How old before you let kids on their own

[Disney-4-Me]

I let my boys go from our room to the Captain Cook's on their own at the Polynesian when they were 9 & 12. It's not too far from Captain Cook's to the shops. My younger one 'bought' me a ring. Of course he charged it on the room key!

The next time they went off on their own they were 23 & 26!

[LVT]

I have 2, they went together wherever at 12 and up. Now mine are in their 20's and tend to hang around, when they come with us they are mostly with us.

[Mousemates]

we let ours have a couple hours alone to do their own thing (same park-usually epcot or MK) when they were 11 to 13. They both had some great adventures eating on their own and talking with cast members.

[lovemy3girls]

We let our 3 girls go off together and do the big rides while we take our small boys in their stuff. The girls are 10, 12, and 14 and all have cell phones just in case. We stay in the same park. Last time we were there for the weekend, we let our 2 older girls stay longer at Magic Kingdom and take the bus back to our resort. They were fine, got on the right bus, got off at the right stop, and all was well. They know Disney like the back of their hand, though, because we are locals. And I still wouldn't let them go without cell phones.

[Darbylew]

We waited until one of them was 16 and still wanted them in a group at least two together.
Never let one go by themselves without one other to be with them. Safety in numbers I aways say.

[disneynarula]

I would say they need to be in high school at a minimum.

[K8screen]

Nowhere is 100% safe, but I would say WDW is safer than the average town or city. So, would you let your child go into your local town alone or with friends? If so, I dont see why you wouldnt let them go off on their own at WDW. If you wouldnt let them go into town alone, there is a judgment call to make, but I dont think many people would not let a 17 year old out alone, in the daytime anyway. The nice thing about this thread is the number of people who say their kids CHOOSE to stay with them. I think they are more likely to be happy to stay with you if they know you trust them to have some freedom if they want it, and you dont make a big deal about doing everything together.

[garymacd]

I just re-read this thread and wanted to share a story that happened just a couple of years ago. Our two daughters, one niece, her mother and two neighbours went with us to WDW and had great time. At one point, one afternoon, our oldest daughter was not really feeling like doing BTMRR. It was right around afternoon parade time and we were going to leave right after we rode it to get ready for dinner at California Grill. Keep in mind that all three girls are in their 20's and quite bright.

She told us she would be sitting right by Peco's Bills to watch the parade and would meet us there when we were done and could get back across the road. We couldn't find her! We looked everywhere for about an hour. Time is now slipping away. I knew she wouldn't be kidnapped. I would take great pity on the idiot that tried that, and she's too smart for the, "Your parents are injured and sent me for you" ploy, so I knew she must be somewhere around.

I sent the rest of the party back to the resort to get changed and bring our clothes to the Contemporary Resort while I continued to look for her, getting more and more frantic with every passing minute and every time I walked up and down in front of Pecos Bills and over the bridge by Splash Mountain.

Finally, I heard someone running up behind me. It was her. Tears all around. Big hugs. We eventually made our way to CR, had a drink and met up with the group; but here is what she told me:

She couldn't find a place to sit where she said she would wait so she had to move. She waited a long time in her new place (and I guess I must have passed her several times). She was just about ready to give up finding us and head back to the resort when she saw this rather distinctive (not distinguished) walk and unique form walking up and down the street. She had just gone into one of the shops and said that she had lost her party.

The CM took her name and resort and a message that she was going back to the resort. Had I gone into any shop and said that we were looking for a member of our party, that message would have been available to me on any computer terminal in the Magic Kingdom.

All this happened because her cell phone had died. Please tell your children this if they get separated from you. I didn't let go of her until we saw her mother.

[1DisneyNut]

I just re-read this thread and wanted to share a story that happened just a couple of years ago. Our two daughters, one niece, her mother and two neighbours went with us to WDW and had great time. At one point, one afternoon, our oldest daughter was not really feeling like doing BTMRR. It was right around afternoon parade time and we were going to leave right after we rode it to get ready for dinner at California Grill. Keep in mind that all three girls are in their 20's and quite bright.

She told us she would be sitting right by Peco's Bills to watch the parade and would meet us there when we were done and could get back across the road. We couldn't find her! We looked everywhere for about an hour. Time is now slipping away. I knew she wouldn't be kidnapped. I would take great pity on the idiot that tried that, and she's too smart for the, "Your parents are injured and sent me for you" ploy, so I knew she must be somewhere around.

I sent the rest of the party back to the resort to get changed and bring our clothes to the Contemporary Resort while I continued to look for her, getting more and more frantic with every passing minute and every time I walked up and down in front of Pecos Bills and over the bridge by Splash Mountain.

Finally, I heard someone running up behind me. It was her. Tears all around. Big hugs. We eventually made our way to CR, had a drink and met up with the group; but here is what she told me:

She couldn't find a place to sit where she said she would wait so she had to move. She waited a long time in her new place (and I guess I must have passed her several times). She was just about ready to give up finding us and head back to the resort when she saw this rather distinctive (not distinguished) walk and unique form walking up and down the street. She had just gone into one of the shops and said that she had lost her party.

