Walt Disney World Children’s Activity Centers to Close
The three remaining Walt Disney World Children’s Activity Centers are slated to close. The last day of operation will be July 31, 2018. This move is apparently being done because fewer Guests are using these services than in the past.
The three Disney-run Children’s Activity Centers are Simba’s Cubhouse at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Club Lilo at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and the Sandcastle Club at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.
Children ages 3 to 12 who visit these activity centers are able to explore imaginative worlds with activities that educate, entertain and enchant, as well as meet some of their favorite Disney friends. Parents are then able to head out for some fun of their own, knowing their kids were having a great evening, too.
As an alternative, Disney recommends in-room babysitting services from a company called Kid’s Nite Out. It also appears that Camp Dolphin at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel (which is on Disney property but not operated by Disney) will continue to be available for Guests to utilize.
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I am so sad about this! We took our kids to Simba’s Cubhouse and they LOVED it! An animal expert came, there were plenty of toys for them to play with and they had a ball! And my husband and I got to have a kid-free evening as well! We were planning on using it on our next trip in January 2019. This is really too bad! Is there a way for us to comment to Disney to try to keep them?
Oh, what a shame! My parents left me and my sister at a Neverland-themed activity center when we were kids – I forget which resort that was at. It was a genuinely magical experience and we both had a great time. I don’t have kids yet myself, so I had no idea Disney was already winding the centers down.
Aww. My Kids learned to hula with Chip and Dale and baked cookies there. It was one of the highlights of their trip and they still talk about it years later. I was planning on booking at a deluxe for the first time on my next trip and this was definitely a factor. Maybe it’s a sign to stay at a moderate as always…
I’m glad to see that Camp Dolphin is remaining open. If you ate at Il Mulino (and a few of the other Swan and Dolphin restaurants), you got 2 hours of camp for free. Don’t know if they still do that though.
Tyler @ The Traveling Toddler
Any idea what they will do with the space? Will the facility stay open for public for little ones to play with parent there???
Sorry to see it go. The 7yo loved her ‘night off’ and still talks about going back next time. She lists it as one of the highlights of her trip.
This is sad news – we used these all the time – usually 3 or more times on our trips to WDW. It gave the kids a break from standing in line/doing what mommy said and gave the parents an opportunity to go out and have fun. I didn’t care if they played video games the whole time – it was unstructured time (rare at WDW!). The alternative? Hire someone you don’t know (and can’t vet or even meet ahead of time) to come into a small private room and spend unsupervised time with your children. What could go wrong??
My sons loved it last year when they went. They didn’t want to leave when we picked them up. They are disappointed they won’t be able to go again this year.
All three of our kids were going to be old enough next year for us to finally use them! We were so excited to try them out. Oh well, there are always other options including in-room sitting, but these seemed convenient when we stayed at Polynesian, Animal Kingdom, or Beach Club!
The one time we took our kids to an activity center, they sat and watched movies the whole time! I was paying lots of money for them to have fun, unique, playful experiences! Never again!