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DisneyDadfromPittsburgh
06-24-2008, 12:31 PM
Hi all,
I wanted to get some feedback from parents of teenagers on this question: at what age do you allow or would allow your teenagers to roam freely and unsupervised in any WDW park with having them periodically check in with you throughout the day?
Thanks,

waymickey
06-24-2008, 01:26 PM
I allowed my daughter with her 3 cousins to roam the parks without us. They ranged in age from 16 to 13 and they checked in twice and had to be at the meeting place in the park once throughout the day. They did fine and there are many people in the park to help if needed.

Boojum
06-24-2008, 01:27 PM
Our DDs will be 16 and 13 on our next trip, and they've already asked if they can go off by themselves. We're planning to let them have some limited time without mom and dad, but they will have cell phones and check-ins and all that good stuff.

mouselover93
06-24-2008, 01:37 PM
my dad personally let me ,14, and we only had to see him for dinner reservations

Sam&Alex&Josh'sMOM
06-24-2008, 01:37 PM
They can roam without check ins... when they can pay for the trip themselves.

castlelady36
06-24-2008, 01:50 PM
I might be in the minority here but I would not let my DD 15 go off on her own....too big of place and too many weirdos. I guess it depends on the maturity of your child but even with that I would be leery....I think 17 is a good age to let them go a bit at a time with frequest check ins.....

Tygger7
06-24-2008, 02:42 PM
I let my DD15 and her friend, also 15, go off on their own towards the end of our trip. She had her cell phone and checked in every hour. We also had designated meeting times/places. She's a "Disney Veteran" so I know she's capable of navigating the parks and Disney transportation. We also made the girls wear whistles so that if anyone "messed" with them, they could blow the whistle to bring attention to themselves. To be honest, I feel much saver letting her navigate Disney than our local mall. :mickey:

MuchLovedMama
06-24-2008, 02:47 PM
I'm don't have teenage kids yet but I've been a free roaming teen in the parks. At the age of 13 (may have been 14) my best friend & I were permitted to roam the parks by ourselves & we had a great time. All we cared about was the rides & getting from one to the next as quickly as we could without being slowed down by the parents. We checked in with them probably 2 or 3 times (this was back 1993 or 1994 before cell phones were as big as they are today...didn't have them). Nobody ever bugged us & if they had we'd hve known what to do.

FenwayGirl
06-24-2008, 02:58 PM
Our kids (who are now 30 and 26)never asked to roam the park alone..

disneygeek84
06-24-2008, 03:23 PM
I've been going to Disney since I was 4, as have my sisters, and when we went in 2000 we were 18,16, 14, and 10. On the last day of our trip my parents both wanted to go to different parks than we did, so they let us go off by ourselves. We only had one family cell phone at the time so they allowed us to take it so that if we had any trouble we could get ahold of someone. Then all we had to do was meet our parents at Epcot in the afternoon and then we spent the rest of the day together.

Then last year my husband and I went with my parents, youngest sister, and some friends, and on the last day we all split up to do whatever we wanted before we left. My little sister, who was 16 at the time, and her friend, who was also 16 at the time, went off by themselves. They both had cell phones and had everyone's numbers (Since everyone was split up and in different places we made sure they knew how to get ahold of everyone). They actually got stuck on a broken down monorail and didn't meet up at the check point we had in the afternoon. But thankfully for the cell phones, they were able to let us know where they were and that they were okay, but were not going to make it to the check point.

However, I don't think I would let any of my children go off if they weren't VERY familiar with the Disney parks. My little sister has been going since she was 13 weeks old, so she knows how to get around and what to do if someone is bothering her. And in this day and age where EVERYONE has a cell phone, I don't think it would be a problem letting teenagers go off by themselves if they knew what they were doing.

italiangrl.08
06-24-2008, 03:37 PM
I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't let me walk around, being 13, but if i was with like a friend and called her everytime we were going somwhere differnt and had a meeting place, and all that she might be willing to let me. As a matter of fact one year we took a friend of mine to Disney with us, and my mom let us go on a ride that was in the same area as their ride was and we would meet up before we went to a differnt ride or a differnt part of the park!:mickey:

RBrooksC
06-24-2008, 03:52 PM
I don't have a teen but I was a teen once. I would say it would depend on the maturity of your child and the maturity of any friends there. Disney is going to be rather safe in the parks themselves. However, I might be wary about sending a thirteen or fourteen year old off alone anywhere because that is just how I am.