The CM took her name and resort and a message that she was going back to the resort. Had I gone into any shop and said that we were looking for a member of our party, that message would have been available to me on any computer terminal in the Magic Kingdom.

All this happened because her cell phone had died. Please tell your children this if they get separated from you. I didn't let go of her until we saw her mother.

This is exactly why it bothers me that so many people rely on cell phones. This thread is full of "only if they have a cell phone" posts. Everybody knows that teenagers can't leave their cell phones alone and run the battery dead without thinking. It happens all the time so you need to have a contingency plan. I didn't realize WDW had a message relay system like that in place and it is good information to have. Thanks for sharing this tip with us. This definitely will be included in our "if you get lost contingency plan" next trip.

[minnie-mouse]

Don't think I ever will let them roam by themselves. We go as a family and like to spend every minute together!

[Butters]

My DD is 2 so not even close to an issue yet, but growing up vacations were family time. The only week in the year we got to spend 7 straight days with no school and work in the way.

That being said, when I got older I wanted to venture off but was given the "family time" speil... I didn't get it but I went with it... Now that I'm a parent I see why my parents did this and am glad they did. I plan to keep them with me not for safety reasons but for the reason you only get one chance to raise your kids and create memories... Ok off my soap box...

[Aurora]

In the 1970s, my sister and I were allowed to go off at ages 14 and 13. Last year my family traveled with my sister's, and we had five kids in our group ages 12 to 16. We let them go off several times with specific meeting plans later. Since we had two more children with us who were younger than 8, it worked out well for us.

Here's another post discussing the same thing:

http://www.intercot.com/discussion/s...d.php?t=193632

P.S. My teenagers are also allowed to walk a few blocks from our house in Chicago to the corner store if they are with someone, and my 16-year-old is allowed to take the bus or el train, also if she is with someone. Even though it's hard to let them go as a parent, it helps them develop some social intelligence to be able to do these things. So being on their own at Disney is much less of an issue for them. But every family is different -- what works for us may not work for other people.

[disneykidsince1970]

My sister and I have been going to the park literally since the day it opened (My dad worked there on opening day). My parents were divorced and had rather different parenting styles.

Mom wouldn't let us out of her sight! (and still doesn't like to!)

My Dad was letting us walk around alone at when we were 8 and 10. It was the 70s, no phones, etc....but plenty of crazy people!! I don't know what he was thinking. We did know the park very very well (the World was a lot smaller then!) but we knew every bathroom, shortcut, nook and cranny like the back of our hands. I only recently relayed this story to my mom and she totally freaked out - 30 yrs later! At the time, Nik and I totally loved it - we were mature for our age but still.... way too young!! Thank God nothing ever happened.

Now, I have a 5 and 7 yr old and can't imagine letting them go off on their own (despite my 7 yr old's desire to be 12 already). I am sure that this will happen eventually....but, I hope that we are building family traditions, etc. and that they would like to hang out with us - at least most of the time!?

Crazy time those '70s.... I wonder what my Dad doing during all that time we were off on our own??

[kakn7294]

My oldest daughter was in 8th grade and on the band trip. We also went at the same time but encouraged her to hang out with her friends. Instead, her group latched onto us for a portion of the trip (I guess we are either the fun parents or we were the source of all things $$$).

Both daughters could go off together now but choose to hang out with us. We do have what we call the "evacuation plan" - when we are exiting an attraction, especially the stadium shows, they are to stick together, exit the attraction, move off to one side away from the exit, and text the parental units their location if we get separated.

[FriendsofMickey]

I am not sure when; however, maybe 16, maybe not.

We were at the parks in June with another family. The daughter 12 years old, was allowed on her own. She was playing the Sorcerer's game as was her mother, so they had split up. I felt so uncomfortable knowing this and tried to keep tabs on her the best I could. At one point, she called me on the cell. Some guy had approached her and tried to force her to trade her star card. She was really upset. Then she got knocked down during the rush for the parade and walked on.
I told her to stay put and we found her. For the rest of the week, she stuck to us like glue.

This young lady is what I would call pretty mature for her age, but at 12 they are still children.

I know that Disney is fun place and seems fun; however, there are a lot of 'weird' people out there that would not think twice before taking advantage of a child left alone.

To me, it is a matter of safety. You can be overprotective, but if you are under protective and something happens, you cannot erase it and try again. What is done is done.

I say 16, because I assume they will be driving and allowed to go places by 16. However, only time will tell.

[luvmyboys4ever]

This is the question DH and I are asking ourselves this year. DSs are 14 and 12 and we are considering letting them do a little exploring in the same park. I'm nervous, but that's just me. We'll probably let them go, but they probably won't even want to. We are a tight knit group and we enjoy our time together. That being said, if the young one smells something good, he might just ditch us to chase the smell down!

[Gator]

I'm still holding out hope that my kids will always want to hang out with me at WDW.

I know. Denial.