Nursery vs Club questions

[tinytinkmom]

So we have a 7 night eastern on the Fantasy booked for December, one month after our younger DD turns 3. We took older DD (now 8) on her first cruise when she was a couple weeks shy of 3. She was fully potty trained, and LOVED the club (she'd cry every time we came to pick her up, because she wanted to stay longer!).

The problem? DD2 is not doing so well with the potty training. She will have 2 or 3 good days in a row with no accidents (getting my hopes up), then days like today with 4 accidents!!!! She's a super smart cookie, so we know she knows what she should be doing... But she also has a bit of an attitude, so I think she's determined to do this on her schedule. We still have four months until our cruise, which is a long time in the life of a 2 year old, so I understand things could change, but I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst.

The bad things... I have a new job, which entailed a pay cut, so this will be our last Disney Cruise for awhile. We don't have any family nearby, and rarely get time alone, so we have been counting on having some quality mommy/daddy time while the girls are having a BLAST in the club. And we already know DD2 hates the nursery... She hangs out with DD8 all of the time, playing with Barbies and "big girl toys", so tends to think she's older than she is. She cried everytime we put her in (bless the CM's!). She goes to daycare at the gym just fine at home, but there is a broader age range of kids. The frustrating thing is that I know she would LOVE the club - we've been showing her You Tube videos to try to motivate her.

Anyway, long story to get to the questions...
Can you say "not potty trained" in the online registration & sign up for nursery time, then go back and change your answer later (either online or once we get to the ship)?
I'm assuming even if we sign her up for the nursery, she would still have a guaranteed spot in the club if she's potty trained (we would, of course, cancel her nursery time)?
Did you have a non-potty trained 3 year old in the nursery? How did it go?
Finally, any potty training words of wisdom? I'll take anything I can get!!!

 

[Weedy]

Tell her Mickey wants her to go to the big kids club and she has to go on the potty to go to the big kids club.

 

[kcashner]

Yes, you can choose not trained, book nursery time, and later cancel on line (up to 3 days before cruising)

Hint on training--tell her that if she doesn't use the potty like a big girl, she won't be able to play with the big kids on Mickey's ship. Explain that Mickey has a special place for the big kids to play, but they have to use the potty to go there. Kids who have accidents have to use the little kid place on the ship.

All 3 year olds have a guaranteed spot in the Oceaneer's Club....which they don't get to use if they are not trained.

 

[Melissa S]

DD was fully potty trained by her 2nd Brthday. We started potty training when she was 18 months because we wanted her to be able to use the pool on our June cruise (she was almost there it took another month ). My advice for potty training is to quit the diapers cold turkey. Using other methods only got us to have her be #2 trained. It was a very long process and it never "clicked" for her. When I took her in for her 2 year well visit at the pedi they said the best way is to stop with the pull ups and just let her have accidents. Children hate the feeling of peeing on themselves. I didn't believe them but within 4 days she was potty trained and three days later we had our last pee accident (she was already #2 trained). She has been diaper free for one month.

My advice is to read the 3 day potty training guide and use their tips. It took us a little longer because we didn't give her junk food like the book says (no salt = less opportunities to train) and we didn't stay home for 3 full days. Do it over a weekend and you may have to take one vacation day. You have to commit to no more diapers even when you are tempted to do it (I was in tears and my daughter literally handed me a diaper). The first day take your child to buy underwear. DD chose Minnie& Daisy and The princesses. And tell them the characters on the underwear don't like to be wet. And then if you have carpet make a reservation for a carpet cleaner lol. It was the most stressful week of my life but it clicked with her fast. I also took her potty with me in the car and if I had to have her wear pullups I had her wear her underwear and then pullups went over them. My whole playgroup was so impressed that it happened so fast that other moms started to potty train their 2 year old this way and it was successful for them. They were shocked it worked for them because they thought I got lucky with a motivated child.

Good luck! and see you in the Mickey Pool

 

[Betsy82]

You can change things once you're on board, even.

I sailed with my 1 yr old and just barely 3 yr old. I scheduled them nursery time together.

After dinner, we went to Club to let them run off some energy (open house). The staff asked my oldests age and why he didn't have a band. I explained he'd JUST turned 3, but wasn't potty trained, so he was in the nursery. They watched him play a little longer and asked if I'd like him moved to the club. They said he did really well there and they'd text my wave phone if he needed a diaper change.

So we moved him from Nursery to Club and regretted it, honestly. He missed his brother. Every time we walked by Small World he'd cry and ask for him.

