Kids Club Concerns

[bbel]

[QUOTE="belac, post: 56234190, member: 236238]
My Three points are:

• It is a kids Club, let it be a Kids Club for the most part, it isn't a Family club.
• Have a set schedule of OH so parents can schedule their adult only activities when there aren't OH.
• Have more scheduled activities for the kids, I hate the long blank spaces in the Navigator, that meas no scheduled craft, art, or science something. Seems like there are more blank spaces now then before.

I wonder, what would happen if they made Palo/Remy 40% of the time family dining or Spa/Adult Pool area 40% of the time family OH? IMHO, I don't think we adults would like it much.

THIS!! kids clubs should be for the children to enjoy...less OH free-for-all[/QUOTE]

I'm sure your kids would love it if they could drop you off at palo/remy and not have to pick you up till midnight...

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I'm sorry that a lot of you don't like the Open House times. These are times though that children who can't or won't use the spaces during secured programming have the opportunity to experience some magic within our spaces. This will never change. They are usually scheduled at times when there isn't a large number of children expected for secured programming; for example on port days, early in the mornings and at dinner time.

This rings hollow to me. This may be what dcl is instructing cast members to say, but the amount of time being dedicated to open houses is not reflective of the population size in need of open houses. There were open houses about 50% of the time on our last cruise. Open houses have increased dramatically over the last couple of years. The vast majority of children are being herded together and put into spaces never intended for so wide an age range or so many children. I suspect it is a cost cutting measure by dcl.

 

[KT2038]

This rings hollow to me. This may be what dcl is instructing cast members to say, but the amount of time being dedicated to open houses is not reflective of the population size in need of open houses. There were open houses about 50% of the time on our last cruise. Open houses have increased dramatically over the last couple of years. The vast majority of children are being herded together and put into spaces never intended for so wide an age range or so many children. I suspect it is a cost cutting measure by dcl.

It shouldn't be 50%... But there will definitely be some time in each space every day. Plus the Preschoolers time and the Adults only time on the longer cruises. Have you ever been during adult only time? Adults LOVE the spaces and participate wholeheartedly in the programs.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

I feel really bad that my kid can't go into Palo/Remmy for another decade, we've trained him to appreciate good food. (it's ok though you can hate me)

I actually agree with you! I would actually like to see, on the longer cruises, one slot for the Palo brunch to be for families!

We are on the Magic from NYC in October and would love try the Palo brunch, but actually know that our boys (9 and 12) would enjoy it as much as we would, so we won't go and leave them, as it wouldnt feel fair. I totally understand that adults (especially couples) need a nice space for them to go which is child free, so I'm not suggesting it be a full time change, but one slot where parents could take their whole family who would also appreciate and respect the formality of it, then that would be really nice.

 

[rantnnravin]

I have no skin in the game, as my daughter is now 16, but she absolutely adored the club on the ship and never wanted to leave. Since she had sign-in/out privileges, she would go early in the morning and would meet up with us a few times a day, then return and stay until they closed down.

When she was young enough to go to the clubs they were still divided into appropriate age groupings with developmentally appropriate activities for each group. While it is a nice sentiment to suggest that it gives kids flexibility to participate in activities that interest them, younger kids may get edged out of the activities that are designed for them by older, more confident ones. Conversely, the activities for older kids can be hindered by participants who are just simply not developmentally ready for the activity. In addition, older kids who are placed with younger siblings may get cheated out of a more fulfilling experience as they are either below their developmental social and cognitive level, they may also assume the role of care-taker at the expense of exploring their own social, emotional and cognitive needs.

Sorry to get all teacher-y; it's summer (I should probably stop reading professional papers)

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

It shouldn't be 50%... But there will definitely be some time in each space every day. Plus the Preschoolers time and the Adults only time on the longer cruises. Have you ever been during adult only time? Adults LOVE the spaces and participate wholeheartedly in the programs.

You did not actually address my main point: that the majority of children are being rounded up and put into a relatively confined play space when you consider the age ranges and number of children.

