Young family of 5 - ride seating?

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

Hi. Our children will be 7, 6, and 3 3/4 (40 inches tall) for our first family trip to WDW. I'm thinking that the best strategy will be for the 6 and 7 year olds to ride together on the two-seater rides, the 3 y.o. with a parent, and a parent alone. Can the older kids ride together without an adult? It stinks that one of us will ride solo much of the time. Any other ideas for dividing us up? TIA.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Hi. Our children will be 7, 6, and 3 3/4 (40 inches tall) for our first family trip to WDW. I'm thinking that the best strategy will be for the 6 and 7 year olds to ride together on the two-seater rides, the 3 y.o. with a parent, and a parent alone. Can the older kids ride together without an adult? It stinks that one of us will ride solo much of the time. Any other ideas for dividing us up? TIA.

Kids have to be 7 to ride alone and 14 to ride with anyone under 7. So your plan won't work.

We're a family of 5 and had this same issue. In the few instance where the youngest was tall enough to ride and we couldn't sit 3 across (most rides without height restrictions fit 3 across) my oldest had to ride alone. It was hard, and she really didn't like sitting with a "stranger," but we gave her the option to not ride at all... and she never chose that.

I will add that now that the middle child is 7 she is asked at EVERY ride how old she is when she tries to sit without an adult. They don't ask us, they ask her.

 

[HopperFan]

Most rides you will be able to sit in groups of 3 and 2 since your little one is small. Parent in each "car" with one or two kids. I don't think you'll run in to too many situations where it will be an issue.

On something like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train where it is a strict 2 across, you will a problem with your plan. Your 6 year old will not be able to ride without an adult. "Children under 7 must be accompanied by person 14 years and older." Some posters have said they got away with it but I have MANY times since it opened seen them tell parents the kids have to be split up and ride with adults. Your 7 year old can "ride alone" without you, but you would be in the seat right behind them and they likely will have a stranger seated with them on that ride. There are not many places this will be an issue.

 

[Klayfish]

Most rides you will be able to sit in groups of 3 and 2 since your little one is small. Parent in each "car" with one or two kids. I don't think you'll run in to too many situations where it will be an issue.

On something like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train where it is a strict 2 across, you will a problem with your plan. Your 6 year old will not be able to ride without an adult. "Children under 7 must be accompanied by person 14 years and older." Some posters have said they got away with it but I have MANY times since it opened seen them tell parents the kids have to be split up and ride with adults. Your 7 year old can "ride alone" without you, but you would be in the seat right behind them and they likely will have a stranger seated with them on that ride. There are not many places this will be an issue.

This. Many rides you will be able to split the parents up and have one parent in each car and split the kids how you see fit. From our experience, kids must be 8 to ride alone...CMs always ask our twins (who are now 8 and turn 9 in 4 weeks) how old they are. Last year they were 7, about to turn 8. After being rejected a few times when saying they were 7, we told CMs they were 8 and our problems went away.

 

[PoshMom]

We are a family of 5 and it's been different each of the last 3 years how we worked this out. Yes, some rides can ride 3 to a seat. And other rides it ends up 2, 2, 1. Sometimes it's a parent who rides alone. Our oldest daughter now 10 for last 2 years has been fine riding few rides with a stranger. We always put her right in front of one of us just to be safe. Never been an issue. Our kids are now 10, 8 and 6. We just have to assess each ride as we get to them. We know now which ones fit smaller third kid. ...Peter pan, toy Story mania. And yes 2 kids can ride together as long as they meet height requirement for the ride. It's so fun no matter how you get divided up! Have fun! )

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Pretty much what others have said. Another potential work around is to invite extended family (or friends or a babysitter) to go with you.

As others have said, usually guests can fit three across on most attractions. The young child has to sit on the seat (not a lap) on most. There may be some cases where it could be a tight fit for larger guests. If that is specifically a concern, I'm pretty sure there are threads in the Disability section which address that concern in more detail.

Also, your children are fairly young. Children at those ages can be a bit unpredictable where attractions are concerned. Many young children are intimidated. They might not to want to ride everything with a height restriction.

 

[BrianL]

Since you have a 7 year old, they can always ride alone, so technically you won't have any problems though it may not be your preferred grouping.

One nuance of the kids must ride with a parent rule has to do with the separation of "ride vehicles" which for these purposes means an individual unit between couplings. So some rides, like Space Mountain, there are two ride vehicles, each seating 3 in a single file. The under 7 kids must have an adult in the ride vehicle with them even though the second vehicle is right behind the other. On something like 7DMT, the parent can sit directly behind the younger children if need be, as long as they're in the same car (2 rows per car on 7DMT).

One ride that this gets tricky on is Barnstormer, where each car only has one row of two seats. This is where some odd-numbered families have trouble, because it is impossible to seat a parent with more than one child in the same vehicle. Again, since you have a 7 year old, they can ride alone regardless and you can have one parent each with one of the younger kids.

 

[DebbieB]

I was at Toy Story Mania a couple of years ago and a mom was there with 2 boys 8 and 5. The boys wanted to ride together. No can do. The 5 year old had to ride with the mom and the 8 year old alone.

