Kid club age break down

[SirDuff]

Ok, not trying to be dense here, but what's the rule then? When I posted above that 3 year olds can't use the nursery, you made sure to tell me I was wrong. But here it seems like you're saying they are allowed. Or might be allowed. Or...?

I've never cruised DCL, and you appear to be the expert. Please clarify since, what I've also learned from reading your posts, I can't rely on anyone shoreside at DCL having accurate information.

That confused me too. We'll be travelling with a (just turned three-year-old) and I took the PP's "wrong" response to mean that our wee one might be allowed in the nursery (and based on some of the comments here, I think that that would be a good thing for her).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ok, not trying to be dense here, but what's the rule then? When I posted above that 3 year olds can't use the nursery, you made sure to tell me I was wrong. But here it seems like you're saying they are allowed. Or might be allowed. Or...?

I've never cruised DCL, and you appear to be the expert. Please clarify since, what I've also learned from reading your posts, I can't rely on anyone shoreside at DCL having accurate information.

In the past the ages for the nursery were "3 and under" and for Oceaneer's Club/Lab it was "3-12". This allowed for some flexibility for those non-potty trained 3 year olds to be in the nursery. A 3 year old could participate in either location (allowing for toileting issues), since the Oceaneer's Club/Lab CMs are not allowed to "help" in using the toilet.

Recently (maybe the last 3-4 months) DCL has changed this policy and the nursery is for "under 3" while the Club/Lab is still "3-12". And an untrained 3 year old can only participate in the Club/Lab, with parental agreement that they will check on a regular basis to assist their child with any toileting issues.

Apparently, mznia was allowed to have her 3 year old in the nursery. I'm thinking that the CMs onboard that particular cruise were more flexible with what the actual policy is than most others. Possibly there was a low number of under 3s onboard allowing for space in the nursery, I don't know.

As to the shoreside DCL personnel (as in the CMs who answer the phones), sadly, it's quite possible that the answer you get from them could be incorrect, as they often don't know how things work onboard the ship.

 

[SirDuff]

Recently (maybe the last 3-4 months) DCL has changed this policy and the nursery is for "under 3" while the Club/Lab is still "3-12". And an untrained 3 year old can only participate in the Club/Lab, with parental agreement that they will check on a regular basis to assist their child with any toileting issues.

Joining the PP in still being totally confused. Here (my bolding above) you say that three-year-olds are not allowed in the nursery. However, when when TestingH20 said that she thought that three-year-olds were not allowed in the nursery:

Mznia, I thought 3 year old were no longer allowed in the nursery.

You answered with:

wrong

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Joining the PP in still being totally confused. Here (my bolding above) you say that three-year-olds are not allowed in the nursery. However, when when TestingH20 said that she thought that three-year-olds were not allowed in the nursery:



You answered with:

OH! Sorry, I had posted something else in that post and then I edited it to remove it, I was saying I posted the wrong post - I'll go fix it.

I wasn't saying that TestingH2O was wrong.

 

[SirDuff]

OH! Sorry, I had posted something else in that post and then I edited it to remove it, I was saying I posted the wrong post - I'll go fix it.

I wasn't saying that TestingH2O was wrong.

It's all good! It was just rather confusing as written. Too bad though - our princess will have just turned three and is small for her age, so I worry about her with the big kids. Maybe we'll try an Open House and see how things go.

 

[TestingH2O]

OH! Sorry, I had posted something else in that post and then I edited it to remove it, I was saying I posted the wrong post - I'll go fix it.

I wasn't saying that TestingH2O was wrong.

Thanks. I was very confused.

It's all good! It was just rather confusing as written. Too bad though - our princess will have just turned three and is small for her age, so I worry about her with the big kids. Maybe we'll try an Open House and see how things go.

And thank you Duff for making me not feel crazy.

 

[jahber]

We are sailing on the Wonder this December and my kids will be 10 and 13. I wonder if my 10 year old daughter will be able to go to the tween club with my older son...I think she'll enjoy herself more with him...

