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

[fitzperry]

No it's not necessary to choose, if the child doesn't want to ride there is no decision to make. Nobody goes!

But you said, "The ride is more important to them if they must leave the child!" More important than what?

In our family, one person doesn't get to dictate everyone's activities like that.

 

[JustAKid]

It's not all about the rides to us.

I agree that it doesn't need to be what it's ALL about (we've got the hokey pokey for that), but it's a big part of it, innit? I mean, there are other great, (CHEAPER) vacations ones could take and have a magical time doing that's better suited for their family if no one is going to ride a single ride.

Like, what about a disney cruise?

 

[Granny square]

I agree that it doesn't need to be what it's ALL about, but it's a big part of it, innit? I mean, there are other great, (CHEAPER) vacations ones could take and have a magical time doing that's better suited for their family if no one is going to ride a single ride.

Like, what about a disney cruise?

One of them might not like water.

 

[ponyboy]

No it's not necessary to choose, if the child doesn't want to ride there is no decision to make. Nobody goes!

We don't go by this rule.

Last trip the two younger boys 11 & 8 said they were tired and didn't want to go to a park for the first part of the day until it was time for dinner.

They stayed at the room and hung out until lunch then they went to the food court and got themselves lunch, made a pit stop at the gift shop and got some candy and cheese popcorn and then went back to the room.

We came back to get them around 3:00 or so to pick them up and then we went to another park, ate dinner and stayed the rest of the evening.

That said, I probably wouldn't leave a kid outside a ride just waiting because it would be boring for them. The biggest thing is for the kids to have fun so that's the top priority. I mean, it wouldn't be my first choice to ride the people mover over and over again but that's what the youngest one likes so that's what I do.

 

[JustAKid]

One of them might not like water.

Ha! This has me crackin' up. Well played...

 

[novajet]

No it's not necessary to choose, if the child doesn't want to ride there is no decision to make. Nobody goes!

IMO, this is setting some families up for resentment and frustration. If I didn't allow my 11 year old to ride anything that her little sister didn't want to ride (or couldn't ride, if she were younger), I don't think I'd be doing any of us any favors.
We spend the majority of our vacation together. But, it's not forced family fun. We try to work with everyone's needs- our itinerary is not set by the youngest/most easily frightened member of our group. We make accommodations to try to fit everyone's wishes into the plan. I think you can definitely have a healthy balance.
I'd be very sad for my older child if she didn't get to ride any of her favorites because I said we all had to stay together and if one person didn't want to ride, nobody could ride. Heck, on our last trip, my two rode BTTM 14 times in a row, because it was raining and nobody was there. The adults got off after round 4. :lol

 

[fitzperry]

IMO, this is setting some families up for resentment and frustration. If I didn't allow my 11 year old to ride anything that her little sister didn't want to ride (or couldn't ride, if she were younger), I don't think I'd be doing any of us any favors.
We spend the majority of our vacation together. But, it's not forced family fun. We try to work with everyone's needs- our itinerary is not set by the youngest/most easily frightened member of our group. We make accommodations to try to fit everyone's wishes into the plan. I think you can definitely have a healthy balance.

I'm having visions of Clark Griswold and the family truckster now.

"This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. You're gonna have fun, and I'm gonna have fun... We're all gonna have so much ^&*($#@ fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our @#$%^& smiles! You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of your !@@#$%^&!"

 

[LucyBC80]

No it's not necessary to choose, if the child doesn't want to ride there is no decision to make. Nobody goes!

Are you serious?

So you would make your whole family of I don't know, 4 miss out on a ride that could probably be their favorite ride/parade/show because little Suzie doesn't want to be a part of it?

Ok, so you don't agree with leaving your (capable) child alone for 10 minutes but what about splitting up the family even for a short period of time, while some ride and the others wait with her, is that not an option?

No words.

 

[mom2rtk]

IMO, this is setting some families up for resentment and frustration.

Absolutely! Not to mention lots of behind the scenes game playing and manipulation.

 

[JustAKid]

I'm having visions of Clark Griswold and the family truckster now.

"This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. You're gonna have fun, and I'm gonna have fun... We're all gonna have so much ^&*($#@ fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our @#$%^& smiles! You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of your !@@#$%^&!"

Marry me?

 

[JustAKid]

Are you serious?

So you would make your whole family of I don't know, 4 miss out on a ride that could probably be their favorite ride/parade/show because little Suzie doesn't want to be a part of it?

Ok, so you don't agree with leaving your (capable) child alone for 10 minutes but what about splitting up the family even for a short period of time, while some ride and the others wait with her, is that not an option?

No words.

Nope. Apparently this means you value the ride over your child. If you have more than 1 child, you're screwed, because then you either value the ride over your child, or one child over another.

