Probably Not a Popular Post - But!!

[Rock'n Robin]

I can't speak for untrained kids in the clubs, because when we took our first cruise our youngest was 5 and very trained. But I did notice that one of the Mickey ears is supposed to be for non-potty trained kids. I guess the same parents who ignore the "no jumping" signs for their kids at the goofy pool ignore the signs about kids not swimming unless they are trained.
Another issue is that I saw a few older kids splashing into that "special" ear, or sitting in it. I pointed out the sign to my kids and told them not to get in it. I wondered if these kids knew what they could be sitting in!!
Robin M.

 

[Dean]

There was a recent thread about just this type of parental behaviour. Several admitted violating the rules and a number came up with interesting ways to try to avoid the issues. Certainly, every child and situation is different. The parent must make the choice up front and the cruise staff if problems arise. There are always those that feel rules don't apply to them. With DVC it's the occupancy and pool hopping restrictions. Hopefully DCL does better at following their own rules than DVC does.

 

[QueenTrident]

I wondered if these kids knew what they could be sitting in!!

That's exactly why I wouldn't let DD in there!!

 

[shmoogrrrl]

I kind of have a different take on the potty training thing. I am not sure why there should be a problem with kids coming in pull-ups if they are a little bit iffy on the training thing in the 3-4 year age group. I surely don’t think that the counselors should be expected to change the pull-ups, but it would allow a child who may well be potty trained in a familiar environment to take advantage of the clubs and not have to worry about “accidents.” The only real downside to this that I can see is that if the Child informs them of his/her accident, someone would have to stop what they were doing and page their parents. Hopefully most parents would be responsible and come immediately when they were paged, though I guess the few that wouldn’t, could ruin it for everyone else.

As the rule stands now though, I think it is very bad for a parent that KNOWS their child isn’t potty trained to put them in a situation where they may have an accident and get laughed at by other kids, and even kicked out of the club for the rest of the trip. It is especially terrible for them to knowingly break the rule in front of their child. If I am correct, the non-potty trained kids CAN take part in the activities if a parent is with them? I may be wrong on that.

Kathy
Who plans to let her Daughter spend a lot of nekkid time around the house in the summer of 2005 so that she will hopefully be trained by the cruise!

 

[dianthus]

In my 3 DCL cruises, I've seen the Mickey slide pool drained at least once, if not twice each cruise. It appears that those little ones just can't contain themselves to their ear... It's not them, but the parents that need to make sure they stay in it, or get out so that the fun is not ruined for so many younger children.

Here's a new one I saw on our November cruise. 2 sets of parents brought their swim diapered kids over to the Goofy pool & brought them in with them- lovely. 2 very upset CMS attempted to get them to leave, but the parents were refusing & giving them a really hard time. It took a uniformed officer to come over & get them out of the water. When they said they were going to complain to GS over the treatment, he replied that you'll really complain if I charge the cost of draining this pool to you! Your actions have made this necessary & takes away from everyone's enjoyment by not following the rules! You are not the only guests on this cruise Madame! Well everyone around the pool started clapping for this officer. These 2 families left with their tails between their legs- very embarassed... He apologized to everyone & the pool draining commenced... He was madder than a hornet!
I was really glad my DD had just gotten out & went to Pluto's to get something to eat before these people arrived. Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone ill on the cruise from it, but many of the parents were justifiably concerned, as their kids were in the water near them... We still wonder if he did charge them...

So please people, keep those cuties in swim diapers in their own ear & watch them & no Goofy pool for them. So many kids are effected when those pools have to drained! Don't ruin the fun & risk getting people sick!

 

[minniemouse1]

I understand the rules and know that they are in place for everyones safety and understand why the pool draining needs to be done but it seems as though it is assumed that the children swimming in the goofy and mickey pools even though they are potty trained are not urinating in it. I would love for this to be true but I don't believe this at all. I have seen and heard children saying while in the pool that they have to go to the bathroom then never getting out or that "pause" that follows with a schiver. I feel that some parents just as we have discussed other issues on this post don't teach their children that it is wrong and that illness can occur from doing this and that some kids just get so involved that they won't tell the parents because they will have to get out of the pool. I just assume that if we use the goofy and mickey pools that it is a possiblility that someones child has urinated in it and that hopefully the chlorine and filter will take care of it. We also have tried to use the pools mostly in the morning when there are not that many people using them. I have not brought my kids in it in the evening when the water is yellow from sunscreen and who knows what else.

dianthus,
that is awful what those families did and I would of been one of the people applauding as they left. That is so disrespectful of every other person on the cruise.

