Kids Club Age Change

[Marthasor]

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

True - which means DCL is taking away a HUGE amenity that was advertised to currently booked guests. DCL basically took their money (in many, many cases 100% of the booking fee) and pulled the rug out from under them. I have experience with every US-based Disney Destination (WDW, DLR, ABD, DCL) and I have never, in my 40 years of Disney vacations, witnessed such terrible customer service on the part of a Disney travel department. Typically, when a policy this big is implemented, they offer some flexibility to guests who are already booked and then draw a hard line on future bookings - that does not appear to be the case here.

Edited to add: It still lists ages 3-12 for Lab and Club on the DCL website. How hard is it to change a website to reflect current policy so people know what they are purchasing when they plunk down multiple thousands of $$ for a vacation?

 

[Disneymooner07]

Exactly! The only thing they’re offering right now to folks who are paid and sailing soon is to move our sail date to a different date. Like how is that even helpful?? I’m so livid.

 

[DCLMP]

True - which means DCL is taking away a HUGE amenity that was advertised to currently booked guests. DCL basically took their money (in many, many cases 100% of the booking fee) and pulled the rug out from under them. I have experience with every US-based Disney Destination (WDW, DLR, ABD, DCL) and I have never, in my 40 years of Disney vacations, witnessed such terrible customer service on the part of a Disney travel department. Typically, when a policy this big is implemented, they offer some flexibility to guests who are already booked and then draw a hard line on future bookings - that does not appear to be the case here.

Most likely something happened that we will never be privy to knowing. I guess Disney considers having 12-year-olds in with 3-year-olds more inappropriate than an 11-year-old with a 14-year-old.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Exactly! The only thing they’re offering right now to folks who are paid and sailing soon is to move our sail date to a different date. Like how is that even helpful?? I’m so livid.

That’s a start at least.

 

[meremac]

Most likely something happened that we will never be privy to knowing. I guess Disney considers having 12-year-olds in with 3-year-olds more inappropriate than an 11-year-old with a 14-year-old.

I think that DCL is going to have to figure something else out. It can also be incredibly inappropriate to have a 5th grader in with a high school sophomore in a relatively unsupervised space (compared to Club/Lab). You'll have some teens who are way past puberty grouped with elementary schoolers, and ALL these kids can check themselves in and out without parental approval or notice. I think they're going to need to change some rules in Edge and tighten up security and supervision.

 

[CamillaF]

I am sorry for those who have booked when the rules were different. Especially when so much time and effort was put into planning. But I am actually happy about this change. I know it sucks for some families with older kids, or different dynamics, but think of the little preschoolers who never had anywhere to go. They were too big for nursery and clearly does not belong in a play place with big kids 10 and up running around. I can understand this change from a safety perspective especially with those preschool kids being the most vulnerable and it makes sense to me.

It’s wild that they had a 3-12 year old grouping for so long. It makes more sense for 11 to 14s to be in a play area together.

Anyway that’s just my two cents and I’m glad they are thinking of safety for the younger children.

I think the issue is not the elementary aged kids (11and some 12 year olds) but the preschool (3&4) kids being put in with them. They should have programing that is geared towards preschool and early elementary.

 

[CamillaF]

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

They can build it. Once entrance and a walk with the youngest kids to the designation area and a second check in.

 

[sesame_123]

“
ALL these kids can check themselves in and out without parental approval or notice. I think they're going to need to change some rules in Edge and tighten up security and supervision.

“

Wow now you just raised my concerns even more. What’s to stop a 14 year old from convincing an 11 year old to go back to their room with them. Gross

If something happened between a 12 year old and a 3 year old (like speculations) while being in a secure supervised location. Then this idea is even more terrifying and I will be having a very long and scary conversation with my newly turned 11 year old before allowing her near edge. And even then I will worry. She is naive and just wouldn’t believe there are bad kids. .

 

[CamillaF]

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

Yes some 11 year olds can easily be in the Edge. But the devlopment of kids at this age is immense. Some 11 year olds will look and act like 7 year olds.

 

[jimim]

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.

Isn’t the age for edge 11-14? So how would there be high school sophomores in there?

 

[Rdeering]

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!!

Would you happen to know if the activities scheduled out of the Edge are mandatory for kids in the facility at that time? If my son wanted to stay, would he be allowed or do they close Edge during those activities.

