child and parent are comfortable with the situation.

 

[PrincessJo]

You ride every single ride, watch every single show & parade, run for every FP together as a family? No one ever splits or separates in any way? I find that difficult to believe.

Too bad, that's how we do it. We sit down as a family before we go and we make a plan. What we want to ride, where we want to eat, what shows we want to see... so we already know what we're doing before we go.

My son is going to Germany with his high school German club in June. Hubby and I will go back and do an adults-only trip to do what we want to do. When we all go together, we only do things as a family. Period.

This works for my family. I don't understand how any family could go on vacation and NOT do everything together.