Age limit for kids roaming the parks without parents?

[SFTrny]

Is there an age limit for kids roaming the parks on their own?

[medic9016]

I think it is 12 or 13.

[Young@Heart]

I know DH let DS 10 stay in the gift shop while he and DS 12 were at Philharmagic last trip. DD and I were at the Aurora tea party at the time. I was so when I found out! DH got a good talking to after that!

DS's will be 12 and 14 this trip, and I still won't let them go off on their own.

[tinkerstinker]

When my 2 oldest were about 12 and 16 I let them go off on their own as long as we were in the same park. They are now 18 and 14 and go all over by themselves.

[Mousemates]

We turn ours loose for a couple hours an evening (13 and 15), usually when we're doing a TS meal they aren't all that interested in. The personal time ends up being good for everyone. By the way...cell phones(which also insures they have an accurate clock) and texting are a good way to ease the anxiety the first time you let them leave the family nest.

[cal5755]

I am already dreading this argument lol. DS will be 13 and his friend will be 14 on our next trip. I am thinking they may ask to go out on their own. I know DH will argue they are old enough to go by themselves but I just don't think so yet. Neither one of them look like teenagers they look much younger... and the last thing I want to do on vacation is worry...are they behaving, did they get hurt, are they fighting over rides, is someone taking advantage of them somehow??

I know probably wrong of me considering I went off with 3 friends when I was 14 in WDW....but things are just not the same now as they were then either.

[RSGBSG2002]

I know it may sound dark, but I don't think a child should be allowed to roam anywhere alone unless the parent feels that the child is old enough to fend off an attacker or abductor. This may be 16 for some or 13 for others.

Just ask yourself if your kid could defend his or herself from a person more than 20 years old without you there. If you feel confident that your 12-year-old could outwit and/or escape from a 30-year-old abductor, then by all means let them run about in this world unsupervised. Otherwise, may be a better idea to give it a few years before they run amock unsupervised.

My son is only 4. I have many years before I have to make this decision for him. And I'm sure that no matter how well I explain things to him before I allow him to roam without a guardian, I'll be the "most unfair parent ever" until I say it's safe enough.

[GOLFDISNEY72]

We are dealing with the same issue right now. We are leaving this weekend with 4 adults and 7 kids. We are bringing my oldest sons friend. They are both 12. We are bringing radios and I think we are going to let them walk around but we are going to limit them to the same part of the park we are in.

[Ladyvader]

I do know that we do not allow any child on a ride under the age of 7 to ride a ride by themselves. I will do some research into the exact age. I have witnessed under 10 by themselves, but I don't agree with this at all. I do think that ages 13 and up can definately have a great time in the park alone as long as the parents have set up lots of guidelines. Meeting places, emergency phone numbers, and where they can get help if they need it.
I feel that Disney is a very safe place, and hope with all my heart it will always be. The cast members are there to assist all guests, so if the child or teen knows that there is always help if they need it.
I would have to say that Disney is the only place that I feel my kids are safe. My kids have grown up in the parks and have never had a bad experience. Another thing to account for is do your kids know the parks well enough?

[mrbghd]

I know it may sound dark, but I don't think a child should be allowed to roam anywhere alone unless the parent feels that the child is old enough to fend off an attacker or abductor. This may be 16 for some or 13 for others.

Just ask yourself if your kid could defend his or herself from a person more than 20 years old without you there. If you feel confident that your 12-year-old could outwit and/or escape from a 30-year-old abductor, then by all means let them run about in this world unsupervised. Otherwise, may be a better idea to give it a few years before they run amock unsupervised.

My son is only 4. I have many years before I have to make this decision for him. And I'm sure that no matter how well I explain things to him before I allow him to roam without a guardian, I'll be the "most unfair parent ever" until I say it's safe enough.

I have been in law enforcement a long time and it amazes me how easily a child can be abducted...or worse. Your point is EXCELLENT and should be considered by every parent. Unfortuantely my wife and I do not have kids and we go to Disney every year and see some kid(s) on their own that look and act like they probably should not be. We all like to think nothing can happen at Disney but it is a public place that atrracts families with kids and places like that also attract the creeps and pedophiles. Parents you know your kids but think logically about if they would be able to stay away from danger.
Check out this link http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=49288
It's a story from last year and it was at the Swan but it proves the point that things can happen anywhere, even at Disney

[Disney Doll]

I think it depends on the maturIty of the kid not necessary their physical age. It's a personal decision and everyone has to do what they think is best. I personally think it's fine to let a 13 yr old have some time away from mom and dad. You of course go over a few brief safety tips, but you don't want your kid to be scared to walk outside. Yes occasionally bad things do happen, but you can't keep your kid in a bubble. If you have raised them right they will know what to do.