KineGirl
06-24-2008, 04:19 PM
I agree that it has more to do with the maturity level of your teen and how experienced they are with the World. We have been going for about 14 years now bi annually. Our trips are usually family trips and luckily our daughter (17 now) enjoys spending time with us. Since shes been about 14 we have let her wander off for an hour or two a couple of times each day - we use walkie talkies - and in the past couple of years Ive let her do EMH at DHS on her own. This year will be the first time her friend or even another kid her age is coming so I suspect she will want more alone time in the past but Ive already told her its still a family trip and while I will def let them have ample time to themselves, it will not a be whole day(s) of autonomy.

JRocker
06-24-2008, 04:59 PM
hmmm, without checking in......70ish ;)

I gots to brag a bit about me kiddies. I have been blessed with three wonderful kids. They love to spend time wit de old folks. We all just got back from a little trip to the Gulf. My 20 yr. old is looking forward to our trip next year, and my 19 yr. old told me when she could get off work, therefore I can't schedule the trip till then....

Anywho, on our last trip I believe the kids were 17, 16, and 12. Twice, during that trip, they asked to be set free. Both times were late in the day. Since they know the layout of the world, had a cel phone, and knew how to get around the place, we turned them loose (as long as they stuck together).

They would check in every so often (no set times). Mom was a worry wart about it, but I know my kids and what they are capable of :thedolls:

Because of the maturity level of my kids I would have let them wander off on our trip 3 years prior to that one (but they didn't ask).

WelshieLover
06-24-2008, 05:44 PM
Again, maturity does make a difference. When we have let our teens go off on their own in a group with at least their sibling or a friend. We always were in the same park with them. I don't think I would want them going all over WDW by themselves, especially if they were 15 or under. Once they are old enough to dirve you have to give them a little leeway to grow up. We found that when we did this we would often run into them, it turns out they tend to like the same attractions that we do. They had their cell phones on them and would often text to let us know where they were.

WhiteRose1
06-24-2008, 06:32 PM
I was allowed to roam when I went when I was 12 - but I had my brother who was 17 at the time with me. I was not allowed out of his sight...(he did let me ride a few rides myself so he could 'check out the chicks' but he was a good brother and waited for me at the exit.)

Next trip I was 17 myself and I was free roaming; just met up for lunch/dinner. I was not given any money....that kept me close to my dad, Mr. Moneybags. :secret: We were staying at the swan then. Cell phones did not really exist for either trip back then, bag phones (car phones) were a novelty when I was 17. I tended to stay with my parents more often than not - my mom needed help getting around so I was her helper.

Now I'm almost 34 and I got my hubby...so the days of 'free roaming' are gone! ;)

TheRustyScupper
06-24-2008, 07:14 PM
1) I am the grandparent of teen girls (14 & 15).
2) Of course, I was the parent of teen girls.
3) We let them roam.
4) In fact, tomorrow we drop them off at MK.
5) They will spend the whole day by themselves.
. . . we give them $35 each for food money
. . . they do snacks and fast food at their favorite places
. . . they have their own souvenir money
6) We will pick them up at TTC at then end of the day.
7) They have cell phones in case they want us to pick them up earlier.

