Disney World and Disneyland Ban Unaccompanied Kids Under 14 from the Parks

[carnation]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...6pLid%3D285224

And I say yea! When I worked at Astroworld/Six Flags years ago, so many parents would buy their kids summer passes and dump them there on weekends. The kids would get bored in the parks and start tearing up things, inventing new ways to ride rides, cut in line, generally act like they owned the place. If anyone ever got kicked out, no one I knew heard about it.

This must have gotten to be a problem at Disney. Plus not every adult who enters the parks is going to have, um, good intentions.

[SWTXBelle]

It is my understanding that it was a bigger problem at Disneyland, but yes, the policy makes sense for all parks.

[amIblue?]

I can't believe it wasn't already a rule.

[DubaiSis]

Disneyland, being right in the middle of town, is more accessible on a day in/day out way for the locals than most parks are, which at best are usually on the edge of town. A lot of people will just head out after work for dinner and to ride on 1 ride or watch the light show. I'm sure there are a lot of kids who kill time there after school, or skip school altogether to hang out there. And as a grumpy old woman, no good can come of that!

I'm all for this policy, and from a business perspective it's probably a good idea because those kids there killing time probably are not spending any money! You want the park filled with people who all have on a new set of ears, t-shirt, princess dress and filled to the gills with Mickey ice cream, churros, lemonade, etc.

Speaking of that, for you Disney-files out there, they offer a vacation package that includes an in-depth behind the scenes tour of everything Disney in Southern California. It's Disney overload, but if you're one of those people (and you know who you are!), having a glimpse behind the curtain is worth the extra money.

[SWTXBelle]

. . .and, ahem, I am a certified Disney Vacation Planner, so if you wanted to book your vacation, shoot me a pm!

[TriDeltaC]

totally shocked this wasn't a policy already. love, LOVE d-land!

[adpiucf]

I'm shocked that any parent would allow their child under 14 to run around a theme park unsupervised. Yes, kids can be thugs, but they are also kids-- even kidnappers and pedos go to DisneyWorld.

[Pingyang]

Back when I worked at Disneyland during summer seasons, we occasionally had problems with parents dropping off their kids and using the park as a day care facility. Maybe it's gotten worse. The new policy looks like it's only going to be enforced when kids enter the parks unaccompanied, though. So a parent now has to go inside the park with the kids before leaving them to wander on their own, but it doesn't require the parent to accompany them throughout the park or even to stay in the same park with them.

The kids I encountered were well-behaved, and were often better behaved than some groups of adults visiting the resort. The kids didn't want to get banned from Disneyland! We still worried about their safety, though.

[Sciencewoman]

We used to go to DisneyWorld every spring break with several other families and my cousins. We always stayed on property. By the time we were teenagers, we knew the parks and the layout so well, the older kids and the younger kids would ride the Disney buses to the parks on our own. Almost all of the moms were teachers -- they'd sit by the pool, and the dads played golf. We were never naughty, and nothing bad ever happened...and this was before cell phones. I have absolutely wonderful memories of those trips.

[Tulip86]

Used to live within a mile from Disneyland and there were some seedy people hanging around the parks near closing time. I do agree that the most annoying visitors were the groups of rowdy adults, kids were rarely more than mildly irritating.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

We used to go to DisneyWorld every spring break with several other families and my cousins. We always stayed on property. By the time we were teenagers, we knew the parks and the layout so well, the older kids and the younger kids would ride the Disney buses to the parks on our own. Almost all of the moms were teachers -- they'd sit by the pool, and the dads played golf. We were never naughty, and nothing bad ever happened...and this was before cell phones. I have absolutely wonderful memories of those trips.

My brothers did this on one vacation to WDW with my parents when they were 15 and 11. They had a great time and were very well behaved.

[IrishLake]

See now I grew up with Cedar Point in my backyard. It was no big thing for parents to drop us off there and pick us up hours later. I think we started doing that around age 11. I worked there for two years in high school/college as well. Saw plenty of younger unsupervised kids. Average age seemed to begin around 11 or 12 then too. Never once witnessed unsupervised middle school/junior high kids getting into or causing trouble. I know if Cedar Point established a policy like this, the vast majority of season pass holders would be greatly disappointed, and would probably not renew their passes for the following year.

[33girl]

Same with Kennywood (which is mainly local, but still).

I think Disney's real complaint is that the teenagers aren't buying anything other than food. To me, Disney isn't an amusement park in the traditional sense - it's a tourist trap I mean attraction. When I go to a park, I want to ride, not shop.