[KAJUNKING]

i have a while before i have to worry about this my kids are still 6 and 8, but i would think the age to start to let them go out on there own is about 13

[ASweetLov]

I don't have kids of my own but I think if I did and we were all on a family vacation then I would want my whole family with me at all times. Maybe 16 or around that age I would let them go around on their own but not any younger.

[Earnhardt321]

I was 12 when we were allowd to go around the parks by ourselves. There were four of us. My cousin was 13. We had my 8 year old brother with us. We were with my cousins who knew the parks very well. We always had a meeting place every few hours but with cell phones now I think it would be better. I think you have to look at the child. Are they mature enough to go on their own and do you trust them to go alone. I douldn't have been comfortable if my cousins were not with us. It is a personal choice I think.

[Mousemates]

I know it may sound dark, but I don't think a child should be allowed to roam anywhere alone unless the parent feels that the child is old enough to fend off an attacker or abductor. This may be 16 for some or 13 for others.

Just ask yourself if your kid could defend his or herself from a person more than 20 years old without you there. If you feel confident that your 12-year-old could outwit and/or escape from a 30-year-old abductor, then by all means let them run about in this world unsupervised. Otherwise, may be a better idea to give it a few years before they run amock unsupervised.

My son is only 4. I have many years before I have to make this decision for him. And I'm sure that no matter how well I explain things to him before I allow him to roam without a guardian, I'll be the "most unfair parent ever" until I say it's safe enough.

I do understand your concerns given the dangers that lurk out there...but I will point out that if the "rule of personal safety" is being able "to outwit and/or escape from a 30-year-old abductor" then few teenagers, women or older retirees would be able to roam the parks unsupervised.

Could a bad thing happen in the parks...sure, bad things happen everywhere, even in our schools and homes...but a Disney theme park seems to be a relatively closed environment, with security, with lots of visibility, and lots of family oriented people who I beleive would be prone to "step-in"...so whenever the day of turning loose for a bit of freedom comes...I think this might be a good place for it to start.

[RALPH]

We are dealing with this for the first time. DS will be 15 1/2 on our upcoming trip. We are bringing along one of his friends the same age. DS knows his way around the park as he has been there 10 times. We would talk to the other parents and see what they would be comfortable with.

Our plan is to allow them to roam together ( they would not separate) in the same park on some occasions. It will be a big adjustment for us as we are very protective. He is looking forward to his freedom, but it still requires a serious talk. Especially if he spots some girls of the same age he is interested in. Then they want to get rid of us so as not to crowd his style.

[larandtra]

Depends on the maturity level of the kids and if they are alone, in a pair, or in a group. I would say 12 and up is OK as long as there are rules in place.

[katzctkpt]

We have a 16 yr old and I don't think I want her wandering the park with a friend by themselves. I don't really like her going out at home by herself and it's a town where everyone knows everyone. Still too many creeps out there.

[McGoofy]

Let's be clear...I am in no way promoting leaving small children alone. However, are you aware that in the Annual pass entitlements section of the annual passholder ticket keeper/benefits book, it says

Quote:

"Persons under the age of 7 years must be accompanied by a person over the age of 21 years when attending the Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, or Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park."

That means that children over 7 years old could potentially be dropped off at the parks and wander around all day without adult supervision. My DH and I were like "NO WAY!!" when we read that. Our DS is 10 and there is no way on earth we would let him wander around the parks alone all day. We do let him ride rides alone. For example, he loves the Stitch ride at MK, and we hate it. So we let him ride it, and we sit right at the exit and wait for him to come out. Even during that short time we make him put one of our cell phones in his pocket just to be sure that he has a way to contact us. That's as close as he gets to being alone for a few more years at least.

I also agree with somebody else that said the child's maturity has a lot to do with it as well. Disney, on the whole, is a safe place, so young mature teenagers should be fine. However, I have seen some very unruly immature, yet older, teenagers wandering around that really needed adult supervision! There are a lot of factors that go into whether or not your child should go solo. Only you as the parent know how your child can handle it all.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We let kids and grandkids run alone at about 10 or 11.
. . . they knew the parks,
. . . they knew when to meet up at about every 2-hrs
. . . they knew where to meet up
. . . they knew we were in the SAME PARK as they were
. . . they knew to stop a CM in case of problems or being lost
2) I would this age against how mature your kids are.
3) Disney does not have a kids-alone age, except to enter the park.
4) You see young kids running by themselves all day without incident.
5) We did start to drop them off alone at a park at age 15.

**************************************************

To quote the Buffalo Springfield (1967)
. . . "paranoia runs deep"

. . . the question is one of can the kids navigate the parks by themselves
. . . it isn't one of "30 year old abductors"
. . . can anyone name one single instance of such at WDW?
. . . there are too many security measures and CM's around
. . . let alone other parents