Current Youth Activities CM -- Ask me anything!

[CMontheseas]

This randomly came to me today and I was curious. Capt. Jack is always saying something about "the rum being gone"....what happens if during a meet n greet someone tries to give him a mini bottle of real rum? Are most friends of characters 21? I thought it could be funny with the reaction. But I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble. Would the attendant tell me? Or could I drop off something to guest services (like a Baggie with that and chocolate 'doubloons' and a message)?

Friends of characters are one of the only positions on board where you don't have to be 21 to work for DCL! Do it for the reaction, I'm sure Captain Jack will be pleased and surprised But a character manager may likely be on hand observing so he'll likely refuse it in some sort of Jack Sparrow fashion.

If you wanted to hand him a wee bag o' trinkets, best to hand it to his greeter before/afterwards - this ensures it gets to the right people.

 

[Momma2Jax]

Yep! Any child 3 and over, even if they're not at all potty trained, we HAVE to let them into our space. Yes, we've had 5-9 year olds with diapers with us before!

Thank you so much for taking time to do this!

This has been my concern. My son is 4, and has several special needs. We went to Alaska last year, and the Vancouver-LA repo this year. Both times we only took him in the club during open house, because we were worried about the potty issue, as well as if he was developmentally able to keep up. On the Alaska cruise, the YA CM he was playing with offered for him to stay, but we never took her up on that.

Logistically, how could this work? Could we check on him often to check for diaper needs? Can the CMs kind of keep an eye on the little guys who have special needs? His needs are not necessarily behavioral, and he does perfectly fine in church nurseries, preschool settings,etc...

 

[CMontheseas]

Thank you so much for taking time to do this!

This has been my concern. My son is 4, and has several special needs. We went to Alaska last year, and the Vancouver-LA repo this year. Both times we only took him in the club during open house, because we were worried about the potty issue, as well as if he was developmentally able to keep up. On the Alaska cruise, the YA CM he was playing with offered for him to stay, but we never took her up on that.

Logistically, how could this work? Could we check on him often to check for diaper needs? Can the CMs kind of keep an eye on the little guys who have special needs? His needs are not necessarily behavioral, and he does perfectly fine in church nurseries, preschool settings,etc...

Of course! You can check in on him as often as you'd like - that's why we have family restrooms in our spaces that you can actually enter with your children for this reason.

What I recommend is while he's in there, to ALWAYS have your Wavephone ready where you can see/feel it. This means probably not swimming/hot tubbing/Spa - so that if the CMs need to let you know anything, or ask you about his behavior, or strategies to help him keep up you're available. Just make sure you let us know during registration and we keep a closer eye!

 

[CMontheseas]

So I guess my question is, what is the trick to get assistance from the CMs to engage the child? Just some words of encouragement would go from TV watching to Piston Cup racing or Toy Story Boot camp enjoying.

Second question, will be doing the 15 night Panama Canal cruise. any different programming or suggestions on how to keep the kids excited on this long of a cruise?

Good questions - it might've been a case of bad timing, with whichever counselors were working on that cruise. I'm surprised this happened on a classic ship, as they usually have more ability to engage the kids off of those screens!

Because we come from all kinds of child care backgrounds, you will have some counselors who spend more of their energy entertaining the kids - coming up with games, getting them off computers or movies, impromptu dance parties or hide and seek. If you're lucky, when you check him in there will be a few of those on hand.

On the flipside, you'll have counselors more interested in safety. They'll be the ones who'd rather the children sit down quietly watching movies or coloring and will reprimand them for running around or climbing things. No crafts using scissors or small parts, no games with balls, no paper airplanes - some of us can be sticklers! (Clearly, I'm not a fan. Kids deserve to be having fun in a kid's area. This is a Disney club, not a daycare for goodness sake!)

This tends to change day-to-day with the mix of CM personalities - so one day really could be a "boring" Club day, and one day could be SO full of things to do.

The Panama Cruise is the BEST for counselor-child interaction though. Not only will the ratios be down, but we really get to connect with the kids and tailor activities and crafts and make more magical moments for them. Moreso than a 3-4 day cruise full of kids where CMs never really get to devote as much time to kids as the kids deserve!

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  I recommend walking him around to meet one on one with counselors at Open House just like you did, and mention to the CMs that you'd like it if he wasn't watching tv all day.

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  A step further would be to tell a manager to make sure he wasn't just doing that while in the space so THEY can keep an eye out and continue to encourage them.

But wait, there's more!

