10yo in Edge

On our first cruise 3 years ago, my son was a month shy of 11, and he wasn't allowed to age up. He hated the Lab and wouldn't go, so we spent the entire cruise with him. This most recent cruise, a month shy of 14, he loved the Edge and we practically only saw him at meals and on port days. It allowed my husband and I to take advantage of some of the adult only options. I agree it is a problem with Disney because the lab is very "little kid"

True. My granddaughters stopped going by age 9. Said they didn’t want to hang with little kids.
 
Honestly?
I have a few reasons gathered over the years. It's nothing personal and not aimed at anyone in particular but my observations from working in the club/lab and edge and vibe.
Im speaking as a former CM; apparently every 10 year old is mature...they're often hard work and don't have the social skills for edge, they often don't have a filter and can be inappropriate without meaning to be and it's just draining. As an edge CM your just sorting out petty issues between kids, much more so than the club and lab. Is it all kids? No of course not, some were amazing and you'd think they were way older. And Of course there's 11,12,13 year olds who act a lot younger. I just wish there was something like a one strike rule, you mess up your back down to deck 5, but that would never happen at Disney...

And to be honest, it was the entitlement (90% of the time) that would come across when some parents would ask/demand 'so, my kid is 10 but they're really mature and hang out with 13 year olds every day of they're life and the lab is really babyish, even thought they've not set foot in it, and I paid a lot for this cruise so.....' when that happens multiple times every few days, it's just makes you bored of hearing it.

Is used to really upset me that older edge kids felt they had to age up to vibe when sometimes they didn't really want to but needed a break from kids (at 10, the majority, not all, are still kids, not tweens).
And then there was the older vibe kids that are now over run with younger kids, are you going to allow them to age up into adult areas? Of course not, we've all seen the angry posts if someone even suggests that their 17.5 year old can sit quietly by the adult pool a read a book...

What's the point in having age groups of your not going to stick to it. Just make edge from 10 years and solve the issue....of course then all the 9 year olds would want to come.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything again 10 year olds, I know it's sounding that way. My issue is with Disney lol.
I truely feel disney need to sort their age groups out, it's one of the reasons I left, but in my opinion 10 year olds in the teen areas isn't the answer.

However, PC and TA cruises would be the ones that I wouldn't mind bump ups, the whole ship has a completely different atmosphere, and the clubs are quieter and nicer having some kids around than none, but if you get ones that are hard work, you have time to mould/break them lol. Just don't expect them to be constantly entertained on the longer cruises in edge like they might be in the club/lab, there's a lot of down time on longer cruises, but the kid/Counselor relationship is completely different in a much nicer way.



Ok, flame away :upsidedow
I can tell you 100% that my kid being able to go to the edge at 10 made a HUGE difference in her enjoyment of our 2nd Disney cruise. The first cruise we took was when she was 7, and the club/ lab activities already held little interest for her. She is an only child and has always been an "old soul" child. She has never been interested in silliness. She hated the chaos in the club/ lab and only went when she absolutely had to. Contrast that to the second trip when we had to pull her out of the edge. I can assure you she wasn't a discipline issue during her time there, and I know it is a trope but she DOES in fact hang out with older kids. She dances an age group up and has for a long time. She IS in fact more mature than the average child her age because she HAS to be in order to be allowed to do what she does. It was not about entitlement and we would have been 100% understanding if it hadn't been allowed, but it made a huge difference for her. She was where she needed to be socially and emotionally. All we had to do was ask nicely.

I get your point about age groups, but the other side of the coin is that not every kid is in the same place developmentally at the same age and needs the same things. Some kids really ARE too old for the club/ lab at 10 and are bored/ miserable there. They really DO have the maturity to be social peers to the 11-13 age group. There needs to be at least some flexibility. The counselors at edge complimented us on a couple of occasions without prompting about DD's maturity/ behavior.
 
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To put a different spin on things....
I see the Edge as middle school and Vibe as high school. We have been on 8 cruises and utt my son in the corresponding programming. There is a huge difference between elementary kids, middle school kids, and high school kids. Age matters less than educational/social background in many ways.
this is a good point, and my 10 year old was taking middle school classes when she aged up.
 