 

[lanejudy]

Would you happen to know if the activities scheduled out of the Edge are mandatory for kids in the facility at that time? If my son wanted to stay, would he be allowed or do they close Edge during those activities.

The Edge space will be open during posted open times. Any “out and about” activities are optional, just like any activity at the Club/Lan is optional. The kids can choose how to spend their time with either planned activities or unstructured time chatting, playing games, etc.

 

[Rdeering]

That’s a start at least.

I was just advised that I can cancel my cruise on February 5th and receive a full refund, in light of these changes. I am travelling concierge however and maybe they are offering different compensation packages for that cabin class. I would keep trying for a refund if that’s what you want though. I had to call twice and it was finally offered to me. Hubby and I are deciding now. Our 10yo son will turn 11 days before the sailing and he’s high functioning autistic, so we are really in a jam with all this. He’s not quite ready for in and out privileges at the Edge and we would need to cancel a lot of our activities in light of this change. We’re trying to decide now what to do. Best of luck!

 

[Rdeering]

The Edge space will be open during posted open times. Any “out and about” activities are optional, just like any activity at the Club/Lan is optional. The kids can choose how to spend their time with either planned activities or unstructured time chatting, playing games, etc.

Thank you so much for the reply! It’s super helpful!

 

[DCLMP]

I think that DCL is going to have to figure something else out. It can also be incredibly inappropriate to have a 5th grader in with a high school sophomore in a relatively unsupervised space (compared to Club/Lab). You'll have some teens who are way past puberty grouped with elementary schoolers, and ALL these kids can check themselves in and out without parental approval or notice. I think they're going to need to change some rules in Edge and tighten up security and supervision.

The edge has always been for 11-14 year olds 10 year olds have been given waivers. Kids have Always been able to come and go. There are lots of 11 year olds in the Edge. Why should Disney change the Edge for a small minority of parents that aren’t comfortable giving their kids some freedom.

 

[meremac]

Isn’t the age for edge 11-14? So how would there be high school sophomores in there?

Until relatively recently in our state, a kid could start kindergarten at age 4 provided that they turned 5 by December 1. There were quite a few kids in our district (including my son) who were 14 for some (or most) of the first semester of their sophomore year. ETA: It does depend on your state, but a handful of states still have laws that would allow kids to start their sophomore year at age 14 even now, and many more had even more lax policies until pretty recently. It's very likely that every cruise would have at least some 14-year-old sophomores for September, October, and November cruises.

 

[DisneyKatie1]

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.

I don’t think that is fair to say to someone who has been nothing but nice and helpful. She was responding to what people have been saying and was simply stating fact. I get that kids differ developmentally. My own daughter might not be ready for this at 11 either. But Disney has changed their policy and it is what it is now.

 

[meremac]

I was just advised that I can cancel my cruise on February 5th and receive a full refund, in light of these changes. I am travelling concierge however and maybe they are offering different compensation packages for that cabin class. I would keep trying for a refund if that’s what you want though. I had to call twice and it was finally offered to me. Hubby and I are deciding now. Our 10yo son will turn 11 days before the sailing and he’s high functioning autistic, so we are really in a jam with all this. He’s not quite ready for in and out privileges at the Edge and we would need to cancel a lot of our activities in light of this change. We’re trying to decide now what to do. Best of luck!

If DCL is now allowing people to cancel regardless of sail date for a full refund, this alleviates much of the problem I have with the change. This gives families who aren't comfortable with the new policy an out, and it's simply the right thing to do on DCL's part.

 

[lanejudy]

But parents should have options for a more supervised experience when paying this amount of money.

Well that is really a loaded ask and extends far beyond the current 11-12 year old change. DCL is not responsible for providing the preferred option for all various developmental levels.

I do agree that the short notice is harsh. Though it will always be unfortunate timing for someone. And it sounds like DCL may be willing to work with folks who have been out in a difficult situation by this.

 

[jimim]

Until relatively recently in our state, a kid could start kindergarten at age 4 provided that they turned 5 by December 1. There were quite a few kids in our district (including my son) who were 14 for some (or most) of the first semester of their sophomore year. ETA: It does depend on your state, but a handful of states still have laws that would allow kids to start their sophomore year at age 14 even now, and many more had even more lax policies until pretty recently. It's very likely that every cruise would have at least some 14-year-old sophomores for September, October, and November cruises.

Never knew that.