AKV - Simba's Clubhouse questions

[Mom2Evie]

We'll be staying at AKV for a week in April and I'd really like to have an evening out with my husband. We never, ever take vacations without her but one night out wouldn't be too bad. I called WDW today and got the info about Simba's clubhouse (open til midnight, dinner from 5-7pm, minimum 2 hours, $11.25 per hour, etc.) All of that stuff suits me just fine! What I need from you guys is honest reviews of the experience, good or bad. What was the staff like? Did your child enjoy it? Would you do it again? Was it worth the money? How did you ease any reservations with leaving your child with strangers in Florida?

This last one is my husband's biggest concern. Of course, we've considered the Alice in Wonderland Tea at GF. That's almost the same thing. I guess he's just concerned when we label it "child care". Does that make sense?

Can this be used when you're staying DVC? You get use of all the facilities & accomodations, right?

 

[Laurabearz]

I have used the service at the Grand Floridian and my kids loved it. They could play video games (something we dont have at home), do art, legos, dinosaurs...

They ask about it often and want to go back, but for us, it's $33 an hour (3 kids) making it quite expensive option.

 

[ChelleinNC]

We never used Simba's Clubhouse, but years ago when my kids were little they did stay at the Cub's Den @ WL, Sandcastle Club @ BC and Neverland Club @ Poly. The 1st time, I was a little nervous but when they were sad to leave when we picked them up I got over it They begged on each trip to leave them more than once! The kids thought of it as their "special night out".

Since you mentioned DVC, just thought I'd mention that DVC members do get a discount but I don't remember how much. Even if it's not much, every dime saved at Disney is worth a lot

 

[danielle782001]

I too would love to see some feedback about Simba's...DH and I would like to have some time alone as well

 

[carol1231]

Our kids have gone to Simba's about 3 years ago. I think we have used all the kids clubs; neverland club, cub's den, sandcastle club, mousketeer club. They love them all and ask to go on every trip. The staff at all of them have been great. The menus seem to be the same, which is fine since my DS usually will only eat chicken nuggets. We usually eat dinner at the same resort as the club, so we are not very far away. The staff takes your emergency contact info such as a cell number and asks where you are planning to go, they also give you a pager. When we took the kids to Simba's, we ate at Boma.

 

[danielle782001]

I was wondering how well the CMs are handling a child with needs...My son has Sensory Intergration Disorder and ADHD...He is very well behaved when well managed...Any of you have any experience with this issue?

 

[Arthur27]

My kids love Simba's club house. They ask to go to it every time we're there. My oldest son also has sensory integration and he does fine.

Don't forget that DVC'ers get a discount. Last time we were there in August it was nine dollars an hour with the discount. We will be back at AKL in March and will difinitely use Simba's again. The wife and I like to get some adult time for a couple of hours for cocktails and/or dinner.

Have fun.

 

[buzz5985]

I was wondering how well the CMs are handling a child with needs...My son has Sensory Intergration Disorder and ADHD...He is very well behaved when well managed...Any of you have any experience with this issue?

We used Simba's many years ago. DS must have been 5?? He has ADHD. He did fine - until we came to pick him up and he cried that he didn't want to leave his new friends - the CM's.

Janis

 

[DisneyCruisin']

We used Simba's in October and DS cried when he had to leave (he's 7). He begged everyday to go back. We will be back in April and plan on a Parent's Night out again and will leave him there even if it's just for us to go to Boma's for a quiet (to us) dinner. He loved the activities and the new friends he made.

 

[danielle782001]

We used Simba's many years ago. DS must have been 5?? He has ADHD. He did fine - until we came to pick him up and he cried that he didn't want to leave his new friends - the CM's.

Janis

We used Simba's in October and DS cried when he had to leave (he's 7). He begged everyday to go back. We will be back in April and plan on a Parent's Night out again and will leave him there even if it's just for us to go to Boma's for a quiet (to us) dinner. He loved the activities and the new friends he made.

This is such great news

 

[cobbler]

We sent our boys 11 and 7 to Simba's when hubby and I did the EE 5K run at AK. It was great. They didn't want to leave and everything was fine. They gave us a pager in case they needed to contact us and of course we had our cell phone with us if it did go off. Of course it never did.

There is a DVC discount, 10% off but tell them that UP FRONT when you check the kids in. And then remind them AGAIN before you give them your credit card. We were not given the discount and then the person said they canceled the transaction and ran it through again with the discount. Well when we checked out (we put it on our room charge) both charges were there. We were staying at CBR at the time and there was no problem with the front desk taking off the additional charge. But to save yourself some headache. . . .

Would we do it again, absolutely, however now that oldest ds is too old to go it makes it more difficult because now we have to wait until youngest ds gets older to do anything alone.

It was definatly worth the money.