the kids clubs on DCL

[shellster1]

I am new to Disney, and will be taking my 3 1/2 year old son on the Dream next month. He goes to Preschool but it is a private, very structured preschool that has done him wonders. (He is a tiny bit shy, and very guarded.) He has no siblings or cousins, and his class size at school is small...so I am wondering if he will do well there if I need an hour to myself. I guess I'm asking what types of experiences other parents of young, only children have had with the "oceaneers club"? I'm a little nervous because his age group is 3-10 I think...so I'm afraid of the older kids running all over the littler ones. Does that make sense to anyone? I know about the pagers, so that will help a lot. If he doesn't like it then I will stay with him. I just want him to have a really good time. Any advice would be great. thanks!

[kj55]

Didn't go on the Dream obviously but I did have my 3 and 1/2 year old on the magic in December. Maybe the Dream will be different but on the Magic since the 3 year olds and 7 year olds can be mixed together the kids club was a bit rough. What we did was drop our son for specific organized activities and pick him up soon after and bring him back for an hour here or there. My son is very out going. The shy kids were off in corners staring into space or worse being pushed around by older kids. Unless you told one of the staff to look out for your child it was easy for them to get lost in the crowd. Just my opinion and my son did have fun but I had hoped for more from Disney kid clubs. Still loved the cruise. Have fun.

[Virginia_Native]

Shell, Our Daughter was the same age when she went on her first Disney cruise . Our daughter is a bit shy, and we were expecting about the same. I can honestly say it is sensory overload when you first walk in. What we did is let her explore around and point out activities and characters that she is familiar with at home.

 

After only about 15 minutes she was very comfortable around everything. I think we asked her, "If she wanted to come with us or stay here" she had no interest in what we were doing at that point.

 

We showed her where the bathroom was and introduced her to several yellow shirted counselors. Pretended to leave and watched over her for another 10 minutes or so and she was content. They will page you right away if he wants to leave.

 

 

The only place of concern with us was the slide, there were some larger kids going around her, which made us a bit nervous. After a few turns she grew a bit frustrated and just moved on to something else.

 

The great this about the club there are many different activities going on at the same time that are catered to different age groups and personalities. So I'm sure If he's a bit shy and quite he will find his little group and be comfortable.

[DmanFWTX]

I am new to Disney, and will be taking my 3 1/2 year old son on the Dream next month. He goes to Preschool but it is a private, very structured preschool that has done him wonders. (He is a tiny bit shy, and very guarded.) He has no siblings or cousins, and his class size at school is small...so I am wondering if he will do well there if I need an hour to myself. I guess I'm asking what types of experiences other parents of young, only children have had with the "oceaneers club"? I'm a little nervous because his age group is 3-10 I think...so I'm afraid of the older kids running all over the littler ones. Does that make sense to anyone? I know about the pagers, so that will help a lot. If he doesn't like it then I will stay with him. I just want him to have a really good time. Any advice would be great. thanks!

 

The Cast Members are pros there, and if you can make a good conection with the lead Cast members and just show your kid the ropes for a few minutes before it is a chaotic check in time they will be fine. They do a good job of seperating the bigger kids for seperate activities that little ones can join if they want to. Our daughter was 4.5 the first time and she stayed as late as we would let her and loved it. Just booked our next one on the Dream, but have to wait til 3-13-2012!

[shellster1]

Thank you, everyone!!!

 

I really appreciate all the advice and experience you guys shared. It really helps!!!

 

I'm glad I did not offend anyone in asking. I was hoping not to sound like an overly-paranoid parent. (even though I probably am). :)

[CariBear]

I am going to add my thoughts...although they differ from most. I brought my then 3 1/2 year old daughter on the Wonder....and she would not go to the club. She had just been on a Princess cruise 5 months prior....loved, loved, loved the kid's club....so we thought she would love Disney even more. Not the case at all. My daughter was/is not shy, but she had only been in a daycare setting for 4 months when she was 2 years old....and home with me for the rest of the time. The reason why she did not like Disney.....the sheer number of kids running around in the clubs (even more crazy during "free play" when the older and younger kids together could use the slide/pirate ship structure on the Wonder/Magic)....she was so lost among the other kids. She cried herself to sleep the 1st night in a corner of the club and when I went to pick her up no one could find her. Imagine the sheer panic I felt as every staff member scoured the club looking for her..."Oh, I think I remember who she is." was the saying I kept hearing from the CM's. On Princess she was the belle of the ball...hugged and played with all day as she was one of the youngest kids in the club. When I would show up to pick her up....they didn't even need to scan my card to know who my daughter was. On Disney she was just one of hundreds her age. In all fairness, Disney caters to kids....so of course there were many more kids in the clubs than on Princess.....but I do think Disney needs more CM's working in the clubs....especially to cater to the younger ones who may need a little more TLC.

 

Hope everything works out and your son enjoys the club! He may surprise you!!

[jandjfun]

This is not making me a fan of the kids club. We have never sailed on Disney before so I am searching for answers.

The parents can stay with their kids in the kids club?

3-10 yr. olds don't have anything in common. I don't think this makes any sense and actually wouldn't be safe for the little ones.

[CariBear]

This is not making me a fan of the kids club. We have never sailed on Disney before so I am searching for answers.

The parents can stay with their kids in the kids club?

3-10 yr. olds don't have anything in common. I don't think this makes any sense and actually wouldn't be safe for the little ones.

 

My husband and I did stay with our daughter during Snow White's storytime as my daughter really wanted to see her, but would not stay by herself. We were told we could stay with her. Not sure if this is still the case. As far as the 3-10 year olds interacting together....this was just implimented a couple of years ago...or maybe later.....they did this so brothers/sisters/friends/etc...could all participate together. When my daugher was little this was not the case....except during free time.

[one80pastor]

Cruised with our extended family. I have 4 boys (3,7,9,12) Sister has 2 kids (5 boy, 7 girl) brother has 2 kids (5 Girl, 9 Boy).

 

All the kids loved the club. My 3 year old never wanted to leave it. Sister's kids are extremely attached to mommy and daddy but they still lasted 2-3 hours before needing to page parents.

 

The staff were exceptional to our family. Always knew our kids by name and where they were. A few times we sneaked a peek and always found our kids having a blast.

 

Disney's private island club really kept our kids. We checked them out twice but each time they wanted to go back. It was the same for most of the kids in our party.

 

Each kid is truly different but they all seemed to really like it. If you are nervous, try starting with a scheduled activity and make sure that you attend the open house so you can walk your child through it. I did find that the open house was actually the rowdiest that we ever saw the club.