Bringing Au Pair

[robinb]

Welcome to the DIS!

You could consider renting a 2 bedroom villa or 2 studio villas at a Disney Vacation Club resort. The Polynesian is available for the last 2 weeks on November for 2 studios (but it is booking VERY quickly!). A studio for a week in mid-November is 130 points, you'll need 2 of them so you will need to rent 260 points. Polynesian points rent for about $15 each, so you would pay about $3900 for both rooms. I don't Here is a link to the Rent/Trade board: http://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/ .

 

[KingofJapan]

Yea better she stay close to you. Our au pair is being paid but we told her to relax by herself if she wants to without the kids. She does enough taking care of the kids. The least you can do is get her a nice room. Our au pair will sometimes come to the parks with us and leave early to relax by the pool. We will have the kids for a while and go back to the resort to swim and relax. The au pair will watch the kids for the evening while we go have a nice dinner.

 

[KingofJapan]

Hi- we are considering bringing our au pair with us on a trip in November. Right now me, DH and DS #1 and DS $2 will be in a standard room at the Poly. I think it will be very uncomfortable have our au pair stay in the same room as us so I am looking into different alternatives.

I have priced our 1 bedroom suites and they are out of our price range (DH really wants to stay at one of the hotel on the monorail line so our options are some what limited). The only other alternative I can think of is if we get her her own room at one of the value resorts. Are there any other alternatives that I am not thinking of? I should add that we are not asking the au pair to work while at Disney, she just loves Disney as much as we do and really would like to come.

Just curious if you don't mind answering, how much do you pay your au pair per week. Do you provide the food for her on the trip and the park tickets?

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

How about this if you act like you belong then 9 times out of 10 they will not question you. The fact that the family will treat them as on of their own and they will most likely be changing in the room at the hotel it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Well, let's think about this, and bring it back on topic. An Au Pair (from my readings) is kinda like bringing a teen into your house, treating them like an older sister/brother who watches your kid, right? They get to learn about our culture, you get to learn about theirs. And that can include taking them on vacations or just leaving them at home? (OK, textual, that sounds snarky, but it's not meant like that, really!)

What I would do is perhaps skip the Poly if its DVC isn't up and running and investigate the Bay Lake Towers for a DVC two bedroom or something like that. Or the Grand Floridian villas. Because that frees up a lot of room. Beach Club has the cute pool, but the regular rooms are quite tiny. You may be able to get an adjoining room there. Or at least compare the cost of DVC verses adjoining room. Setting her up at AoA or Pop Century is stupid. Not only is it hard to "meet up", but it's a little insulting. (from my point of view, anyway) It's like you are saying to her, "hey, you are good enough to take care of our kids, join our family, but not good enough to vacation together as our family." Also, she/he may get a little lost at the big complex that is Disney.

Either leave her at your house and give her a break, or invite her to join you together in a larger hotel room with your kids. Maybe you can politely ask her if she can watch the kids so you can do date night. Maybe she will want to go to take a break and wander WDW themselves. Either way, treat them as part of your family, just like you would treat a older teen. Would you get an older teen their own room at a different resort? Yikes no! She/he is part of your family.

 

[HopperFan]

Au Pairs are not children, they are adults. US Govt requires them to be between 18-26 years old, adults certainly capable of staying at a different resort. They are also required to be able to drive, speak English and are well trained. They are not typical teens but mature individuals.

OP stated they would be uncomfortable sharing a room. US Govt requires Au Pairs have a private room and this should be maintained on a vacation. This would mean a larger villa that is at least 2 bedrooms. It is not insulting to book her a room of her own, it's basically a requirement.

OP stated that they can not afford two rooms at their resort, the Polynesian or a one bedroom suite where they would like. Since they actually should be providing her with her own room, the one bedroom suite isn't really an option. OP has a budget.

Disney is not hard to meet up with others, we do it all the time, using Disney transportation. I have kids that age range and if they had the option of staying on their own with privacy, rather than sharing space with the children they care for all week, they would pick that any day.

It's great that the family is willing to treat her to a Disney vacation and I know she would have a wonderful time, but asking the family to go way out of their budget is unreasonable since there are options.

 

[Bluegrrl]

OK then, I stand corrected. I do think a DVC might be a little cheaper - guess it all depends on how close or friendly the relationship is, right? Or how secure/safe the family is about letting the au pair go off on her own.

 

[mjkacmom]

OK then, I stand corrected. I do think a DVC might be a little cheaper - guess it all depends on how close or friendly the relationship is, right? Or how secure/safe the family is about letting the au pair go off on her own.

Why wouldn't the family feel it's safe for her to go off on her own? She is an adult who traveled to a foreign country for a job. She's not a foreign exchange student! My sister's au pairs would go off on their own on days off, overnight. And she would never share a hotel room with them - not allowed.

 

[KathyB 0911]

Thanks everyone for who responded. I really appreciate your responses.

 

[maxiesmom]

One of my best friends used to work as a nanny, so I asked her about this. She said she would feel insulted by the family if they gave her a value room, while they stayed separate at a deluxe resort. Even if it is not meant as a slap, it does seem odd to send your nanny or au pair to the same place for a vacation, yet send them off on their own.

 

[senadler]

I would think you could speak to her about the options. Let her know that it is out of your budget to get a second room at the resort you are staying at, but if she wants to go to WDW you could get her a room at a value resort. I think there is a big difference between a family of four at a value and a single person.

As far as all the debate about using the pool, you are below the max occupancy for your Poly room. You can add her to your reservation so that she has legitimate access while still getting her a room at another resort.

 

[TheFuriFamily]

Hi there-

We are not bringing a nanny or an au pair on our upcoming trip, however, we have done this on prior trips (always working). We have always had an adjoining or very close room at the same hotel/resort and as close as possible, same section/same building/etc...

Of course, if they're working, we would foot the bill entirely and keep their schedule as close to the same as possible.

On our upcoming trip, we are bringing our 18 y/o niece and we looked at a variety of options... we have 3 young sons and we like our space... of course, we wanted to make sure she had enough of hers as well. She actually offered to stay at "any property" if we couldn't find something that would work. She is just so grateful to be going! We didn't want to do that, because she will be watching our boys on a few evenings and also because we didn't want her to be too far from us... she's still just 18 (and she will have plenty of time for her own space). But the point is, most people, no matter who they are to you, would be so thankful just to be going... it really wouldn't matter which DISNEY property they stayed at.

Best of luck and have a wonderful time! It's awfully generous of you to bring her along and not have her work any...

Tara