11 yo girl 13 yo boy - are they going to be in different groups for activities???

[CTDVCMBS]

Hi Guys-

In reading these posts about "Tweens" I suddenly got really concerned that my 2 kids will be not be in the same group. My 13 yo boy is small for his age and I dont think will enjoy being lumped with "real" teenagers. My 11 yo girl is a bit advanced and wont want to be stuck "with the little kids" are we going to have a troubling time with this age on the boat?

Will they not be allowed in activities together? ( they are pretty close and I can tell you I like knowing I have one looking after or out for ... the other)

What can I expect to happen with this 11/13 age split?

Oh and by the way...

I posted last week about the veranda- my husband agreed to get the veranda after reading the pro and con posts and then when we called they were all gone in cat 6. So thats solved!! We are in Cat 10 inside state room - some things are meant to be........

 

[AnnMorin]

He could go into the 10-12 group but I would doubt they would let the 11 year old in the 13-18 group.

 

[Cruisin]

ctdvcmbs:
Maybe they should each try their own age appropriate clubs first. You and they might be surprised. It is possible that they might enjoy themselves. If they go the first night, they might find others that are in their situation, maturity level wise, and hook up.
If they give it an honest try and don't like it then you could consider other alternatives.

 

[Tesabat]

The 11yo will not be allowed into the 13 - 17 group. My Son was days away from 13 and it was not a given that he would be allowed to attend The Stack. We had to meet with the counselors at the Stack, etc.

You can "request" to have the 13yo moved down to the 10 - 12 group. You would have to talk to counselors at the Lab, and then they would have to agree. They will likely not agree unless your DS has already checked out the Stack. So - I would go with your DS to the "Open House" time the first afternoon and have him look around and see if he will like it. He may not even want to check out the lab.

I can tell you that my DS is "young" for his age in many ways...and was thumbs down on the Lab for a lot of reasons.... One was the lure of video games. The Stack games are E up to T... the Lab games are E only. Another was the Lab is very into cutesy things...like lets all get out into the middle of the floor and jump around and yell. When my son saw that, he said can't I just play video games...and the answer is No. In the Lab, you do as a group...you move as a group. Another was the theming - very young...small tables, small chairs....buzz lightyear. CUTE - but not 13...

At the lab, they CAN check themselves in and out - they CANNOT do something different than the group. If the activity is jump around in the middle of the floor, your DS will not be allowed to sit at the terminals and play video games. The Stack on the other hand, is not like that. You can always just hang out in the Stack when it is open if you do not want to participate in the group activities.

I would have each of them check out their own groups as the previous poster suggested.

For my son - he fell in between. He would have liked more structure than the Stack - less structure than the Lab. We also ended up buying Internet access for him, and he spent time online and since there are a lot of teens doing that...he actually struck up some conversations with kids similar interests so that worked out well...until he got into trouble at the Internet Cafe where he'd gone to use the computer....but that's another story!

The lack of 12 - 14 programming really did NOT detract from the overall great time we all had. We had such a great time, we are planning our next cruise. We "are" trying out a different cruise line next time and are researching lines that have tweener programming (not easy - even if you find a line with it like Carnival, RCCL...not all SHIPS have it!!)....but as we also have extended family going with us next time, that is not the only reason. We feel a non-Disney theme will best suit other members of my family.

Have a GREAT trip - I'm sure everyone will have a blast. I want to emphasize again, when we look back on this cruise- the lack of tweener programming is a side note. We all had SUCH a terrific time, it was most definitely the highlight of our year.

 

[CTDVCMBS]

This is "J" ctdvcmbs' 13 yo son. I wanted to hear fromsome kids and so would my sister, "C' who is 11. My family is going on the 1/10 magic. Could you ask your kids to write about how they got around this "in between thing."
My sister totally can't see herself jumping up and down in the middle of a room and the same goes for me. I would like to participate in some athletic activities, but I'm not sure what they have on the cruise in that department. I definitly don't want to play video games the whole time and don't want to have to do everything the group does.
Can anyone help us? Does anyone know if there is a message board for kids?

 

[lbgraves]

Hi! You and your sister should probably look over the navigators for the 10-12 age group at this site. http://www.castawayclub.com/
They will tell you what happened on the Magic a couple weeks ago & give you a better idea of the activities that could be happening.

There is a Disney Teen board http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=21 but I didn't see much cruise discussion. One thing you might want to do is have your parents sign up with the group going on your cruise. We did this and found alot of kids the same ages as my children, which made them happy to have friends to meet on the ship. They already saw their pictures & knew their names.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[CTDVCMBS]

okay I'm willing to have my parents sign up for somthing, but how do I do it?

 

[Grumpy's Mom]

J, I think what LBG was referring to is for your parents to join the thread on the cruise board for your cruise - search through the "Cruise meets" board (which is part of the DCL Cruise board)and you should find a thread for your cruise. Your parent said that you all are sailing on the 1/10 Magic, but the Magic doesn't sail on that day - so perhaps he meant the 1/10 wonder - Eastern Caribbean?

Here is the post for the 1/10 Wonder thread -

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403572

Read through it and you will see how other families have introduced themselves, and been welcomed, and then have gotten to know others on the same cruise.

I am sure you will find some friends among them!

Have fun.

 

[Tesabat]

"j" - we have the navigators from 11/8 - just need to take the time to scan it and send them to the tribute sites - been meaning to but haven't gotten around to it.

There are a lot of things to do - not just jumping around...sorry if I gave that impression.

For teens - a quick check of the Navigator shows sports trivia chellenge, hidden mickey challenge, weight training, a "fetch" game, a scavenger hunt, pool party, hoops, dodgeball, etc...

For 10 - 12 - there was music trivia, going to the movies, pizza party, animation cells, ghost stories, hidden mickey challenge, karaoke, how to make towel animals, etc....

Good luck!

 

[kcashner]

We've been on the Magic 9 times since the inaugural sail. I can honestly tell you that the activities are very age appropriate. The key to my daughter's happiness in the programs is whether or not she makes a friend in the first day or 2.

The requirement to go into an older group is that you be within 30 days of your birthday AND have counsellor approval.

The 10-12 group is totally appropriate for an 11 year old, and there's NO WAY they will allow her into the teen program. I really don't think a 13 year old will be happy in the 10-12. My suggestion would be to at least try your own age program. If for some reason that just doesn't work, then talk with a head counsellor. I think you'll both be pleasantly surprised. You'll probably end up hanging together some of the time, and going to your own age activities other times. The fact that you can't be in each other's programs doesn't mean you can't spend time together at shows, on deck, etc.