Children's Programs Onboard

[62travelDisney]

For the kids clubs, does anybody know whether Disney will let my 4.5 year old daughter move to be with my 6 year old? They would do so much better together.

 

[jel0511]

They will not allow a child to move up, but they will let a child move down. So for your children to be together you'd have to move your 6 YO down to the 3 - 4 YO group. A child has to be within one month of the age group to be moved up.

 

[Pixie Mom 3]

From the information that I have read they will not let you move your child up or down in age unless your child is with in one month of the age group... best way to find out for sure is to call and ask... that way you will be prepared and can prepare your children... I have some what the same problem I have a 10 and 11 year old with a younger sibling who is 6 1/2 they do everything together and it may be hard for the younger one to be with out the others so we just started talking with them about it...

my info came from the the pass porter disney cruise line book

 

[mom2_fourgirls]

I just got back from our first cruise and had the same situation before we left. Let me tell you they will not budge but guess what - it doesn't matter. The four year old and the 6 year old are in the same room. They have their own groups but when they are in the club they are together. My 6 year old had to be separated from her older sisters (8, 10, and 11 year olds) but she ended up really loving it!! There is so much going on that proximity doesn't matter. My 6 year old hung out in the club for a couple of hours each day but then we had her explore the ship with us, too. The whole program there is so fantastic and the counselor's are really great with all the kids!!

I was very apprehensive before we left, too. It all worked out in the end. I actually ended up hanging out in the kid's area a little bit becasue they were so much fun to watch. They had so much fun!! Make sure your kids are there to make the flubber! Also the bridge tour is really great!

Wendy

 

[62travelDisney]

Thanks for all of your comments, at least I can prepare myself and the kids before we go, if the girls are at least in the same room they should be fine, and we probably wouldn't keep them there any longer than they wanted to be. Did your kids like the programs enough to want to stay there so you do do activities, dine at Palo, get messages, etc., or is it unrealistic of me to think that will be happening with 4 kids?

Thanks,
Laurie

 

[mom2_fourgirls]

Hi Laurie,

Well here's what happened with our 4 girls. The two older girls (10 and 11) were given check-in and check-out privledges. Basically they could come and go as they pleased. They were required to at least page us and let us know where they were going but we didn't have to return to 'check' them out. They stayed in the clubs doing the activities until a movie they wanted to see was on or they wanted to see what was going on with us. Mostly, we hardly ever saw them except at dinner and the show when I made them join us. As far as the 8 year old, she was not allowed to check herself out without one of us actually coming to the room to get her. We never got a page and we also never saw her. She had an absolute blast. They don't just stay in the rooms all day either. They travel all over the ship doing stuff like bridge tours, game shows, lunch, and just general exploring. Lastly, my 6 year old was one of the oldest in the 5-6 year old group. That group is in the younger oceaneer's club with the 3-4 year olds. She got a bit bored at times because they have a lot more 'down' time where it's just open play. She spent more time with us but we really didn't mind. We tried to make sure she was able to be there for the scheduled activities and then we picked her up during the 'free time'. It worked out great. We got some time to ourselves but we also spent time with the kids since this was our family vacation.

By the way, before we left we wondered about the pager program. Basically, you get a single text pager. When one of your kids needs you they send a text page that says something like "your 10-12 old is checking out to go to the movie in the theater" or "your 6 year old wishes to be picked up". This really helps a lot so I always knew what was going on with the kids.

Hope info this helps.

Wendy

 

[62travelDisney]

Wendy, thanks so much for the helpful info., cannot wait!

Laurie

 

[kcashner]

As much as we may wish (while sitting at home) to have the groups arranged differently or to allow kids to be together...in 10 cruises, I've found the DCL rules to be totally fair and really for the best. You must be within 30 days of the next age to be allowed to move up. Kids are allowed to move down with permission of the parent and counsellor, but it is a one time only move. That is, you can't move a kid down on Sunday and want them back to their normal group on Tuesday. The staff suggests that you try them in their age appropriate group first, and consider a move down only if that doesn't work. Their logic is that a 6 year old really isn't likely to be happy in a 3-4 group.

Your 4 and 6 year olds will both be in the Oceaneer's Club. They are in the same general area for most of the time, but are in separate groups. The groups are 3-4 and 5-7 in the club, 8-9 and 10-12 in the Lab.

I've always found the key to happiness in the programs is whether or not my DD makes a friend in the first day or 2. With a buddy, she is totally happy. Without, she wants to be with me...that's basically fine too.

And, for anyone who is interested...THE STACK ROCKS. That's per DD, who got home yesterday and wants to go back today.

 

[tross]

I am really worried about this issue as well. My DSs are 7 1/2, 10 and 12. The youngest will not be within the one month required to move up to the 8yr group. I thought if he could at least he would be in lab with the other two though not in the same group. Since we are cruising during the spring break period we are expecting lots of kids. I am assuming that impacts how flexabile they can be on this subject. Do you think I should ask to have the 7+ move to 8 if they will? Being the youngest he is always around older kids.

 

[mom2_fourgirls]

They WILL NOT let you move up to another age group (unless you are within a month) especially if its busy (like spring break). By the way - you can't lie about their ages either. They have them on the computer with your cabin info. They are very strict on this point. I completely understand why. It saves them the headache of answering to outraged parents who are offended that they let one but not another. It's for the saftey of the kids, too.

 

[tross]

Mom2_fourgirls.

My situation is similiar to yours except my 71/2 is even older than your 6. I understand the group is 5 to 7. I guess there were no 7s on your cruise. When she was bored and stayed with you did the other girls stay in the lab? I was curious whether she wanted you to go get a big sister. Were there any activities special enough for me to insisit he give the club a try?

 

[mom2_fourgirls]

Hi Tross,

She actually never wanted the older sisters. She loved the one -on- one time with Mom and Dad!! Her sisters all stayed wherever they were. They actually didn't even know she was with us until later in the day. They didn't mind though. We did make the 6 year old go to the club on the last day as they got ready for the kid's final show (think "recital")

What happens, is all of the kids that were in the club during the cruise get together on stage for a little (and I mean little) program. They each got a nice t-shirt that said "I discovered the magic of Disney". They all lined up on stage at the Walt Disney Theater and sat and waved their arms and sang while they showed a slide show of the kids in the clubs throughout the cruise. It was really cute. There were about 600 kids registered on the ship and I'd say about 300 were on that stage (all of the 3-12 year olds). Families sat in the audience and took videos/pictures and ooh and awwd over the slide show.

My six year old stayed in the club for that afternoon while they prepared for that. I wanted her to be able to participate with her sisters at the show and she was ok with that. I think she ended up having a really good time, too.

Wendy

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

the kids programs are great. there are plenty of things for us adults to play with in the clubs. computers cannos and of course lots of caractors show up to make all feel great. if you act bad they kick the dads out to loet the kids play. trust me i got kicked out 2 different times. i hope this helps

 

[tross]

Wendy,

Thanks so much for the information. I will definitely encourage him to be there on the day they plan for the "show." Otherwise he will be disappointed that night to miss out. I am sure the other two will be involved as they are excited about the lab together.

 

[mom2_fourgirls]

No problem Tross!!

I am so jealous you are going within a month. I just came in from an evening out with the girls and my car thermometer up here in Michigan said 10 degrees. All I could think of was that beautiful beach at Castaway Cay. Oh how I miss it!! Brrrrrrrrrr

Wendy