Edge and 11 year olds?

[jjje]

Considering things on an individual basis is all fine and good in theory but it doesn't really work in practice sometimes. I mean, my son is smart, respectful and very mature for his age. There are some 18+ activities on the ship he would love to take part in and I'm certain that if it could be arranged he would behave perfectly. So then what? They let him in AND all the other kids who's parents think they are smart and mature AND all the kids who aren't all that mature but who really, really want to go? What's the point of age limits at all if everyone is a special case?

 

[Princess Sleepy]

That's my point. Age limits are random cut offs. They have no point.

Regarding the 10 year old in the Edge who didn't follow the rules and was banned: perfect example. It didn't work for him, so he was removed.

It's the rules are rules mentality that I just don't get. Rules are set in place to make society function smoothly, not to make everything fair.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Considering things on an individual basis is all fine and good in theory but it doesn't really work in practice sometimes. I mean, my son is smart, respectful and very mature for his age. There are some 18+ activities on the ship he would love to take part in and I'm certain that if it could be arranged he would behave perfectly. So then what? They let him in AND all the other kids who's parents think they are smart and mature AND all the kids who aren't all that mature but who really, really want to go? What's the point of age limits at all if everyone is a special case?

Very true. A cruise ship with hundreds (maybe a thousand?) of children can't possibly look at every possibility and evaluate each as an individual. Geesh.

Parents of 9/10 year olds that you are sure need to be with the middle schoolers...why not try talking to the CM's on board about having some age appropriate activities in the Lab? You could do this at registration, or at the first Open house. If folks aren't asking for programming for that age, and aren't sending their kids- DCL isn't going to provide it.

Since no one else has mentioned it...I'll say it. My (then) 11 year old was NOT ready for the Edge. He was only 11 by a few days and it was a KSF cruise, so there wasn't room for him to do both. He had to go to the Edge, and he soooo didn't fit in. There. I said it. My child must not be as special as everyone else

Now, when he sailed again and was in middle school, he had a great time and made friends, just like when he was in the Lab when he was younger. He'll be 13 on our next cruise, and let me say he hopes that the 10 year olds aren't in the Edge! He definitely won't be moving up to the Vibe. His older sister would be mortified!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

That's my point. Age limits are random cut offs. They have no point.

That's not actually true. DCL has made the age cut offs to coincide with school age levels, which work for the majority of children. 12 and under- elementary school. 11-14, middle school. 14-17, high school. They built in some overlap in trying to accommodate those younger/ older ones in each grade, and siblings/friends.

Now the 10 year old in 6th grade at a middle school CAN happen, it's just not common. And either way, the 10 year old should have more in common with a 9 year old than the 13/14 year old 8th grader. The problem is the programming in the Lab just not appealing to older children! Then there is the age old "10-going-on-30" thing. Kids are in such a hurry to grow up. If anything, a Disney Cruise should be the time they CAN be silly and be a kid.

 

[allaboutdisney1967]

Myself, DH, DD (15), and DD BFF (14) are cruising on April 14th Dream.
This is my family's 3rd cruise and BFF's 1st.

My daughter has been in the OL on the Wonder and the Edge on the Dream. This year we move to Vibe.

I know things have changed program wise with OC and OL since my daughter was in OL (8 -12 year olds). At that time there was no mixing and mingling. 8 -12 year olds were on one side in OL an 3 -7 year olds were in other side in OC. This kept activities a little more age appropriate. She enjoyed it.

Our 2nd cruise on Dream she was in Edge (11 - 13 year olds) she was 13. There was no mixing and mingling then and if your birthday was very close they let the almost 11 year old in.

This Aprl she'll be in the Vibe. I would have been horrified if they had let my 13 year old go the the Vibe with the 14 -17 year olds. There is way to much going on "socially" at those ages for kids to "squeak" in to a club.

Like PP stated, Disney is the one place where children should want to be children and stop and smell the roses.

I am just very excited that as of the inauguration of the Dream they now have Wave phones on the ship. This helps with keeping in touch with your children so that way if they are in need of help finding an activity to entertain them you can intervene.

Most of the 14-17 year olds are probably there to hang out in Vibe and Vibe splash area just to chill and be with their peers.

I know that on our Dream cruise one of the posters started a tween and teen link because they had DD in both catagories. My daughter chatted there religiously. We ended up finding someone online that lived an hour away from us. He was also an only child. They met, got along, and hung out together on the cruise. They also added on others to their group on board.


