Nursery on Disney Dream

[Cincychic]

We will be going on our first cruise in October. I will be taking my 3 yr old special needs son with me and he is not toilet trained. I was told he would not be allowed to go in the kids club because he is in diapers and will have to be in the nursery.
From what I have been reading on these boards there have been some people that have taken their special needs kids to the kids clubs without being toilet trained. What I am wondering is what are the chances of this happening? I would really like for my son to be with his brother and sister in the club, even if I have to come change him or whatever.

Thanks

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

You may want to email Julie or Cory from the podcast. I remember them talking about the same issue with their son on the podcast, he has Down Syndrome. They have done a lot of research on the kids clubs and special needs kids.

 

[lanejudy]

Basically, it's handled on a case-by-case basis and nobody can PROMISE an exception will be made for any child until you are onboard. (If it's a full cruise, lots of kids in the Club/Lab group, they simply won't have space to make the exception.) But you are correct that some passengers report a child in pull-ups being allowed into the Club and the parents had to agree to return every 30 minutes or hour or something like that to check on the child and deal with toileting issues. It may also depend on the CMs whether they allow it or not. Best you can do is ask, but I'd suggest reserving some nursery time in advance just in case (it can be canceled without penalty if they accept him at the Club).

Depending on your son's needs, and the fact that he's only 3 which is borderline age with the nursery, you might want to consider other factors as well. The Club/Lab go up to age 12, and while the Club is geared toward the younger (3-7) set and the Lab to the older (8-12) group, there is no specific split and all kids will be allowed into both spaces. Particularly when one is in "open house" mode then all checked-in children will be put together into the other side. If he has any developmental delays or such, being overrun by older kids might not be the best situation for him. There is less supervision, higher child-to-adult ratio, in the Club/Lab than the nursery.

Enjoy your cruise!

ETA: About 18 months ago DCL went through a significant change in policy for children in the various clubs and became more restrictive in the exceptions they would allow. Be aware of this when looking at information or experiences of people who cruised prior to Dec. 2011 as they might have had a very different experience than current.

 

[Cincychic]

Thanks for the info. How do I email these people and where do I find this podcast? Sorry, I am pretty new at this.

I do not mind putting him in the nursery too much, but I think he would feel more comfortable if my daughter were with him.

I will probably worry either way, even though I am sure they will take extra good care of him

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Thanks for the info. How do I email these people and where do I find this podcast? Sorry, I am pretty new at this.

I do not mind putting him in the nursery too much, but I think he would feel more comfortable if my daughter were with him.

I will probably worry either way, even though I am sure they will take extra good care of him

You might want to check out cruisecritic.com; there is a Disney Cruise Forum there.