 

[HopperFan]

This. Many rides you will be able to split the parents up and have one parent in each car and split the kids how you see fit. From our experience, kids must be 8 to ride alone...CMs always ask our twins (who are now 8 and turn 9 in 4 weeks) how old they are. Last year they were 7, about to turn 8. After being rejected a few times when saying they were 7, we told CMs they were 8 and our problems went away.

I think the problem is they are trained 7 and while it's 7 and older can, under 7 can't it unless with 14 .... probably all gets blurred to CMs, many who are college students there for 4-6 mos, and they are literally working the rides a week after they check in.

 

[AngiTN]

This. Many rides you will be able to split the parents up and have one parent in each car and split the kids how you see fit. From our experience, kids must be 8 to ride alone...CMs always ask our twins (who are now 8 and turn 9 in 4 weeks) how old they are. Last year they were 7, about to turn 8. After being rejected a few times when saying they were 7, we told CMs they were 8 and our problems went away.

Then you had a CM, or several, who got the rule wrong. It's aged 7 and up, not over 7. DGD just turned 8 this year but on all our trips when she was 7 she rode alone many times. They all asked, she answered 7 and she was ok to ride.

 

[disnut8]

Since you have a 7 year old, they can always ride alone, so technically you won't have any problems though it may not be your preferred grouping.

I just wanted to mention that the thought of an ideal grouping doesn't mean a vacation will be horrible I know that because we were in line behind what I thought was a family of six with two older adults, one male (younger than us) and three small kids. This was at Toy Story Mania so we all had FastPasses and were looking forward to the ride. But then the two older adults went their own way (called for a party of two) and I realized they were not with the male and the three small kids. When the five of us got to the loading area, the seater asked the male how many and he said four and the kids were so exited and then came the question - what are the ages of the kids? None of them were over 7. My husband (who claims to know nothing about Disney) immediately spoke up and asked the male if he would mind if we split the parties and the Cast Member said that was a great idea. So, I rode with the little girl, my husband rode with the oldest boy and the dad rode with the youngest boy.

No, it was not what everyone wanted and no one will ever have that experience but everyone came off the ride feeling like it was a good day.

 

[Accident]

I didn't see it mentioned but learn more about parent and rider swap. It will open up more options for the rides when the shortest can't ride or you can't fit in everyone based on the rules.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

Sorry, I had to dash off for awhile. Thanks everyone for your comments! Glad to hear 3 across works in many cases. My 7 y.o. will likely be ok to ride many rides on his own. I will put him in front of me whenever possible. Where can I find the rule that says 7 and over can ride alone? I would like to get a copy in case a CM is unsure. TY.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I was at Toy Story Mania a couple of years ago and a mom was there with 2 boys 8 and 5. The boys wanted to ride together. No can do. The 5 year old had to ride with the mom and the 8 year old alone.

Same situation, but we were offered to 3 sitting together. Yes, mommy didn't get to play.....but the kids were happy so all worth it.

 

[TeamH5]

We went a couple years ago, but the only ride we had an issue with was Dumbo. one of my 7 yr olds ride alone, and my 7 and then 5 yr old rode together. The ride operator had no problem with that, and apparently we had not read up on the rule of having to be 14 to ride with a younger child. Lol

Everything else though, our two 7 yr olds would ride together and our 5 yr old would ride with us.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Most rides you will be able to sit in groups of 3 and 2 since your little one is small. Parent in each "car" with one or two kids. I don't think you'll run in to too many situations where it will be an issue.

On something like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train where it is a strict 2 across, you will a problem with your plan. Your 6 year old will not be able to ride without an adult. "Children under 7 must be accompanied by person 14 years and older." Some posters have said they got away with it but I have MANY times since it opened seen them tell parents the kids have to be split up and ride with adults. Your 7 year old can "ride alone" without you, but you would be in the seat right behind them and they likely will have a stranger seated with them on that ride. There are not many places this will be an issue.

My kids were the same age as yours for this last trip so we had the same situation. We never had anyone seated with the 7 year old when she was alone though. Maybe we just got lucky because 7DMT does not have a single rider line and there weren't any obvious single riders close to us. But I only remember DD7 having to ride alone on 7DMT, Dumbo, and Barnstormer (but we didn't do some of the bigger coasters like RNR).

Same situation, but we were offered to 3 sitting together. Yes, mommy didn't get to play.....but the kids were happy so all worth it.

Yes. The CM asked twice if we really wanted to have 3 in a car. I thought about saying it was not the first sacrifice I've made as a mom and it will not be the last.

 

[agec]

Sorry, I had to dash off for awhile. Thanks everyone for your comments! Glad to hear 3 across works in many cases. My 7 y.o. will likely be ok to ride many rides on his own. I will put him in front of me whenever possible. Where can I find the rule that says 7 and over can ride alone? I would like to get a copy in case a CM is unsure. TY.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/park-rules/
Rule F

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/park-rules/
Rule F

Perfect. Thanks!