Can never have enough friends who are fellow Disney nuts (Disneyphiles)!

Donna

 

[Fuhnuh]

Anyway, we are headed out on an Alaskan cruise in June and she will have just turned 11. We are wondering how the 11 year olds fit in at the Edge?

DD11 had the best time at the Edge on the Dream last August. She met several girls her age (most of them 12, actually) through emails exchanged on the cruise meet board and spent most of her time with them. She never said anything about feeling young or left out. I am guessing that some of it will come down to the make-up of the tween group on the cruise, but we are hoping that it works out well next summer for both our families.

 

[bats]

I can't imagine that leaving the decision to the child and parents on what club to go into would work well, if at all.

All parents like to think their child is sensible, mature and polite, so imagine what would happen if the CM, after a day with 10 yr old Johnnie in Vibe, asked the parents to take him to OC/OL the next day.

Would the parents accept this without argument, would Johnnie not have a hissy fit? Does the CM have time to monitor the behaviour of every single 'wrong age' child all day and night? Of course they don't.

Putting an age bracket on it is the only way to keep these groups running well. Of course, children will often want to be with an older group, but it's up to the parents to explain that's it's not happening. By pandering to the child and allowing them to dictate what club they go into, then watching them have a hissy fit when DCL say no, is surely not good?

Like another poster said, if they were stricter about who could go where, the clubs would run better as there would be activities for the older children too (in OL/OC).

I haven't put that very well at all, sorry. I know what I mean though!

 

[momto2girls]

I agree. I just don't understand why it's so hard to do. A 10 year old is too "grown" to be with 8 year olds? Really? Maybe, if parents stop treating their 10 year olds like teenagers, they would be happy to just be kids.

For my almost-10 year old, it is NOT an issue of being with younger kids. She is fine with having younger ones around. The problem is that the activities themselves are not appealing for her age group. She told me that, so I went to check it out a couple of cruises ago (a few months after she had turned 9) and she was right. The activities and games that they offered were much too babyish to be of interest to her. They are definitely geared to a younger crowd.

The Out and About activities for 8-12 year olds are great, and I will definitely point those out to both of my girls on our upcoming trip. They are fun and something that they can do together. They enjoyed them on our last trip. I just wish that they had more of them.

 

[JnDRader]

I can't imagine that leaving the decision to the child and parents on what club to go into would work well, if at all.

All parents like to think their child is sensible, mature and polite, so imagine what would happen if the CM, after a day with 10 yr old Johnnie in Vibe, asked the parents to take him to OC/OL the next day.

Would the parents accept this without argument, would Johnnie not have a hissy fit? Does the CM have time to monitor the behaviour of every single 'wrong age' child all day and night? Of course they don't.

Putting an age bracket on it is the only way to keep these groups running well. Of course, children will often want to be with an older group, but it's up to the parents to explain that's it's not happening. By pandering to the child and allowing them to dictate what club they go into, then watching them have a hissy fit when DCL say no, is surely not good?

Like another poster said, if they were stricter about who could go where, the clubs would run better as there would be activities for the older children too (in OL/OC).

I haven't put that very well at all, sorry. I know what I mean though!

Painting with a rather broad brush aren't you? I'm just giving you a hard time. It's practically impossible to carry on a serious conversation on a message board and get your entire point across.

The main problem is that the OL simply doesn't seem to cater at all to the needs of 10-12yo's. Some kids may be happy there but most don't seem to be in the 10-12 age bracket.

We all want our kids to have as much fun as possible on the cruise. Everyone just needs to keep that in mind. IMO it's silly to say to a 10yo that he or she can't go into a club that 1 day/week/month later is suddenly ok. It does depend on the child. My son would likely be happy in the lab until he's 18 He enjoys it that much. My daughter kind of liked the drawing and craft stuff but when I went to pick her up she was the oldest by far with some 5 and 6 yo's around her.

It has nothing to do with trying to "force our kids to grow up faster". And for the record, my daughter wouldn't throw a hissy fit if she wasn't allowed in the Edge though she'll be a month shy of 11. She'd be fine with it and so would we.

