Good experiences with Edge club?

[jeremy1002]

My daughter will have barely turned 11 when we sail, and she is not impressed by YouTube videos, etc. of Edge Club. Any thoughts to share? Also, if we tell her she has to stay inside the club until we get her, will her activities be severely limited? (ie, do they do a lot of stuff out-and-about all over the ship?)

 

[gilsan]

My daughter will have barely turned 11 when we sail, and she is not impressed by YouTube videos, etc. of Edge Club. Any thoughts to share? Also, if we tell her she has to stay inside the club until we get her, will her activities be severely limited? (ie, do they do a lot of stuff out-and-about all over the ship?)

My daughter loved the Edge, but she was free to come and go as she wished. She needed to text us and let us know where she was going. Your daughter can still go to the kids clubs. The cut off is 12 years old.

 

[UNDDisney]

I can tell you about my son's experiences just this past April (turned 11 in January):

We had been on four previous cruises, so my son was VERY excited to age up to the Edge (verses the ages 3-12 Kid's Club - Oceaneer's Lab/Club). He loved the Edge, but he would also still go to the Oceaneer's Lab with his younger brothers if he wasn't interested in the activity going on in the Edge. According to the navigator app, it seemed there was pretty much an organized activity going on most of the time in the Edge. On occasion the events were outside the club (late night dodgeball on the basketball court, Edge takes over the Lab, etc.) But, he said you could also just hang out in the Edge if you wanted to (i.e. play video games, socialize, etc.). Basically, he made friends in the Edge and Lab and we hardly saw him the whole week! But, we had been on the ship before, so he knew his way around and we gave him an old phone of ours with the navigator app so that we could stay in contact. He always had to tell us where he was going so we knew where he was at all times. He loved the freedom. He was the last one back to the room every night after participating in the Edge activities that go until midnight, sometimes 1am!

Note that the Edge does not have secure check in/check out like Oceaneer's Lab/Club. Your daughter can come and go as she pleases (of course you can have an arrangement that she stays there, but the staff will not prevent her from leaving). Also, your daughter is old enough to have check in/check out privileges in the Lab/Club too. We gave our son these privileges. We would get a notification via the app when he had checked in or out of the Lab/Club. (and he also would text us).

Hope this helps!

 

[jeremy1002]

I can tell you about my son's experiences just this past April (turned 11 in January):

We had been on four previous cruises, so my son was VERY excited to age up to the Edge (verses the ages 3-12 Kid's Club - Oceaneer's Lab/Club). He loved the Edge, but he would also still go to the Oceaneer's Lab with his younger brothers if he wasn't interested in the activity going on in the Edge. According to the navigator app, it seemed there was pretty much an organized activity going on most of the time in the Edge. On occasion the events were outside the club (late night dodgeball on the basketball court, Edge takes over the Lab, etc.) But, he said you could also just hang out in the Edge if you wanted to (i.e. play video games, socialize, etc.). Basically, he made friends in the Edge and Lab and we hardly saw him the whole week! But, we had been on the ship before, so he knew his way around and we gave him an old phone of ours with the navigator app so that we could stay in contact. He always had to tell us where he was going so we knew where he was at all times. He loved the freedom. He was the last one back to the room every night after participating in the Edge activities that go until midnight, sometimes 1am!

Note that the Edge does not have secure check in/check out like Oceaneer's Lab/Club. Your daughter can come and go as she pleases (of course you can have an arrangement that she stays there, but the staff will not prevent her from leaving). Also, your daughter is old enough to have check in/check out privileges in the Lab/Club too. We gave our son these privileges. We would get a notification via the app when he had checked in or out of the Lab/Club. (and he also would text us).

Hope this helps!

Very much, thank you!

