Kid's and the Kid Factor, Miniclub and Passworld - Club Med Cancun

March 2011 Mini Club now open on Saturday (thank you Lisa!).

Revised June 2010 This Club Med is now a family village - formerly adults only before renovation and re-opening Winter 2006. There is a Mini Club for pre-teens and toddlers, and a hang out called "Passworld" for teenagers.

See Passworld reviews (by Kim and teen GM Hanalei) below slide show

Some things to know about Club Med Cancun and the overall kid factor:

Miniclub published hours of operation 9a-5p, 7p-9p.
Seems like you could get baby-sitting at night if you needed it - not sure if there was extra charge for this.
There were between 120-150 kids here during one week over Christmas. Approximately the same number over a spring break week. This was according to reception. That's the bad news.
The good news is that they were extremely well behaved. My theory here is that Club Med does such a great job of keeping them busy, they are happy and occupied.
I understand the attraction of bringing your kids to Club Med - parents and kids both get a vacation from each other as well as a vacation in paradise. All reports I heard from mommies and daddies were that their kids loved it. Most kids were busy with their peers late into the evening and didn't want much contact with mom/dad unless it was elective or mandated (by parent) contact. Nevertheless, even kids at night were well behaved - a total mystery to me since as a kid I would have been into all sorts of stuff...
The children's mini club is located toward water ski island between Topacio and Obsidiana.
Mini club has two small swimming pools and an activity center.
Passworld, the teen and junior club, is located under the main restaurant. It is called the "Car Wash". Passworld takes two groups of kids - juniors (10-13) and teens (14-17). There are many activities - see schedules (Thank you KIM!!):

Drinking age was 18 and there were a few teens drinking alcohol at the bars, and the disco. I didn't witness any alcohol abuse by kids. Didnt see anyone sneaking drinks, but did hear from a mom who complained that her 16 year old son had a hang over one morning.
Very few babies, and the separate dining room for families with babies is now open to everyone. You will occasionally find a baby in high chair in one of the regualar dining rooms. One or two screamers were witnessed during my spring break visit. High chairs are available for infants.
The main restaurant has early family dining hours - 1/2 hour before regular opening.
Overall, kids are a fact of life here. The kids did not substantially disrupt my vacation(s), but I would prefer an adult village just the same. At times they were even cute, especially in the GM kid show, I think on Thursday night.
There are special GOs just for kids - and they do a great job keeping kids busy and out of the way.

Passworld review, June 2010, by Hanalei:

I have to admit, as a older teenager, a kids club did not sound like the "coolest" place to be at first. However, the GOs Delia and Mau both did a great job of making us feel welcome and, most importantly, introducing us to new people. One of the main reasons I had such a great time at Club Med Cancun was because of the wonderful friends I made and hung out with every day. It was easy to tag along with Car Wash to different sports activities and pool games, but I was never obligated to join anything I didn’t want to do; I was allowed to come and go as I wished. Some of the group activities they organized were the pool volleyball games, ping pong tournaments, fashion shows, and impromptu card/poker games. All the kids were sad when it closed down on Saturday for the GOs’ day off because Car Wash was a place they could all go back to and find something new to do. Even when the teenagers started to close themselves off in cliques, Delia and Mau took extra care to start up conversations that included everyone in an effort to make us bond. Meals together and hanging out at the bar and disco got us all talking and a lot friendlier. I had many good memories there and will remember all the fun times I had.

Passworld review, March 2010, by Kim from Canada:

"The teen club, Passworld, is what makes Club Med Cancun so attractive to families with teenagers. The teen club GO's are incredibly good with all the teens. It is because of this teen program that we will come back again and again. This was our second time at CM Cancun. My teens are 16 and 12. One of the best parts of the club is that they divide the teens up into 2 groups: 11 - 13 years old and 14 - 17 years old. I never worried about my kids at all because the GO's make it such a safe environment for them to hang out in. We set it up with our kids that they could do the teen activities all day and that we'd meet for dinner at night. That worked well for us. My 16 year old was so enamored with the group as as whole, that when it came time to leave the village a week later, he really didn't want to go home. His happiness made for our happiness. In fact, it felt like we got two vacations for the price of one: a family vacation as well as a couples vacation. Since our kids loved the teen club so much, my spouse and I got to spend lots of time together, just the two of us. And we have Passworld to thank for that!

Teens will love the food at Club Med because it appeals to everyone - you have so much to choose from. My son's favorite restaurant was La Pergola and my daughter's was the main buffet, La Hacienda.

If you are taking a teen to CM Cancun, then maybe ask your travel agent to make sure that Passworld is open when you go. When we were making our reservation, we double-checked to be sure that Passworld was open at that time."