Bringing the Nanny - Adjoining Rooms or Rent DVC Points

[DavidNYC]

My wife and I have been to Disney pretty much every year for the last 10 years. We were the commando type to get everything done in a 3-4 day weekend during the off season.

Well - now we're trying to plan our first trip with our twins! They would be 15 months when we're thinking of going (in December before the Holiday rush).

Other than trying to change our mindset from the 3 day commando trip to the week long leisurly trip with lots of breaks - we're figuring out what we should do with accomodations. We have a nanny who'd love to go to Disney so we're thinking of bringing her (and figure we can have her take the kids from time to time to give us some time to ourselves).

I've been considering adjoining rooms in a budget or moderate or seeing about renting points to get a 2-bedroom DVC resort that week. The DVC option will definitely be more expensive but I'm thinking having individual bedrooms and having a living room area for cribs and the kitchette may come in really handy.

I'm just not used to spending money on room! LOL! We're used to being out the door by 8am and not returning until 10pm so the room was really just a place to sleep for us.

So what thoughts do any of you have on bringing the nanny, choosing where to stay, and transitioning from commando to family vacation??!?!

 

[PatsMom]

Your best bet might be the two bedroom DVC. It will be expensive but you will have two private bedrooms, two bathrooms and a full kitchen. I believe you can request adjoining rooms in a regular Disney hotel but they are not guaranteed unless it is a situation where a child would be left alone in a room due to occupancy - like wanting to stay in a value with 3 children. Then they will guarantee adjoining rooms since one parent would need to stay in each room.

I've never needed adjoining rooms so this is based on what I seen others report. The two bedroom villas are very nice. Having the full kitchen would be nice with toddler twins. You could at least fix them breakfast in the room.

 

[frtchr]

We're taking our sitter in May. We're staying at BLT: DH, me, DD, and DS in a 2 bedroom villa and the sitter in a studio. I wanted her to have her own space, and I wanted my own as well. If you get a villa, will the nanny sleep in the other bedroom or on the pullout in the living area? If you get connecting rooms, which are not guaranteed, will she be in the room alone or with the kids?

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[roobug]

As a mother of twins who started taking them to Disney (disneyland) at 3 months, and WDW at 20months I would say definatly rent the points! Not only do you get the living room space and the kitchen area - which we find very helpful for the boys and keeping them on schedule and on the foods they are used to. But you also have a washer and dryer - it is so nice to not have to pack a TON of clothes and bibs ect because you can wash them. It was nice to free up space to put other things in the suitcases. Also it was nice to have a place to let the boys nap and still have a place to go and watch TV or read basically not be near them. They slept much better and stayed more on schedule when we had a seperate room for them to nap in. Plus with the fridge we could freeze waterbottles to take in the park with us. We had a soft sided cooler and put in snacks for the boys (milk,cheese, cut up fruit, cream cheese sandwhiches, ect) and then put a waterbottle in the cooler it kept the water cold and the boys snacks cold - made a big difference - we didn't have cranky kids because they had familiar snacks and stayed hydrated.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Draw up a travel addendum to your nanny's contract. You need to spell out all of the terms of the trip as far as the hours she is expected to work, how she will be compensated, the room arrangements, what costs she will be required to cover, etc. The more detailed you can be, the less room there will be for misunderstandings once you get there.

If she is sleeping in a room with the children and will be caring for them if they wake up in the night, that needs to be settled before you leave home.

You also need to be clear as to how her time off during the trip will be handled. Is she allowed to go do things on her own, or is she expected to stay with your family? Does she have a curfew? Is it OK for her to consume alcohol when she is not watching the children? (Obviously those factors will not come into play with every nanny.)

If she is going to be responsible for the children more hours each day than she is when you are at home, make sure you take that into account.

 

[minnieandfamily]

I would definitely recommend renting the points and getting a 2 BR villa. We went to Disney last month with our twins (who were 14 mos at the time) and our almost 4 year old DD. We stayed in a BLT 1 BR villa. It worked out great! When you have young children, the kitchen and washer/dryer are invaluable! We were able to pack a lot less clothes since we had the washer/dryer - that made traveling much easier with fewer/smaller/lighter suitcases. You do spend much more time in your room so the added expense for the extra space and amenities is so worth it. They provided us with 2 highchairs in our villa so we could eat breakfast there every morning (and other meals/snacks too). It was great to have a refrigerator to store our gallons of whole milk for the twins. We were able to use the dishwasher to wash sippy cups (I have washed them by hand in regular hotel rooms and that is NOT fun, especially when you have twins!). Really, when you have twins (as I am sure you know!) anything that makes your life a little easier is worth its weight in gold - especially on vacation, when you are away from the comforts of home!

Also, I think bringing the nanny is a great idea! I wish we could have brought someone with us to help out. I think it will make your vacation a lot more enjoyable and less stressful.

 

[littlbugmom]

We will always get a condo because I just can't vacation in a room. For several reasons, we need space. We love having a kitchen, laundry, living room, 3 bedrooms, etc.. I just can't imagine a week in a room. I would go with the DVC. We stayed at OKW and loved it.

I might be in the minority here, but I don't think I'd like sharing my vacation with someone but I guess it depends on the who she is. Is she like, a babysitter or does she live with you? That would probably make a difference to me. People have different ideas of what a "nanny" is. To me, it's someone who lives with you and is often on the clock even while you are in the house. If I was OK with someone living with us, I might be OK with her joining us on vacation.

But still, probably not.


I don't think I'm much help but if you are comfortable with the thought of bringing her, I would go for the DVC or look into renting a condo or house.