I wonder...and I'm just thinking aloud, if parents have mentioned the kids club issue to DCL on the comment cards, or provided feedback some how. (I have mentioned it on the comment cards.) Or does the consensus think that a club for kids with an 9 years age gap, is really a good idea, and I'm just in the minority?
We did. Doesn't seem to do any good.
 
We did. Doesn't seem to do any good.

Unfortunately, I think the "But we want our kids to be able to stay together" voices drowned out the "Our kids would prefer separate age groups" voices.

It would be interesting to know if any of those "We want our kids to stay together" voices change their tunes once their littles are in the upper age group for the club/lab - now the little they were so worried about is bored because they've been in there for years. Just something I pondered.

(I also usually wonder "Well, what do the kids want?" because I suspect Big Brother or Sister might have actually liked a break in some cases.)
 
What if the group that is age 3 to 11 had a contingency where if you were 9 to 11 you just needed to try the first club for two hours or 90 minutes and if it didn’t work for you you could age up into the next club? But you could not go back (which I know was already a policy of theirs)
Same thing for the Edge which is normally 11-14. Require that kids 13 and 14 participate in two hours of program offered at the Edge.
But the next part is important.
The Edge should never lower the intellectual challenge to entertain the tweens and young teens to less than 13-14 years old. Another words, no games like trivial pursuit where kids would have to know US or European history, and no Mickey Mouse parade or coloring pages that spell out Jamaica when you color by number.

PS. I have an only child, and they grow up too fast and hang out with adults way more than those with siblings. When my daughter was 11 and we went on our first cruise the brand new Edge had just opened up, could not get her interested in that to save my soul. A few years later in the Vibe I went with her during open house couldn’t get her to return. I blame myself for having only one child and how she missed much of her childhood, my husband REFUSED to have a second though.
It’s truly a case of you could lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.
 


That's how it comes across to me. I hope things are better for you on another cruiseline.

You make one small comment about a teeny tiny percentage of parents, and suddenly you hate all human makers and shouldn't be working with kids...
Please, tell me other conclusions that you leap to, I'm always up for a laugh!
 
I can tell you 100% that my kid being able to go to the edge at 10 made a HUGE difference in her enjoyment of our 2nd Disney cruise. The first cruise we took was when she was 7, and the club/ lab activities already held little interest for her. She is an only child and has always been an "old soul" child. She has never been interested in silliness. She hated the chaos in the club/ lab and only went when she absolutely had to. Contrast that to the second trip when we had to pull her out of the edge. I can assure you she wasn't a discipline issue during her time there, and I know it is a trope but she DOES in fact hang out with older kids. She dances an age group up and has for a long time. She IS in fact more mature than the average child her age because she HAS to be in order to be allowed to do what she does. It was not about entitlement and we would have been 100% understanding if it hadn't been allowed, but it made a huge difference for her. She was where she needed to be socially and emotionally. All we had to do was ask nicely.

I get your point about age groups, but the other side of the coin is that not every kid is in the same place developmentally at the same age and needs the same things. Some kids really ARE too old for the club/ lab at 10 and are bored/ miserable there. They really DO have the maturity to be social peers to the 11-13 age group. There needs to be at least some flexibility. The counselors at edge complimented us on a couple of occasions without prompting about DD's maturity/ behavior.

You don't have to get quite so defensive - I think I made it clear multiple times that not everything I said applied to everyone...

But like I said, if they sorted out their age groups like other cruise lines have then this (in 99% of cases) would be a non-issue. At the end of the day there will always be kids that don't fit into their age group, whatever its split into: they're too mature/not mature enough, the club is too busy/not busy enough, they're not comfortable in the environment, they don't like the activities, they don't like the people...
 
PS. I have an only child, and they grow up too fast and hang out with adults way more than those with siblings. When my daughter was 11 and we went on our first cruise the brand new Edge had just opened up, could not get her interested in that to save my soul. A few years later in the Vibe I went with her during open house couldn’t get her to return. I blame myself for having only one child and how she missed much of her childhood, my husband REFUSED to have a second though.
It’s truly a case of you could lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.

I was an only child until I was almost 17. I would have been the same, I really don't think I would have gone to Edge or Vibe even though my mom would have taken me to see it just to make sure.
Don't blame yourself for having one though, my mum spent years doing that, its thanks to being an only one that I gained confidence in other areas and I have an amazing relationship with my parents which is the main reason Ive gone on to do what I've done, none of my friends with siblings had half those opportunities. Childhood/growing up wasn't missed, it was just different...
 
