Cruise Line, DVC and small kids

[jellymoon]

Hi! I've enjoyed reading this board for quite sometime now. We are planning our second Disney Cruise for 9/28/02--- the Western. We are booked in adjoining Cat 4's (there are 6 of us: my dh, my 7 yo son, my 4 yo daughter, and my youngest two girls who will be 25 months old and 17 months old when we cruise. Yep-- you did the math right. 8 months apart, nearly to the hour!!!) We cruised with our oldest two in February of 1999 on the Wonder 4 day cruise and had the time of our lives!!! And that was before they even had Flounders Reef!!!

I have a bunch of questions and wondered if any of you could help with a few of these. Please forgive me for posting these here..

1. We are interested in joining the DVC. When we went on our big land/sea vacation in 1999, at the end of our trip we were offered the opportunity to put the entire cost of our trip towards our purchase of DVC membership. Does anyone know if that is routinely offered, or were we just nuts to ignore that golden opportunity when we had it?

2. We're going to stay in Orlando for a couple of days prior to the cruise. With a family of 6, we always need two rooms (one of the major reasons we are looking at the DVC!!!). We kinda have it down to two choices and are looking for input: The Wildnerness Cabin at Fort Wilderness which will accomodate all six of us. OR a big splurge for connecting rooms at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We thought hte African theme would be a hit with the kids (who really want to go to Africa in real life), as well as the "wildlife out the window." However, the cost will be twice as much as Fort Wildnerness. Any suggestions?

3. My oldest son has a developmental disability. He is partially included at school but wondered how the clubs are these days at accomodating for kids with disabilities? He doesn't have any mobility challenges (except for fatigue, which is why we use a pushchair in the parks), but does have a pretty significant communication disorder which makes his speech really hard to understand. He loves Disney and is the most well-behaved guy you've ever seen. Mostly I'm wondering if it is a friendly, welcoming place to all kids--- and if the other kids tend to be open and friendly to a diversity of children.

4. Anyone know the hours for Flounders Reef?

5. Any suggestions for whether to do late or early seating for dinner?

Thanks!!!!!
Jellymoon

 

[cruiselovinbunch]

Hi --

The only question I can really give a definitive answer to is the DVC question. My husband and I suffered a loss in the year 2000 (both of my parents passed away within a time period of 7 weeks) and we took a "monster" mental health break which consisted of 10 days in Disney World and a 4 day cruise on the Wonder. Before we completed the WDW portion of our trip, we decided to join the DVC. I can tell you this was, second to our home, the smartest and most enjoyable investment we have ever made. Since that time we have been to Disney World twice (a third trip, along with a 7 day cruise, is coming up in a few days!). We plan to visit Hilton Head in June 2003 and do another cruise in October 2003; another trip to Hilton Head in summer 2004 and a Disney World trip in December 2004. Not bad! And we could never afford these trips without our DVC membership. We have two little girls, ages 3 and 6, and we all love the way Disney does things -- we are able to stay in places like Old Key West and the Beach Club, which are otherwise out of our price range. And the fact that we are able to cruise so often speaks for itself...... The best part is that if we all decide we want to do something different, we can always exchange out to another resort/time share and travel to other parts of the world.

I would recommend the DVC to anyone -- join it at whatever time is best for you, but by all means join it. I think it's a great way to take at least some of the financial sting out of travelling, particularly if you enjoy Disney.

Elly

P.S. -- I'm not sure of the Flounder's Reef operating hours, but we put our then 1 1/2 year old daughter in there on our 4 day cruise and she just loved it. The caregivers are very friendly and they welcome any and all of your questions -- they obviously have nothing to hide. We felt very comfortable having our daughter in there while we had a delicious dinner at Palo.

 

[Karel]

In regards to your third question: My middle child (9) also has developmental delays. He is in a Learning Disabled class at school with limited mainstreaming. His speech is a lot clearer now then when he was seven but it's still hard to understand him sometimes, but he had no trouble in the clubs (that I know of). He loved it there. He's shy and quiet, and didn't make the friends that his older brother made, but he was always eager to participate. He has very limited reading skills and I was going to mention something to the Lab people but I didn't. I decided to let him go in like everyone else and he was fine.