 

[jnsma]

My son loved Edge. I was shocked on our last cruise when he was 14 and could go to Vibe but preferred Edge. The first day he checked out both but ended up going to Edge all the time. I thought Vibe (on Fantasy) looked like it had lots more to do than Edge.
Yes, they do go outside of Edge. They sometimes meet at the sports court, take over Vibe or do scavenger hunts. We asked for him to text us if/when he leaves Edge. I think he actually did it about 50% of the time, which made us unhappy the first time we caught him outside without a text.

 

[bcwife76]

Which ship are you going on?
My oldest daughter turns 11 this summer but has gone to Edge twice as a 10 year old (we signed the waiver for her). Her first time was on the Fantasy and she liked it, but preferred Oceaneers Club/Lab more so I'd say it was a 25percent in the edge vs 75 percent in Oceaneers when she was going. Then this past March we were on the Wonder and she spent about 90 percent of her club time in Edge! She made friends both cruises so I don't think it was a lack of socializing for her, but for whatever reason she just really enjoyed it more this time. We are back on the Wonder this August and she's excited to 'legitimately' be 11 for the Edge lol

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Of our 10 cruises, we have to pry our kids out of the clubs. Our oldest is in the Vibe now, but usually on embarkation day it goes:

1. Eat at Cabanas as a family.

2. Mom and Dad wonder where our children disappeared to.

3. Mom and Dad text them and they tell us they're in the club.

Stir, rinse, repeat.

 

[Lisa F]

the facility of the edge does not look super impressive, especially compared to the theming of the oceaneer club/lab or the club feeling at the Vibe, but I think at least compared to the club/lab, it is a smaller, more intimate setting without all of those little kids running around with the accompanying noise and chaos and more age appropriate activities for the tween age kids. My son was 9 on our last Disney cruise and he is also on the spectrum and found the club/lab completely overwhelming, so all of those awesome in commercials looking themed elements were kind of lost on him - he did attend a few scheduled activities and enjoyed those, but free play? forget it, he couldn't wait to get the heck out of there.

He turned 11 last Monday and we are going in February and he is looking forward to the edge. Many more of the activities appeal to him and I'm hoping he can make some friends as well (even though he is on the spectrum he tends to make friends easily if he can find kids with similar interests) and without all the littles running around I think he will have a better time. So yeah maybe not much to look at in pictures but maybe that is part of the appeal for the tweens who are getting a taste of freedom - something less "kid" like and a little more adult, focused more on age appropriate social interactions and activities than big huge theming.

 

[Joe Brig]

Just turning 11, she may like the Oceaneers club more then Edge. They have more activities inside the club instead of around the ship.

 

[diznymom]

Our son loved the Edge and Vibe. We had ground rules that had severe consequences if broken.
The Rules: 1) He was allowed in Edge / Vibe, the pool area or our room; 2) He was not allowed to ride the elevator w/o us; 3) He was not allowed in the hallways where the staterooms were; 4) He was not allowed to go into anyone else's room; 5) He was not allowed to have guests in our room.
The consequences: He would be with mom (me) the rest of the cruise. Needless to say, he never even attempted to break these rules.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I have no personal experience with Edge and/or Vibe. But, Steve from the DCL Podcast has done a couple episodes where he interviews his oldest son about his experiences in Edge. It's nice to hear a kid's perspective!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

My 11 yo loved it. Neither of my kids liked the younger club much, either the first cruise or on our most recent one. The 11 year old went to Oceaneer's once during open house when we all went, and never set foot in there again. She went to Edge frequently though - we were surprised how much she went there, based on barely using Oceaneer's at all on the previous cruise when she was 8.

 

[Tasmen]

My daughter went to Edge on our last cruise. She was 10. She never went to Oceaneers though she could.

She had a great time in Edge even though she didn't really engage in the activities.