But you have brought up another point. You originally said open houses were to accommodate children who for whatever reason need a parent present. And that would never change, you added, implying that children are being driven out of their space for a greater good. Now you also add that actually the kid's clubs are also being used as general spaces for other groups to meet, making even less space available for secured programming for children. You bring up adult programs. Does it make sense to hold adult programming in kids spaces when children are being crowded into a space that does not allow for constructive age appropriate sessions for children? What areas are crowded on the ship? The family pool areas and kid's club. So does it make sense to close off the mickey pool for an hour every day so that adults can ride the yellow water slide alone? Why not hold adult sessions in adult spaces? Or why not move age 7-9 to the Cadillac bar for a craft while the adults are in the kid's space? Why do we have huge adult areas going unused while adults push children out of the kid's area? Can't adults make flubber in Pink? Bar spaces are almost always empty. They are redoing the route 66 area of the wonder to make it more adult specific, less appealing to children. Why? To have more empty areas on the ship? It sounds like Route 66 should become a large star wars simulator so adults can have their own kids club. Whenever things do not make sense, the answer is financial. Children's programming is being reduced on dcl because it allows them to hire less employees if all the age groups are thrown together and if there are large chunks of the day where the children are effectively penned in like cattle in one area. It is a lot cheaper to have one cm making flubber with 20 adults who want to re-live their childhood than to have the entire area staffed appropriately for children.

 

[bbel]

Have yp

You did not actually address my main point: that the majority of children are being rounded up and put into a relatively confined play space when you consider the age ranges and number of children.

But you have brought up another point. You originally said open houses were to accommodate children who for whatever reason need a parent present. And that would never change, you added, implying that children are being driven out of their space for a greater good. Now you also add that actually the kid's clubs are also being used as general spaces for other groups to meet, making even less space available for secured programming for children. You bring up adult programs. Does it make sense to hold adult programming in kids spaces when children are being crowded into a space that does not allow for constructive age appropriate sessions for children? What areas are crowded on the ship? The family pool areas and kid's club. So does it make sense to close off the mickey pool for an hour every day so that adults can ride the yellow water slide alone? Why not hold adult sessions in adult spaces? Or why not move age 7-9 to the Cadillac bar for a craft while the adults are in the kid's space? Why do we have huge adult areas going unused while adults push children out of the kid's area? Can't adults make flubber in Pink? Bar spaces are almost always empty. They are redoing the route 66 area of the wonder to make it more adult specific, less appealing to children. Why? To have more empty areas on the ship? It sounds like Route 66 should become a large star wars simulator so adults can have their own kids club. Whenever things do not make sense, the answer is financial. Children's programming is being reduced on dcl because it allows them to hire less employees if all the age groups are thrown together and if there are large chunks of the day where the children are effectively penned in like cattle in one area. It is a lot cheaper to have one cm making flubber with 20 adults who want to re-live their childhood than to have the entire area staffed appropriately for children.

Have you ever cruised on a cruise with the adult only options? Usually they'll be less than 30 kids checked in at the same time, so they're not really crammed together...

 

[Chica1581]

I don't think they should close the kids club to allow adults to play with adult only time. The adults have other options. The reason I choose DCL is so my child can enjoy the characters and the kids club.

 

[DnA2010]

For us it would be split the ages up a bit and less computers, more scheduled activities.

 

[Krissy22222]

The adult programs are a non issue for me, as they usually have them late at night, and only on the longer cruises, where there are fewer children to begin with.

Simply put, my kid doesn't like going into Edge during open house. My club/lab aged kids are happy to go to the other side for secured programming when club/lab is having open house, but for Edge, there is no other option. And we only take the longer cruises, so I can only imagine how crowded it must get on a shorter cruise when they have only one side open.

I am glad so many others on here feel the same way. If those who feel this way continue to express ourselves on our post cruise survey, maybe some change will occur. Make your voice heard there.

 

[hardis5]

I think the obvious increase in the number of hours open houses run is more than just a subtle change by Disney in offering up the spaces for those too young (or old) or for parents to feel comfortable in.

IMHO to me this comes across as Disney feeling out the possibility of these spaces having permanent free for all periods, where-by they can reduce the staffing during those periods and allow parents other spaces to spend time with their kids on-board.

Ourselves, we and several of our kids at various ages through every club on-board have enjoyed the freedom of secure, safe environments these spaces allow our kids (or teens) to be kids (or teens). To take away these spaces from those designed exclusively for not just an hour or two but hours on end most days is no more than adding a family attraction on-board that saves Disney money. I agree with an open house for those not familiar with the spaces or kids/teens not having been in prior but it appears to be getting beyond the open houses original purpose when they exist in a location for hours a day.

 

[bbel]

Sooooo.....


Apart from open house, anything else?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Sooooo.....


Apart from open house, anything else?

For us it would be split the ages up a bit and less computers, more scheduled activities.

 

[TestingH2O]

Sooooo.....


Apart from open house, anything else?

Dine and play at early dinner seating.

This would also require preservation of secured programming starting with early dinner. Looking at Navigators online, it's not uncommon for at least one club to be in open house during the early dinner/show time when many people would want or need it. I don't mind the idea of open house, but the timing needs to be more thoughtful.

