Please read if you have kids

[Raven9 Studios]

I recently found this thread and agree it needs more attention so here is the link and please share your personal stories in regards to the issue in the clubs. Also if anyone does get their opinion voiced and disney responds please also post that response. thanks so much

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2275758

 

[Olga]

I personally don't have a problem with the kids clubs. The limited amount of time we were there the counselors did very well, we stayed and watched. There was a child that was a problem, they called the parents who insisted that he remain in the club, our kid left. The way I see it they are only there for a short time if at all. Not like it's some private exclusive school where kids and parents are screened before they are admitted.

 

[kcashner]

DD has been in every programming level from age 7 - 18. Sometimes the experience has been great, other times just so-so. However, in no case was a sub-optimal experience the fault of the CMs with the exception of the time they decided to start "transition" early.

Given our personal experience and the fact that people tend to report bad more than good, I wouldn't hesitate to place my child in any programming age. However, I'd check on them periodically. I'm a freak--I wouldn't drop my child at age 10 with a Sunday School teacher that I didn't know! You can easily drop by the Club or Lab to see what's happening and be sure your child is comfortable.

IF you have a negative experience, report it on the ship (there is an officer responsible for the kid programming who answers to the CD who answers to the Captain!) I'd also write to DCL and address my letter to the president of the cruise line.

 

[Raven9 Studios]

DD has been in every programming level from age 7 - 18.
IF you have a negative experience, report it on the ship (there is an officer responsible for the kid programming who answers to the CD who answers to the Captain!) I'd also write to DCL and address my letter to the president of the cruise line.

I agree more people report/talk/etc about a negative experience over a positive experience which is why reputation is eveything. However, you can't be too careful when it comes to your children. As far as screening kids...I think Walt himself wanting his magic to be shared with all children regardless of their background or society ranking.
I do realize alot of people do the drop offs with their kids for whatever reason. My point is not to bash parents here or really the staff either. My point of drawing attention to this link is that if parents ARE TRUSTING a DISNEY STAFF or CLUB with their kids they need to be aware their expectation may not be what experience they receive.

In the cases on this link you can easily see this is usually the case for kids 5 and under and mainly in the club which everyone has agreed is overcrowded and chaotic. I am curious as a parent who witness too much on board a recent 7 day cruise is this something that needs more attention. If kids are being manhandled especially those who are younger and may not have a voice it needs to be addressed. Any parent I would think would agree.

Since the comment card has gone NO WHERE I would love to know how many people stuck around the clubs and saw the same things. I am not talking about older kids who entertain themselves but the younger ones who dont have a voice.

 

[mammacaryn]

I guess I would have reported any aggressive behavior or inappropriate behavior right away had I seen it, I wouldn't have just filled out an opinion card (if I overlooked that someone complained in person about this I apologize) That being said, we did a 4 day wonder last January and our kids LOVED it. My son was 5 and my daughter was 3. We never picked them up unhappy and never (NEVER) saw any other kids being mistreated or leaving un happy. We did witness tears of children not wanting to leave the club though.

I don't doubt that on occasion things go wrong....report it at the time, and hopefully those employees will no longer work in the kids room.

 

[Raven9 Studios]

I guess I would have reported any aggressive behavior or inappropriate behavior right away had I seen it, I wouldn't have just filled out an opinion card (if I overlooked that someone complained in person about this I apologize) That being said, we did a 4 day wonder last January and our kids LOVED it. My son was 5 and my daughter was 3. We never picked them up unhappy and never (NEVER) saw any other kids being mistreated or leaving un happy. We did witness tears of children not wanting to leave the club though.

I don't doubt that on occasion things go wrong....report it at the time, and hopefully those employees will no longer work in the kids room.

that is wonderful! I see you are leaving for a trip this year? Please come back and post your responces as well. Like I said my daughter didn't want to leave she had a ton of fun but was in the lab and 9.
This was also on the Magic for my personal observations and I did address the employee who quickly changed their tone but my problem was what would I have been told had I not been there to see it? It was the grabbing of their arm and twisting it and the other member who monkey held a child and quite frankly scared the little one who started to cry. Parent was never called in that situation.

 

[2bundles]

My daughter was 3 when we went. She loved every second of kids club, and we didn't think it was overly crowded. The carers were wonderful and always greeted her by name (even whilst in other places onboard and CC).
No complaints here.

Some kids just do not like being away from their parents, especially in an unfamiliar environment.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

No complaints here. Have done 2 7 day cruises and always had great service. DD7 rules the kids club and does not want to leave. DD10 is shy and hates the sports deck. We always sit down with the staff and discuss our daughters and their needs and they have always looked out for them. We have always known some of the staff by name and they know us. Maybe we are unusual because our kids are adopted and brown and we are vanilla white, but if you show you care I think you get the same response back.

It is no different than school in most regards. It is definitely designed for the middle of the road kid, but if you have special needs and are involved and active you will get a better result. I have often had counselors spend one on one time with my shy daughter until she warms up.

 

[Rob1559]

Wow that was positively negative. I have to wonder if they actually shared their concerns with DCL. Apparently she is also an expert on every aspect of childcare. How much time do you think she spent just standing their observing the children? The CM are just not selected for that position because that is all that is left to fill.
I think someone needs to lighten up.

 

[sabrecmc]

When we did our 3 day in September, I stayed in the Club with my 3 year old on the occasions she was there. She really had a blast. The CMs were very nice and I just watched and took pictures during the activities. She didn't want to do the slide and pirate ship on her own, which was fine. I didn't see too much of that behavior, other than on the slide where kids were going down without waiting for the other kids to move away from the bottom. A CM did come over and correct that behavior, but since there wasn't a CM "stationed" there, it really was bound to happen again. Maybe we just had well-behaved kids on our cruise!

