Mickey Pool/fountain

[HappyGilmore]

Just wondering how other parents of young babies /toddlers felt about allowing thier kids in the Mickey pool/fountain. She will be in a swim diaper like all the others that are not potty trained. My daughter loves going in the water /pools and I am thinking it will be hard to control her to that one ear part of the pool and if she sees the other kids on the slide forget it!!!! I am thinking to keep her away from it period but don't want to ruin her fun either. Did anyone else have concerns about health (remembering the Norwalk outbreak on cruise ships).
Thanks,
Carolyn

 

[sharonk]

We cruised in June and my 3 yo DD (who is potty trained and could go in the rest of the pool) actually preferred the "fountain" ear. The rest of the pool was so crowded with rowdy older kids that she was happy to be with the "babies" in the special ear.

I wasn't worried about viruses at all. The water is continually re-circulating in that ear...so it's probably the cleanest place in the pool!

SharonK

 

[HeelMD]

The water for that pool is continuously recirculated as well as quite chlorinated. It is a most-unfriendly environment for viruses to be.

 

[djs113]

Health department rules make the water in the ear stay separate from the rest of the pool, that is why swim diapers are allowed in the one ear.

- D

 

[Sarangel]

Our 2 year old DD enjoyed the Mickey ear, but was a little frustrated about not being able to go into the real pool. She's a serious waterbaby, has been in swim classes since she was 6 months old, etc, so your mileage may vary. I found it difficult to keep up with her constant attempts to escape.

Also, re: older kids. I was disappointed in parents who let their older children play in the little kids' ear, since it was quite crowded with small children and the bigger kids madeit even more crowded. I felt that it was unfair to the little kids who had no place else to go. The older kids have the second ear, the Mickey pool AND the Goofy pool to play in & I sort of wished they'd left the one ear to the little kids.

 

[sharonk]

Truthfully, on our cruise in June, the special fountain ear was the only place in pool that was not ridiculously crowded. The Goofy pool was packed solid...I would not even let my older boys go in there for fear that they would be trapped under water.

My 3 year old DD is not a water baby (she actually survived a near-drowning last year) and the fountain ear was really our only option.

I would also have been dissappointed if parents had allowed older school-age kids to overrun the fountain ear so that the babies couldn't enjoy it...but you need to cut the 3 - 4 year olds a little slack. Not all of them can handle an over-crowded pool full of excited, splashing kids of all ages. (Plus, some of them might not be potty-trained yet either...in which case their parents should be commended for keeping them out of the rest of the pool.)

Sharon

 

[Sarangel]

3/4 age kids I have no problem with for the reasons you cited. On our cruise, however, we had two 6/7/8-ish age kids who felt it OK to come & sit in the middle of the babies (not on the rim like the parents, and, as far as I could tell, none of them were there because of a little sister/brother, which would have actually been pretty cute in my mind). I just felt for my DD, who was frustrated enough about not being able to play in the real water, that it wasn't really fair for a big kid to come & take up that much of the only place the little kids could play. I also felt that the OP should know that that's one of the 'hazards' of using the Mickey ear.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Just wondering how other parents of young babies /toddlers felt about allowing thier kids in the Mickey pool/fountain. She will be in a swim diaper like all the others that are not potty trained.

My then-1 year old and I spent a bit of time in the fountain -- everyone had swim diapers on, there were no poop incidents, and the water is flushed VERY often (much to my dd's chagrin). I'd be much more wary of the other kid pools, which were crammed with young kids, some of whom probably didn't get out of the pool to go to the bathroom.

My only big suggestion for the fountain is to bring a hard plastic cup or pail to play with -- my dd saw other kids playing with cups and wanted one, but the staff confiscated the disposable cups because they biodegrade in the pool.

 

[HeelMD]

We had a little trouble with older kids getting in the "ear." The bigger problem we had was one couple who kept taking their toddler in a diaper into the bigger area. They would get out everytime the lifeguard told them to and get right back in when they turned around. I was really frustrated that the lifeguard didn't send them away after about the fourth time this happened.

Speaking of the Mickey pool, thought you all would enjoy this. This is my DD in mid-air:

 

[MousseauMob]

DD(2 at the time) loved the splash ear. I was really stressed and worried about it because I was sure she would want to follow her big brother DS(9 at the time) into the Mickey pool. But, she was quite happy to be in the splash area and climb in and out on her own. I did also distract her on a couple of days when she was looking like she was ready to take off with a popscicle from scoops. Also, her older brother did get in the splash area once with her, for just a little bit. But it was because she was all alone, there were no other little ones in there with her, and she was a bit lonely! I actually asked him to, and I wouldn't have if there were other kids in the splash area, I also think it's sad when the bigger kids leave the little ones with no where to go, and I wish parents would be a bit more considerate of others. Here she is climbing either in or out - I can't tell which!

 

[MousseauMob]

Speaking of the Mickey pool, thought you all would enjoy this. This is my DD in mid-air:

LOVE this shot - I saw it on the other thread! What a GREAT picture, I can "feel" her JOY!

 

[HeelMD]

Just so I don't show any favoritism, here's DS in the "ear."