During the Panama Canal crossing we have different programming that may be Base Camp (where the Club is moved up to the Sports Deck for the kids to play around while enjoying the sights of the Panamanian Jungles), and our super favorite SLEEPOVER NIGHT (for many reasons, the grownups on board really really like having a whole night without the kids in the room)! The kids have a whole evening of parties and fun with Disney Characters and then all sleep over with Counselor supervision overnight. You can pick up your kids at anytime!

The best part? If you're lucky, the characters might be scheduled to "tuck the kids in" to sleep. Nothing like a Disney Princess or Peter Pan saying good night to really highlight one's childhood.

 

[Momma2Jax]

Of course! You can check in on him as often as you'd like - that's why we have family restrooms in our spaces that you can actually enter with your children for this reason. What I recommend is while he's in there, to ALWAYS have your Wavephone ready where you can see/feel it. This means probably not swimming/hot tubbing/Spa - so that if the CMs need to let you know anything, or ask you about his behavior, or strategies to help him keep up you're available. Just make sure you let us know during registration and we keep a closer eye!

Thank you! I am thinking on our next cruise I just may brave it! I do know that ever time we went in for open house every counselor who was there made him feel so welcomed and made us feel very comfortable. In fact every crew member we encountered on both trips were excellent with his needs!

 

[DbleTheFun]

So if we were to sneak off to Serenity Bay and relax in a Cabana there for the day after dropping kids off at Scuttles cove, the CMs won't think I'm crazy? Over the last 5 DCL cruises my kids have never required the dreaded wave phone call from camp saying they want to leave or there is a problem... But in case we are needed while at Castaway Cay, this isn't frowned upon right? We would come back a few times to check in and grab a snack or lunch together as a family- but I know they will mostly want to hang with the cool CMs and not boring old Mom!

 

[CMontheseas]

So if we were to sneak off to Serenity Bay and relax in a Cabana there for the day after dropping kids off at Scuttles cove, the CMs won't think I'm crazy? Over the last 5 DCL cruises my kids have never required the dreaded wave phone call from camp saying they want to leave or there is a problem... But in case we are needed while at Castaway Cay, this isn't frowned upon right? We would come back a few times to check in and grab a snack or lunch together as a family- but I know they will mostly want to hang with the cool CMs and not boring old Mom!

Haha of course not! Your kids seem like they'd understand the drill and be able to enjoy themselves with us .

 

[DisenyDarley]

Is the cm stay the same and not rotate for example in edge does it have the same cms all the time during the cruise or do they rotate like do vibe one day and a different club the next day ?

 

[CMontheseas]

Is the cm stay the same and not rotate for example in edge does it have the same cms all the time during the cruise or do they rotate like do vibe one day and a different club the next day ?

For the most part the CMs stay the same within their respective spaces, but know that we are often moved around even for a little part of the day, wherever we may be needed. That's why you might see us in odd locations (like filling in at the Nursery) for a half or or an hour at a time!

 

[PoeticMoe]

Hello and thank you so much for answering all our questions!

My son will be 14 years old by the time we sail with DCL. On the website, 14 seems to be an overlap age for both Edge and Vibe teen clubs. Does this mean my son will get to choose which club he wants to be in at the age of 14, Edge or Vibe?

Like I said, he'll be 14 yrs old and a freshman in High School. So I'm not sure if he'll want to be with the kids in Edge, or go with the older teens in Vibe. How does this work on DCL with a 14 yr old? TIA!

 

[MommytoaPrince]

On our last Disney cruise we were able to attend the activities with our son in the kids club. From what I understand this no longer allowed. My question is, Is there a viewing area where we can watch our children in the kids club while they are doing activities? There are several activities on the Navigators that I know our son would enjoy but we choose not to leave him in the clubs without our supervision. Thanks!

 

[CMontheseas]

Hello and thank you so much for answering all our questions!

My son will be 14 years old by the time we sail with DCL. On the website, 14 seems to be an overlap age for both Edge and Vibe teen clubs. Does this mean my son will get to choose which club he wants to be in at the age of 14, Edge or Vibe?

Like I said, he'll be 14 yrs old and a freshman in High School. So I'm not sure if he'll want to be with the kids in Edge, or go with the older teens in Vibe. How does this work on DCL with a 14 yr old? TIA!

You got it perfectly. When we have children in age group "limbo", they can essentially pick which one they want to go to. Or they can just go to both as they please! It's quite perfect as Edge has more computers to play video games on and Vibe has a better pad to lounge around and hang out and have smoothies in!

 

[CMontheseas]

On our last Disney cruise we were able to attend the activities with our son in the kids club. From what I understand this no longer allowed. My question is, Is there a viewing area where we can watch our children in the kids club while they are doing activities? There are several activities on the Navigators that I know our son would enjoy but we choose not to leave him in the clubs without our supervision. Thanks!