If there is room, 10yos are allowed in Edge. It just depends. We always sail during off-season, so it worked out for my daughter last time we sailed. She was 10 and went back and forth between the kids' club and Edge.

 

[mznia504]

Just to clarify, this was on the Dream and the nursery didn't seem busy at all during our cruise (I walked in 2 hours before I wanted to drop him off and was able to get him and his cousin a spot in the nursery) so maybe the insinuation that there was just extra room for 3 yr olds in the nursery is true. I didn't get that sort of vibe from the girl when I registered him though. I walked in and asked "Would it be possible for me to send my 3 yr old here if Im willing to pay for the care?" and her answer was "Yes! We take kids up to 3 yrs old!" In fact, she told me that they love getting 3 yr olds bc they are so fun to play with. It didn't sound like it was an exception to any rule. It sounds like they do still take 3 yr olds but that the 3 yr old also has the option of using the club at no additional charge.

 

[bafleyanne]

We were on the Dream in November. My kids were 3 and 13 at the time so there was no question of them being together, which was probably better anyway because my DS tends to play a little roughly with his little sis. My DS 13 LOVED Edge. We barely saw him and he was there till late every night. My DD 3 went to the club/lab a few times. I think her max time in there was an hour and a half or maybe two hours. Part of the problem for her was that it seemed like whenever she wanted to go in or we needed her in (like for Palo brunch!) they were doing an open house in the Club and only the Lab was available. She strongly preferred the Club because of Andy's room, etc and was disappointed whenever we went and she couldn't play there. It also makes the other side much more crowded because all the dropped off kids have to stay on one side.

On the plus side, I will say I have nothing but good things to say about the staff in the Club/Lab. My daughter doesn't go to preschool and isn't used to being away from us, and she did well considering. Several times we went to get her she was sitting with or being held by a cast member and clearly getting the personal attention she needed to feel safe. They did page us at Palo. We weren't done so called to find out if it was a true need or she had just asked to leave (we would have gone if she had been upset) and they said she was already fine.

She talks about the kids club a lot!nwe are taking another cruise in April and I'm hoping on the 7 day it will give her more time to adjust to it and she will enjoy it even more. Just wanted to reassure parents of young 3s that they do have fun!

 

[mommabear3502]

We were on the Dream in November. My kids were 3 and 13 at the time so there was no question of them being together, which was probably better anyway because my DS tends to play a little roughly with his little sis. My DS 13 LOVED Edge. We barely saw him and he was there till late every night.

DD will turn 13 the day before our cruise. She's not sure if she'll enjoy Edge. Can you tell me what your DS liked about it?

 

[bafleyanne]

DD will turn 13 the day before our cruise. She's not sure if she'll enjoy Edge. Can you tell me what your DS liked about it?

My son likes video games so he loved that they got to play. They also have a ton of activities scheduled all day long. He would take the navigator and pick out what looked fun first thing in the morning. The Edge kids have a meeting the first night of the cruise, it's typically sort of late (around 10 pm) but try to encourage your daughter to go. They vote on what they want to do for the rest of the cruise and it's a good time to get to know other kids too.

 

[bumbershoot]

We are sailing on the Wonder this December and my kids will be 10 and 13. I wonder if my 10 year old daughter will be able to go to the tween club with my older son...I think she'll enjoy herself more with him...

But (and I say this as the oldest) will he enjoy himself if she's there?

Recently (maybe the last 3-4 months) DCL has changed this policy and the nursery is for "under 3" while the Club/Lab is still "3-12". And an untrained 3 year old can only participate in the Club/Lab, with parental agreement that they will check on a regular basis to assist their child with any toileting issues.

See, I've been reading it differently. I've been reading that you can no longer age up if you're a 2 year old who is potty-trained (even though DS worked out not using his diaper when he was 2.5, I cannot even fathom a kid that age doing the whole routine! boggles my mind every time I read about it...if you only knew how long I was called into the bathroom at home to finish up the cleanup process, ay ay ay). But if you're a 3 year old who isn't ready for the Club, then you can stay in the nursery.

