Kids Club Age Change

[randumb0]

That's what I was thinking - 12-8yo, 7-4, 3 and under, similar to how other cruise lines do it.

The issue is they don't have the space to do something like that

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

The issue is they don't have the space to do something like that

Wish and Treasure Can't. But the rest could go back to doing split age groups for club and lab. It just sucks and more people are upset over the change than praising it.

 

[randumb0]

Wish and Treasure Can't. But the rest could go back to doing split age groups for club and lab. It just sucks and more people are upset over the change than praising it.

I agree, but I don't see them having different rules for different ships

 

[DisnEElove]

I agree, but I don't see them having different rules for different ships

Sticking 11 yo with 14 yo isn't the move though. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but there's more of a chance of having huge developmental differences in that age span that could cause issues.

 

[jimim]

For those with 11-12 year olds. Is it that huge of deal I mean isn’t there a ton of other stuff to do on the ship anyway? I have a 11 year old I can see him wanting to go in for a few to see and play around in the Star Wars area but then prob not care.

 

[DMMarla07860]

I admit 5th grade middle school is unusual (but happens) but I think 6th grade as middle school is fairly common- it’s a 50/50 split here by district. My 11 year old is in middle school. My birthday is in June so I was 11 my entire 6th grade year.

My 11 year old has been walking to the grocery store for me for over a year to get a couple things and she’s my less independent child. Just last week she wanted to make cookies so she used her own money to buy chocolate chips and walked up to the store about half mile away to get them. If she can do that, I am confident she will be totally fine going with new friends to watch the fireworks or a ship wide scavenger hunt.

Back in my days I was in middle school in 5th grade. Though the town over from me who kids went to same high school had all
Kids in same school elementary through middle school

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

For those with 11-12 year olds. Is it that huge of deal I mean isn’t there a ton of other stuff to do on the ship anyway? I have a 11 year old I can see him wanting to go in for a few to see and play around in the Star Wars area but then prob not care.

Actually yes it is and it is to my almost 11 yo. Its a lot to consider, makes it hard for parents to use adult spaces/dining also. It just wasn't the best thought through plan.

 

[jimim]

Actually yes it is and it is to my almost 11 yo. Its a lot to consider, makes it hard for parents to use adult spaces/dining also. It just wasn't the best thought through plan.

I totally agree with you that it was the worst time and plan to do what they did. It definitely doesn’t make sense. I didn’t even really think about adult dining and time for adults for kids can’t go. This will be our first cruise with kids we haven’t been on the cruise since we got engaged which was 17+ years ago now, so like almost 19 years I would say so we didn’t have to worry about that back then, but even with the upcoming cruise we’re going on I guess I really didn’t get much thought to adult stuff being that it was the kids first cruise and we were just gonna do stuff together. I don’t even think we’re gonna go to Palo this time. We never have been on the ship so we figured there’s so much to do we would all just be together.

 

[AZMermaid]

For those with 11-12 year olds. Is it that huge of deal I mean isn’t there a ton of other stuff to do on the ship anyway? I have a 11 year old I can see him wanting to go in for a few to see and play around in the Star Wars area but then prob not care.

I just told my 11 year old. She said- oh. Okay. I was going to the Edge anyway.

 

[AZMermaid]

My advice for those who are “stuck”

Make sure your kid goes to Edge the first night. That’s when friend groups form.

Go during Open House the first day and chat with the counselors.

Find out when out of Edge activities are happening so if you’re not comfortable you can make sure your kiddo isn’t in there for that.

My son would run up there every morning and take a photo of that days activities. It is open house in the mornings so you could go too. Then my kids knew if there was something they really wanted to hit. These aren’t posted in the navigator.

Talk it up with your kids. I really think they’ll like it better than you think. But they have to go the first night!!

 

[meremac]

I'm sorry for everyone this is impacting. I would be very concerned about the new forced age grouping in Edge. You could potentially have 5th grade elementary kids in Edge with high school sophomores. This is a huge age/developmental range, and considering that Edge has WAY less supervision than Club/Lab, this new policy could have some significant unintended consequences.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I'm sorry for everyone this is impacting. I would be very concerned about the new forced age grouping in Edge. You could potentially have 5th grade elementary kids in Edge with high school sophomores. This is a huge age/developmental range, and considering that Edge has WAY less supervision than Club/Lab, this new policy could have some significant unintended consequences.

