Is there night life traveling with a 5 year old?

[kath00]

Hello. We are looking to book our first cruise on Disney and with our child. She is going to be almost 6 when we go (Jan 06). THere seem to be lots of activities for this age during the day but I am wondering what parents can do after the kid goes to sleep? Is there any in-room babysitting, or will we have to hang out in the suite with her once it's past her bedtime? I am envisioning us wanting to go out for drinks late at night but we wouldn't dare leave her alone in the room. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[disneygatorfan]

No in room babysitting... but the kids clubs usually show movies until 12am and sometimes even a little later... bascially after about 10pm all activities are pretty much over, they just have matts and the kids lay around watch movies, and fall asleep.

 

[AboutTheMouse]

My daughter was also 5 when we sailed. I couldn't believe how well she handled being up late -- they have soooooo many activities to keep them engaged. Like the previous poster said, at a certain time, they put out mats and show a movie - many little ones had come in the evening dressed in their PJs and wound up falling asleep.

You on the other hand might wind up being too tired to enjoy the nightlife after having so much fun during the day!

 

[JJsmama]

We recently cruised with ours 4 and 6. The reality was; the kids were wiped out and didn't want to go to the clubs after dinner. Even if we had sent them for an hour or so, the adult activities (game shows, dance parties, etc) did not start until 11:00. Dh and I never got to go out at night. Actually, my sister and her dh sailed with us with their kids 7 and 9 and they never got to do a late night activity either.

We REALLY would have loved the option of an in-room babysitter.

 

[lbgraves]

We didn't stay up much later than our 3 & 5 yos last year. LOL! We started the day 6-7 am and went all day long. I never saw any of the clubs.

 

[ljm]

We didn't seem to have a problem going out while our DS's (3 and 6) were in the club in the evening. We did '80's night at Wavebands one night and had a great time. So nice to feel like an adult again.

Most of the time the kids were with us during the day, so their time for the clubs was after dinner/show. They loved it, and never wanted to leave during the movie.

My advice is to take it easy during the day - don't burn the kids out with so much time in the club that they don't want to go at night. They would beg us to go in the evening since they didn't spend all day there.

Just my $0.02...

 

[mickeyboat]

Our kids (3 and 4 at the time) were exhausted at the end of the day. They fell asleep several times during early seating dinner. We were able to keep them up until 10:00 one night, but we usually hit the sack at around 9:00. We didn't get to enjoy the night life.

My kids weren't big fans of the club until the end of the cruise. There were a lot of kids, however, who stayed there pretty late.

Just be prepared to go with the flow.

Denae

 

[sanela]

not really

 

[MCazer]

We had our kids in and out all day long. After early seating dinner, even if the kids were tired, they always wanted to go back to the clubs.

Yes, they did fall asleep on the mats watching a movie, and we were able to do some clubbing.

We loved the dueling pianos, however, I don't think they have them anymore. It is a shame.

Love the Kids Club! However, our friends kids, they are the type not to go. Not to even try it out.

We always make our kids try it first before they say they don't like it. But that is just us.

 

[DrCavin]

Isn't that another use for the duct tape, keep the kids in the room??? KIDDING!!!!

 

[mommyz]

Might be repeating what the others say didn't have time to read all the posts.....

We went w/ our 3 1/2 year old last Sept (2003) for a 3nt and it was meant for him...we (husband and I) had no intention to spend time together but wow what a surprise. As long as the kids are potty trained which he was we signed up for the kids club thinking he wouldn't like it that much...we were wrong he didn't want to leave. We booked a dinner at Palo's and when we dropped him off to the kid's club he started crying so I was like okay dinner is off no big deal. One of the girls (part of Disney) who had been with him the day before said go and we will call if there is a problem...i called 10 minutes after we got there and he was fine.

We use to drop him off for a couple of hours at a time...we'd go back to the room before dinner and put him down for a nap b/c he was soooooo exhausted and we didn't want him missing the shows.

The club is open until midnight! They have pajama parties!!!!!

You and your family will have the time of your life!!!

 

[scrapperjill]

I think it really depends on how you feel about leaving your kids in the club to fall asleep with the other kids....or enjoy the disney movie they play. The kids club was open until...atleast 12am..and sometimes as late as 1am...It seemed like the later in the week...the earler they closed...But I'm sure the first two-three nights it was open until 1am.

Our kids...well at least our 6yo didn't mind going to the club after dinner...with her new friends, playing and watching movies until they all fell asleep. I don't think there was one night that we ended up getting back to our stateroom before 12am...we were able to enjoy the adult show, and 70's and 80's night at rock n bar d. With the kids crashing and sleeping in the club...they got their rest and were ready for the next day.

 

[lookingforward]

We had grand plans every night BUT.... our five year old daughter just did not like the clubs that much. The first night she went happily but had us paged after an hour. The second night she went after a HUGE pep talk and paged us after an hour. The third night she just refused. We still had a great time though, but I did not get to do some of the adult activities I had planned on. She did love bingo though and still calls out "bingo going once, bingo going twice, bingo is OUTTA HERE!" It is hilarious.

 

[dwkwootton]

I have a friend who always takes a babysitter with her on vacation. She has no trouble finding a teenager who is willing to babysit in exchange for a vacation. If I read your post right, you are in a suite so you would probably have enough room. If you might be interested in doing this, check with DCL to be sure they can accept another passenger.

 

[coleland]

We're bringing Grandma with us - she and my dd will be in their own cabin

 

[saturday97]

I was my DS6 that had ideas about nightlife!! We spent a couple of nights dancing in the Promenade Lounge until midnight. The nights that we skipped the dancing were when we all had to get some sleep!

The nice thing about the Disney Cruise is the number of options. You have an opportunity for adult-only fun, family fun, etc. (I sound like an ad, but it's true!).

 

[kristen821]

What kind of Family night life is there on the disney wonder? My daughter is 2.5 and we will most likely have to find family things to do unless they let her into the clubs since she is fully potty trained.