Disney, kids, and Star Wars Rebels

[chemistrynerd]

Last month my family and I were on the Dream. One afternoon the movie on the pool deck big screen was an episode of Star Wars Rebels. My wife and I were on the fence about what we would do next with the kids (4, 6, and 8). When Rebels came on, we were no longer on the fence with regard to our 4- and 6-yo. We made our way off the pool deck.

 

Star Wars Rebels is rated TV-Y7, but to me it feels much more violent and darker than TV-Y7. The show also seems to contrast with the typical daylight pool movie fare of Cinderella or The Jungle Book. The ships do show PG movies at the pools. I saw Frozen at 11:00 pm on the same cruise.

 

So, I'm on record for not being a fan of Star Wars Rebels for my younger kids. Now this announcement (not exactly recent news) is made about the renovation of the kids area of the Dream. The space will partially be made to look like the Millennium Falcon (no problem) and feature viewings of Star Wars Rebels (oh boy) and light saber training (not great).

 

This space serves kids from 3- to 12-yo - a broad audience by any measure. The improvements seem great for older kids but questionable for the younger set. Was Disney having trouble engaging the 10-yo crowd? Does anyone know what existing activities will be lost to gain Star Wars? Is this a bad move for the little kids? Do I just need to get over it? Disney paid a lot of money for Star Wars, so it's not going away any time soon.

[moki'smommy]

I don't see it as a bad move for the young kids. DCL has always had the Oceaneer's Club and Lab. A couple years ago they eliminated the age restrictions between them because no matter where the line was drawn, there were always parents who wanted special handling for their situation. Didn't matter whether it was siblings, cousins, friends who had to be together despite age differences or just "my kid is more advanced and has to be moved."

 

SO, the current setting provides the OC area with smaller furniture, etc. geared to the 3-7 set and the Lab area geared to the 8-12 set. They also provide the Edge for 12-14, with the overlap year to allow kids to be in whichever space suits them best.

 

Part of the Lab area is supposed to become a Star Wars themed area--much in the same way they currently have various themed areas in the different spaces. The interesting thing is that while there is a big push to make the ships nearly identical, in the kid programming areas, the push seems to be for something unique on each one. For instance, only the Magic has "Marvel Academy." Despite the existence of Marvel Academy, the OC still has a dress up area, a computer area, a free play area, a slide and "more physical" area, etc.