Kids club for 3 year old????

[uscgmouse]

We are looking at taking a cruise next December. Our son will have just turned 3 two weeks before the cruise. I know he has to be potty trained for the kids club... And assuming he is.... How is the kids club for a little one? I have talked to a few CMs who say there are different activities for deferent ages but I still worry that my son is going to be running around doing whatever. Will the CM on duty even know who he is? I am not a super worried parent I just don't want my toddler running around with older kids and getting hurt or lost in the shuffle.

I would love to hear others experiences with the kids club. I am not sure if I should plan to book the nursery or if he will be ok in the kids club.


Thank you!

 

[melaniejh1016]

My daughter is 4.5 and I had the same concerns. There are SO many CM's in the club at any given time. There are organized activities as well as free play. In every room there will be a CM making sure all the kids are ok and doing something. Sometimes I'd find her participating in the group activity, sometimes she'd be playing pretend family games with a CM, sometimes she'd be doing an art project in one of the rooms in the Lab. Basically they can do whatever they want but there is SO much to do!! They also have open house for an hour or 2 each morning where you can go with him and see what he will be doing. My daughter had the best time in the kids club! They have characters come in for some of the activities. It's super cool!

 

[kcashner]

The above is a good description. There is not ONE CM on duty; there are many. Some are running the scheduled activities, others are attending to kids doing free play. While I wouldn't leave a "just 3" for a long time, he should be fine for a couple hours. If not, the CMs can always call you.

 

[melaniejh1016]

You will have your wave phone and they page you if your child wants to leave.

 

[suzanneaz]

The Wonder and Magic have the Club and Lab seperate whereas they are connected on the Fantasy and Dream. This may or may not make a difference for your son. Something to think about...

 

[erinsmom03]

The Wonder and Magic have the Club and Lab seperate whereas they are connected on the Fantasy and Dream. This may or may not make a difference for your son. Something to think about...

Our first cruise is in February on the Fantasy, and I've been wondering about how the clubs were connected. I thought I'd read that I can allow my DD9 to be able to go between the two clubs, or restrict her to the one I drop her off at. I would think she could handle moving between the two, especially as she'll be with her two cousins, ages 9 & 7, but I was wondering about the logistics of it, specifically the security...knowing Disney, I am sure it will be fine, just curious...

 

[lanejudy]

Our first cruise is in February on the Fantasy, and I've been wondering about how the clubs were connected. I thought I'd read that I can allow my DD9 to be able to go between the two clubs, or restrict her to the one I drop her off at. I would think she could handle moving between the two, especially as she'll be with her two cousins, ages 9 & 7, but I was wondering about the logistics of it, specifically the security...knowing Disney, I am sure it will be fine, just curious...

You are sailing on the Fantasy so the 2 clubs are connected. Unless it is "Open House" mode in 1 or the other, the kids are generally free to pass between the 2. The Club will generally offer programming geared younger and the Lab will generally offer programming geared older, but all kids 3-12 are allowed in both locations. The only time they are restricted to one side is if the other side is in "Open House" mode and therefore all "secured programming" is offered in only the other side.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[lanejudy]

We are looking at taking a cruise next December. Our son will have just turned 3 two weeks before the cruise. I know he has to be potty trained for the kids club... And assuming he is.... How is the kids club for a little one? I have talked to a few CMs who say there are different activities for deferent ages but I still worry that my son is going to be running around doing whatever. Will the CM on duty even know who he is? I am not a super worried parent I just don't want my toddler running around with older kids and getting hurt or lost in the shuffle.

I would love to hear others experiences with the kids club. I am not sure if I should plan to book the nursery or if he will be ok in the kids club.


Thank you!

As others have mentioned, there is plenty of staff in each club so the children are not "lost in the shuffle" so to speak. They might invite or encourage your child to participate in a particular activity, but it won't be required. There may be kids as old as 12 in the club as well, though generally the Lab programming is geared to the older kids and the Club programming towards the younger kids.

If your son is officially 3 as of the sail date and potty-trained, you will not be able to schedule nursery time for him in advance. If you decide the Club is not an appropriate location for him, the nursery MAY be able to accommodate you with some time, but you'll need to ask onboard.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[erinsmom03]

You are sailing on the Fantasy so the 2 clubs are connected. Unless it is "Open House" mode in 1 or the other, the kids are generally free to pass between the 2. The Club will generally offer programming geared younger and the Lab will generally offer programming geared older, but all kids 3-12 are allowed in both locations. The only time they are restricted to one side is if the other side is in "Open House" mode and therefore all "secured programming" is offered in only the other side.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for the info!

 

[natandscott]

I'm concerned about this as well. We're booking a cruise for January 2014 and my son, who is currently 3, is a little escape artist. I would love to be confident in knowing that my little guy is going to stay inside the confines of the kids' club

 

[melaniejh1016]

There is no way to escape! There are lots or CMs by the entrance/exit. It would be very hard to get by them.
The club and lab are connected. So there is no way to restrict a child from going between the 2.

 

[natandscott]

Thanks! That's reassuring!

 

[Gdes1]

We just returned from a 14-night cruise with 3 1/2 year old DS. A few things to note....the CMs cannot help with going to the potty in any way. They can stand outside the door and sort of talk a kid through it, but he needs to be able to handle the whole process himself. In our case, this resulted in DS wetting his pants on one of the first days because he didn't know or remember where the potty was and either didn't know TO ask, didn't know who to ask, or was too shy.

We also were undressing him for bath one night and realized he must have done #2 all by himself because he was not wiped. But, he did start using the potty in the club.

As a boy, he is really not into crafts so he hardly ever participated in the activity if it was a craft. He would play on the slide, but only if there were other kids to sort of chase with. Some of the group games were beyond him. I should add he's not in daycare and only in pre-school a few hours a week and that's only been a few months. A child who is more familiar with a group care setting may do differently.

There were times we'd arrive and he'd be on the slide with other kids. Other times he'd be glued to one of the movie screens.

So, it worked for an hour or two during or after dinner. The other thing is how the club and lab rotate open vs. secured hours. As luck would have it, our Palo brunch took place when the club was on open house, so we had to leave him in the lab. I would say he was lost in there.

Also, our sailing had very few children compared to most sailings, so he got more attention from the CMs. As others will say, every kid is different. You can always try it. I wouldn't plan your cruise thinking you can leave your son there for hours on end while you have adult time, but it will work as a place for him to run off some steam, or for you to have and hour or two "off" at a time.