Hello Samantha!
Welcome aboard! I'm so glad you sailed over with your question for us. I have kids the exact same ages as yours and they are thick as thieves, so I totally understand that they want to hang out on the cruise together! It's so great when kids are the best of friends!
Some areas on Disney Cruise Line ships do have specific age requirements.
Disney's Oceaneer Club and
Disney's Oceaneer Lab are for kids ages 3 to 10, while the youth club called
Edge is for ages 11 to 14. So during regular programming, your kids will need to go to separate youth areas. I'm sorry that isn't the news you were hoping for! But I do have a little good news: there will be open house hours where your kids can visit the club or lab together. Just check the daily schedule in the
Disney Cruise Line Navigator App to catch those magical open house times.
As much as my kids enjoy each other, they also quickly make friends when we are cruising! I would suggest giving their respective areas a try and see how it goes. You can find activity times in the app as well, so you can choose times to visit when there's something going on that sparks their interest. Of course, there are plenty of other areas on the ship the whole family can enjoy together!
Since you mentioned the delightfully spooky
Haunted Mansion Parlor I'm guessing you'll be setting sail on the
Disney Treasure! I'm especially excited that Moana will be taking center stage for one of the shows on those voyages. Based on the fact that lounges on the current ships are often open to families during the day before they turn into adults-only locations for the evening, I'd say there's a chance you may even be able to take your children along with you to visit the parlor, too. Good news, if they're fans of happy haunts!
I'm sorry I didn't have quite the news you were hoping for, Samantha, but I hope these ideas help you and your family plan for a wonderful cruise! Happy sailing (and haunting)!
Keep moving forward!
Amanda