Tell me about the kids clubs

[imortalcandy]

We are going on our 1st cruise in a month and I dont understand how the clubs work. DD(4) and DS(3) will be playing in the club together. From what i read the club is for 3-12 years old.
Will my little ones be playing with almost teens?
My 3 year old is almost potty trained but he will be in a pull-up while in the club, Will this stop him from being able to go into the club with his sister?
Are there other clubs for them or just the one?
How does the kids club work at CC?

I know nothing so any thing you can tell me even if it sounds basic please let me know

 

[nenner1]

We are going on our 1st cruise in a month and I dont understand how the clubs work. DD(4) and DS(3) will be playing in the club together. From what i read the club is for 3-12 years old.
Will my little ones be playing with almost teens?

Yes. (it's actually ages 3-10)

My almost 10 year old HATED the new club situation. She hardly spent any time there because all of the activities were taken over by little ones. Not that she doesn't like kids, LOL- she has a little sister... She just really felt like things were dumbed down and not to her age level.

By contrast my 11 y/o DS LOVED the Edge so much we coul dhardly get him out of there. I think the older club/lab kids (9, 10 and sometimes 8 year olds) need some much better options. It did not work well.

My 3 year old is almost potty trained but he will be in a pull-up while in the club, Will this stop him from being able to go into the club with his sister?

I don't think so, I think they will just page you to change him. OC staff will not do anything potty related.

Our daughter was doing so well in potty training but it went out the window on the cruise. The toilets freaked her out even when not flushed in her presence. She is only 2 1/2 though and would have been in Flounder's either way.

Are there other clubs for them or just the one?

There is the Club and the Lab, each are independent locations connected via a backstage hidden pathway. Children aged 3-10 can move between them to participate in whatever activities interest them while they are there. Generally the Club has the play areas and storybook time and other younger oriented programs while the Lab has video games and more arts and craft/experiment type activities mostly generated tot he older kids in the age range. Children no longer leave the Club or Lab for eating times or activities. Any activities held around the ship are now part of the "Out and About" program which is geared to ages 8 and up, and for which the child has to have the ability to check themselves in or out of the program.

How does the kids club work at CC?

The club ion CC is located at Scuttles Cove which has the boneyard dig area. It is on the inland side as opposed to the beach side, and can get hot (and my kids at 6/7 bored of it quickly). I'm not sure if the Club/Lab onship operates while docked in CC, or just on-island.

Hope that helps your planning, have a fantastic cruise!

 

[goofylovers]

We just got off the Wonder on Sunday and had a great time. My daughter spent almost all of her time in the Oceaneers Lab she is 8. She loved it so much that I had to force her to leave each night to see the shows. They had cooking school, crafts, Character visits, Wii games, computers, made lava and slime. She had a ball. The Oceaneers club has a big clubhouse and slide and story times. Give it a try. I found it to be very busy with kids in there and never saw a child that was not having fun. I hope you enjoy your cruise.

 

[denas]

I have been following this closely, since I didn't realize they had changed the clubs from 3-7 in one and 8-12 in another until recently. We are going on the Magic in January. I am not super happy with the kids being mixed. If I check my 4-year-old daughter into the Club, will they let her go to the Lab if she wants to or will they keep her in the Club if I specify that? My eight year old will not be happy to have his little sister at his activities in the lab. In fact, we did the cruise this year rather than last since I wanted them to each have their own space and last year (under the old rules) they would have both been in the Club at 3 and 7.

I notice that the ages on the activities in each are still definately oriented to different age groups and don't understand why a parent would want their 4-year-old at an activity that is recommended for kids 7-and-up anyway, but apparently they do, or the Lab wouldn't be overrun with toddlers and pre-schoolers.

I think Disney has really missed the boat with this one. Most other cruise lines are making more age groups in their kids programs rather than lumping them together and Disney is heading in the opposite direction. I suppose some parents insist that their 5-year-old just has to be with the 8-year-old, but it is pretty inconsiderate of the other guests who want their 8-year-olds to be with kids thier own age. Following that logic, pretty soon, they will change the rules and allow 16 and 17 year olds in the adult areas because it is a "mother-daughter cruise and they just want to experience Palo together"!! We were looking at sailing again when my kids will by 6 and 10, but now I don't think I will if they keep the 10 year olds in programs with 3-year-olds present.

 

[nenner1]

We were looking at sailing again when my kids will by 6 and 10, but now I don't think I will if they keep the 10 year olds in programs with 3-year-olds present.

Yep, this is exactly what had my DD9 (almost 10) so frustrated.

In general it did seem that when we observed it, there weren't too many of the younger ones in the Lab. I don't think I saw any that could have been 3 or 4 but I definitely saw quite a few kids in the 5/6 age range. But even still she considers 5 year olds "too young" for her. She did some crafts like jewelry making and Cooking School and she did relay that the activities moved too slow for her (presumably at a pace where the younger participants could keep up).

So like I said the toddler/preschoolers do seem to stay in the Club but you will now find kids of all school ages in the Lab. I'm sure it is wonderful for the 5-8 set but like I said above the 9 and 10 year olds...tweens... are really in a position where their interests aren't served as well. If there was an Edge junior or Tween club that would fit the bill perfectly.

As many have done before us, we did mention it on our comment card.