Advice for getting very young children to love the Clubs?

[pouncingpluto]

I'd love to hear from parents of three- and four-year-old cruisers who used the kids' clubs. I really want DD to have fun in the clubs and be willing to spend some blocks of time in there. She will be 3.5 when we cruise (October) and will have started preschool two days a week about five weeks beforehand. As of now, she has virtually no experience being on her own without a parent or grandparent, because my mom is our daycare and our babysitter. She also isn't around other kids much, although she does pretty well when she is. She is outgoing.

Anyone have success with a similarly situated preschooler?

We will be sailing with a friend of mine who has twins my daughter's age, and the twins go to daycare, so maybe they can show her the ropes. They don't really know each other yet, because we live far apart, but I suspect the girls will be fast friends.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I'd love to hear from parents of three- and four-year-old cruisers who used the kids' clubs. I really want DD to have fun in the clubs and be willing to spend some blocks of time in there. She will be 3.5 when we cruise (October) and will have started preschool two days a week about five weeks beforehand. As of now, she has virtually no experience being on her own without a parent or grandparent, because my mom is our daycare and our babysitter. She also isn't around other kids much, although she does pretty well when she is. She is outgoing.

Anyone have success with a similarly situated preschooler?

We will be sailing with a friend of mine who has twins my daughter's age, and the twins go to daycare, so maybe they can show her the ropes. They don't really know each other yet, because we live far apart, but I suspect the girls will be fast friends.

Get them to watch loads of Disney films.

Maybe tell them the names of other children their age from cruise meets threads so they can find their friend.

 

[E-P-C-O-T]

We visited the club during the openhouse after we boarded, a CM came over to talk to her and show her around. She fell in love with the club instantly and asked to come back, I told her that only kids were allowed, so, that would mean that we would drop her off in the entrance and she would be on her own. She was fine with that and begged us to take her to the club every single day.

I have one tip for you:
- On that first day at the club, I also showed where the bathroom was and showed her how the toilet, sink and soap dispenser worked. She was 3yrs old during that trip and I did not want her to have any accidents while she was having fun

 

[Drusilla99]

On our first dcl my youngest was 4 & she loved the club. We went with her during open house & showed her around & all the fun things she could do. She was only in there in the evenings after dinner, but really enjoyed it.

 

[deanimal]

When our kids were three and four they were pretty outgoing and had been to daycare, but they found it a bit overwhelming. There were a lot of school aged kids and it was a bit tough for them to jump right in. We found it really helped to go to the open house the first day and let them explore and get familiar while we were along with them. We also checked the Navigators to see when appealing activities were happening. They loved storytime with Belle and Where's Tink. The Cast members would let us take a vistor's pass and bring our kids right to the activity and get them settled in for a minute which really helped. We also limited their time to an hour or so the first few days so they wouldn't get overwhelmed. By the end my four year old was begging to stay longer, but it took a while for her to warm up.

 

[2disneycruzrs]

I think you're off to a good start with having your friend's kids on the trip. I think with three of them, it will be easier. We have our daughter, now 4 1/2. When she was three, she didn't want to go in, and I don't recall having open house time except before we sailed. She bawled when we left her there for our Palo night even though she knew all the fun that was in store. Last cruise, she was four and we did open house time together and she was excited bc we were on the newly reimagined Magic. She even volunteered to go in on her own for a couple hours. We still struggled with Palo night but she had fun in the end. Even though she's been in daycare with no problems her whole life, she still finds this situation hard and is shy about making friends. As a PP poster mentioned, get to know others on your sailing in advance. Good luck!

 

[jkmommy]

My son was at nearly the exact place on our last cruise as your daughter will be. He did great in the clubs! We went to the open house on the first day and he spent a little solo time in there every day. There were several times he didn't want to leave!

 

[DisGirl819]

When is the open house on the first night?

 

[mtchurchmonica]

DD turned four the month before our first Disney Cruise. Ultimately, DD enjoyed the Oceaneer's Club, but her first visit without us wasn't perfect.

Like others recommended, we attended the open house with her and spent time letting her explore, play and interact with the counselors. It went very well. Given that successful visit and our daughter's easy disposition, we didn't expect her to have any issues with staying at the Club on her own. The next morning, after breakfast, we dropped her brothers off at the Lab, we took her to the Club, stayed for a few minutes with her, and when we left, she was happy. We planned to come back in time take her to lunch, but a couple hours later, we were paged to come back because dd was crying and wanted to leave. When we were admitted to the room, the other kids were playing a parachute game, but DD was contentedly sitting in a counselor's lap outside the circle of the game. We could tell she had been crying. She looked tired even though it wasn't even lunch time.

It didn't take long to figure out that DD was overwrought. In the 48 hours since we left home, she had been bombarded with new and overly stimulating experiences that exhausted her preschool brain. The three hour nap she took after lunch confirmed that. We kept her with us the rest of the day. That night, at the dinner table, as a family, we went over what activities were going on in the Lab and Club. When our boys asked to be excused so they could go to The Lab, she wanted to go to her club too. There was a program (I don't remember what) that sounded fun to her.

We took dd to the Club, but when we got there, it was still free time. She wanted no part of it, and I could see why. The room was swarming with children and it was loud with the shouting and shrieking of way more children than DD -who did attend our church's preschool twice a week but was never in a daycare- had ever seen in her life. We left and came back later. She stayed for whatever that program was and had a fun time. She even wanted to stay, but we insisted she come back to the room because it was time to get ready for bed. It wasn't really that late, but the best advice I ever received as as a camp counselor was to stop the game while the kids were still having fun.

The rest of the week went well. It would have been nice if she was as enthusiastic about the Club as her brothers were about the Lab, but we felt it was important for her to not just tolerate the Club but to want to be there. For her, that meant avoiding the "free time" periods as much as possible.

With this rambling account, I am trying to suggest that if your daughter doesn't LOVE the Club from day one, it's not the end of the world. She might just need some time to relax and adjust.

 

[bksaffle]

When they have open house, everybody should go and show her the ropes. But when it is time to "drop" her off....have your friend with the twins take her, and you be far away. Tell her to take a walk with her friends, don't tell her that they are taking her to the club to drop her off (to avoid early anxiety). It is usually harder for the little ones to leave their parents, but if she is distracted by the twins and their mom, then the attachment/separation ordeal is not as bad if you are not there.

 

[rantnnravin]

Act like you are unsure about letting her stay there. Make is seem like you really have to think about letting her go to the kids' club. This is a sure-fire way to make sure he kids will want to go to/stay in the kids' clubs.

 

[pouncingpluto]

Thanks, everybody--this is really helpful advice. I love hearing your experiences.

 

[lizzyb]

Our son who had just turned 4 was lucky because he had his older brothers who he in the end was never with but maybe going in during the open house and showing them the fun things and having them interact with with kids will help. Good luck!