3 year old and Flounders

[LiserAnn]

It is becoming evident our 3 yo son will NOT be potty trained in time for our July 30th cruise unless something drastic happens. So, I was wondering if anyone has had a 3 year old they've put in Flounders? Will he be terribly bored there? It looks like it's geared (rightfully so) towards babies. I've booked his 10 hours online already but I'm just wondering what others in a similar situation have experienced, just so I'm prepared!

TIA,
Lisa

 

[aprilgail2]

I had a 2 1/2 year old that was bored in flounders. She hated it there said all they had was baby toys. They have a TV that the older kids sit in front of and watch but I didn't want her to sit there in front of a TV on vacation so she only went once. I didn't know that first trip that I could bring her to the OC and stay with her while she was tehre, I certainly would have done that but we did other things and she loved the shows, sat through every one of the live shows and loved them.
Perhaps he will like it there...some kids love it some kids hate it...won't know till you get there LOL. I was prepared on the second cruise for her to spend the whole time with me but then she went to the OC and loved it so she was there a lot....this past cruise she went to the OC a few times but spent most of the other time with me...never can tell with kids!

 

[fredms]

I was on a 4 day back in January and had my nephew who was 16 months at the time. I though Flounders was perfect for him and we would often use it to put him to bed while we went to dinner. On that note, I've decided the next time I take them won't be until he is four for precisely what you described. He's now almost 2 and likes to run and play and I don't think he's enjoy flounders. So I don't think we will do another cruise until he is 4 (2007). Good luck!

 

[CM_Mom]

I think I would "rate" the Flounder's time according to importance. If you and DH are going to Palo or you're having a massage, it won't kill him to be "bored" or watch Baby Einstein for a couple of hours. It's YOUR vacation too. Also if he's used to an early bedtime, then he might be better in Flounder's for late night stuff where he could doze off.

You might also check with the Club to see if they have any recommendations. The counselors are great and have probably already seen every variation of ages and potty training.

As AprilGail said, you can take him to the Oceaneer's Club for actitivies but you or another adult has to stay with him. This might give you some flexibility.

Here's some Pixie Dust for a Magical or Wonderful time.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

On this subject, I seem to mostly only hear about parents of 2 1/2 year olds and older say that their kids didn't like flounders.

Our almost 3yo never had a problem and never gave the counsilers a problem. Things when so smooth for him in flounders that by the end or our cruise, the counsolers didn't bothering to give us a beeper.

 

[sharonk]

On our recent cruise, the counselors in FLounders often brought the kids to the Oceaneer's club for activities. For instance, during the "do-si-do with Snow White" activity for the 3-4 year old group in the OC, the toddler girls from Flounders and their counselor came over to join in the fun.

I think it just depends how many children are there and what the age ranges are, but they do try to keep them appropriately occupied.

Also, even in the OC, the kids do spend a short time each day watching videos/movies. My 3 year old DD welcomed it....With all the constant activity of our vacation, she enjoyed winding down by watching a Disney video in the evening.

Sharon

 

[dletz]

We took my daughter when she was 3. I booked the cruise a year in advance, with the understanding that if she wasn't potty trained we weren't going. I know mean mommy, but I knew she'd like the kids activities and didn't want her to be left out. I too didn't realize you could stay with them and they could still join in. She was potty trained when we went, but just. She still had occasional accidents, but wasn't too bad. The first night on the ship she had an accident. She just missed the potty. They paged us to come get her and had her sitting off to the side on a mat. They removed the cover, and wiped off the mat when we left. She was welcome to come back the next day (they paged us around 11pm, and we were actually just about to enter the club to pick her up).

I had been showing our daughter pictures of the ship and clubs and helped to use the trip as an incentive.

However I also know that if they aren't ready nothing you do will help.

 

[bshbailey]

We just took a 4 day cruise on the Wonder with our 2 yr 8 mo daughter who was not potty-trained yet so we booked two times at Flounders Reef. When we took her the first time, she cried her eyes out. The counselors tried to calm her down with a video but the Wiggles didn't cut it! My husband was just about to bring her back to the dining room when he mentioned to the counselor that her cousins were next-door in the Oceaneer Club. Flounders was slow that night so they were able to take the older toddlers over to the SUPER COOL kids club! My daughter had a BLAST meeting Snow White and learning the do-si-do! I picked her up two hours later in the kids club and she had a great time.

We decided not to take her the last night (for our other reservation) because she was having a great time at dinner with us and our 12 other family members. We just kept her with us! When I went to Flounders to cancel, they seemed genuinely disappointed that she was not coming (they had a blast watching her DO-Si-Do). The staff at Flounders was very good.

Flounders is definitely geared toward younger kids (0-18 months). They just didn't have the space or toys to keep a 2-3 year old happy. BUT please don't let this ruin your vacation!! Our daughter was with us for almost the entire cruise and she/we had a BALL! We too tried to get her potty-trained in time, but I gave up a couple weeks before the cruise. The bigger issue...prepare your child now that he/she can not go into the main part of the Mickey pool!!

 

[jodifla]

Our DS was 33 months old when we took our cruise, and he did fine in Flounders. It helped that they had a lot of his favorite videos, and they had toys with wheels, so that kept him occupied.

Also, he was wiped out from all the day's activities, so we mainly put him in after dinner. It was perfect; he feel asleep, and we could be out and about doing adult activities.