I think they see all kinds of kids aboard. How about ones who don't even speak English?

How patient is your son if someone doesn't understand him? Will he get frustrated if he had to repeat the same thing over and over again?

 

[TnRobin]

The DVC Board is a better place to go into the details of the purchase of a DVC interest But I will tell you that the incentive that you spoke about is no longer offered. There are new incentives in thier place. Please come to the DVC Board and we will love to go into the details with you.

As for question #2 - you may want to look at the DVC Trade Board for an opportunity to rent someones points an dtry out the DVC Properties.

 

[Mjasp]

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH Didn't know you can rent someones property. I will be checking that out along with seeing what incentives are offered.

Thanks
Joanna

 

[mcnuss]

jellymoon -- I know this is almost heresy but I am going to recommend that with your large brood you may want a condo not just hotel rooms. We own a timeshare at the Sheraton Vistana which is literally 5 minutes away from the gates and less than that from Downtown Disney. You can rent a 2br/2ba unit for about $200 night depending on the season and you will have a kitchen and laundry in your unit, not to mention a jacuzzi! Also, they have about 6 pools, restaurants on-site, everything you could possibly want.

We have stayed there on 2 different occasions and my mother has been there 4 times and we are never disappointed. We LOVE Disney and for a short vacation, we have stayed on property, but we always miss our kitchen (at breakfast time especially) and the washer. We are a small family and easily fit into a hotel room but like the amenities of the condo. If you have your heart set on staying on property, one of the villas may be a more effective option for you. You can look into renting points for one of the DVC properties right on the DIS boards.

Good luck.

You can check it out at www.spg.com.

 

[Mjasp]

I just LOVE Vistana. If you have the Entertainment book, last year I rented a 2 BR 2 BA unit for $114 a night the first week of August. But to get that rate you have to book about 30 days before maybe even closer.

 

[nestlejean]

jellybean
you should have taken advantage of the DVC offer back then. It was a good one. DVC sells fairly fast now. BCV are 1/3 sold and they just opened. You would love a DVC 2 bedroom for your brood. You get a full kitchen and the rooms don't compare to the regular hotel type rooms. Your family would probably love Beach Club Villas. It's a great resort for a family and close (walking distance) to Epcot and MGM which is a nice plus with kids and wanting a midday break. We have owned DVC for 4 years now and just recently cruised on our DVC points. We love it and love the accomodations.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Jellymoon:

I know it's none of my business but how is it possible to have 2 kids only 8 months apart?? They could actually start school the same year couldn't they? Well, depending on how their birthdays fall that is. Anyway, no answer is required but I am curious.

 

[jellymoon]

Sonja asked: "How is possible to have two 8 months apart?"

____________________________________________-

Adoption is magical and can make all sorts of miracles happen! This is just one of the examples...

Actually, the girls are lucky that their birthdates fall so that they won't be in the same year of school--- the older one was born July 21, the younger one the following March 21.

They adore each other and think they are twins!!!

Jelly

 

[cruisnfamily]

I have friends in a similar situation Jellymoon and they are also thrilled although theirs did start kindergarten the same year which led to confusion as they were obviously not twins.

They were trying to adopt and found out they were pregnant in Oct/Nov. The next week, they got a call that a baby girl had been born that they could have....this was in some foreign country, Asia, Korea, something. Anyway, by the time they got the baby in June, their baby was about to be born in August, this one a boy. So, they had two babies within 60 days for the family to adjust to, a 9 month old and a newborn. I can imagine it threw the household for a loop at the time. Now they are happy, healthy well adjusted 6 year olds who don't see each other as anything but brother and sister.

 

[Fawn]

Originally posted by jellymoon
Sonja asked: "How is possible to have two 8 months apart?"

____________________________________________-

Adoption is magical and can make all sorts of miracles happen! This is just one of the examples...


Jelly

Jelly....what a perfect way to say it! My girls are 11 months apart and get asked if they are twins ALL the time. When they were young, they learned to say Irish twins!

I have six "handpicked" miracles....best decision my late hubby and I EVER made! Our first four came within 6 months of each other over 15 years ago...needless to say, we learned our parenting skills REAL quick!