Kids Club Concerns

[sabrecmc]

The OH times really hit hard when you have a child at the lower end or the upper end of the age range. At 10, my DD wasn't thrilled with this last time around. When she was 7/8, it didn't seem to bother her at all. So, I guess I'd say maybe when you have to have OH, for the secured programming, have some options that are geared to/limited to the young and old guests? For example, last cruise, my DD complained that during the OH when the older kids were trying to play a game, the young kids kept running in the middle of it. Now, I know that's going to happen, but, being 10, this was annoying for her. Which made her want to leave, which made me have to leave the bar, which gave Disney less money, lol. I'm sure it is a big challenge with that many kids at all different ages, but I'm just passing along the complaint I heard!

The only other complaint she had was that there were a couple of times something was on the schedule that she said didn't happen. Particularly late night Gaga Ball? That was somehow incredibly important to her and required structuring the entire evening around, but she said sometimes it didn't happen, so that was disappointing for her.

Can't believe she will be in the Edge next cruise. She has really loved the club and lab over the years. The CMs do an outstanding job, and they are honestly the reason we keep coming back.

 

[drsmileswife]

Interesting discussion.
We are getting excited to take our 3rd cruise this december. All 5 of our children ranging from age 3-15 get to come this time (we don't take our kids before they are potty trained- personal decision, easier for us, wonderful grandparents who don't mind keeping youngest). Anyway, we have been lucky I guess that our kids have never complained about anything in the clubs. They have always had a blast and without fail made friends. My older 2 were in Edge last time and- though it was tough on mama to let them- stayed until closing sometimes. It's vacation!! yes, they slept in the next day, but if I remember not a lot is going on in the older clubs early in the morning anyway. They rarely get to stay up that late at home, and we felt good about letting them, because the counselors were amazing and they were never just hanging out.

As far as the younger club, some of the things that have been my kids' favorite are Pluto's pajama party, Storytime with Belle, whatever they do with peter pan (hook's hook or something), and the mad science flubber. Pretty much anything that involves a character visiting. And the badges they could earn? My middle son (who was 9 at the time) LOVED that! I think he ended up with every badge and a hat or something. We would look at the navigators with the kids each night and they would decide what they wanted to try in the clubs the next day. We would drop them, and come back to check on them when it was over and most times they didn't want to leave with us, because they had found something awesome to do!

We spent time as a family doing the pool, shows, dinner- we do purposely schedule second seating because dine and play is awesome! I think we went to open house a couple times, once on a port day when Dad and the older kids were on an excursion I went with my 5-year-old and it was just us and a couple of other kids. Peter Pan was so great with her! I don't remember everything but the pictures I took, the club looks deserted.

We tend to sail at less busy times, so maybe that is why we have never had a problem. Disney is so amazing! Nothing compares to the service we receive and it is tough to take any other vacation now Keep up the good work and remember it is near impossible to make everyone happy- BUT that is also why we love disney cruising! If the kids clubs don't do it for your kids, there is the pool, or the movie theater, or the detective thing on the big ships, or character greetings, or shows, or family games, I just can't imagine ever being bored or unhappy on a disney cruise! Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way- just my opinion!!

 

[wajones2]

OH times work out perfectly for us so far. When DD wasn't 3, we had late dining and they had OH during the main dining time. So she got to play before dinner. She is now 6 and we have been on 3 cruises since she has turned 3. She didn't "love" being left for prolonged periods of time until she was 4 and by 5 we couldn't get her to leave the club at times. She loves the OH times when we can come and play with her in the club, and she can share all her favorite activities with us. The "magic" of 4 came when she realized she would walk up to anyone in the yellow shirt, and say "will you play with me"? And the answer was always "Yes!" And she was set from that point on in the kids clubs. My nephew is in the Edge and loves all the activities there as well. The Disney kid areas just really seem to work well with both their personalities, even as different as they both are and they have tons of FUN! Can wait for our next cruise DD will be 7!

 

[KT2038]

If you have a look at past navigators and see something you are unsure of or if you have any other questions about any of the spaces, just send me a message and I'll be happy to help you

 

[hnthomps]

Chiming in to say:
Thank you KT2038 for continuing to come here and open it up.

Things that I'd love: More opportunities for gross motor play for little kids!! Mine need a LOT of physical activity. For our small children, there were too many screens and not enough physical activity. Any sort of climbing wall / monkey bar / etc situation would have helped enormously, and made us much more likely to return (I understand there are liability concerns, but indoor playspaces manage this all the time with far less supervision than on DCL). We ended up walking up and down the stairs multiple times per day just to get the wiggles out (in addition to our bigger kid swimming, etc). Also, we aren't nuts about screen time limits, but with screens in every single room, the kids just lock on...little kids don't always have the self control to pull away.
More preschool age programming - there was toddler time a couple times (though never when we could actually attend), but not a lot for my kids (2 and 4 at the time) to participate in. Obviously it's a pipe dream, but it seemed unfair that my potty-trained fully verbal 2 year old had to be with the babies, and my 4 year old was often trying his hardest to fit in with 9-12 year olds. Some programming -- I know it can't be a separate area -- for 2 - 6 year olds or something like that would be so helpful.
(Actually, generally, DCL is pretty terrible for 2 year olds. But catering to 2 year olds isn't worth it! Just wish we'd known that before we booked)

Things we actually liked a lot: all the counselors were wonderful. We felt very safe and secure leaving our kids.

We didn't mind the open house situation. We brought our 2 year old in during open house a couple times, which allowed sibling play for us. And our older kid never complained about moving to the secured side.

