Did your kids say no to club at first

[DCMommy]

Did your children end up enjoying the kids club alot more then they thought they would in the begining?.

 

[SG101]

I have a 9yr old and a 6 yr old, and it all depends on the activities. My little one needs to have activities (they have crafts and story time at certain times) and doesn't like free play because it's boring to her. My 9yr old only asked to stay when there was a scavenger hunt (only on the Wonder because it's a smaller ship --- they don't do this on Fantasy as we found out) and when he found a group of boys to play video games with.

It all depends on the kids. I don't force my kids to stay in there; if they want to stay with me, then we find something to do in the evenings. My kids did love getting into their PJs and watching a late night movie in the theatre - or a late night swim, or we did the Detective Game on Fantasy.

I do wish their kids clubs were better organized and had more planned out activities especially on days at sea or after dinner. Oh well.

 

[Seamama]

Did your children end up enjoying the kids club alot more then they thought they would in the begining?.

No... they liked it fine but preferred to hang out w/ us. They were 5 and 8 at the time and they are not used to childcare or being left with others very much so for them it was fun but in the end they wanted family time. And that worked out being great for us- we had a blast as a family and DH and I were still able to drop the kids off so we could do a few things the kids wouldn't want to do.

 

[sue8528]

Really varied and was hard to predict. 6 yrs old first cruise loved it way more than anticipated and did not want to leave.

8 yrs old limited attendance to specific activities and did not go much at all.

15 yes old loved it & used it as much as possible.

17 last year she could partake and she would not even contemplate going, would not even look at the schedule.

And don't get me wrong, all four cruises were enjoyed tremendously by all of us. We did not push or care either way. Just surprised at how different each trip was.

 

[Mitzzie]

Both my kids are very shy so they won't even entertain the idea of going into the kids clubs. I have one who is 4 and the other is 14. They like to be with me.

 

[mommy2tati]

My daughter was reluctant to go to the kids club on her first cruise (she was 7) but I convinced her to try it. Couldn't drag her out after that. I only saw her during dinner and bedtime.

 

[yaddakal]

Our kids went once after dinner so we could go to a rate your mate show. It was so funny. Kids thought club was good but they had certain things off or crowded they were mad about. Then they went once for a magic show there and we had an adult beverage in peace lol. We will go again and they will go in the clubs a few times but they will spend most time with us. Unless they make friends, then we will have more peace lol.

 

[madelyn]

Just back from a 4 night cruise on the Wonder. I waited to take my 7 year old daughter by the Oceaneer Club on the 3rd day of the cruise during an open house in the morning. She was feeling sea sick on earlier days and we were busy with other stuff. We were in port so it was totally empty but she reluctantly toured the club with me. She agreed to go back that night for an hour during "craft time". The next day she checked the schedule on her own and asked to go back for about an hour the last night of the cruise. She was coloring when I picked her up. My 12 year old son only went to Edge for about an hour one afternoon when I encouraged him to go there for the smoothies. Turned out I had to go there to tell him to leave since we had to go to dinner. I thought he was enjoying himself too much to leave but he said he was waiting to get a smoothie (which he said were really milkshakes?). My 15 year old son never set foot in Vibe as far as I know. I really thought the kids would have spent more time in the kids' clubs but at least the 2 younger ones tried them. Maybe on a longer cruise they would have spent more time there.

 

[Disneyfied4]

On our first ever cruise, our boys were 8 and 10, just 6 weeks from being 9 and 11. They went to the kids club once. They did not go back because they said there too many "little" kids.

Last year they were 11 and 13 and we could not drag them out of the edge. They loved it. They loved the planned late night adventures. We would get back to our stateroom before they did. So glad to see them really enjoy themselves.

 

[Seamama]

No... they liked it fine but preferred to hang out w/ us. They were 5 and 8 at the time and they are not used to childcare or being left with others very much so for them it was fun but in the end they wanted family time. And that worked out being great for us- we had a blast as a family and DH and I were still able to drop the kids off so we could do a few things the kids wouldn't want to do.

Edited: As I'm rereading this, I don't think my last sentence makes sense! What I meant to say was that we were able to drop them off a few times, it's just that they weren't asking to go. So, for example, DH and I really wanted to see the movie Brave but the kids thought it looked scary. We told them that we were definitely gonna see it and they could choose to come w/ us or go to the clubs- they picked the clubs. Another time we went to one of the informational talks- again, we gave them a choice, and they chose the clubs. We also made a point to check it out as a family early on in the cruise during the Open Houses. I had hoped that they'd have wanted to spend a little more time there but in the end they just wanted to stay in the pool all day. And I really mean all day! Once they spent 4 hrs straight in there! They were only willing to get out to go to character meet-and-greets, LOL!