 

[dianthus]

It's the poop lurking in those swim diapers that concerns me...
Yuck!

I think urine filters out fairly quickly & the chlorine level in those pools seems to be quite high...

 

[feetkeds]

Hello,

I just thought I'd chip my 2 cents in. I wrote a post several months ago that seems to have gone away but heres the gist of it.

I'm a professionally trained English nanny. While I was training over there, I worked on placement with a woman who had worked on the Disney Cruise ships for 8 months+ in the kids clubs. She said although it was exhausting but great fun, there was one thing that drove her nuts. Parents who (you guessed it!) would sneak their non-potty trained kids in. Now policy's may have changed since her time on the ship but she said when I child had an 'accident' they were, under no circumstances, allowed to change the child (and were told they would be fired if they did). So the poor child who had wet/soiled themselves would have to stay exactly where they were until mom or dad came to collect them and clean them up. She said there were times where a child was forced to sit like this for up to 5 HOURS because mom and dad were unavilable (usually on excursions). Just something to think about.

My other 'cent' may seem like I'm contridicting myself but I'm not- a lot of these posts seem to be a bit maryter-ish about the time a child spends in the club. I understand going on vacation to be together but if your child is trained and if they really love it, let them have fun the clubs! As one child pointed out it IS their vacation too (smart kid!). We did lengthy research into children being left away from their main caregiver on my course. So long as the care they recieve is excellent, the children can and will thrive in group care. Now granted, this was mainly researched looking into daycare/ long term care options but I think it holds true here too.

I've got to go find somewhere to stash this soap box now....

Kristin

 

[4mickeyfans]

I am so grossed out by this thread but I couldn't stop reading until the end

Guess I just learned another really important tip - stay out of Mickey's ears

What would I do without these boards?!?!

Oh, and I'm in total agreement with feetkeds....my kids have already informed me that they plan to spend the whole day in the kids' clubs!

DD8 is thrilled b/c she will be separate from DS5

We plan to DRAG them out every couple of hours to take a family photo just to prove we did all go together

Seriously, if they're loving it, I'm all for it - I don't consider it babysitting b/c I'll be watching that pager like a hawk (and probably doing a little spying, too )

I think the clubs are a privilege of DCL and my kids can't wait to join the fun...of course we'll be a big group - each of my kids will have at least 4 friends from home so that makes it a little better for them...and I know I can trust the care they will receive.

That being said, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable leaving the ship and doing an excursion with them onboard...that's just me...I'm a worry-wart and I'd think about all sorts of emergencies that make potty accidents look lame

I am, however, planning to check them into the kids' club on Castaway Cay - at least for an hour or so - so we can enjoy the adult beach

 

[QueenTrident]

I am, however, planning to check them into the kids' club on Castaway Cay - at least for an hour or so - so we can enjoy the adult beach

The adult beach is long and gorgeous - you may end up leaving the kids there for a little while longer. The pagers do work on CC, it would just be a pain to get to them from the adult beach. About a 20 minute walk or 12 minute wait for the next tram.

 

[4mickeyfans]

Wow! I didn't realize the adult beach was that far away! On my little map, it's only a couple of "inches"

Thanks for the tip...some of our friends in the group will probably be doing family activities at the family beach so we'll most likely do our parenting "tag-team" style

We had already discussed doing that on the ship so each couple could have a little adult time...I think it would work at Castaway, too.

I'm also glad you mentioned the time frame - I'm thinking of booking one of the cabana massages but I'll have to factor in transport time

 

[Katdb]

As I don't sail with little children... I don't go into the mickey pool, but there's been a lot said that makes good sense.

