Has anyone used the babsitting service?

[itsopus2u]

I'm a vacation club member headed to Mecca in just a couple of days. We have an opportunity to go to Victoria & Alberts, but we wouldn't want to bring our 2 1/2 year old. Husband is fine with using a Disney babysitting service. I'm weary of leaving my toddler with total strangers, who, as I understand it, are not Disney employees, just contracted workers.

Has anyone used the service? Opinions, please.

Thanks.

 

[trishy]

Well, I haven't used the service at WDW resorts...but I have used the contracted babysitting services out of Las Vegas through the Mirage Resort. I've used them many times when my kids were younger and had nothing but excellent experiences with them. I know it's not WDW, but I would expect a little bit higher notch than Vegas IMO. The babysitting service I've used is referred to as "Nannies and Grannies" - they were terrific.

Hopefully you'll get some hits on this thread from people who know more about the service in WDW.

 

[rocketriter]

I've used Kids Nite Out, which is probably still WDW's "preferred" sitting service. (Check the WDW website to make sure.) They sent an experienced grown-up, not a kid, who arrived with a case full of age-appropriate activities for our children. We found the service a bit expensive (what isn't at WDW?) but the quality and safety considerations were excellent.

 

[pmcpmc]

look after a 13yo as our daughter likes to go to bed early.

 

[itsopus2u]

Yeah, I've read about Kids Night Out, but it is my understanding it is for children 4 years and older.

My child is 2 1/2 years old.

I've found some good things in various posts about Fairy Godmothers. Any negative encounters out there???

Thanks again.

 

[Selket]

Unless KNO has drastically changed, it is the in-room sitting service and will take children under 4 years of age. There is probably a minimum age but I think it would be 3 months old or something and not in years. It is the kid's clubs in the hotels that only take potty trained kids ages 4 and up.

Both Fairy Godmothers and KNO will watch your child in your room. We used FG mothers last trip and I had mixed feelings about it. Our sitter seemed ditzy, arrived a bit late knocking on the door across the hall, left the toys in her car...and so forth (I have a long post about it from last year here somewhere on the board). Anyway - I'd try KNO next time personally but most folks have had very good experiences with both services.

 

[jodifla]

I just got back tonight...we used fairy godmothers again, this is our fifth time or so using this service. all went great. They even sent the same sitter, so our 2 1/2 year old was familiar with her. She won him over completely with her suitcase full of toys, including "choos" (trains...)

 

[Noelle]

We used Fairy Godmothers last year. We had Vera and she was great. My kids had never had a babysitter before, besides their grandmothers. My kids were 10 and almost 3 at the time. Not only did they have a great time, but both were sound asleep when we got back from Downtown Disney.

We're going to V&A this year and we're going to use the kids club at the Beach Club. Now that my youngest will be old enough to go to the club. I'm hoping my kids will have a good time.

 

[DisFam95]

We used KNO for our 17mo. Grandma type/older lady showed up with a bag of age appropriate little toys. Came a few minutes early, discussed his routine amd foods etc. They do not do any water activities, bathing or pool for obvious reasons. She was wonderful. We said goodbye and she distracted him while we left. We stood at the door and could here him starting to talk to her.

KNO are Disney trained but not Disney employees. They go through the Disney training programs and are finger printed and background checked/police records etc. Childcare is not something I'm going to skimp a few dollars an hr on. I've heard nothing but praise for KNO and FG. We called 2 days prior for our date we wanted.

DS had not been sleeping in his crib but in bed with us. We told her it was ok if he was up when we got back. BUt she said he was asleep by 8:30 on a pallet she made on the floor w/ blankets and pillows. We came in ashe was sitting on the couch reading a book. We left DS sleeping on floor...it was nice to have the bed to ourselves finally.

I felt totally secure w/ our choice and will do it again. Have fun on your night out!!

 

[onecoolmama]

KNO takes 6 weeks old and up. I just got back from POFQ and I had them check before I left. I am going to use them for my trip in December (if my baby comes on time!!!) If not the baby will be too young, but hopefully it wont be a problem.

I think the FG have the same policy, 6 weeks and up. It is in the Unofficial Guide for the phone numbers, and ages that they take. I just got back yesterday and I cannot wait to go back!

 

[Deb8821]

I used FG on our last trip in Nov at the Beach club (one bedroom). I was traveling alone with my three boys 6, 6, and 3. The older boys have been to the Neverland club a few times and really loved it. If the 3 year old had been 4 I would have done that instead. FG did not work out for us. We were there for 9 days, I wanted a couple hour break to go to the grocery store and maybe relax for an hour or two.