 

[dznystar]

DS will be 10 on our upcoming cruise, and while he plays well with younger kids because our neighborhood is full of them, I want him to participate in activities that are geared towards his age group. I'm not ready for him to go to the edge, so IMO that is not an option. But I do think there is a HUGE age/maturity difference between a 10/11 yo and 3/4/5 yo... Obviously, Disney just can't make everyone happy....not even with all the pixie dust... but branching off with an 8-11 yo group like the way it was initially started back on the magic and wonder seems more reasonable.

 

[NurseAmyD]

I agree. I just don't understand why it's so hard to do. A 10 year old is too "grown" to be with 8 year olds? Really? Maybe, if parents stop treating their 10 year olds like teenagers, they would be happy to just be kids.

The issue is not 10 year olds being too grown to be with 8 year olds. The issue is that 10 year olds are too grown to be with 3/4 year olds. I don't know too many people who can argue with that.

I don't treat my 10 year old like a teenager. In fact, I mourned when my baby turned 'double digits'. I'm simply trying to make this an enjoyable cruise for him, with age-appropriate activities. This is our first cruise ever and our first with Disney. So, I'm just going by what I've read here on the DisBoards. From what I hear about OL, the activities are geared toward much younger kids.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

The issue is not 10 year olds being too grown to be with 8 year olds. The issue is that 10 year olds are too grown to be with 3/4 year olds. I don't know too many people who can argue with that.

I don't treat my 10 year old like a teenager. In fact, I mourned when my baby turned 'double digits'. I'm simply trying to make this an enjoyable cruise for him, with age-appropriate activities. This is our first cruise ever and our first with Disney. So, I'm just going by what I've read here on the DisBoards. From what I hear about OL, the activities are geared toward much younger kids.

Just remember though- everything you read here may or may not apply to your child! People complaining on the DIS is like rain in Orlando. It happens all the time...but doesn't mean things won't be great! Activities vary by cruise. In all honesty, it's not that bad! If it was people wouldn't keep going back. If you look in the Navigators you'll see that not all activities are lumping 3-11 year olds together AT ALL! Sometimes, yes, especially if one side is closed.

You haven't even had a chance for your child to experience the kids clubs. Don't take some posters' opinions as fact. Your child's experience may be totally different. And- some kids never do enjoy the clubs, not because of "ages" but because its really not their thing!

Try to relax and have a GREAT cruise!

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Painting with a rather broad brush aren't you? I'm just giving you a hard time. It's practically impossible to carry on a serious conversation on a message board and get your entire point across.

The main problem is that the OL simply doesn't seem to cater at all to the needs of 10-12yo's. Some kids may be happy there but most don't seem to be in the 10-12 age bracket.

We all want our kids to have as much fun as possible on the cruise. Everyone just needs to keep that in mind. IMO it's silly to say to a 10yo that he or she can't go into a club that 1 day/week/month later is suddenly ok. It does depend on the child. My son would likely be happy in the lab until he's 18 He enjoys it that much. My daughter kind of liked the drawing and craft stuff but when I went to pick her up she was the oldest by far with some 5 and 6 yo's around her.

It has nothing to do with trying to "force our kids to grow up faster". And for the record, my daughter wouldn't throw a hissy fit if she wasn't allowed in the Edge though she'll be a month shy of 11. She'd be fine with it and so would we.

ITA with this post. I wish they would do some programming specifically for upper elementary school kids. Maybe it will be different depending on what age kids are actually in the OL on any given cruise.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of activities go on in the Edge that are so mature that we should be shielding our 10 year olds from them?

 

[MateasMom]

My kids were 11 and 13YO when we cruised. It was a week after 11YOs bday, so she was a young 11. 13YO was afraid Edge would be lame (little kids), but they both had a fantastic time. They spent the majority of their time in Edge. Enough so that it made us feel a little guilty that we were spending so little time together as a family. Both made a lot of friends, some they still email with. We even ran in to one at the market (here at home) and they totally recognized one another.

 

[kcashner]

The issue is not 10 year olds being too grown to be with 8 year olds. The issue is that 10 year olds are too grown to be with 3/4 year olds. I don't know too many people who can argue with that.

I don't treat my 10 year old like a teenager. In fact, I mourned when my baby turned 'double digits'. I'm simply trying to make this an enjoyable cruise for him, with age-appropriate activities. This is our first cruise ever and our first with Disney. So, I'm just going by what I've read here on the DisBoards. From what I hear about OL, the activities are geared toward much younger kids.

