Kids Club Age Change

[dreamer17555]

Unfortunately Disney won’t allow children older than the age cutoff into any space (during secured programming), regardless of additional needs. It is not fair to have this change sprung on them but there will never be exceptions for kids of any age to stay in a lower age group

I appreciate you taking so much time to reply to this thread today. I understand disney setting a new age limit and sticking to it. I do not agree with them springing it on people last minute and not allowing cancellation without penalties for those wishing to cancel. My heart also goes out to all the CMs that now have to deal with this. It was badly handled IMO

 

[AZMermaid]

I do think it’s unfortunate they aren’t waiving the cancellation penalty for affected families.

 

[Mags2002]

I appreciate you taking so much time to reply to this thread today. I understand disney setting a new age limit and sticking to it. I do not agree with them springing it on people last minute and not allowing cancellation without penalties for those wishing to cancel. My heart also goes out to all the CM’s that now have to deal with this. It was badly handled IMO

You’re welcome. I understand everyone’s frustration. If it makes people feel better it was sprung on the YA CMs too

 

[dreamer17555]

You’re welcome. I understand everyone’s frustration. If it makes people feel better it was sprung on the YA CMs too

I hate that for the CMs. It’s putting them in a difficult position as well but my daughter was a deep water lifeguard for the DCP and I know CMs have to follow rules to ensure guest safety.

I think if Disney should at least allow cancellation without penalty and even then I know so close to Xmas it might not be possible for every impacted family to cancel.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Unfortunately Disney won’t allow children older than the age cutoff into any space (during secured programming), regardless of additional needs. It is not fair to have this change sprung on them but there will never be exceptions for kids of any age to stay in a lower age group

And that's an important proviso. Disney has never made accomodation for children with challenges. It's up to the parents to decide if the programming available is appropriate for their child.

 

[Debonna]

And that's an important proviso. Disney has never made accomodation for children with challenges. It's up to the parents to decide if the programming available is appropriate for their child.

Yep. We were due to sail in spring of 2020 before Covid shut everything down. My son, who is on the spectrum, would’ve been 13. I contacted DCL special services and was told he absolutely could not attend Oceaneers, even though it was more developmentally appropriate for him. Fortunately he is a big rule follower and understood it would be open house only.

 

[randumb0]

My 11 year old is devastated by the news as likes the Club and Lab. They should have given a fair notice so that those that are PIF can cancel if they choose to

 

[lanejudy]

Our sailing date is Feb 5th. …
They also refused to let us cancel and said they would keep 100% of our fair - which is quite substantial since we booked concierge.

If you really would consider cancelling… Check your cancellation policy. I think that was bad info and don’t believe you are within the full 100% penalty window yet. Concierge deposit is never refundable but there is a schedule of penalty phases. If you bought insurance, check the terms of that and if you might be eligible for any reimbursement - especially if you bought early for CFAR coverage.

 

[Rdeering]

Unfortunately Disney won’t allow children older than the age cutoff into any space (during secured programming), regardless of additional needs. It is not fair to have this change sprung on them but there will never be exceptions for kids of any age to stay in a lower age group

I am aware that children must meet the age requirements for the club they go to and exceptions will not be made. We had two children turn 3 on a cruise and we had to wait until the exact day of their birthday to access the facility. However, my son WAS within the approved age range for this facility when I booked and paid a substantial amount of money for a “premium service experience” in a concierge cabin. My frustration is having this change sprung on us after our PIF date. Our cruise experience is fundamentally changed with losing access to secure childcare and we have been offered no financial compensation, nor are we allowed to cancel. I can support the change but not the way it was implemented.

 

[Rdeering]

If you really would consider cancelling… Check your cancellation policy. I think that was bad info and don’t believe you are within the full 100% penalty window yet. Concierge deposit is never refundable but there is a schedule of penalty phases. If you bought insurance, check the terms of that and if you might be eligible for any reimbursement - especially if you bought early for CFAR coverage.

You are right. I may have misunderstood what the representative said. At 51 days before sailing, we would lose 75% of our cabin fare, not 100%.