NOTE: As a grandparent, I do call them 2-3 times per day just to make sure they are fine.

mom2morgan
06-24-2008, 07:15 PM
Hi all,
I wanted to get some feedback from parents of teenagers on this question: at what age do you allow or would allow your teenagers to roam freely and unsupervised in any WDW park with having them periodically check in with you throughout the day?
Thanks,

Mine were 14 and 16 on our first trip and they didn't want to, partly because Disney is pretty overwhelming the first time. Now they're two years older, so we'll see...... (I have a bit of an additional problem, though, in that I would not hesitate to let my daughter go off on her own, but I'm not as comfortable about my son. Since SHE is the younger one, you can see my dilemma. He hasn't got the good sense Walt gave a Chipmunk.)

dolphinmickey9170
06-24-2008, 07:43 PM
:mickey:My DDs were 13 and 11 and they were with another girl that was 14. I had no problem giving them my cell phone and let them wander the park. They even were allowed to return to the resort and hit the pool while I had a relaxing dinner.:mickey:

katzctkpt
06-25-2008, 12:04 AM
They can roam without check ins... when they can pay for the trip themselves.


I might be in the minority here but I would not let my DD 15 go off on her own....too big of place and too many weirdos. I guess it depends on the maturity of your child but even with that I would be leery....I think 17 is a good age to let them go a bit at a time with frequest check ins.....


I like Sam&Alexsmom's reply. I say that about the car when my 16 yr old ask to drive. When you can pay for one yourself then I'll let you drive. She gets so---oo mad. :D If mine had a friend going to wdw with her I'd probably let her go she's 16 and very mature and responsible. Really it's what you feel comfy with.

pink
06-25-2008, 01:24 AM
Whenever I go with my parents I always just stay with them but this year I'm going without my parents at all and I'll be 19. :mickey:

BritCody
06-25-2008, 07:06 AM
Mine are DD16 and DS13 and they are allowed to roam, but they choose to stick with me. I think in all of our trips they roamed alone one time and at the time they were 14 and 11.

Disney_Barbie
06-27-2008, 01:54 PM
No kids of my own, but my "teenage" year trips were @ the age of 13,15 & 17. The 17yr old trip I had a friend w/ me and that was the first time we went off alone. I didn't desire to do my own thing yet @ 15 so don't know for sure but I think my parents would have rufuse. However, things were different before the cell phone age.
That being said, I've told this story on intercot before, so I apoligize if anyone's hearing it for the second time, but : a few years ago my DH & I were in a long line w/ 3 teenagers behind us and we ended up overhearing their conversation the entire wait and it kinda gave me the heepy-geebies.
(DH & I are in our young 20's so it's not like we're out-of-touch or being paranoid or anything) But it was a teenage boy who was AT LEAST 17 years old, and then 2 girls who couldnt' have been more than 14. From their convo when we first got in line you could tell they had just met moments before (exchanging info about like what part of the country they lived in and how long they were visiting for) thru-out the course of the line it progressed to personal things that made DH & I uncomfortable, and towards the end of the line he was saying that his parents had a DVC condo and how cool it was, and hinting around that they should come see it.
The line when into one of those open-space movie rooms @ that point, and we don't know what happen to the girls. I sure hope they had the common sense to NEVER go back to the hotel room of some boy they just met. But from what I heard of them, they sounded quite impressionable, I hoped to run into them upon exiting the ride to (at the risk of sounding mom like) give them some friendly advise, but we didn't see thema gain for the rest of the day, and it had me sick thinking about it.

Anyway, long and the short of it is, obviously maturity level is the main factor. But no matter how old your child is, remind them not to get so lost in the disney magic that they forget that gross creepy people are still out there. Even as an adult, sometimes you totaly forget to be "on your guard" at disneyworld & I think teens are much more likely to forget that. Afterall, just because a boy is vacationing w/ his family at disney does NOT necessarily mean that he's a nice boy, unfortunately.

scoot241
06-27-2008, 02:42 PM
Let's see... I went on two high school band trips to WDW with little supervision. I was 15 and 17 during those trips and we could pretty much do whatever we wanted as long as we were back to the bus at night. We did usually walk around in groups, but we were never hassled or anything.

That being said, will I let my daughter go running around free when she's a teenager? We'll see... she's only 2 right now.

MississippiDisneyFreak
06-27-2008, 03:06 PM
Hi all,
I wanted to get some feedback from parents of teenagers on this question: at what age do you allow or would allow your teenagers to roam freely and unsupervised in any WDW park with having them periodically check in with you throughout the day?
Thanks,

My son is 14 and I will not allow him to roam free this year....maybe when he is 16, but he will have to check in every 2-3 hours.