 

[bbel]

Dine and play at early dinner seating.

This would also require preservation of secured programming starting with early dinner. Looking at Navigators online, it's not uncommon for at least one club to be in open house during the early dinner/show time when many people would want or need it. I don't mind the idea of open house, but the timing needs to be more thoughtful.

At least on the classics the club is nearly always in open house from 6-7(ish) because we serve dinner, but only in the lab. It's also nearly always the quietest time of the day with only around 20-30 children checked in...

 

[bbel]

I don't think there's a lot we can do about splitting up the ages, at least not in the near future...
As for scheduled activities, the ship I'm on has a constant flow, one staring as one finishes and in the time (usually 15-30 minutes) when there isn't actually anything navigated there's still a very wide choice of structured activities going on: craft, group games, board/card games, the slide, movies, wii/ just dance. We're not allowed to not have anything happening...

 

[TestingH2O]

At least on the classics the club is nearly always in open house from 6-7(ish) because we serve dinner, but only in the lab. It's also nearly always the quietest time of the day with only around 20-30 children checked in...

That's not the case on the new ships. And, if the goal is to let a kid miss the show, then having the club only doing open house or dinner completely defeats the purpose.

Look, you asked what parents find frustrating. Very few of us think there should be no open house. But we are being pretty clear that the times we see it scheduled are inconvenient. This is particularly true for my family in terms of access to programming options in the early evening.

 

[KT2038]

I will pass your concerns about open house times on to management. However, for the foreseeable future the open house will probably remain as it is.

 

[Macprincess]

I don't think there's a lot we can do about splitting up the ages, at least not in the near future...
As for scheduled activities, the ship I'm on has a constant flow, one staring as one finishes and in the time (usually 15-30 minutes) when there isn't actually anything navigated there's still a very wide choice of structured activities going on: craft, group games, board/card games, the slide, movies, wii/ just dance. We're not allowed to not have anything happening...

I disagree that this it isn't possible to do anything about splitting up the age groups. DCL was able to do this for years. The only issue I see is the fact that the club and lab are connected on the Dream and Fantasy. This is easily solved by adding a room divider or using the backroom that connect the two for CM led activities for age appropriate activities. Very much like schools use a multi purpose rooms. Yes, this would mean that Disney would have to go back to certain CM's assigned to different ages. I have worked in two private schools, with preschool- 8th grade, that have an open concept designed. It takes organization and a commitment by the staff to follow a set routine, but it is very possible to divide children into age appropriate groups. It is possible it just takes more effort on Disney's part. Effort, in my opinion, is what appears to be lacking on Disney's part with this particular issue.

On our last cruise it appeared that the CM's leading an activity were engaged with the children, but I saw several CM's who were basically eyes and ears to make certain the children were safe. I understand that safety is a priority. Yet, I do feel the way things use to be where the children were divided by age with specific CM's assigned to each age group kept the children more involved in activities. As it stands now there is the potential for Disney to have younger children, and their parents, who are overwhelmed with the current set up. Older children are bored and feel the area is too babyish for the 10-12 year olds. This leads to the 10-12 wanting in the Edge. Then the older Middle School age kids wanting to go to the Vibe before they are High School Age. All this leads to parents not having as much opportunity to have their children use the kids/teen clubs. Honestly, in my household it was Disney's age appropriate kids clubs, with it's awesome CM's, longer hours then other cruise lines, that had us book with Disney in the first place and kept us coming back over the years. Bottom line is we pay a high premium to book Disney over other lines and while it might not be comfortable or something Disney wants to hear the truth is my family who has cruised on 8 DCL cruises and always re-books on board didn't on our last cruise. We are finding changes like these to mean less value to our family of five. We decided to look into booking other vacation options.

Yes, I agree the open houses have become far too frequent. I also see no reason at all for any adult time in what is a children's area. There are plenty of adults only areas on the ship.

 

[katellynne]

I really liked the special preschool programming (3-5) when we sailed the Wonder in 2014, and that we even got invites to that to our stateroom so we would not miss it! I very much hope to see this again on our upcoming sailing on the Fantasy!

just this last May on the Wonder my older daughter received personalized invites to our stateroom for Edge activities which I thought was a nice touch!! We hadn't experienced that on the Fantasy and she was there in 2014 and 2015. We have never gotten invites to anything for my youngest to activities when we sailed the Wonder in 2013 when she was 5 and the Fantasy in 2015 and 2016 when she was 6 and 7.
In conclusion I LOVE this idea ongoing for any age!