That said, since I haven't read any reports of 3 year olds NOT being allowed in the nursery (just 2 year olds who cannot move up), I totally might have missed those reports and just thought there weren't any out there.

 

[SillyInventor]

There was a hallway in 5/14.

A sealed off hallway was created between the club and the lab during her reimagination. It's a nice hallway with lots of windows to the outside and to the atrium. You can enjoy the kids running between the venues. You cannot enter it from the atrium, so it is secure and kids can move between club and lab as much as they like. I assume the Wonder will get the same once she will be reimagineered.

 

[lbgraves]

A sealed off hallway was created between the club and the lab during her reimagination. It's a nice hallway with lots of windows to the outside and to the atrium. You can enjoy the kids running between the venues. You cannot enter it from the atrium, so it is secure and kids can move between club and lab as much as they like. I assume the Wonder will get the same once she will be reimagineered.

No, that "secret hallway" has always existed between the club and lab on the classic ships. DS was 5 our first cruise and was so excited to tell me about it. I even have pictures of him waving at me through a porthole when they were transitioning after being at lunch. They used to take the kids to the buffet for lunch & dinner and had one side reserved just for the club/lab kids. It was used for storage for a few years before being cleared out again for the kids to use.

That said, since I haven't read any reports of 3 year olds NOT being allowed in the nursery (just 2 year olds who cannot move up), I totally might have missed those reports and just thought there weren't any out there.

I also haven't seen reports of 3 yos not being allowed in the nursery.

 

[lmhall2000]

To comment on Edge...my daughter was 14 when she went the last cruise and could go to either Vibe or Edge...she chose Edge, just felt uncomfortable with the older teens...and really loved the CMs in Edge...they were 'cool and fun'...always helping you get involved, made a big effort to get to know your name and always welcomed her in by name and planned fun events for all that age group...she was all smiles and energy after coming in from a visit at the Edge...I think the CMs are what made it for her!

 

[RedStars]

I agree with the poster who recommended that you check the kids in for specific activities. And don't drop them off too early either. Longer-term visits didn't work for us.

TBH, we didn't have a great experience with the Kids club (Fantasy). It was so bad that I had to complain to guest services.

My kids were 3.5 and 6 and they basically were left to their own devices every time they went. The counselors didn't do a good job of cross-announcing events (Lab side vs Club side) so my kids missed out on a lot of things because they didn't know when/where they should be/go. And they didn't announce snacks/meals either so my kids didn't eat or drink at all on the one longer day I put them in there. I was told that the counselors just announced meals but couldn't make kids eat(which I'm ok with) but I knew something was up when my 3yo didn't eat and the meal was Mac & cheese. He would sell ME for a bowl of Mac & cheese. And they both drank an entire bottle of water when I picked them up.

This was just my personal experience! We're booked for April 2016 and I'll be using the Club again but just for very limited times/specific activities.

 

[Leanne1977]

I have always been told that age 3 is a crossover age and therefore the nursery or the kids club could be used by a 3 year old. My son is developmentally delayed and will be a month over 3 but not potty trained when we cruise in September. I contacted my TA and Disney direct recently and both assured me he would be absolutely fine to use the nursery. I hope this is still the case as the club really wouldn't be suitable for him.

 

[DisneyHeather]

Last September on the Wonder I was allowed to take my 3 year old to the nursery. I didn't think he could go there but a table mate told me to go in and check because he wasn't enjoying being left in the Club (he only liked it during open house when mommy could play too). So I took him to the nursery and they not only said he could go in but he was allowed to take his blanket and his stuffed Goofy in with him. They also seemed to deal better with a minute or two of mommy left me crying than the counselors in the club. Of course that worked the one time and then he figured out what I was doing lol

 

[KT2038]

I am a Cast Member and yes 3 year olds are allowed into both the nursery and Club/Lab. Have a magical day!

 

[Leanne1977]

Awesome, thank you!