 

[MichelleVW]

My youngest was 11 almost 12 the first time we cruised and pretty shy. We made her go to the kids club the first night when everyone was meeting each other. She didn't want to go...but then she didn't want to leave. She made a lot of friends in just the short 3 day cruise.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

My kids are pretty much extroverts and used to staying w/ grandparents for 2 or 3 weeks at a time in the summer...so they may not be normal . But they cant wait to do the kids clubs. This will be our first cruise...sailing in 9 days. My 10 yr old daughter cant wait to check out Andy's room and the Oceaneer Lab. I showed her the you tube videos and she is so excited. Maybe showing the videos would help if they are tentative. I have always done stuff like that with my kids to prep them. My son is 16 and he is looking forward to the teen club. Sure hope it does not disappoint

 

[gritz]

My 4.5 year old went (with no problem) on the first night for less than an hour. He didn't really enjoy it and never wanted to go again.

 

[michellekcm]

Yep. My 4yo was excited to go before we got on the ship, then once in there called to be picked up within an hour. The next time the same thing happened. My daughter goes to day care and is very outgoing, but she was a little overwhelmed.

The third time I dropped her off (there were certain activities she wanted to do) I spoke to the CM at the door and asked if they could help her as she wanted to be there but was getting overwhelmed. I couldn't keep her away after that - she cried and cried the last night when we took her band off.

 

[Stinkerbell1973]

On our Fantasy cruise last April, DD went on our first full day (Sunday), spent about 2 hours in there and decided it was not fun. She went back a couple of days later for the science projects and thought that was ok. On Tuesday, she went for the Pluto Pajama Party and was hooked at that point. Couldn't get her out of there after that. She really enjoyed the computers in the Tinkerbell area where she could make her own fairies and print them out. She enjoyed the magic game floor and some of the stuff they did there.
Some of it, I think, is the social interaction with kids her age and not being with the 'rents the whole time. She would run into other kids she met in the club at various places on the ship and she loved that.

I do think it's an individual kid thing. I honestly thought after the first day, I'd never get her back in there. Then after day 3, I didn't think I'd get her back!!

 

[AliceIn]

My kids are 8, 9, and 12 right now, and they are all excited about having their own places to go on the cruise rather than with being with mom and dad the entire time. My kids go to day camp in the summer, so they are used to meeting new friends and taking part in group activities. They ask me to show them the videos of their clubs all the time. My 12 year old is particularly keen about having his OWN club without his brother and sister.

 

[BenbowInn]

It's hard to say how a child will react. Our son was 3 and a half on our first cruise and 3 on our second cruise and he loved the kids club both times (non Disney cruises). I'm a stay at home mom so he's never been in daycare or really even away from us at all except for the occasional night with the grandparents, yet he did great away from us since his personality is so independent, plus being around us all the time makes him enjoy a break from us. He never wanted to leave the clubs. We're going on the Disney Fantasy this December just after he turns 6, so here's hoping he enjoys the clubs again since I think the kids area looks amazing and that's the main reason we decided to do a Disney cruise.

Just to add, my son is more of a free play type person rather than sit and follow along with scheduled activities, and both cruises the counselors had trouble getting him to focus since he just wants to do his own thing, so as long as free play is an option he will be okay.

Only time will tell if your child will enjoy it, but I've found with my son and nieces and nephews, that the less I talk about something and build it up, the more they actually enjoy it. It seems that talking something up kind of builds up expectations and takes away the surprise, so I've found that it's best to casually mention something to kids, but don't talk it to death cause they will build it up in their heads and be disappointed when it doesn't match expectations. I've just learned that over the years with any fun outing or activity that kids are easily disappointed when things don't match to what it is in their minds.

 

[HappyTogether]

DCL has the only kids club of all our cruises that my child called me to get out of. Hated them.

 

[jjje]

On both our cruises my 8 year old nearly had to be pried out of the clubs to go do anything else.

My 13 year old is a different story. He was unsure about the Edge on the Magic on our first cruise and he ended up having a less than great time there. There was a mean group of kids who put a damper on the whole thing for him. When we went on the Wonder for our second cruise he wanted nothing to do with the Edge. I encouraged him (rather strongly) to at least attend the getting-to-know-you events on the first night. I talked to the counselors about his fears and they did an AMAZING job helping him feel more comfortable and get involved in the various activities. He loved the Edge and wanted to be there all the time. He has ASD and doesn't always adapt to new situations well but every time I would go to the Edge to pick him up or check on him he was right in the middle of things and having a great time. I made sure to mention the Edge counselors on our comment card because they (along with the nice mix of kids on our cruise) really made our son's cruise super special. Now he can't wait for our third cruise and is hoping he'll get to see some of the same counselors.

 

[Bjornda]

My 8 year old wasn't a fan of them, but I expect it had more to do with her love of swimming than disliking the kids club. I'm pretty certain we spent all of our time swimming if we weren't at a show or eating.