Just Meet Me At EPCOT

A mom at soccer yesterday debating about letting her young daughter play on the playground nearby without her directly supervising reminded me of a recent conversation, dare I say request that the boy made regarding our upcoming Walt Disney World trip.  His request—to “meet him” somewhere at EPCOT.  He wants to be able to go off by himself for a while and designate a meeting spot and time. 

When I shared this with the mom at soccer, she laughed and said, “Well, he knows it by heart and the Cast Members call him by name.”  I laughed in response as it is partly true.

But it will have been a year. . . a whole year, since we were last there.  Yes, it will be his twelfth trip to Walt Disney World and who knows how many visits to EPCOT.  We have said before at some point in various trips for him to “go ahead and go to Germany and the train garden” when we were behind him one or two World Showcase Pavilions and met up with him after a leisurely stroll.  So, his request is not out of the ordinary. He has definitely grown up with Disney.

It also made me remember that due to his age, Disney Cruise Line has already afforded him the privilege of checking himself in and out of the kids clubs on board.  Up to age 10, we had a choice as to whether or not to give him that privilege, but at age 11, he is automatically given that option. 

Oh, the parenting dilemmas of how much freedom and independence to allow your kids whether it is at the nearby playground, on a cruise ship, or at a theme park!