Parents with children age 10-14 (kids club info)

[vacationsitis]

Yes, age divisions are necessary & should be followed. As we would not want a 12 year old to hang out in Vibe with 17 year old & vice versa. Disney tries to do the best with age brackets.

We just got off the Fantasy & my 12 year old & 15 year old both had a good time. It is true that children worry about their siblings but it would be a good experience for them to develop friendships with kids of their own age from different parts of the world. My daughters still correspond with friends they met in 2008.

 

[MrsKP]

My DS will be turning 14 about 2 weeks after we sail. I am wondering what option he will have when it comes to the Vibe. He will have completed middle school about to start HS. I want him to have a place to go when we do the adult stuff and not feel out of place. At the rate he is going, he will be 5'11"/6' when we sail. Not sure the Edge will be right for him but I do worry about the older kids in the Vibe!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My DS will be turning 14 about 2 weeks after we sail. I am wondering what option he will have when it comes to the Vibe. He will have completed middle school about to start HS. I want him to have a place to go when we do the adult stuff and not feel out of place. At the rate he is going, he will be 5'11"/6' when we sail. Not sure the Edge will be right for him but I do worry about the older kids in the Vibe!

At 14 he can go to either Edge or Vibe. He should visit both places the first night and see how the "feel" is. In many cases, they will let someone in the overlap age start in one club and then switch to the other if they feel the first one isn't the right fit, but only once, no going back.



EDIT: Oops, I just re-read, he won't be 14 on the cruise. So, at 13, he would be in Edge. JMO, but with my sons, I'd have put them in Edge. If they didn't like it, well, that's something they were going to have to figure out. At 13, could he go to a movie or something by himself? In Edge he's able to come and go as he wants, so he won't be made to stay there while you're doing other things.

 

[MrsKP]

At 14 he can go to either Edge or Vibe. He should visit both places the first night and see how the "feel" is. In many cases, they will let someone in the overlap age start in one club and then switch to the other if they feel the first one isn't the right fit, but only once, no going back.

He will be 2 weeks shy of 14. Do you think that will make a difference in going into the Vibe? It is a Med cruise & we only have 2 sea days. Plus every port day we will be off the ship almost the entire time. I just know we will do Palo brunch & dinner and at least one tasting class. I would hate for him to be stuck in the Edge because he isn't officially 14 yet.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

He will be 2 weeks shy of 14. Do you think that will make a difference in going into the Vibe? It is a Med cruise & we only have 2 sea days. Plus every port day we will be off the ship almost the entire time. I just know we will do Palo brunch & dinner and at least one tasting class. I would hate for him to be stuck in the Edge because he isn't officially 14 yet.

Personally, I'm a believer in playing by the rules. But, it may be possible for him to go up to Vibe, you'll have to check with the CMs the first night out and see if there is space and they are willing to let him in.

I will point out that, even at 14, freshman-type kids are low man on the totem pole with the High School group. Older teens just don't want "kids" in their space. Will he be OK with that?

 

[scrapbookmomma74]

My DS will be turning 14 about 2 weeks after we sail. I am wondering what option he will have when it comes to the Vibe. He will have completed middle school about to start HS. I want him to have a place to go when we do the adult stuff and not feel out of place. At the rate he is going, he will be 5'11"/6' when we sail. Not sure the Edge will be right for him but I do worry about the older kids in the Vibe!

Usually when a kid is within 30 days of the cut-off date, there is no problem for them to go into the next club. I would inquire, and then send him to both the Vibe and the Edge to see where he feels comfortable. Every cruise is different, there might be a ton of 14 year olds in Vibe that week.
Have a great cruise!

 

[lanejudy]

On our recent Fantasy cruise (12/8)we had our 4 children with us ages 3, 7, 10, and 11. My 10 and 11 year old girls wanted to be in the edge and not the Oceaneers club/lab. My 10 year old had just turned 10 in October. Both girls were allowed access to the Edge and OC/OL. So they both got the wrist trackers. In the edge you don't wear one of those trackers. My DH brought both girls up to the Edge on that first day and the CM promptly cut off those trackers and handed them to my DH with this statement. "You won't want them wearing these in here..they will be made fun of.". Now that is going above and beyond the call of duty! Disney rocks and they think of everything...truly!