Sadly it is very likely to happen too in time.

 

[Mags2002]

I understand frustrations are still high. But the amount of posts talking about the inappropriateness of 11 year olds in with 14 year olds is crazy. The age range for Edge is not changing. It has always been 11-14. All that is changing is the option for said 11 (& 12) year olds to go to Oceaneers as well

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I understand frustrations are still high. But the amount of posts talking about the inappropriateness of 11 year olds in with 14 year olds is crazy. The age range for Edge is not changing. It has always been 11-14. All that is changing is the option for said 11 (& 12) year olds to go to Oceaneers as well

But the issue is there is no choice for the 11 and 12, like there use to be.

 

[DCLMP]

I understand frustrations are still high. But the amount of posts talking about the inappropriateness of 11 year olds in with 14 year olds is crazy. The age range for Edge is not changing. It has always been 11-14. All that is changing is the option for said 11 (& 12) year olds to go to Oceaneers as well

My guess is there was an incident that led to this change. The majority of 11-12 years will not be impacted. It's unfortunate for parents who want to keep their preteens in the club, but my guess is there's more to the story. We will probably never know what prompted the sudden change.

 

[DCLMP]

I'm sorry for everyone this is impacting. I would be very concerned about the new forced age grouping in Edge. You could potentially have 5th grade elementary kids in Edge with high school sophomores. This is a huge age/developmental range, and considering that Edge has WAY less supervision than Club/Lab, this new policy could have some significant unintended consequences.

The Edge has always been 11-14. This is nothing new. 14-year-olds have the option of Edge or Vibe. I'm guessing most choose the Vibe.

 

[WRLeGrand]

I understand frustrations are still high. But the amount of posts talking about the inappropriateness of 11 year olds in with 14 year olds is crazy. The age range for Edge is not changing. It has always been 11-14. All that is changing is the option for said 11 (& 12) year olds to go to Oceaneers as well

I really do appreciate you trying to reply and giving Disney’s side for all of this, but you are really starting to miss the mark on almost every post. No one is saying the Edge age range is changing. What people are saying is that they no longer have a choice for their 11-12 year olds, and that is a major issue on a Disney cruise. There is a huge different between a newly 11 year old and a high school aged kid. Physical, emotionally, and developmentally. It is great for mature 11-12 year olds to love Edge! Fantastic! But parents should have options for a more supervised experience when paying this amount of money. And certainly should have more options than just “deal with it” with 6 days notice.

 

[meremac]

I understand frustrations are still high. But the amount of posts talking about the inappropriateness of 11 year olds in with 14 year olds is crazy. The age range for Edge is not changing. It has always been 11-14. All that is changing is the option for said 11 (& 12) year olds to go to Oceaneers as well

But the last part IS the problem. Previously families of tweens had the choice of which club to go to. My daughter developed late and was still very immature at 11 years old. She was still in elementary school then, and she was still playing house and school and dolls and dressup. There is no way she (or I) would have been ok with her being in a club with high schoolers, especially considering that the supervision in Edge is very lax. She needed to still be in Club/Lab, no question. For some tweens, Edge is the right fit. For others, not even close.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I would feel better about it if that at least offered secured programming in Edge and the opportunity to "invade" the club/lab with activities and entertainment. Open house in the Star Wars area in the Club on the Wish isn't the same thing as a fun activity with Rey and Chewbacca, for example, which I think they have? And on the first 4 ships, they absolutely could have gone with a policy of 3-8 in the Club and 8-12 in the Lab, then trading sides midday. There was no need to throw the preteens out with the bathwater just to keep it consistent across the fleet because of the poorly designed layouts of the Wish and Treasure. Anyway what's done is done. We'll just be putting the money we were going to spend on the Wish cruise towards a 2025 stay at the new Epic Universe resort.

 

[meremac]

The Edge has always been 11-14. This is nothing new. 14-year-olds have the option of Edge or Vibe. I'm guessing most choose the Vibe.

I know. I have been on eight Disney Cruises and I book them for other people for a living . I'm just saying that this is now a forced grouping of kids as young as 5th grade with teens as old as 10th grade in a space that has little supervision. Previously families of tweens (especially immature ones) could opt out of that situation and choose to keep their kids in Club/Lab if it was a better fit for them. I also don't think most 14-year-olds necessarily choose Vibe. My son didn't when he was 14, and there were plenty of other 14-year-olds in there as well.