How supervised is the EDGE? Having "daddy " nerves about my daughter moving up to this club with older children. Just want reassurance that they are supervised and have a goto person. Are there lots of planned activities for the children?
They are supervised and there are plenty of planned activities but the kids can come and go as they please. I often found my son wandering around with his new friends throughout the ship. I was ok with that because he is on the older end of the kids in the Edge but I would be more concerned about a 10 or 11 year old girl.
The way access to Edge is handled bugs me just a bit. I've written to Disney. Parents have to sign in/out babies. There's a code word and a bracelet for the 3-12 year olds (or just the bracelet if the child has check out privileges), 14-17 years olds get a brand new key card and have to swipe it to access the club. But Edge? with the 11-14 year olds? eh, no worries, walk in, walk out, no one checks your card for the sticker, you don't sign in, no big deal. It's like this whole tween group fell through the cracks as far as "security" is concerned.
You will need to speak with your child about what you expect. Are you good with them doing whatever they please, or should they meet you at certain places at certain times? Are they allowed to participate in the shipwide scavenger hunt, or once in the club do you want them to stay there?
Thank you for all the replies. She just turned 10 in Jan. I'm not sure if I would be comfortable having her walk about the ship but I also have a 13 year old also (who wants me to move her up to the Vibe..lol) Maybe if I have my 10 yr old only go to the Edge when her sister is in there.
Again, thanks for the input. She did not enjoy the kids club as much as she thought she would on our last cruise. I was a bit disappointed in it also. We would watch the times so she could go to do the craft project or whatever and we would show up and it was just a table in the corner. Also, the one time they made cookies they wouldn't let her eat one even though they called me to confirm she could! (she has fructose malabsorption, cant have high fructose corn syrup. I explain their homemade cookies did not have that in them and she could eat them). But they still didn't let her. She was embarrassed...all the kids kept asking her why she wasn't eating one...she said I kept saying, I dunno, ask them..I can eat them! Most of the time she played Just Dance or sat and watched a movie while the little ones ran around her. My then 11 year old in the Edge had an awesome time though and loved the planned activities.
We were on the last cruise before it was redone. So maybe they have more things to do now? Anybody know?
Our first cruise my younger girls were 8 and 9, and obviously in the club/lab. My middle had a similar situation with the baking situation. She has reactions to some red dyes. They made cookies - no m&m's, no dyed anything at all, but the counselors refused to allow her to eat them, even though she knew she could. Her sister tried to share and the counselor wouldn't let her. I get where they are coming from, I really do, but her "sensitivity" trigger wasn't even present. When we filled out the paperwork this year for the girls her sensitivity wasn't listed. So I didn't put it back in. She was absolutely humiliated at the way it was handled that summer and at 10/11 she would have been even more so. It wasn't an issue this time at all.
My middle daughter was 10 at the start of our cruise this time, she turned 11 a few days in. Her name was "on the list" for Edge but they still wanted her to try the lab/club first. My youngest turned 10 a month before the cruise. I asked if there was room- they asked her to try the lab/club first. They weren't overly impressed with Edge when we visited during open house. So the first night the girls went to the lab/club. It was "eh", lots of small kids since it was school term when we went. The next day during the day they went to the lab/club in the morning and at lunch I went to ask them if they wanted to eat with us or stay in the lab/club. They were at the handwashing station before I finished my question. So after lunch we went to Edge, I signed the waiver and let them stay for a few hours. They met me at the elevator bank at the exact time I asked them (actually a few minutes early, something their 16yo sister never figured out how to do! lol) They enjoyed Edge, but didn't want to take off their lab bracelets just yet. By day 6 of a 7 night cruise they had not gone back into the lab/club, had met friends who were in the same situation (11 years old, can do both) and we finally turned in the bracelets.
If you had asked me at the beginning of the cruise, I would have said that they would not have enjoyed Edge. It's a VERY small area, with very little to do, but having each other and making friends made all the difference. So, ask if it's possible, don't expect it, and keep options open. You never know which they will like better.