Personally, I was not comfortable leaving my daughter in there at 3 on her own. Not b/c of anything Disney did or did not do, but just because of my comfort level and hers (and being paranoid about her potty training at that point). Our upcoming cruise, she will be 4.5 and I will have no trouble ditching her there while I go to Palo! She's very outgoing though and has no problem involving herself or talking to others, whether children or adults. I think that, and going to the wee school at our Church a couple mornings a week, helps make the experience a bit better on her.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I think part of the problem is that you never know when you go on the cruise if the staff is "fresh" or ready to take their leave.
On our 1st Disney cruise this past May on the Magic our head surver was going home a few weeks after our cruise. He was very distracted, rushed and huffy with us at times and we're an easy going family who doesn't ask for much. He treated us like we were a bother to him at times. My dh, kids and I agreed that we had friendlier, better service on RCCL's Sovereign in 1996!!! On the Sovereign we were made to feel specail and they went out of their way to make sure our kids were happy. On Disney it was like, ho-hum, oh well...it's just another family with kids who need their food.
Perhaps counselers in the camps get that way too when their time is almost up, as they are anxious to get off the ship and get their vacation?

 

[misseulalie]

In 10 cruises, we have had nothing but great experiences. We started when our girls were 3 and 5 and they did very well and had a great time.

I really think it depends on your child. If your under 5 child is at home with no day care/pre-school experience, I think they have a harder time adjusting.

My girls went to pre-school twice a week from ages 2-4 and I think that really helped with them having a good time and being away from us.

If I'm not mistaken, all the counselors have to have educational backgrounds and education and be certified in certain areas.

 

[glnrcker]

I was on the 1/23 cruise the same as the OP of this thread. We have a 3 (almost 4) year old and this was our first DCL cruise. She has been in preschool but we did not feel good about just leaving her at OC, so either myself, my husband, or my mother were usually going back and forth to check on her. The maximum time we left her there was 1.5 hours at a time, and either just once or twice a day. Again, always peeking in on her I'd say about every 20 minutes. During all of these times, we never found it chaotic, nor did we ever see any children crying inside. We thought the staff was wonderful and always asked her afterwards if there were any situations that she wanted to talk about. I think once she said there was a boy who used the word kill and she wanted to know what that meant. I think that boy freaked her out a little, but she still said how much she enjoyed it there. I guess in every job, someone at some point will have a bad day. Of course, we hope it will not be while watching our child, but other than keeping close tabs on your own kid (especially if under the age of 5), there has to be some level of trust or communication that your child will let you know if something happens, as soon as it happens. And definitely make a big deal about it with DCL and come back here and name names and dates. Especially if force is being used (even if it's not your child). There will always be someone on this board that was on that same cruise and might corroborate. Otherwise, definitely don't use the OC or OL if you don't feel comfortable.

One last opinion on that link: that poster would have had to do nothing else but be at the OC to have studied the behavior and situations as stated.

 

[emma'smom]

We've left our girls in the Ocean Club (ages 7 and 4) on the Wonder and they both loved it! We had NO problems and left them for multiple activities because they wanted to do so many different things. The CM's were friendly, kind, and enthusiastic. We're headed out on a 2 week cruise in a few months on the Magic and they can't wait to see what the clubs have to offer this time! No complaints here....

 

[scuba]

We were on the 2/4 sailing on the Wonder, the kids programs were by far the highlight, top knotch and far exceded any expectations. Our 4 year old had to be pulled kicking a screaming and she would run into the Oceaneers club and not look back. I found the staff to be attentive, one staff member was incredible trying to convince my 4 year old that she needs to go see the Toy Stoy musical. The flounder nursery was fantastic, handled diaper blowouts, kept track of rachels belongings......fantastic the highlight of our trip despite missing CC

 

[MickeyMom:)]

I am on the Magic right now, stuck at CC....Long story.... Anyhow I had told me kids that the kids club was their choice and that they were going to be allowed to use it as little or as much as they would like....We I had to pry them away from it to spend time with us....The encounters I witnessed were endearing and sweet. Not one did I see or get any bad vibes. My kids went freely from the lab to the club. They had the friendship rocks ceremony and the way they controlled those kids to and from the theatre was impressive. My kids as well as my DH and I are fans of the kids club and Disney sold us on another cruise...

 

[dsneygirl]

My daughter was 3 when we went. She loved every second of kids club, and we didn't think it was overly crowded. The carers were wonderful and always greeted her by name (even whilst in other places onboard and CC).
No complaints here.

Some kids just do not like being away from their parents, especially in an unfamiliar environment.

Ditto except I have a DS. We thought the kids club was outstanding. Every counsellor we dealt with was fantastic, professional and courteous.

The one time we were paged because DS was upset we went there and found him and another little boy sitting quietly with a counsellor in the TV corner watching cartoons.

 

[Tinkerkell123]

I am on the Magic right now, stuck at CC....Long story....

So.... what's the story with that? I would like to be stuck at CC!

 

[TinksDH]

So.... what's the story with that? I would like to be stuck at CC!

Not this way - the weather is so bad they can't move. No fun being there on the ship not knowing when you'll get out. It would be different if it were sunny and you were on the beach!

 

[Raven9 Studios]

Not this way - the weather is so bad they can't move. No fun being there on the ship not knowing when you'll get out. It would be different if it were sunny and you were on the beach!

That is horrible~!! I am sending better weather your way now lol! Seriously tho, any updates