The activities are given "suggested age" notations on the Navigators. The kids are separated by activities rather than by age, particularly during the open house hours (when the secure kids are all in one space). While technically the rules allow a 3 year old to "participate" in an activity listed as suggested for 9-12, this is rare and is certainly not encouraged by the CMs. It is a lot more common for a 5 or 6 year old to opt for a 3-4 activity. The CMs will try to direct kids toward age appropriate activities, but will not suggest older kid activities to little ones. IF a young child asks, they are allowed to attend older kid activities...but again, these kids can't keep track of time or ask. So it ends up being those who are trying to hang with an older sibling.

 

[NurseAmyD]

Just remember though- everything you read here may or may not apply to your child! People complaining on the DIS is like rain in Orlando. It happens all the time...but doesn't mean things won't be great! Activities vary by cruise. In all honesty, it's not that bad! If it was people wouldn't keep going back. If you look in the Navigators you'll see that not all activities are lumping 3-11 year olds together AT ALL! Sometimes, yes, especially if one side is closed.

You haven't even had a chance for your child to experience the kids clubs. Don't take some posters' opinions as fact. Your child's experience may be totally different. And- some kids never do enjoy the clubs, not because of "ages" but because its really not their thing!

Try to relax and have a GREAT cruise!

Great advice, Silly Little Pixie!! Thanks for putting all of this into perspective. I tend to get a little crazy with trying to plan and sometime forget to just RELAX!! We will definitely be checking out the kids clubs (as well as the Edge and the Vibe, since we have a 12-year-old and 15-year-old, too!).

Whatever happens, I know we will have an amazing week together, after what has been a challenging year for our family. Time to CELEBRATE!!!

 

[lbgraves]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of activities go on in the Edge that are so mature that we should be shielding our 10 year olds from them?

You are missing the point. It's not the club activities. It's the age of the kids, their experiences, how they talk, the subjects they talk about, even the language they use. Many 12/13 yos are starting to "date". Not something I allow with my kids, but the flirtation is definitely there for them to see. The topics of conversation my 12 yo comes home with are a challenge sometimes, along with the words that she hears at school and repeats. I would NOT have wanted her to be exposed to this when she was 10. This is the same reason parents of 13 yos complained to DCL about their kids being in the same group with 17/18 yos. I don't let my 14 yo hang out with 18 yos outside of his sport activities that are closely monitored at home, why would it be okay on the ship where there are only a couple CMs in the area at a time? Last cruise on the Fantasy, the kids said that there were just 3 CMs working in the Edge.

 

[love280mickey]

You are missing the point. It's not the club activities. It's the age of the kids, their experiences, how they talk, the subjects they talk about, even the language they use. Many 12/13 yos are starting to "date". Not something I allow with my kids, but the flirtation is definitely there for them to see. The topics of conversation my 12 yo comes home with are a challenge sometimes, along with the words that she hears at school and repeats. I would NOT have wanted her to be exposed to this when she was 10. This is the same reason parents of 13 yos complained to DCL about their kids being in the same group with 17/18 yos. I don't let my 14 yo hang out with 18 yos outside of his sport activities that are closely monitored at home, why would it be okay on the ship where there are only a couple CMs in the area at a time? Last cruise on the Fantasy, the kids said that there were just 3 CMs working in the Edge.

It's not so much that we're shielding the 10 year olds from anything the 11 and ups are doing, but we're trying to give the 11 and up Edge group their own fun as well. I think of it like school....I'm sure this doesn't apply across the board either, from district, state or other requirements. But, typically, a 10 year old is still in elementary or 5th grade, unless they have an earlier birthday. For example, my dd turned 11 in April, almost the end of 5th grade. (I know this is not always true - for some reason my dd's school, she is the youngest at times and kids are starting the grade at an age she's finishing the grade. She was 5 starting K, where a lot of kids were already 6) Anyway, I have seen a HUGE difference in kids from Elementary to Middle school. Even at the Middle school, there is a big difference between the new 6th graders and 7th graders when it comes to maturity levels.

My dd will certainly be respectful, helpful, etc with younger kids, she does it all the time in Girl Scouts and at church. But, when she wants to "hang", she wants to be with kids her own age, or up to one year older who are still in Middle School. Except for her best friends sisters, she doesn't feel comfortable hanging with kids from High School, and I understand that. Again, the High Schoolers don't want a 7th grader invading their space either.