One experience that really upset me happened at the adult pool.

A little background: I am almost 20, but for 2 out of my 3 cruises I wasn't old enough to swim in the adult pool. And I respected that because rules are rules no matter how close in age you are (for one of them, i was two months short).

On our last cruise, My mom, Nana and myself were swimming in the adult pool when a couple and their very young child (at most 1 yr old) came into the pool.
My Nana politely told them that they must have confused their pools, and that this was only for adult. Well, theis couple was sooo rude, the gist of their remarks were "I'm paying a lot of money and I'll do what I want"
Needless to say, it took 3 CMs, to get them out, and my Nana got a round of applause.

I can't understand why some people think the rules don't apply to them. The rules are there for a reason... follow them!!!

Katdb

 

[makaylee]

I also heard a few nightmare stories about kids being left in the kids club....the parents leaving the ship and DCL not being able to locate them for hours. I personally am not comfortable enough to leave the ship with my child on it. If there were a situation where I would of needed to do that I would have stayed home.

mimmimouse, We left our dd6 on the ship in St. Thomas for 3.5 hours while we did a Disney snorkling excursion. We were assured by Disney that if in the off chance something happend to her they could contact us on the boat. The reason we left our daughter on the ship was because she was too young to go with us DEFINATLY NOT because we needed a break from her. We love spending time with our daughter and would have brought her with us if we could have. She spent very little time in the kids club the rest of the week. And this was only when she begged us.

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

We left our dd6 on the ship in St. Thomas for 3.5 hours

she was too young to go with us

makaylee, minnimouse did not say that all parents that leave their children aboard to take excursions, such as the one you described, were in the wrong. As long as your dd didn't mind being there, then, from what I've read, we all think that's fine.
It's when parents DUMP their kids with a counselor so that they can go off somewhere and the poor kid is in tears.

 

[minniemouse1]

Maykaylee,
I am not talking about 5 or 6 yo kids. I am talking about the 2 1/2 - 3 y/o kids passed off as potty trained or having not been trained long with no parents to be found when an accident happens. I stayed close when my daughter was there for that very reason not because I didn't think she enjoyed herself there. She did love OC but enjoyed it more when there was free play and not as much when they had scheduled activities probab;y because of her age.
I don't have a 6 yo so I am speaking from the point of view of a mother with a 3 and 2 yo and expecting another. I would think that if we are still cruising DCL by the time I have a 6 yo that the kids clubs are going to be something that I am going to have to drag them out of kicking and screaming just to bathe them and you will hear not complaints from me!

DMS_cruiser04
Thank you for defending me. I feel I rubbed alot of people the wrong way and that definately was not my intention.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

4mickeyfans- just had to say- love your sig line! And not just because you look great there with Mickey- love your shirt! I bought that same shirt on my last trip.... hehe

 

[4mickeyfans]

Thanks, BibbidyBobbidyBoo! It's a definite favorite but I've stopped wearing it so it won't fade before the cruise

My 1st graders love it, too

 

[makaylee]

minnimouse, I am terribly sorry if I sounded snappish in my post. Its just that we tried a long time before we got our daughter and I try really hard to be the best parent I can be. I guess I just get a bit overly defensive sometimes. Again I apologize if I came off rude.

 

[Katdb]

Everyone follow me...

*breath in* *breath out*

There, now don't we all feel better? Sometimes its hard in messages to judge how someone is coming across. I think what most people are trying to say (myself included) is there rules are there for a reason, and we should respect them.

Accidents are not a disregard for rules, they're just an accident. I know if I've been studying for a few hours and stand up... lets just say there had better not be a line at the washroom. SO I can imagine how it is for small children, who generally have a one-track mind when they're having fun. Bodily functions don't register until its too late.

My beef is when people flagrently disregard the rules (ie see my other post with the couple and a baby in the adult pool). I waited my turn for the pool, clubs, PALO (definitely worth the wait) and it does annoy me when others break those same rules.

Have a happy Disney Day everyone
Katdb

 

[floridaminnie]

There is a BIG difference between a child having an accident and one that is NOT potty trained!