I schedule one time for 4-8pm midway thru the trip and a second time the night before we were to leave from 4-8pm with the intention I could pack while the kids were entertained. After the 1st time I cancelled the second. While my boys are no angels they are reasonably well behaved. The older women sent would have been fine with a couple of little girls for a tea party. I realize this time period is a hard part of the day that is why I scheduled it. I was fixing dinner when she arrived. I got everything on the table, explained their eating habits, that they could watch a movie, play games what ever and left my cell number and I would be back in a couple hours.

I left at 4:30 and got back at 6:30. She is sitting at the table reading a magazine. the bedroom was a mess, she said the boys would not listen to her and were jumping on the bed and she almost called security, they were wild. I reminded her that I told her if there was any problem at all to call me. She responded they don't like to do that and basically they try and Stick it out. They were watching a movie when I returned. I questioned them, made them apologize, tipped her and she left by 7;40 although I paid thru 8pm.

Now I know I have three boys and this time of day they get wound up, but at the same time they all like to play games. Usually after a full day at the parks or pool I am tired. I simply wanted someone else to entertain them for a couple of hours. If she had pulled out a board game or sat down with a deck of cards they would have been fine. BUT mine are not the kind of kids at that time of day where you can just say go do something or go play. Maybe I expected to much. But ya know I would have been better off with a teenager with some energy who would play with them not simply sit there and want to read a magazine.

In hindsight, if I had wanted to "go out" and have the boys in bed when they came it would have been fine. But when I am at Disney I would rather spend the time with the boys. I simply wanted a small break and time to pack in peace. When we go back in Nov I will have them go to the club instead. There is so much more for them to do and alot more interaction by the staff.

 

[FLYNZ4]

Originally posted by itsopus2u
I'm a vacation club member headed to Mecca in just a couple of days. We have an opportunity to go to Victoria & Alberts, but we wouldn't want to bring our 2 1/2 year old. Husband is fine with using a Disney babysitting service. I'm weary of leaving my toddler with total strangers, who, as I understand it, are not Disney employees, just contracted workers.

Has anyone used the service? Opinions, please.

Thanks.

Our kids are older now... but we used the in-room babysitting several times when they were younger. We also used the on-site babysitting rooms at the GF, Poly, Contempory, and Y&BC... we even did it while eating at V&A's for our 15 year anniversary

We were pretty comfortable with the on-site babysitting rooms... but we were nervous about the in-room babysitting for obvious reasons. What we did, and what I would still recommend is as follows:

I called the baby sitting service (I think it was Fairy Godmothers... but I cannot remember)... and I discussed our discomfort with choosing a babysitter. They assured us that all of their babysitters were bonded... but that was not good enough. They offered to have a woman babysit who had been in continuous employment with the agency for 10 years without a single complaint. That helped us feel more comfortable... thinking that if there was any kind of problem, or if she was any kind of predator... then the probabily of some compaints over such a long period would be very high.

She babysat our kids one night... and we had a nice discussion about the babysitter with the kids, and once again, we felt re-assured. From that point forward... and for every subsequent trip to WDW... we only ever used that same woman as our babysitter. We would usually hire her for at least 1 night per week for each trip.

Maybe we were overprotective... but we felt that it worked out well for us. BTW, I just asked our kids what her name was... and it was Margarite. It has probably been ten years or more since we hired her.

/Jim

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

We also used Fairy Godmothers last trip and although I've always read great things about them on these boards, we're going to give Kids Night Out a try this time.

We have 3 kids....last year they were DS-10, DD-6, and DS-3. We had requested Vera based on advice on these boards, but she was out of town, so they sent someone else....unfortunately, I can't remember her name. Everything worked out fine....kids were safe, etc., and they said they had a nice time. She was a 'grandmother' type, maybe in her 60s, and I pretty much got the impression she spent most of her time either bribing them to be good with her little prizes or reading her magazine. Certainly no harm done, but my kids mostly told me about all of the various bargaining rules in picking 'prizes', e.g. can have 2 of this if you take 1 of that, etc. and said the sitter spent most of her time reading her magazine.

Again, the kids were safe, and that's what really counted, but I would have liked to have had someone with a little more energy or creativity to help the kids have fun.

This is a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things, and perhaps we'll have a similar experience with KNO as my understanding is most of them employ older workers (and maybe that's good).....just thought I'd share the experience.

I can say though, that DH and I had a great time at JellyRolls, and we'll definitely be doing that part again.....one evening out in the midst of 10 days of 'quality family time' is priceless even if the kids are a little bored that one night!

 

[kseely]

we used FG last sept for our then 9 month old. it was wonderful! we had mauguerite and we'd use her again in a heartbeat! she is a disney employee by day, she works in a human resources type job for corporate, and has been doing fairy godmothers for over 12 yrs. i wish i knew sitters like her where i live! she was great & we'll be using her and FG when we return this september.