how to best use time with kids and kids club?

[Chinglan]

We are first time Disney cruisers. Going to Magic on Nov, 5th.

So, one of the main reasons we want to try Disney cruise is for its excellent reputations in doing kids clubs.

Read a lot about how much kids would love to go to Disney kids' club.

Then, when is the best time to spend time with kids to explore the ship and participating activities?

Am I thinking too much?

 

[AndreAggie]

Your best bet is to sit down with your kids and look at the navigators and see what club/lab activities are going on and let them decide. Often, that activity would then be over and we'd go to get our son and he wanted to stay longer. Then use the open house times to go do activities on the ship as a family.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are first time Disney cruisers. Going to Magic on Nov, 5th.

So, one of the main reasons we want to try Disney cruise is for its excellent reputations in doing kids clubs.

Read a lot about how much kids would love to go to Disney kids' club.

Then, when is the best time to spend time with kids to explore the ship and participating activities?

Am I thinking too much?

I think you may be thinking too much. The kid's clubs are open pretty much all day until late at night. So that's available whenever the kids want to go there.

It's up to you to set the limits for your kids. As in "we will all eat dinner together" or "we will all attend the show together" or "it's pool time".

It's also possible your kids won't like the clubs - it happens. You can also all attend the various Open House hours in the kid's clubs to enjoy the space together.

 

[Geomom]

On embarkation day there are open houses until dinner time, so you can all go in to check them out. If your kids are 3-12, you can get them their magicbands either in the port, or at one of the clubs. If they're in the tween or teen clubs, they can get a sticker on their Key card. There is also a ship walking tour before the muster drill that is for all ages.

The personal navigator you get for each day will list activities going on all over the ship, including in the kids' clubs. Even better is the Disney Cruise Line Personal Navigator App--you put your phone in airplane mode and use the ships wifi (free for the app only). The app allows you to text (chat) with your kids if they have a texting device--so you can keep in touch with them while apart. The app essentially has ALL the activities for the whole cruise on it, so you can see when a particular activity/movie/character meet is offered during the cruise. It also has menus, restaurant hours, etc. We loved the app.

We did our first cruise this August (to Alaska!) with girls ages 12 and 16. Before the cruise, we told the kids they 'had' to go to dinner and the show with us every night, and also told them what days/times we'd be off on a port adventure. They ended up just going to the clubs for scheduled activities--pizza perfection, smoothie hour, t-shirt making, and a naturalist program about auroras. We went to a couple of movies together. DD12 went to the pool twice, once with DH and once with me. DD16 went to an Animation drawing class with DH. There are plenty of things to do together as a family, as well as time for everyone to do their own thing!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I agree with the previous posters. We look at the Navigators the night before and decide which activities we want to do. Dinner together is a must, but outside of that, there's a lot of flexibility. Our biggest problem is when there are too many activities at the same time that we want to do. Our conversation might go like this:

DD: I want to do the "Magic Play floor" in the kids club at 11:00.
Me: That's fine, but what about the animation class that's at 11:00? Do you want to do that with me or be in the kids club?
DD: Ack! I want to do both!
Me: Hold on. There's another animation class at 3:00. Let's do that and then we can go to the Disney Tunes Trivia afterwards.
DD: Okay. Can you stop by the kids club to get me for lunch at noon? And can we go to karaoke tonight?
And so on and so forth...

 

[apathetic]

Setting family time is important, but remember it is the kid's vacation too. Just because you want family time, the kids want vacation time. We always set a few things aside, mainly meals, then let the kids decide how they want to spend time. Surprisingly, they love the club but when given choices, they usually choose other activities as well. Implementing a rigorous structure is likely going to lead to conflict because the kids want to do kids things. And on the other side, I have seen kids throw tantrums in the kids club because they didn't want to be there anymore and the parents had things booked. I've been at activities where kids didn't want to be there but the parents forced them to because they thought it was fun.

Our approach is definitely all meals together. Then we show them the schedule and encourage them to pick things to do. But ultimately they decide and learn how to manage time. Our first few cruises was long days in kids clubs, but now we find they like planning other things (movies, sports, detective agency, etc) as well. Remember, they are on vacation too. When at WDW we have a much harder time giving them freedom to roam (a bit too young still) so the cruise is the part where they are in control.

 

[Weedy]

Ours was the opposite. Our kids did not enjoy having to sit for a long dinner. They would either get something to eat before we went to dinner or come with us for a little while and then leave for the club.
We usually saw the shows together, did excursions, had breakfast and sometimes lunch as a family.

 

[MunFam]

I totally thought we would have a ton of family time. As it turns out, the kids club was so packed full of games, activities and experiences that we had to figure out how to get our kiddo out of there. So we definitely made use of the kids club...it was trying to figure out how to spend time as a family that was tough. She even did the dine and dash or whatever it was called where the club comes to the dining room and takes the kids early (after they eat).

 

[hanscarlet]

for us we get into a routine, we go to breakfast, do an activity in the middle of the day, have lunch and then bring them to the club and then we go to the adult pool after lunch.... then we bring them back a few hours before dinner to wind down, then dinner, show or if no show, after dinner we drop them in the clubs for an hour for an after dinner drink in the adult section

 

[PlanoNana]

Just be sure your kids understand who is the parent and be flexible. Even a kid who doesn't like the clubs can stay there for a couple of hours so you can go to Palo. We have late dining planned so the current plan for our family which is us (grandparents), DD, SIL, 5 yo and 21 month old is to go to the show, do dinner and have the kids food brought quickly, then let the 5 yo go to the club if she wants and maybe take the little one to the nursery if she seems tired and there's space. But there's lots to do and we'll definitely do some of the open houses at the club so we can take the little one. And they will definitely be in the club/nursery for our Palo Brunch.

 

[Disneyteachers]

We had one club lover and one club hater... The tween wanted to stay out all night and we had to set limits and the 7yo we had to bribe. Managed to have family time with both, ate breakfast and dinner together!

 

[KT2038]

Yes we are open until midnight every night apart from a few open house times during the day and at dinner time in the Club (not the Lab). I agree with looking at past navigators and seeing what sorts of programs interest your kids. Don't forget we have Scuttles Cove at Castaway Cay too. If you have any specific questions let me know! Have a magical day!