We have a trip planned for Sept '08, but wanted to get everyone's opinion on something.
My kids (ages 17 and 14 when we go) will probably want to go off into the parks by themselves at some point-just to get away from 'ol Mom ;). One of them will have a cell phone with them and of course I will have mine. Would it be ok to let them go of like that, with them checking in every now and then, also maybe hooking up for dinner/lunch or something?
what do you all think?

We have a trip planned for Sept '08, but wanted to get everyone's opinion on something.
My kids (ages 17 and 14 when we go) will probably want to go off into the parks by themselves at some point-just to get away from 'ol Mom ;). One of them will have a cell phone with them and of course I will have mine. Would it be ok to let them go of like that, with them checking in every now and then, also maybe hooking up for dinner/lunch or something?
what do you all think?My kids started out doing this at about age 13 for the oldest (and they took younger brother who was 11.). They did know the parks forward and backward though. My rule was they had to stay together, and they had to call me back when I called. (ie phone service isn't great in queues, so check the phone when they get off of a ride.) You know your kids best. Are they responsible? Will they do stupid things? Let them know it is a privilege and can be revoked if yo find them misbehaving.

As long as they're behaving themselves & not driving other park guests insane, I think it's fine. :)

My kids loved to run on their own. That allowed me to see the parades and stuff without hearing the whining of "Why can't we go on :::insert ride name here:::?" But they also needed to eat, so I would give them money for lunch or snacks. What I started noticing was when they got back to me, they would be starving, and the money was gone (usually spent on a toy or stashed for future purchase of a toy...) Then they would need more for the next trip out... (See the cycle...) Well, I fixed that issue. They got a flat amount for food for the first run (generally $20 for 3) and to get any for future trips out, receipts were required, and I replaced per the receipt. Yes, you can get a receipt for a Churro! My kids know that. A few trips ago, my son brought a friend, and they went and had lunch on the wharf and had chowder bowls. We met up later and they needed money for dinner and I said "Receipts please." His friend goes "Receipts? Who keeps receipts?" My son (then 17) looked at him, while digging in his pocket, and said "I do if I want her paying for food! Otherwise, we starve!" and produced receipts for the chowder bowls and churros.

One of them will have a cell phone with them and of course I will have mine.

Just a quick note - my family has always found it a little tricky connecting via cell phone in Disneyland. Sometimes it's hard to hear the phone ring, sometimes there are dead zones, sometimes you're on a roller coaster and can't pick up...

So we've found that instant messages are the way to go. Just tell them to meet you at ___:00 for lunch and ___:00 for dinner, and to send you an occasional IM to say hi. They'll have a blast, and hopefully after the mealtimes they'll decide it would be fun to go on a ride or two with you. :-)

Thanks everyone. They are pretty well behaved kids ;). We have signed up for the Deluxe Dining Plan when we go, so they will have that to use for snacks and stuff. I will be planning the dinners and times-of course they want to help decide that and that is fine, they are older now. Plus they have already started saving their own money for the toys, shirts, and other things they may want. I told them I will feed them and give them a roof for the week-the rest is up to them!! And believe it or not-they were ok with that :eek:.
They know and will know again as we go, that if they cause any sort of trouble-that they are not to big to be given a whipping!!! :D they love Disney almost as much as I do, so I am sure they will indulge me in a rid or two, especially the scary ones-they love to laugh at my reaction ;).
Thanks again.

Personally I think that I would set the intervals to meet up sooner in the beginning of the trip. After they proved they showed up on time and were behaving I would extend it. I think getting together for meals is great, thats what makes it a family vacation. I can remember being 17 and the only thing I wanted to do was break free of my parents and get some "kid time". So I think its great to give them some freedom.

Yep. We let my stepson and neice do this when they were 13. My stepson was pretty good at finding his way around and we sent him with Dh's cell phone so we could reach them, or vice versa. Only instructions they had were what time to meet us and where, and to NOT leave the park. We did not allow them to go to DCA when we were not with them. To avoid them sneaking over there, we kept their parkhoppers.