I am not sharing this because I think this will happen for you (I am still shocked it happened to us!) but more to share that you can change Club/Nursery once on board even. A CM from Club just called and informed Small World for us so we weren't charged cancellation fees!

 

[tinytinkmom]

After dinner, we went to Club to let them run off some energy (open house). The staff asked my oldests age and why he didn't have a band. I explained he'd JUST turned 3, but wasn't potty trained, so he was in the nursery. They watched him play a little longer and asked if I'd like him moved to the club. They said he did really well there and they'd text my wave phone if he needed a diaper change.

Wow! Has anyone else had this happen? I certainly wouldn't count on it for our cruise (and would rather just have her potty trained!), but have never heard this before... Nice to know that the CM's are allowed some flexibility!

 

[DisMom1981]

So we have a 7 night eastern on the Fantasy booked for December, one month after our younger DD turns 3. We took older DD (now 8) on her first cruise when she was a couple weeks shy of 3. She was fully potty trained, and LOVED the club (she'd cry every time we came to pick her up, because she wanted to stay longer!).

The problem? DD2 is not doing so well with the potty training. She will have 2 or 3 good days in a row with no accidents (getting my hopes up), then days like today with 4 accidents!!!! She's a super smart cookie, so we know she knows what she should be doing... But she also has a bit of an attitude, so I think she's determined to do this on her schedule. We still have four months until our cruise, which is a long time in the life of a 2 year old, so I understand things could change, but I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst.

The bad things... I have a new job, which entailed a pay cut, so this will be our last Disney Cruise for awhile. We don't have any family nearby, and rarely get time alone, so we have been counting on having some quality mommy/daddy time while the girls are having a BLAST in the club. And we already know DD2 hates the nursery... She hangs out with DD8 all of the time, playing with Barbies and "big girl toys", so tends to think she's older than she is. She cried everytime we put her in (bless the CM's!). She goes to daycare at the gym just fine at home, but there is a broader age range of kids. The frustrating thing is that I know she would LOVE the club - we've been showing her You Tube videos to try to motivate her.

Anyway, long story to get to the questions...
Can you say "not potty trained" in the online registration & sign up for nursery time, then go back and change your answer later (either online or once we get to the ship)?
I'm assuming even if we sign her up for the nursery, she would still have a guaranteed spot in the club if she's potty trained (we would, of course, cancel her nursery time)?
Did you have a non-potty trained 3 year old in the nursery? How did it go?
Finally, any potty training words of wisdom? I'll take anything I can get!!!

Just off the Fantasy with a 3 1/2 year old. There was some confusion/inconsistency between nursery CM and club CM information on the first day. Our son is not potty trained so they said he had to go to the nursery, but the club CM's told us he could go to the club if we checked in every hour. Also, we could not register him for both and if we registered (on board) for the nursery first we couldn't change our minds and then send him to the kids clubs. Basically, once on board I knew the nursery was the better fit because the ratio of kids to CM is lower and they are given more care and attention. I felt that my son wouldn't self advocate/ask for his needs in the club because it was much bigger and more independent. I thought he might get lost in the mix. Was disappointed to have to pay, but the nursery staff and accommodations were fabulous and worth every penny. Lots of the same toys we enjoy playing with at home and friends houses....character visits too. Plus the first few days have open house times in the kids clubs so we could bring him there and play with him anyway. For us, the whole point was a safe, fun place where we wouldn't be worried the whole time and that meant the nursery for this trip. Good luck!

Ps we signed up online as not potty trained and for nursery time and they were still going to take him in the kids club. They didn't even ask if trained.

 

[Betsy82]

Wow! Has anyone else had this happen? I certainly wouldn't count on it for our cruise (and would rather just have her potty trained!), but have never heard this before... Nice to know that the CM's are allowed some flexibility!

He was required to wear Pull-Ups, though. I'm not really sure why, since they texted the wave phone for us to come change him (maybe 4 times the entire week) but that was a requirement... They did change him the night we were in Palo but they'd told us in advance to notify them if we were going to Palo or Remy and leave them with a spare Pull-Up so they didn't have to disrupt us.

Luckily I'd had a panic attack on our way out the door for the airport and decided to stuff the fronts of our suitcase with Pull-Ups... I'd bought a box of diapers for them to "share" for the week but panicked at the idea of running out. Good thing, since he was required to be in those Pull-Ups I packed last minute!