 

[momimouse27]

You have no idea how old the child was, so you think letting a child of any age out of your sight is a mistake? At some point you have to start allowing children freedom, so that they learn how to handle different situations. You cannot watch them like a hawk until they are 18 and then send them out on their own and expect them to deal with whatever comes their way. It won't work!

Little freedoms a bit at a time are how kids learn to handle themselves. And I can't think of a better place to allow kids little freedoms than at WDW, where cameras are on us all of the time and security is around us everywhere.

I think this might be a bit of oversimplification. Saying that "you have to let kids have freedom some time" makes the assumption that this panicked mom is overprotective. It's unlikely that the panicked mom was that upset over an 18 yr old, so your rationing doesn't hold up. Common sense assumes she's panicking over a very young child that can't protect himself. I have a 10 yr old who I'd never let go anywhere alone, especially stay by himself at a theme park. He happens to have autism and could never discern a dangerous situation from safe. I let my 16 yr old roam the parks freely on her own- but she's usually with her 19 yr old sister or same age BFF. She started doing that around 14. Am I protective? Darn right I am! I don't care if anyone thinks I am or not.

Just turn on the news and watch stuff like what happened to those girls in Cleveland. It's ok to be careful, our kids deserve it. And just to be clear, I am not judging the OP. in fact, I commend her for seeking out opinions. It just means she cares enough to be concerned.

 

[mjkacmom]

It's not all about the rides to us.

Hmm, let me guess - only child too?

 

[Bean786]

That said, I probably wouldn't leave a kid outside a ride just waiting because it would be boring for them. The biggest thing is for the kids to have fun so that's the top priority. I mean, it wouldn't be my first choice to ride the people mover over and over again but that's what the youngest one likes so that's what I do.

Oh my gosh. How dare a poor child be ::gasp:: bored! The horror. Oh well, they'll get over it. That's how it is sometimes. 10/15 minutes of boredom never hurt anybody. No wonder this kids don't know how to occupy themselves these days.

 

[maxiesmom]

No it's not necessary to choose, if the child doesn't want to ride there is no decision to make. Nobody goes!

My family all loves each other to pieces, but we can deal with being apart for a ride or two. I wouldn't force a child on a ride they truly didn't want to go on, but I won't force the rest of the family to miss it because of that either.

 

[rainynight]

Frankly, I'd like to see a happy medium. Life is far more grey than black and white.

I'm middle ground too. But to bash someone else for wanting a close family is just crazy. I think its weird for people to cosleep with their kids since that's way too much togetherness in my opinion, but I'm not going to insult them for it either. I personally have no problem splitting up for rides but understand other people wanting to stay together. And yes its much easier with one kid. We have one kid by choice and I absolutely love how close our family of 3 is. Unless you have an only child you can't understand the dynamics at all and how much closer only kids can be to their parents. So what seems like excessive togetherness for a larger family is natural when you only have one child. The only times we have split up has been taking turns on rides our son is too small for. Its not weird when you consider we are 2 adults with a young kid and have no reason (yet) to split up in the parks.

Now I remember as a kid hating roller coasters, as did my dad. So we would spend most our time at Kings island doing our own thing while my mom and brother did the roller coasters. And in between we would manage riding plenty of things together and a family so I agree with a happy medium.

 

[rainynight]

I agree! The ride is more important to them if they must leave the child!

There's a difference between completely leaving a child alone while riding versus having each parent split up and doing different thing with different kids.

 

[mjkacmom]

I'm middle ground too. But to bash someone else for wanting a close family is just crazy. I think its weird for people to cosleep with their kids since that's way too much togetherness in my opinion, but I'm not going to insult them for it either. I personally have no problem splitting up for rides but understand other people wanting to stay together. And yes its much easier with one kid. We have one kid by choice and I absolutely love how close our family of 3 is. Unless you have an only child you can't understand the dynamics at all and how much closer only kids can be to their parents. So what seems like excessive togetherness for a larger family is natural when you only have one child. The only times we have split up has been taking turns on rides our son is too small for. Its not weird when you consider we are 2 adults with a young kid and have no reason (yet) to split up in the parks.

Now I remember as a kid hating roller coasters, as did my dad. So we would spend most our time at Kings island doing our own thing while my mom and brother did the roller coasters. And in between we would manage riding plenty of things together and a family so I agree with a happy medium.

Of course the dynamics are different, which is why those of us with more than one child are saying it would be insane to only ride together. It would cause a lot of resentment and negative feelings. Can you see that in a family with more than one child, spitting up can be a good thing? Because some here seem not to get it.

 

[kris4360]

Hmm, let me guess - only child too?

Umm no 3

 

[kris4360]

There's a difference between completely leaving a child alone while riding versus having each parent split up and doing different thing with different kids.

I agree