How old should kids be to roam the parks alone?

[maryg]

Yes, I've got teenagers chomping at the bit to be let loose and free! I also have 7 year old to take around, which puts a crimp in what they want to do, and what he wants to do.

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this. I apologize if it's in the wrong area.

We are staying at a Disney Resort in Magic Kingdom.

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[swincha]

they need to stay together. my son is 16, drives, and also babysits for me. maybe since they are both big guys i have no worries about them being on their own. cell phones are a great thing. i can't see someone taking a teenager to abduct them at disney.

 

[stitchlvr]

I loved that I felt secure enough while staying at All Star Movies to let the kids go to the pool alone, or to go the arcade or food court. We let them go off on their own (the 14 and 10 year olds, not the 7 year old) to ride a particular ride together, that my son didn't want to do, as long as we knew which ride they were going to, had a specific meeting place afterward, and they had the other walkie talkie.

 

[PlaneJane]

i wasn't allowed to wander around alone til about 16. It wasn't until march that i went to a park while they were doing something else (downtown disney) and i'm 19 ...

 

[Nansafan]

Son 18, nieces 17 and 14, only once did anybody express an interest in striking our on their own. Last summer the 17 yr old niece asked if she could jump the monorail to the Poly (we were staying at the Contemporary) to get a hair wrap since the Contemporary wasn't doing hair wraps at that time. We said sure and she was back in no time. She took her cell but we and she had no need to check in. Other than that one time, we've always stayed together, the more the merrier has been our mantra, and we've been to WDW with up to 16 people before.

To echo many others, you know your children, if you think they can handle it based on your past experiences, they can.

 

[brich]

Big cheer to those teens who still enjoy being with the family. :sohappy:

My past few trips to WDW have been with my parents. I'm in my upper, upper 30's :lookaroun and still enjoyed being there with my parents. Then again, I had my wife and two kids so for them, it was more a grand child thing. I just hope my kids want to hang at Disney with me when they hit their late teens.

As for how old kids should be to roam the parks? I agree it's more a maturity thing than age. If your comfortable in letting them do their thing, then they're old enough. I would say only their parents can really answer this one.

 

[BRER STITCH]

How old should kids be to roam the parks alone?

26...with verifyable employment.

32 without.

 

[joel_maxwell]

15+

as long as they are responsible and if they are changing parks or location they always call and let you know........... and of course they have a curfew time.

a good idea is to slowly work into it. maybe let them go for a half day, then until supper time, then towards the end of the week if all is well, the whole day....... check in calls required.

 

[Nemo14]

I agree that it all depends on the kids and how comfortable you are with it. We let my son and his cousin "roam" at MGM when he was 13, since it's a small park and easy to find your way around. They both wanted to ride Star Tours for the millionth time or so, and we were going to ToT, which they were both scared of. We agreed on a place to meet (the ice cream place by the dinosaur), and they met us there right on time. We've since eased into letting them roam further without us now (they're 15 now), and so far they've always met up with us with no problems. We insist that they stay together. They each have cell phones now, but at 13 they had 2-way radios. They also spend a lot of time together with us in the parks, and have a great time since they know that they'll have their own time too.

 

[shoppingnut]

At 15 I already had a part time job while attending HS school and had been into NYC several times alone and by 17 was working part time in NYC. As much as you hate it, you have to allow you children to grow up and gain some independence. They will respect you more for trusting them to be out on their own. Forget about the fact that it is a family vacation because having two sour puss faces for a week will ruin the vacation for you and your 7 year old. Too much togetherness is highly overrated anyway.

You have taught them about life's dangers, and while Disney is safer than most other places, I'm sure things happen there too, but with so many people and CM's around them I think that is far safer than your local mall.

And if you are worried about bathrooms, tell them to use the ones that are for "families" which is a separate single doored bathroom. They have these in all the parks. I used these with my nephew last year because he was 10 and that is too old and embarrassing for him to come into the ladies room and that worked fine.

 

[donald23]

I'm 16 and I just started going out alone at Disney World. It's awesome to be able to have the freedom to do what I want, but I can't stay gone for too long before I want my family back. I would have to agree with rentNdisney, Disney World is a family place and that's how I like to spend my time there. That's not to say that I don't plan on spending trips solo at Disney World when I'm older, because I love being alone there. But when my family is there, I'm with them.

 

[GTOKID]

I am 34 and no one lets me out on my own....we let the 7yr old get ICE by him self.

 

[swincha]

my 16 yr old is bringing a friend. when my 18 year old used to vacation with us we would go to resorts that the boys could do things without us and the little ones. my 16 yr old is around his siblings all of the time and i can totally understand him wanting to do more teen things than hanging around his little brother and sister who whine ect.... i was the oldest and hated always being stuck with my siblings who were not that much younger than me.
my 16 yr old had 2 summer jobs last year. this year he has 3 summer jobs(2 caddying which are flexible and one lifeguard) i want him to enjoy this trip on a teen level. i guess it might depend if you didn't have little ones then i would hang with him somemore. he actually likes going to the movies with me ect....

 

[DisneyChik17]

We're going over Christmas, and in my opinion this is not a good time for friends to come along, so I am not taking one. I love to spend time with my parents, even when we're not vacationing. My mom thinks I'm weird sometimes, but I just love spending time with them. I'm 16, so most find it weird aswell. I don't know if it's because I'm an only child, but if they are old/mature enough let them go. Don't force it, we hate that. Just put it out there, they may like to once in a while.

 

[Aurora_25]

I guess I am odd- I wouldn't let my kids roam around WDW without me- Now, granted, my kids are 6 and 1 right now, but I am sure I will feel that way when they are older too. There is just too much that could "happen" in my opinion (yes, I do worry ALOT!) and I would just feel better with them being with me. Honestly, when my parents, my brother and I would go on family vacations- we were always together- after all isn't that the point of a "family vacation"? I am not trying to be rude, but I guess since I was raised that when you go on vacation you stay with the family, I expect my kids to be the same way.
Again, that's just me and how I feel- I think if you are comfortable letting the kids go, then it's up to you- not anyone else.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

For us (The Capt, his wife and daughters of 12 & 15) Disney is a family holiday - a time for being together and experiencing Disney together. We do the parks and the rides together and spend time before we go planning what we want to do. If theres a particular ride, show or shop somebody doesn't want to do then they sit down and are collected afterwards.
Everybody has a great time, nobody gets to worry and nobody gets lost

 

[Neptune]

My Brother, Who is 15, Is Being allowed to Go Venture out into the aprks, And im SUre HEs capable. Its All Depending on whther you Trust Your Child. If You feel secure leaving you kid home alone, then i say, Go for it. but, i reccomend only 15+, But It Depends on the childs Maturity.

 

[ScrapIron]

I'vw always given out the freedom in small doses. Early on it may be "wait here at our parade spot while I find popcorn." If he passes that test, then the next one is a little more. I've let him wander on his on on TSI since he was 6. He's currently 9, and while I would not yet let him just wander around anywhere at this point, I don't hesitate to do something like "I'll ride this while you ride that and we'll meet there after." He's been told repeatedly that every "test" he passes is a step forward for more freedom next time, but if he fails, it's ten steps back.

I would easily give a 14 & 16 year old freedom to wander throughout the park unless they had a history that would cause specific worries.

Cheers.