How long ago was your last cruise? What ship?

The idea of our secure programming is that the children are secure - with no adults in the room apart from CMs. You can imagine the concern many parents would have if we had a separate area where anyone could go and look at the children or take pictures! A big part of no windows looking into our space apart from the entrance is for the safety and security of our children.

Instead, the only time adults are allowed to be in the spaces while the kids are, is Open House.

 

[PoeticMoe]

You got it perfectly. When we have children in age group "limbo", they can essentially pick which one they want to go to. Or they can just go to both as they please! It's quite perfect as Edge has more computers to play video games on and Vibe has a better pad to lounge around and hang out and have smoothies in!

Awesome - just what I wanted to hear! Thanks again for responding.

 

[MommytoaPrince]

How long ago was your last cruise? What ship? The idea of our secure programming is that the children are secure - with no adults in the room apart from CMs. You can imagine the concern many parents would have if we had a separate area where anyone could go and look at the children or take pictures! A big part of no windows looking into our space apart from the entrance is for the safety and security of our children. Instead, the only time adults are allowed to be in the spaces while the kids are, is Open House.

It was on the Magic in Jan 2011.

I understand the new policy just was hoping that there was a way for us to still keep an eye on him. Looks like we will just take advantage of open house. His brother is 2, is he be able to attend club/lab open house?

 

[socaintexas]

Hey Heather,

Not trying to plug the blog, but there is a post on there with a printable addition to the comment card. This came about because I ALWAYS mention names (restroom attendants, gift shop folks, kids club CMs, etc.) & that little two-line space doesn't cut it! I print out a few, cut in half, and then take them with us and attach them to the comment card. Last cruise, we got a post card thanking us for our kind words.

Emily

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Can you provide a link? That would be great!

 

[CMontheseas]

It was on the Magic in Jan 2011.

I understand the new policy just was hoping that there was a way for us to still keep an eye on him. Looks like we will just take advantage of open house. His brother is 2, is he be able to attend club/lab open house?

Not to worry! Everyone is welcome at Open House, even 2 and under.

 

[WDWfunfan]

How long ago was your last cruise? What ship?

The idea of our secure programming is that the children are secure - with no adults in the room apart from CMs. You can imagine the concern many parents would have if we had a separate area where anyone could go and look at the children or take pictures! A big part of no windows looking into our space apart from the entrance is for the safety and security of our children.

Instead, the only time adults are allowed to be in the spaces while the kids are, is Open House.

When we were on the Dream last February, whenever we went to pick up our 5 yr old DD, they would send in myself or my DH to go find her to bring her out. Is this normal? I found it odd that they let adults in unsupervised to find their kids. Just wondering if it was because it was crazy busy in the clubs when we were there? We only let her go a couple times for less than an hour because it seemed chaotic.
Thanks

 

[CMontheseas]

When we were on the Dream last February, whenever we went to pick up our 5 yr old DD, they would send in myself or my DH to go find her to bring her out. Is this normal? I found it odd that they let adults in unsupervised to find their kids. Just wondering if it was because it was crazy busy in the clubs when we were there? We only let her go a couple times for less than an hour because it seemed chaotic.
Thanks

We always give adults who are authorized to pick up children a lanyard identifying as such - so we know they're not just random, unsupervised grownups in the space. Who better to find and pick up children than their own parents or family? Of course that's the norm! We do have the rare parent who refuses to enter and find their children, which is quite frowned upon. (It holds up the time for other parents coming to pick up their children for the Counselor to leave their front desk duty, and also means the front gate isn't as supervised for the time taken to fetch children for a lazy parent!


When you think about it, let's say a Counselor was expected to find a child for a parent who refused to enter. If that child didn't want to leave, the counselors couldn't force them to. And we certainly wouldn't be able to physically move any children without their consent, and even then we can only pick up distressed toddlers. The responsibility for picking up one's children, is yours!

 

[WDWfunfan]

We always give adults who are authorized to pick up children a lanyard identifying as such - so we know they're not just random, unsupervised grownups in the space. Who better to find and pick up children than their own parents or family? Of course that's the norm! We do have the rare parent who refuses to enter and find their children, which is quite frowned upon. (It holds up the time for other parents coming to pick up their children for the Counselor to leave their front desk duty, and also means the front gate isn't as supervised for the time taken to fetch children for a lazy parent!

Thanks for clearing that up. When you said earlier there was never any adults in the club unless it was open house, I started to wonder what was happening when we were there!
I'm hoping the clubs are a little less crowded when we go on the Magic this winter. ;-)