AIBU to not let my 12 year old go to Alton towers

[GeorgieTK]

With her 13 year old friend alone? No parent there, just dropped off and picked up at the end of the day.
For a bit of context she doesn't do really big rides, she's done wicker man, thirteen amd galactica but gets very scared despite wanting to do them so that's one concern. Another is peer pressure to do the bigger rides when she'd have a panic in the queue. And another just generally is she too young?!

Thanks everyone, you've given me plenty to think about! The poll is pretty split too!

No. If I were going in too but leaving them to it, maybe. Some parts are quite isolated too. DraytonbManor is a much better choice for this sort of situation. Much smaller.

No way would I let her go without an adult in the vacinity. She's much too young.

Yes I’d have no problem letting mine go at that age. There’s plenty of staff in case of a problem. Worse case they go on a ride that’s scary they just don’t do that ride again. Have some faith in your child’s independence.

Too young to go completely unsupervised. Even with school there are teachers/staff wandering around!

I did not let my 12 year old or possibly 13 year old go in that exact same circumstance. Or rather they did go in the end, but the parent who was planning to drop them off and go elsewhere agreed to stay in the park.

It's going to depend on the child.id be ok with ours going as they know it well and I can't see a worry there.id want to go too though just for fun,can you just go too and be there separately this time round if worried.alton towers is epic.

Yes but no way to find them until the end of the day!

I wouldn’t let a child of that age go without an adult.

I live locally to Alton Towers and know it extremely well.

There are far fewer staff this year since Merlin cut the entertainment department out - no roaming actors or entertainment staff on the park. Retail staff have been severely cut down too so the open kiosks and games are now machines, the cafe and coffee shops are now ordering on a screen so far fewer staff.
These haven’t been replaced by security, most ‘regulars’ think Merlin will come to regret this decision precisely due to security concerns.

The gardens are vast and often deserted - I’ve heard of many things kids get away with in the gardens on school trips. Not to mention that age are vulnerable to adult predators.

Also agree with the weed comment, especially in spring for some reason and often near the parts the young teens like (forbidden valley and x sector). Bizarrely, lots of dealing goes on there as well.

I suppose because there's not going to be an adult around for any supervision in case of an incident.

At 13 my DD travelled across the country by various public transport methods with her friend (though her friend was 3 years older), no adults at all, to go to an amusement park and then travelled back again.

At 13 and 15 me and my brother were dropped off at 6 flags Holland for the day.

11/12 is the age my local school does class trips to an amusement park where they wander off in pairs or small groups with no teacher. So I would, depending on how sensible the children are.

I’d have let them go with a school trip but not alone.

Not without an adult on site.

But the peer pressure thing, if you don't trust the friend that's a waaaay bigger problem

Too young, 15 would be okay

Not a chance at age 12.
Far too young, what if they get into a sticky situation with unwanted attention, what if she’s sick after a ride, what if she has an accident?
But I was super protective of my dd, hasn’t stopped her travelling around Asia by herself age 18!
You know your dd best though.

We went every year with the school from year 7. The whole school went and so did a few other schools. They dropped us off at the gate and we all met back up at 4.30pm. What would you want the other parents to do? The kids will be queuing for each ride so they would only be standing at the start of the ride anyway. 🤷

How far away will the other parent be if there is a problem?

I'm quite surprised so many people are fine with this, I'd want the other parent fairly close by (preferably in the actual park!).

I feel you’re babying her. “She doesn’t do big rides”…. “Peer pressure”….. let her grow up a little bit.

if she chooses not to get on the ride at the last minute she can.

shes 12, not 2. Maybe her friends will help her grow up a bit.

Are they good friends and are they generally kind to each other?

My school took us too Alton towers at 12 and basically let us loose from the morning until dinner time so it was just me and my friend on rides all day. It was great!
Im not sure if things have changed though (I only have a little one) but if they’re sensible, I’d let them go!

Not without an adult, no way. Both Alton Towers and Thorpe Park are unfortunately overrun with gangs of feral teens. The staff do nothing, probably because they’re all about 17 themselves. Last time we went to TP my daughter and her friend, who were both 14 at the time, were harassed and catcalled every time they went more than about 20m away from me. Kids in the ride queues were all smoking weed and verbally abusing anyone who said anything. Staff literally shrugged and said there was nothing they could do.

We’re annual pass holders and I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving my eldest there without me on site. Alton towers is huge, the gardens and some of the walk ways are off the main paths. My kids know it like the back of their hand but I’d personally not let them do it alone until year 9.

I’d rather that than hanging out in town personally. It’s enclosed, staff are there, they have a planned activity… sounds ideal for 12-13 yos learning a bit of independence. The only reason it’s unlikely we’d do it is dh and I bloody love rides 😂

They'll be fine. Minimum age is 12.

We went with school and were left to our own devices from year 7. I’d only just turned 12 and there will have been a few others who were still 11. From year 8 I was going on a train with my mates to our nearest city, which was an hour away. Then from year 10, when I was still 14, I was going to gigs at night in larger cities, albeit not via public transport, we’d always get a lift, but no adult ever went in with us. I had quite a sheltered upbringing as well.