We're also weirdos who enforced bedtime (8pm at the latest) every night -- because otherwise our kids are monsters that no one wants to be around -- so some sort of in-room care (or a video monitor that worked in nearby spaces so that we could safely and responsibly leave the sleeping children?) would have been AMAZING.

 

[scgustafson]

In an ideal world, there would be a club for the 3-7s and one for the 8-12s and then another club for 3-12, so everyone is happy. Yeah, I know... not going to happen.

And another just for open houses. Maybe this will be addressed on the two new ships.

 

[bumbershoot]

My 8 & 10 year old love the club on the ship but hate it on the beach and refuse to go because they feel the staff make them play even if they don't want to and hate that there is nowhere to go that they can't get splashed
They also hate that the staff won't page us the first time they ask
And that the club is for 3-11 year olds and that's to much of an age difference to all be together
They also say there is no announcement when special things are happening like cooking

It's actually 3 all the way through the end of 12.

If they have iPods or other devices that can get wifi, have them carry those and they can text your wifi-getting device through the free wifi on the free navigator app.

Once they got that app, our days of using the wave phone or relying on CMs was over.

I wish for early dine and play as well. My 2 yr old will be old enough to play in the Club / Lab when we go however she has serious allergies and we don't trust others to feed her as her allergens can be quite hidden (Potato, Wheat, Dairy). I would rather we feed her and then she get to go play but I also know that an hour long meal will be way too long for her to stay and us to stay sane.

Take her to dinner, order her food fast, then run her up to the club/lab and get back to dinner.

Yes, but not all activities have descriptions readily available. Also, the counselors are indicating that there are events that happen in addition to those published in the Navigator.

DS has never encountered anything extra.

He also says they play gaga ball totally wrong. (Vs the YMCA and how Royal does that game)

Just ask here what things are. Thy never have an explanation of what things are onboard. So ask here.

 

[Naomi Collison]

Take her to dinner, order her food fast, then run her up to the club/lab and get back to dinner.

Thats what we plan on doing.

 

[bumbershoot]

Dine and play requires too much attention. They don't come into the restaurant. You have take them out. It works best when they are ordering normally from the kid menu. Etc. it's a pain.

 

[willijen]

The "magic" of 4 came when she realized she would walk up to anyone in the yellow shirt, and say "will you play with me"? And the answer was always "Yes!"

This actually brought a little tear to my eye. Our younger son is coming with us on his first cruise this fall. He's 5 1/2. I'm going to tell him this, and I'm sure he'll take full advantage! There's so many times at home when his 10 year old brother and 40-something parents are just not into pretending to be Power Rangers again.

 

[KT2038]

Thanks everyone for your replies. If there's anything else you think of it want to ask or discuss please let me know. Have a magical cruise! xx

 

[belac]

Thank you

 

[Shanti]

I personally like the open house times as well. I work full time so vacations are a time when I get to spend lots of time with my son. I like that he isn't barred from going to the club just because he wants his special vacation time to include me and I want to spend the time with him. the only time we even use the clubs is during the open house

This. I love that there can be family time in the kids' clubs, rather than them only being a dumping ground for kids so that parents can go off to do their own thing.

 

[Shanti]

Thanks everyone for your replies. If there's anything else you think of it want to ask or discuss please let me know. Have a magical cruise! xx

Love the kids' clubs and the open house hours. They're a big part of the DCL magic! Thank you!

 

[willijen]

Yes, thank you KT2038 and all the Kids' Club counselors! YOU are the only reason I am sailing DCL with our kids. If it weren't for the spectacular time our DS had on our first Disney cruise, we'd be booked on RCI right now.

 

[bumbershoot]

This. I love that there can be family time in the kids' clubs, rather than them only being a dumping ground for kids so that parents can go off to do their own thing.

FWIW, although my son likes the Royal kid clubs better, he likes the Disney ones enough, and if anything, the whole rest of the ship is the dumping ground for his parents while he goes off and has fun with his peers. Especially if he's found kids (always girls) to have a dance party with on the light up floor, we have to drag him out.

You don't have to look at he clubs as negatively as your description sounds.

 

[Weedy]

This. I love that there can be family time in the kids' clubs, rather than them only being a dumping ground for kids so that parents can go off to do their own thing.

Wow why so harsh?

 

[Jacob Roberts]

This will be our daughter's first time on a cruise (Disney Dream August 15th), let alone a Disney cruise, and she is 7. She is pretty shy at first, but will open up if she has found a buddy...what is the crew like when it comes to the kids who aren't as out going and may not want to travel away from the parents? Will they help be a temporary buddy until they find someone to pow around with?

I agree it shouldn't be a "dumping ground" per say, but I do want her to get the most out of the experience and I think that will happen better if she goes into the places where we as adults can't go.

 

[MomOf2inSD]

Let's maybe talk about some of the things that you like about the youth spaces. What were your Children's favourite programs?

My girls age 9 and 11 ADORE the kids club. My big girl is a little momma and loves that little kids are there for her to help and play with. They can't wait to bake cookies and make flubber! My little one loved the scavenger hunt with Peter Pan. Boot camp with the toy soldiers was a winner too. So excited!

 

[jahber]

This. I love that there can be family time in the kids' clubs, rather than them only being a dumping ground for kids so that parents can go off to do their own thing.

I totally dump my kids at the kids' club and I'm not ashamed to admit it. They would stay in there from the time they woke up until the time they are dragged, kicking and screaming, out at closing if I would let them. It makes them happy. Why would I begrudge them that? We get plenty of family time together--vacation is just as much for me as anyone else, and I happen to enjoy doing my own thing when I finally have the chance