Another Disney Question for those with older children...

[lynn]

We have stairstep kids that are 15 to 2. Would you let an almost 16 year old and a 13 year old go off on their own if were staying at a resort? I just can't see making them wait 30min to ride Dumbo as a family. They have already be twice to Disney and dh and I want to be sure the 2 younger children experience everything and go at their pace. They have the disney cards that they can purchase food and drinks on that will be billed directly to our resort bill. What do you think can they go off on their own to the MK.

[JFSinIL]

When we go in June to D'LAND (the real place - no Florida copycat for us :-) sez the S. California-born former D'LAND employee) we will let the 16 and 14 year-olds go off on their own for a few hours. The 12 yr-old will have to stay with us and her 16-yr-old brother (the twin with autism). As long as they stay together and reconnect at a set time/place, it should be fine. From my b-i-l (a current D'LAND employee) we will get a couple park hopper passes, so the two older kids can go on Tower of Terror. The rest of us will stay in Magic Kingdom proper.

[Jennifer in MI]

I let them! I would make sure they had a cell phone or a way to contact me if necessary though. We were just there in January and dh was sick in the hotel room for four days. I took all four kids to the park by myself. My siggy has their ages - I thought it would be hard to keep them all happy. It wasn't too bad. But, we did split up a bit. The two older boys would ride a bigger ride and I'd take the two littles on a smaller ride nearby. So, it's a bit different than what you're talking about, but I'd trust my kids at those ages to go it alone!

 

Have fun!!!

[JennW in SoCal]

We have annual passes to Disneyland, and I've even let my 16yo go off by himself to ride what he wants, or to stake out spots for fireworks or Fantasmic. He does have a cell phone, so we check in with each other quite a bit. Our church youth groups go every year with kids being able to go off in small groups as long as they check in at the appointed times.

 

So yes, by all means, your older dc should be fine, and would probably appreciate not being stuck in line with the little ones! The Cast Members (employees) all have very obvious badges, and are really helpful with any situation that might arise. DisneyWorld is so spread out, you might not want your teens going to a different park, but within a park it is quite safe.

 

Have fun! We're heading off to California Adventure today to check out their food and wine festival and to catch an exhibit of Snow White original art. And to ride some rides, of course!

[Joanne]

Yes, I would if the 16 and 13 year old were average kids in terms of responsibility and safety and did not have special needs.

[Vida Winter]

It's kind of fun to let them run ahead to get the FastPass we need and then catch up with them. We have walkie talkies that work out very well. I guess now we have cell phones but last time we were at Disney we didn't have them.

 

With the older kids we sort of constantly divide up and then meet up again. The walkies allow us to know where they are at all times. They don't even mind going on rides with the littles once in a while. We all have a blast.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

We have stairstep kids that are 15 to 2. Would you let an almost 16 year old and a 13 year old go off on their own if were staying at a resort? I just can't see making them wait 30min to ride Dumbo as a family. They have already be twice to Disney and dh and I want to be sure the 2 younger children experience everything and go at their pace. They have the disney cards that they can purchase food and drinks on that will be billed directly to our resort bill. What do you think can they go off on their own to the MK.

 

Without hesitation.