Regarding the dining plan - make sure they know how many snacks etc you are allowing them each day. Every ticket is attached to all the credits, and they could use all the snacks for everyone on the first day! (Not that they would, but something to be aware of).

I'd also make it clear they aren't to go outside the gates. You can't take their park hoppers from them because it'll have the dining plan on it too, (plus they'll need it for fastpasses), but make that very well understood.

Maybe you could get your first fastpasses of the day together, with the agreement that you'll meet at X time to use them? I went with the whole family when I was 17, when it was just one park, and being from a fairly small town, I had NO desire to go off with just one or two siblings. Depending on how used to 'all those people' your kids are, they may not want to spend all that much time apart.

Thanks everyone, those are some really good points and ideas.

Never mind!

Regarding the dining plan - make sure they know how many snacks etc you are allowing them each day. Every ticket is attached to all the credits, and they could use all the snacks for everyone on the first day! (Not that they would, but something to be aware of).

I'd also make it clear they aren't to go outside the gates. You can't take their park hoppers from them because it'll have the dining plan on it too, (plus they'll need it for fastpasses), but make that very well understood.

Maybe you could get your first fastpasses of the day together, with the agreement that you'll meet at X time to use them? I went with the whole family when I was 17, when it was just one park, and being from a fairly small town, I had NO desire to go off with just one or two siblings. Depending on how used to 'all those people' your kids are, they may not want to spend all that much time apart.

Guess we made them actually have to stand in line, since we had their hoppers. We have never done a dining plan, but I would want us all to eat together anyway, so it wouldn't be an issue if we had their hoppers.

:d

With my older girls, ages 15 and 13... I let them wander off (cel phone in tow) together if I'm in the same land they are... I just can't bear to think that they are off in another land having fun without me.... I'll also let them take thier little sis, age 9 on some rides, with me waiting nearby.. of course.

My kids loved to run on their own. That allowed me to see the parades and stuff without hearing the whining of "Why can't we go on :::insert ride name here:::?" But they also needed to eat, so I would give them money for lunch or snacks. What I started noticing was when they got back to me, they would be starving, and the money was gone (usually spent on a toy or stashed for future purchase of a toy...) Then they would need more for the next trip out... (See the cycle...) Well, I fixed that issue. They got a flat amount for food for the first run (generally $20 for 3) and to get any for future trips out, receipts were required, and I replaced per the receipt. Yes, you can get a receipt for a Churro! My kids know that. A few trips ago, my son brought a friend, and they went and had lunch on the wharf and had chowder bowls. We met up later and they needed money for dinner and I said "Receipts please." His friend goes "Receipts? Who keeps receipts?" My son (then 17) looked at him, while digging in his pocket, and said "I do if I want her paying for food! Otherwise, we starve!" and produced receipts for the chowder bowls and churros.

OMG, this is hillarious. When my brothers and I were kids, we ran all over DL together. Well, dad would give us lunch money and we did the same thing - spent it on anything other than food and then needed a "snack" when we got back to him. So, he started saying we had to stay with him or prove we had lunch - so we would pool our money, buy one big meal to share, and spend the rest on toys. LOL!!

I'm glad my dad didn't read this before we went...

As a local, I started going to the parks alone when I was about 14 with a same-age friend who had a pass. Our moms would take turns dropping us off (of course before there were 2 parks or DTD) right in front of the gate after school once in a while and usually we would wait for her older sister to get off work (she worked in the parades) at closing and ride home with her. Of course we had passes and knew full well that if we misbehaved those tall men in trench coats and dark sunglasses would put us in Disneyland jail and take our passes away. :-)

Now that my sisters and I are all adults, we seem to have a harder time keeping track of each other when we all go together, so we got some cheap walk-talkies from Staples and we all carry those. Cell phone reception can get spotty, but these walkies are good enough they work all over the park.