I think the ability for your 10-yr-old to attend EDGE, as well as both kids going back-and-forth between EDGE and Club/Lab may have been specific to your cruise. That is not typical. Usually, a 10-yr-old is too young for EDGE as the overlap age is 11-12. Also, most cruisers are reporting their kids had to make a choice of which club and not have access to both for the duration of the cruise. DCL has made many modifications to the rules regarding access to the kids clubs in the past year, and they have been rather firm about the ages in each. That's not to say exceptions don't occur, but it's rare. I'm glad OP's family was happy to be accommodated but their experience should not be considered the norm.

 

[discorsner]

On fantasy last June my son age 11 at the time was allowed to go in and out of edge or lab as he wanted. He did stuff in both. He had to have the Mickey band attached at the lab and it had to be off for the edge.

 

[madelyn]

We are about to book on the Wonder and at the time of the sailing my boys will be 15 and 12 and my daughter will be 7. I read the age ranges for the clubs and thought that my 12 year old son would be allowed into the kids' clubs AND Edge but it looks like he has to pick one or the other. I was disappointed that my boys won't be able to be in a club together.

 

[Spurr002]

Back on the Dream in 2011, in Vibe there was a boy who was a bit more than a month short of 14; he would try and slip in without being noticed, and eventually a CM would make him leave. By the third or fourth time his mother came and talked to the CM, because her son hangs out with older kids back home, is mature for his age, and would rather be in there. They wouldn't bend the rules for him due to his age being shy of the cut off, and he wasn't the happiest camper (nor his mother). As a 15 y/o I felt young in Vibe, even though 14 is the youngest allowed age. I would obviously try to include him should he have been allowed and wanted to be with the group of friends I made, but it would have been more awkward for us than for him. It would have been 10-12th graders trying to make an almost 9th grader feel welcomed.

 

[4newtocruise]

My DS will be turning 14 about 2 weeks after we sail. I am wondering what option he will have when it comes to the Vibe. He will have completed middle school about to start HS. I want him to have a place to go when we do the adult stuff and not feel out of place. At the rate he is going, he will be 5'11"/6' when we sail. Not sure the Edge will be right for him but I do worry about the older kids in the Vibe!

I'm with you! It's a hard decision because my DD will just be shy of 14 at the time of the cruise and she has plenty of 14 year old friends. She will have completed 8th going into High School. I too worry about her "hanging" in the same area as 17-18 year olds. I think a lot she will hear will be inappropriate. Frankly, on our last cruise she didn't like the Edge. She felt too old then. 13 is a tricky age. She want to ACT older but she really isn't.

 

[JRM815]

He will be 2 weeks shy of 14. Do you think that will make a difference in going into the Vibe? It is a Med cruise & we only have 2 sea days. Plus every port day we will be off the ship almost the entire time. I just know we will do Palo brunch & dinner and at least one tasting class. I would hate for him to be stuck in the Edge because he isn't officially 14 yet.

We were in this same situation last July on the Fantasy. Since our twins (DS and DD) were not 14 at the start of the cruise, they were allowed to go to the Vibe only with a permission form signed by a parent or guardian. Once in one or the other, they could not switch back and forth. They chose to stay in the Edge and had a great time.

 

[MickeyWatcher]

When we go in May, my oldest DS will be 11. From what I'm reading, he will have to choose to either be in the Edge or Lab, but not both?

 

[lanejudy]

When we go in May, my oldest DS will be 11. From what I'm reading, he will have to choose to either be in the Edge or Lab, but not both?

That is what you should expect. There is a possibility they will allow him to utilize both spaces throughout the cruise, but that seems to be a decision made onboard and likely depends on the number of kids of the given age groups on that particular cruise. If he might be interested in the EDGE, I suggest he attend the first night which is a planning session for the rest of the cruise, then make his decision after the first night. Unless he knows for certain that he'd prefer the Club/Lab.

Enjoy your cruise!