DisneyOtaku
06-27-2008, 04:18 PM
My parents started off simple with my sister and I. When I was 17, DS 14, we were allowed to ride the monorail loop (we always stay at the Poly) to go shopping at the resorts IF WE STAYED TOGETHER. My mom wouldn't let me go by myself, and she wanted my DS to be older than pre-teens before we went off together. Probably the next year, we could go to the MK (again, TOGETHER) as long as we had our cellphones with us and checked in that way. It worked well when mom and dad just wanted to chill by the pool at the Poly when we wanted to go to the park.

Cinderelley
06-27-2008, 05:10 PM
Out first trip was when my kids were 16, 15, 14 & 12. We stayed for about 2 weeks. I didn't let them go off alone at first, but after a while, they knew their way around quite well. We all had cell phones that we could call each other on at any time. I let the 16 & 15 year old go off on their own (the 15 year old actually turned 16 while we were there.) The younger two could only go if they stayed with the oldest one (he had a much higher maturity level than the 15 year old.) On the last trip, the 14 year old was 16 and very responsible. I let him go off on his own. My DD who was the 12 year old at the time isn't very street smart, so she won't be going off on her own until she's all grown up.

pixiesmimi
06-29-2008, 07:38 PM
Our DGSs 12 and 17 will probably be allowed to go off by themselves in Dec. when their family goes back. They will have cell phones and will check in periodically and will eat with parents. The oldest has been with a church group several times in the past where they were allowed to go off in groups and meet back up with chaperones later. I would say the maturity of the teen is what is important here and they aren't prone to cause scenes or act inappropriately as some teens can. It all depends on how comfortable you are with the safety of WDW, which we are.

LauraleeH
06-29-2008, 07:59 PM
I wouldn't even allow an 18 year old to go off alone. I would only let her go if she has a friend with her. I'm 20 and on the last few trips to Disney and Busch Gardens, I've had some creepy guys follow me on rides and say some gross things, and this is when I was with my 19 year old brother! Definitely make sure the girls are mature, will stick together, and check in often. They'll be fine if they follow the rules.

crazypoohbear
06-29-2008, 09:48 PM
Last year I let my 17 and 12 year old wander around with their friends who were 12 and 16.
So there were 4 boys aged 17,16 12, 12.
However the 17 & 16 year old turned 17 and 18 while we were there and the 12 year old turned 13 when we got home.
They all had cell phones and we stayed in touch. they met us for our ADR's.
I typed and laminated a little card with the adr's, park hours and emh. for each day. Everyone was given one and there was never an issue on where or when we were to meet.

CaptainJessicaSparrow
06-30-2008, 01:10 AM
At 15, my friend and I would always be allowed to go off on our own and do what we wanted. We were given a radio we could use to contact them (cell phones weren't as common back then) and we only had to contact them if we were hungry to find out where dinner was.

Other than that, we had free reign. But then again, we also had the maturity level of adults around 25-30. So we never got into trouble, just wandered around, rode rides, ate snacks from Japan and that was it.

Diznee4Me
07-01-2008, 11:28 AM
I like the idea of the family being together during a family vacation but I know there are times when the DD wants to get away.

If we go this year she will be 17 and I don't think I would have a problem with her being by herself if we are all in the same park. The world is just too crazy - even at WDW - for me to feel comfortable with her running around all WDW alone.

Now if we do go this year she has asked if a friend of hers - around 18 - to go with us. I would probaly let them go alone back to the room or DTD for shopping but they would have to check in frequently.

dumbo ears
07-01-2008, 11:34 AM
Im only 17 and when I was 14 my parents let me walk around with my friend by ourselves and we never had problems. Just give the kids money and whats the worst that could happen. they are in a theme park that is cut off from most of the other bad things in the world. You just have to be able to trust them

Mousemates
07-01-2008, 03:27 PM
we just got back and we allowed our kids ds13/dd15 some free time in both epcot and Mk. Funny thing was after about an hour or so DS got kind of bored by himself and called us and asked if we wanted to ride something....while DD spent much of the time texting us and sending us pictures of the things she was considering for her souvenir purchases.

