Disney theme parks is about to enforce a policy in which children under the age of 14 will no longer be able to enter the park without a guardian over the age of 14.
According to NBC, anyone under the age of 14 will have to be with an older parents or guardian to enter the park. This new policy will go into effect on March 23 at all U.S. Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts and parks, the Associated Press reports.
"If a cast member who is working at the front gates sees a guest who appears to be younger than 14 without someone who appears to be older than that, they will engage in a conversation with the guest," Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown told NBC4.
The employee who sees the child will have to speak with them and determine if they are too young to be in the park alone as children that young typically don't carry identification with them. If the guest is underage, the child's parent of guardian will be contacted and an adult would have to come accompany the child at the park.
The parks decided that 14 would be an appropriate age after they surveyed guests and spoke with child welfare organizations. The visitors and the organizations agreed that 14 was a good age limit.
"That was the age they felt was appropriate," she said. "That's also the age the Red Cross recommends for babysitting."
There was no particular incident that caused the parks to make this change.
"We regularly review all of our policies, and we identified an opportunity to provide a consistent age of admission and address a question we occasionally get from parents, " Brown said. "The question is just if we have a minimum age."
There were no age limits set for Disneyland parks before this. The age rules varied at the different Walt Disney World Resorts.
"This was a move to bring a consistent age policy across our domestic resorts," Brown said.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