I was an only child until I was almost 17. I would have been the same, I really don't think I would have gone to Edge or Vibe even though my mom would have taken me to see it just to make sure.
Don't blame yourself for having one though, my mum spent years doing that, its thanks to being an only one that I gained confidence in other areas and I have an amazing relationship with my parents which is the main reason Ive gone on to do what I've done, none of my friends with siblings had half those opportunities. Childhood/growing up wasn't missed, it was just different...
Thank you, you are very kind to say that. My daughter is great with adults and will study genetics and pre-Med track so I’m sure that being an only child helps since she never had distractions.
Thank you again. And congratulations on being good with people, it shows!
 
You make one small comment about a teeny tiny percentage of parents, and suddenly you hate all human makers and shouldn't be working with kids...
Please, tell me other conclusions that you leap to, I'm always up for a laugh!
You said 90%. Is that a small percentage? You also ended your post with go ahead and flame me....I'm thinking you kind of knew how it might come across or you wouldn't have said that.
Like I said previously I hope you enjoy your new job and everything works out to your liking.
 
My 10yo ds did not like the club due to the programming, but would have never been mature enough to hang with the older kids in Edge either. I agree that the programming for ages 3-10 leaves a lot to be desired for many kids, and splitting the ages would help. My older dds LOVED Edge and Vibe on that same cruise and we saw them for meals and shows only. Ds was glued to us the entire time or begging to go to the pool. I love the kid, but I'd been hoping for a break.

OT - two of my kids' good friends are only children, and they are some of my favorite people on the planet. I'd keep them if I could, so don't knock yourself about having an only. There are definite benefits.
 
You don't have to get quite so defensive - I think I made it clear multiple times that not everything I said applied to everyone...

But like I said, if they sorted out their age groups like other cruise lines have then this (in 99% of cases) would be a non-issue. At the end of the day there will always be kids that don't fit into their age group, whatever its split into: they're too mature/not mature enough, the club is too busy/not busy enough, they're not comfortable in the environment, they don't like the activities, they don't like the people...
Not defensive at all, just letting you know that "90%" of parents who age up their kids aren't entitled and there are in fact real situations, more than a few, where it is the best thing for the child, and really isn't that what youth counselors should want, what is best for the kids? When a 10 year old is miserable in the club and able to function perfectly fine in the edge why NOT allow it?
 
You make one small comment about a teeny tiny percentage of parents, and suddenly you hate all human makers and shouldn't be working with kids...
Please, tell me other conclusions that you leap to, I'm always up for a laugh!
Here's the thing:
Your post definitely came across as hostile toward parents. You knew that going in, or you wouldn't have said you were going to get flamed for it. You clearly said you thought the majority of parents who asked for an age up were doing it out of a sense of entitlement. You had to know that this would offend people. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but you have to realize that others are going to disagree, and that is says something about how you feel about the kids and parents you interact with when you say 90% are entitled.
 
When did they start allowing that? Are you sure all ships are doing that now?
It has been that way for as long as we have been cruising (7 years). You are able to register for the children's programming as long as they are 12 and under and still get the wrist band. If they choose to go to Edge, they get a sticker on the KTTW but can still enter the CLAB with the Mickey Band.
 
PS. I have an only child, and they grow up too fast and hang out with adults way more than those with siblings. blame myself for having only one child and how she missed much of her childhood, my husband REFUSED to have a second though.

This is me too! I also have an only child but mine likes the kids clubs so much I hardly see her on the cruise which makes me a little sad. I have some guilt but we have been able to do a lot of traveling which I probably couldn't have afforded with more than one child so I think that helps offset the guilt.

I agree with @bbel. I'm not directing this at anyone but it does seem to be that in this day and age many people believe rules don't apply to them for whatever reason. We've done 6 Disney cruises and I never signed a waiver for my daughter when she was 10 to move up to Edge and I wouldn't sign the waiver when she was 13 to move up to Vibe. Disney set the rules and I follow them. My daughter has enjoyed every cruise we have been on and now is looking forward to being in the Vibe on our next cruise when she will be 15.
 

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