 

[DavidNYC]

Great advice so far! Our nanny is actually someone who we've know for a while. She's with us 8am to 6pm weekdays - not a live in. We were thinking that she'd take the 2nd bedroom and we could have the kids in cribs in the living room area (or we could have them in our room - we'll see how their sleeping habits are then - luckily they're regularly sleeping 8:30 pm to about 7am. I do agree sharing the vacation may be a little awkward but the trade off is that we will also be able to get to do things we wouldn't otherwise be able to do.

Didn't realize they had laundry at the DVC resorts (never stayed there before). That makes a big difference! I think I'm leaning towards that especially for the first trip since it does sound so much easier!

We'd definitely work out the terms beforehand but generally I think she'd come to the park with us at least a few of the days (she doesn't like the roller coaster type rides so that makes it easy when we need her to watch them while we're on those)! We plan on doing at least one day at Universal and that day we'd probably ask her to take the kids most of the day.

Since we're going at the off season, the lines won't be too bad so we won't be separated for very long for the rides we can't do with the kids.

We figure she'd babysit a few evenings as well so we can do some nicer dinners or do an EMC. But we'd give her some days with free time so it would balance out.

Keep the advice and tips coming! Excited for this trip. We did a 36 hour trip there when the babies were just a couple months old and left them with my parents overnight. The whole trip we just kept pointing out all the things we have to show them!

 

[roobug]

Great advice so far! Our nanny is actually someone who we've know for a while. She's with us 8am to 6pm weekdays - not a live in. We were thinking that she'd take the 2nd bedroom and we could have the kids in cribs in the living room area (or we could have them in our room - we'll see how their sleeping habits are then - luckily they're regularly sleeping 8:30 pm to about 7am. I do agree sharing the vacation may be a little awkward but the trade off is that we will also be able to get to do things we wouldn't otherwise be able to do.

Didn't realize they had laundry at the DVC resorts (never stayed there before). That makes a big difference! I think I'm leaning towards that especially for the first trip since it does sound so much easier!

We'd definitely work out the terms beforehand but generally I think she'd come to the park with us at least a few of the days (she doesn't like the roller coaster type rides so that makes it easy when we need her to watch them while we're on those)! We plan on doing at least one day at Universal and that day we'd probably ask her to take the kids most of the day.

Since we're going at the off season, the lines won't be too bad so we won't be separated for very long for the rides we can't do with the kids.

We figure she'd babysit a few evenings as well so we can do some nicer dinners or do an EMC. But we'd give her some days with free time so it would balance out.

Keep the advice and tips coming! Excited for this trip. We did a 36 hour trip there when the babies were just a couple months old and left them with my parents overnight. The whole trip we just kept pointing out all the things we have to show them!

Make sure neither of them can climb out of the pack-n-play. We had a near incident because we didn't realize that our 14month old could climb out of th pnp and he got out and was wandering around. The DVC units are not childproofed. Now we always keep them in our room or as horrible as this sounds if the bathroom is big enough in there.

 

[peemagg]

You can also ask housekeeping for portable cribs. We did this when our twins were 13 months and they slept so much better in them. They are just like regular cribs except they are shorter and not as wide. Our twins slept in them as well as they did their own at home (actually maybe even better, since they were exhausted with all the fun they were having at the parks). They don't charge you for these either. They even send up sheets for them, you just need to provide blankets or whatever you use to keep them warm.

 

[roobug]

You can also ask housekeeping for portable cribs. We did this when our twins were 13 months and they slept so much better in them. They are just like regular cribs except they are shorter and not as wide. Our twins slept in them as well as they did their own at home (actually maybe even better, since they were exhausted with all the fun they were having at the parks). They don't charge you for these either. They even send up sheets for them, you just need to provide blankets or whatever you use to keep them warm.

I wonder how many of these they have and if they are at all the resorts? When I called and asked they said that their "cribs" they had available where pack - n- plays

 

[peemagg]

I think in the value and moderate resorts that all they have is the pack-n-plays. They also have them in the closets in the DVC rooms, but when we got there we called housekeeping and asked for the portable cribs specifically. We got them when we were at Saratoga. When you called and asked was it the Disney reservation line? If it was they probably have no idea as to what is actually there. The cribs are available on a first come first serve basis and can't be reserved ahead of time. You just have to wait until you get into your room and then call.

 

[mtnmomma3]

We did a trip in May with our DD almost 4 and 7 month old twin girls... and had the help of grandma for a few days in the middle. We did a 1 bedroom at BLT and it was awesome! All the extra space and amenities was so worth it with the twins. Also FYI.. you can easily fit 2 pack n plays in the master bath for sleeping and at BLT there is another full bath in the living area so you always had a bathroom free. I will never stay anywhere else with our kiddos

 

[Jareds_mommy]

My wife and I have been to Disney pretty much every year for the last 10 years. We were the commando type to get everything done in a 3-4 day weekend during the off season.

Well - now we're trying to plan our first trip with our twins! They would be 15 months when we're thinking of going (in December before the Holiday rush).

Other than trying to change our mindset from the 3 day commando trip to the week long leisurly trip with lots of breaks - we're figuring out what we should do with accomodations. We have a nanny who'd love to go to Disney so we're thinking of bringing her (and figure we can have her take the kids from time to time to give us some time to ourselves).

I've been considering adjoining rooms in a budget or moderate or seeing about renting points to get a 2-bedroom DVC resort that week. The DVC option will definitely be more expensive but I'm thinking having individual bedrooms and having a living room area for cribs and the kitchette may come in really handy.

I'm just not used to spending money on room! LOL! We're used to being out the door by 8am and not returning until 10pm so the room was really just a place to sleep for us.

So what thoughts do any of you have on bringing the nanny, choosing where to stay, and transitioning from commando to family vacation??!?!

we are doing the same as you but bringing grandma,
what we think we may do it
get a family suite at the all-star music for us and a regular room there for grandma