I personally think the "solo time" (which for my kids on this trip amounted to three hours on two different nights over a seven night stay), is good for all parties involved, especially if your not staying in a suite where you can get away for a few minutes... No matter how close the family, just about everyone needs a little down time on occasion....yes, it sometimes hurts mama's feelings to learn that the kids don't want to spend every waking moment at WDW with them, and yes the kids don't pay the bills...but it is kind of their vacation too, and some times getting away for teenagers includes some time away from what they (rightly or wrongly) view as pesky siblings and overprotective parents. To me, there is no place better to allow this than the relatively secure confines of a Disney theme park.

(BTW, we currently only let ours roam in the park we are in as a family, not transfer from park to park by bus or monorail....thou my DD is probably not too far from being granted that privledge in the future).

indytraveler
07-01-2008, 04:56 PM
It hasn't come up yet with my two older ones. 14 & 12. They are both vertically challenged so they don't look like 14 & 12. Anyways, after reading most of the posts I actually have changed my mind a little. They have been there each year, know the parks inside and out (without a map) so if they wanted to go off on their own I'd let them. Of course they have cell phones and we would be texting and taking pictures constantly so it would be reassuring knowing they are OK.

However, since I'm such a wonderful parent :D they haven't thought about leaving me alone in WDW. I might find some trouble.

jordy2028
07-01-2008, 05:38 PM
I've got two teens, 13 and 17 and they only went on their own at the same park we we'd be at. We rode rides w/our 6 yr old meanwhile. And they did have cell phones and we all left together. Guess I'm a bit leary of being separated in different parks and different modes of Disney transportation.

Mickey91
07-01-2008, 10:14 PM
Our DS is 14. He is allowed to go in the same park we are in usually one ride at a time. He can call and ask about doing something one more time or another nearby attraction. But, this is a family trip and we like to spend most of it together as a family. That is why we go to Disney and not Universal or Six Flags etc.

johnO
07-02-2008, 12:03 PM
We let DS roam for short periods of time in 06'. He was 14. In 07' We brought one of his friends with. We allowed them to roam more freely as there were two of them. However they did not have the whole day by themselves. We forced them to spend time hanging out with us. We didn't spend all of that money to have a seperate vacation from DS.

biggun35
07-02-2008, 01:51 PM
We did not let our 14 yo DS roam by himself when we were there in May because he has no real sense of direction, he gets that from his mother. Now if he was with a friend, I think we would have let them roam but would have to check in every couple of hours.

Lizzie
07-02-2008, 03:25 PM
I have chaperoned trips to DW and it hasn't been the students that I don't trust. Its the people they meet that make me nervous.

My girls are just 2 so will have to see how life is when they are teenagers.

But I remember go off by myself at Disneyland when I was a teenager. It was a nice break for me from the family.

Minnie Imagineer
07-02-2008, 04:41 PM
well I am a teenager and last year when my family and I went to wdw I was 16. My mom & dad (especially mom) would NEVER let me go around by myself....or with my 22 year old sister!! But actually, I didn't want to go off by myself or split the group up. Part of the reason for going on a vacation is to spend some time with your family as a whole.
But my Mom will have to get used to that because next year I will be going off with no parents (senior trip!!! :D) !!!!

IloveDisney71
07-03-2008, 02:43 PM
My two DD's usually spend most of the day with me, but sometimes they want to do their own thing. I let them go off with each other or one of their friends when they turned 14/15 as long as they stayed in the same park that I was in and they HAD to stay with the other person. We would usually only split up for one or two rides and then meet back up. They also had cell phones.
When they were 16 I would let them go to a different park but they had to call me once they got to the other park. They are very responsible and have visited Disney a LOT so they know how to get around as well or better than I do. But like I said earlier, we usually stay together because we have a lot of fun together.
I think it really depends on your child and what you are comfortable doing.