She's Edge "legal" now at 11 and doesnt even want to register for Oceaneers when we cruise this September.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

My DD loved her first experience in Edge as an 11-year-old! This was a real test for me as a mom because being able to come and go from Edge was a new dose of independence for her. She participated in lots of group events-onboard scavenger hunts, multiple flash mobs, a dance performance taught by some of the Disney stage dancers, etc. On Castaway Cay she was doing activities with the group from Edge all day. Invading the teen hide-out was one of her favs! She is still in contact with the kids she met. Overall great experience

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[VTNuke]

On our last 2 cruises, our son made friends on the first day of the cruise at the edge, some he still keeps in touch with. On one of the cruises, our daughter didn't hit the club on the first day, so she had a harder time making friends the rest of the cruise. She ended up following us around most of the cruise and I don't think she had as fun as my son. This is the exact opposite of what we were expecting. Both are very independent kids, but she's WAY more social at home and has a ton of friends. I guess the point is, try to hit up the edge on the first day.

 

[lklgoodman]

On our last 2 cruises, our son made friends on the first day of the cruise at the edge, some he still keeps in touch with. On one of the cruises, our daughter didn't hit the club on the first day, so she had a harder time making friends the rest of the cruise. She ended up following us around most of the cruise and I don't think she had as fun as my son. This is the exact opposite of what we were expecting. Both are very independent kids, but she's WAY more social at home and has a ton of friends. I guess the point is, try to hit up the edge on the first day.

I had read on another thread that the first day is mostly open house. When do they do the "get to know each other" activities? Do they do them during open house or later the first night? Our next cruise will be my dd's first time at Edge. We will have early dinner and usually all go to the show afterwards. I don't want her to miss out on the getting to make friends the first day that everyone talks about, but don't know when that's done. Will she miss out if she goes to the show after dinner with us? What is it called in the navigator? Thanks

 

[darnheather]

My youngest daughter was Oceaneers' age on our first cruise and split age on the second cruise. On the second cruise she went to the Edge the first night for get to know you games and had a blast. I really thought she would be too shy and would prefer the Oceaneers but I was totally wrong. She never went there once.

 

[DisneYE]

My daughter will have barely turned 11 when we sail, and she is not impressed by YouTube videos, etc. of Edge Club. Any thoughts to share? Also, if we tell her she has to stay inside the club until we get her, will her activities be severely limited? (ie, do they do a lot of stuff out-and-about all over the ship?)

From comments from our DD13 I can say Edge experience depends entirely on the CM's there.
One cruise they had terrible CM's, they didn't care about giving the kids any activites, they weren't engaging at all, so our DD hanged with us for the entire length of the cruise, going to bingo with us, watching movies on funnel vision, etc.
On another cruise, she was so amazed by the CM's being so fun and friendly, we barely saw any of her. She would stay in Edge until 12-1.00 AM every night, missed dinners, etc.
So its hit and miss.
I wish DCL would put more emphasis on good CM's at the clubs so kids can have a more enjoyable experience.

 

[ajgardner]

So we will be the odd family out here. We started cruising when my daughter was Edge age and my son was Oceaneers. My daughter thought Edge was ok, but wasn’t in love with it. She went some but not a lot. My son loved Oceaneers and could hardly keep him out of it. When my daughter aged into Vibe, she loved it and went all the time. My son aged into Edge but did not like it at all and rarely went. The first year he could also still go to Oceaneers and ended up there more often but felt awkward since he knew he “should” be in Edge. My kids are just not impressed with Edge and their lack of activities at all. (Example, they are big into this “flash mob” performance and my kids didn’t want to be in it; they’re shy and aren’t into making spectacles. Edge has chunks of time where all they are doing is rehearsing. if you just want to go and hang out and play games they didn’t really let them; they wanted everyone to participate in the dance.). We feel it could be better.

 

[aggiedog]

My dd loved Edge only for the ability to play video games and whoop up on all the boys. Ds is not a huge gamer in that way and did not like it all that much except for the gaga ball tournaments.

None of my kids have just LOVED the clubs. Even the older teens were pretty "meh" about Vibe.