 

[insureman]

I remember when they increased the ages from 3 to 8 then to 3 to 12. My wife and I always thought that was way too much of an age spread. Below is a couple of screen grabs of a 1999-2000 brochure from Scott's blog.
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...0-vacations-booklet-discover-uncharted-magic/

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

It's me, I'm the complainer, it's me. We cruise in February. Had planned 3 back to back to back on the Wish for our 12 yr old to get one last Oceaneer hurrah. We had originally started with one 4 night as that's the longest sailing available. When we felt that 4 nights was just too short, we added a 3 night to go back to back. And then as we explored the Oceaneer Club on the Wish, specifically the Marvel area & Imagineering design coaster lab, we added a 3rd leg to make sure he really had all the time he could want, and be with his 3 younger siblings one more time. Our staterooms for 2 of the 3 legs are right near the kids club planned that way to give the ability to quickly access early morning/later at night. So yeah, I'm "complaining" big time that we took the funds that it did (and those were definitely a reach) and put towards a vacation that was about getting a trip to celebrate the last days/weeks of childhood will now be bitter and sad passing by the place he had been looking forward to and planning to spend all extra minutes at.

And we did call as well, were very nice as we realize that this is not at all the frontline CMs decision, but we voiced our feedback/disappointment and were also given the email address dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com to raise a more formal/written complaint. We are also strongly considering, cancelling one of the legs, even with it being past the date because we're still at this point able to get all but the deposit back & we'll take that and spend a nice weekend before the rest of the legs going to "that other place" in Orlando, maybe even onsite there.

Yes, come join us on the dark side, we have Butterbeer.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yeah, pretty messed up this is taking effect right before those really expensive Christmas and New Year's cruises. If I had one of those booked I'd be furious.

We had plans to go on a cruise next Thanksgiving to let my twins who will be 12 get one more kids club experience with their younger brother. I'll call and cancel in the morning--can't justify thanksgiving week prices with no oceaneer's club experience. My youngest son has autism and we need the secured programming for him so this really messes with our plans to really maximize disney cruises as a vacation option when he is 11-12 in a couple years--we'd hoped to do a Europe trip and Alaska with Disney. I know it seems silly, but I genuinely feel like I am mourning for the vacations I thought I was going to take.

It makes me really sad and frustrated. Edge is nothing like the kids club. It's one room with some video games and no security in or out. It feels like this announcement is the equivalent of booking a cruise on the premise of having family dinners in the MDRs, only to be told that in two weeks, MDRs will be for adults only and everyone with kids has to eat at the quick service on the pool deck. The fact that they didn't think through how hard this would be on families is mind boggling.

Even though Edge is not the same as Oceaneers, I do think they could go a long way toward making this better for families by giving an option for Edge to have a secured programming options, at least for the 11-12 year olds. Kind of like the opposite how parents of 8 year olds can opt to give their kids self-checkout from the club.

I did a quick look at royal caribbean. They do have secure programming all the way up to age 12 so I guess maybe that's what we'll do for our next Alaska trip. If disney is going to differentiate based on age, you'd think they'd at least pay attention to what their peers are doing and realize there is a big difference between an 11 year old and a 14 year old.

Sometimes I feel like I don't even recognize Disney any more.

 

[DCLMP]

It's interesting reading all the different responses. My kids were bored to death in the club by age 9 and couldn't wait to go to the Edge. They both got waivers to age up at age 10.

I'm not sure it would be something I would be canceling a cruise over. That seems like an extreme overreaction. Let your kids try the Edge. They may love it and never look back. I find kids usually adapt and overcome better than the parents do.

 

[AZMermaid]

So I sent my email in support of the change and got a form reply apologizing but the new guidelines are firm. So they aren’t reading the emails.

 

[randumb0]

I hope they add more activities to the Edge. It's a tiny area and I don't want my son playing video games the whole time

 

[DCLMP]

I hope they add more activities to the Edge. It's a tiny area and I don't want my son playing video games the whole time

As kids move into teenhood it's more about developing relationships and hanging out. Video games may be a part of that. It's also about gaining some freedom. There are a lot more scheduled activities in the Edge than in the Oceeneers club, but it's all optional. Your kids aren't in school on a cruise.

 

[randumb0]

As kids move into teenhood it's more about developing relationships and hanging out. Video games may be a part of that. It's also about gaining some freedom. There are a lot more scheduled activities in the Edge than in the Oceeneers club, but it's all optional. Your kids aren't in school on a cruise.

My point is my son doesn't want an area with just video games. Are there art activities? Dances?

 

[Mags2002]

My point is my son doesn't want an area with just video games. Are there art activities? Dances?

No there are not just video games. There are all kinds of different activities

 

[Mags2002]

I hope they add more activities to the Edge. It's a tiny area and I don't want my son playing video games the whole time

Not all programming takes place in Edge itself. They have scheduled programming in different areas of the ship