Edge and 11 year olds?

[wallawallakids]

Originally Posted by PrincessShmoo

Sorry for the snippy post.

But, one of the first things that we learn here is that the CMs on the phone really don't know about how things work on the cruises, indeed, some of them have never been on any cruise, much less Disney. If you call and ask the same question of 4 different CMs, most likely you'll get 4 different replies.

I would set my (whatever age) child up with the information as to what the ages are for each club and which one(s) they would be able to check out the first night. IMO, it's a good time to make the point that growing up involves choices. "You can go into Edge or Lab because you are 11, but you must pick one". That way, if the CMs onboard are allowing crossovers, all the better, if that's what your child wants.

I agree allowing younger than specified ages to "go up" is making the various club levels not as attractive to those on the higher end of each club.

Thank you. This is our first cruise so we have no idea how anything works. I guess it is kind of like when you call WDW and they say you can have guaranteed connecting rooms but you really can't. My DD can just hang out with her sibs in the OC. I doubt they will be in there that much anyway. Thanks for the clarification.

[momto2girls]

Originally Posted by kcashner

DD had a lot of bad cruises at lab age, and that was before the tween group or any overlap. It's a tough age for them to quickly make friends However, part of the problem of a 10 year old not "fitting" is the issue of moving them up. The more they allow move up of kids who aren't totally at the overlap age, the more their correct age program becomes "dummed down." And then the older kid program gets too babyish for the correct age kids there.....Oh well......

Oh, I get it. It is fine that she doesn't go to a Kids Club. None of them are appropriate for her right now and that is okay. She is excited that she will be able to go to the Edge when she is 11. I don't have the heart to tell her that after our Med cruise this summer, we are probably done with Disney cruises. (At that point, we will have done all of the "routes" and since Disney isn't great about adding new destinations, we'll have to move to another cruise line.)

[JnDRader]

Originally Posted by kcashner

DD had a lot of bad cruises at lab age, and that was before the tween group or any overlap. It's a tough age for them to quickly make friends However, part of the problem of a 10 year old not "fitting" is the issue of moving them up. The more they allow move up of kids who aren't totally at the overlap age, the more their correct age program becomes "dummed down." And then the older kid program gets too babyish for the correct age kids there.....Oh well......

Yeah. Some age group has to pay I don't envy whoever's in charge of this stuff for Disney. I'm sure they're aware of the problem but they just don't have the space to resolve it. There has to be a way to get the 10yo's "into" some activities at the lab. On our April cruise DD and her best fried will both be just weeks shy of turning 11. It'll either be the Edge or roaming for them.

[hudson3709]

What about the Out and About activities? They say they are for 8-14 and often are in an open house at the Edge (this is according to the 8 night Magic Navigators I just read)

That is what we are planning for our daughter and her group of friends. There are 4 in the 12-14 age range but 1 is 8 years old. They will be inseparable during the cruise, and when they read about the out and about activities, they became very happy.

Have any here had any real world experience with the out and about activities?

[jjje]

I wish they would just set the guidelines and enforce them the same way across the board. My 12 (almost 13) year old is going to be annoyed if there are 9 year olds the Edge when he's there. It seems like maybe this is just a case of Disney trying too hard to keep everyone happy and that just can't be done.

[EPCOTatNight]

Originally Posted by jjje

I wish they would just set the guidelines and enforce them the same way across the board. My 12 (almost 13) year old is going to be annoyed if there are 9 year olds the Edge when he's there. It seems like maybe this is just a case of Disney trying to hard to keep everyone happy and that just can't be done.

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.

[ZoeBell]

On my recent cruise on the Wonder my daughter thought the Edge was to babyish and in her words "lame". Including the activities. Needless to say she didn't go there. She didn't bother with Vibe either. Her and her friend roamed the ship.

[lbgraves]

Originally Posted by hudson3709

What about the Out and About activities? They say they are for 8-14 and often are in an open house at the Edge (this is according to the 8 night Magic Navigators I just read)

That is what we are planning for our daughter and her group of friends. There are 4 in the 12-14 age range but 1 is 8 years old. They will be inseparable during the cruise, and when they read about the out and about activities, they became very happy.

Have any here had any real world experience with the out and about activities?

When DD was 10 she had to have an adult with her to go to the activities in the Edge that were listed as out and about.

Originally Posted by jjje

I wish they would just set the guidelines and enforce them the same way across the board. My 12 (almost 13) year old is going to be annoyed if there are 9 year olds the Edge when he's there. It seems like maybe this is just a case of Disney trying too hard to keep everyone happy and that just can't be done.

My kids feel that they had to wait until the specified age to be in the Edge, so the other kids should as well.

[Princess Sleepy]

As a PP mentioned, age is just a number. I work in an elementary school and the difference between one 5 yo and another is huge. Even the difference between one 10 yo and another can be vast. It seems like the kids and the parents should be able to decide which activities and security level is appropriate for their child without a specific age being required. If a child is not able to participate appropriately, then a CM can inform the parents and adjustments can be made.

My DD will be in a hard situation on our cruise in December. She will be 10, but is a year ahead in school, so all of the friends she normally hangs out with will be 11 going on 12. But, we are traveling with her sister (7) and her cousins (9, 7, and 4) so she may want to hang out with them. But she may also find OL to have activities that aren't suited to her age level. Is it reasonable to expect her to play "baby" games all week? It is her vacation too.

Luckily, she is an easy going kid and will adjust to whatever is required, but I get frustrated with people who look at these things in absolutes and want to do everything "by the book" without considering each case individually.

[lbgraves]

Unfortunately, not every parent is objective about their child's level so of course they all need to be in the older group. Reality is not always what the parent believes and so it does affect those who are meant to be in a club. Last cruise there was an issue with an almost 10 yo being allowed into the Edge. They bullied other kids physically and then threw coins at the CMs when they were trying to meet with the group about the rules in the club. Their parent had to sign a form to get them into the Edge at age 10, but obviously were mistaken about their child's proper placement. The kid was essentially banned from the Edge for the rest of the cruise the second day.

My DD is also 1-2 years younger than most of her classmates and was 10 in 6th grade, but the rules are the rules and she was not able to go to Edge that cruise.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by Princess Sleepy

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