toddlers forbidden in pools

[lks39]

I heard about the no potty trained no swim rule they have going on. Is this enforced? Has anyone had their two year olds in the pool. It's going to be hard not letting my 2 year old swim with his big sister when he loves it so much. I know they have a wading type pool in one of Mickey's ears but he will jump right in the big pool and I'll be chasing him all day. Anyone else have this problem and what did you do?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>I have a picture of the Mickey pool with the 'toddler ear' in my trip report


I'm not sure how much this is enforced, but I can understand them trying to keep a small pool full of children as clean as possible.

Maybe your older one can also play with the little one for a bit in or near the toddler ear.

 

[disneyrett]

For me I would not want my toddler in the Mickey pool!! On my cruise the mickey pool stayed so crowded! Kids jumping in and out of the pool it seemed like there was no supervision. I had to keep my four year old from getting jumped on. Keep your toddler in the Mickey ear it will be a lot safer. But, all the kids looked like they were having fun! Even the toddlers in the mickey ear! Have fun!!!

Tracy

 

[mariamard]

I BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE LITTLE BLOW UP POOLS TO THROW IN OUR SUITCASE.IT'S ONE OF THOSE LITTLE 2 RING POOLS. WE WILL BLOW IT UP IN A SPOT WHERE WE WILL BE OUT OF THE WAY AND IN THE SHADE FOR OUR 5 1/2 MO. OLD. I KNOW THAT IT WILL BE HARD TO KEEP A 2 YEAR OLD FROM WANTING TO BE IN THE BIG KIDS IN THE MICKEY POOL, BUT AT LEAST THERES THE BEACHES YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BRING HIM TO!BUY A LITTLE POOL AT WALMART AND FILL IT WITH TOYS AND I AM SURE THAT THERE WILL BE OTHER2-3 YEAR OLD KIDS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM THAT WOULD LOVE TO PLAY WITH HIM!
OH, AND WE WOULD JUST PUT A FEW BUCKETS OF WATER IN IT FROM THE BAR OR SINKTO FILL IT.HOPE THIS HELPS!

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

Yeah disneyrett, why is it when you put kids around hard tile and water, that sudden 'parents' think it's okay to just 'let 'em be', but that's a whole other topic.

lks39, from some of the other threads around here, apparently DCL is very strict on the potty-trained rule. I was surprised they asked when we booked our cruise. I guess with that amount of kids aboard, you gotta do something.

Good luck!

 

[lks39]

Thanks for everyones suggestions. I am thinking that maybe
the ear wont be so bad after all. If the pools are as crowded as you say then thats no fun either.

 

[beattyfamily]

So let me get this straight. The no potty trained, no pool does NOT extend to the 2 Mickey ears? Only the deeper part (Mickey's face) and the Goofy pool?

That's news to me so I just wanted to know for sure.

It seems to me that the ear's water is constantly running out and into the bigger pool (Mickey's face) so I don't see how that solves anything.

I have a 2 year old traveling with us next Fall so this will be good news to his mom; that he can waddle in the ears.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by lks39
I heard about the no potty trained no swim rule they have going on. Is this enforced?

That is one rule I hope they strictly enforce on the cruise....those swim diapers do not keep bacteria and things like e-coli out of the water. Many kids have gotten sick and some have died from e-coli in wading pools....it is not only a disease you get from undercooked infected meat....
If one kid has a bowel movement in the pool the whole pool is closed down while they clean it inconveniencing others for hours.

 

[Gina]

From what I understand, they rigged Mickey's ear up so that the water in that part is recirculated within that part. And just to reiterate what has been said many many times before, this is a law -- not a DCL whim. Hallelujah! And kudos to DCL for both enforcing it, and giving toddlers an alternative.

One last thing -- please leave the wading pool AT HOME!! If you have been there before, you know how precious little extra room there is anyway around the pools... don't inconvenience everybody else and risk someone tripping right onto your child just for one toddler... let them splash in Mickey's ear, or put them in Flounders, or go find some non-pool-related thing to do with them.

-gina-

 

[jerinknox]

Gina is correct. On my last cruise they had the mickey pool closed while they rigged up one of the ears for the small ones. All the water is recirculated within that part.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by Gina

One last thing -- please leave the wading pool AT HOME!! If you have been there before, you know how precious little extra room there is anyway around the pools... don't inconvenience everybody else and risk someone tripping right onto your child just for one toddler... let them splash in Mickey's ear, or put them in Flounders, or go find some non-pool-related thing to do with them.

-gina-

I agree....can you imagin what it would be like there if 20 familes decided to take their own pools!!

 

[wdwdclfan]

When we went the first time in 1999 with our 6 month old DD the water did "fall" into the bigger part of the mickey pool, the ears were deep, it was cool. When we went last year with our DD 4 and DD2 they did let alot of water out of the ears, so now there is no water "falling" into the rest of the pool. Sad because there is no water fall any more, but much better for the kids, now all can enjoy the pool.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by wdwdclfan
When we went the first time in 1999 with our 6 month old DD the water did "fall" into the bigger part of the mickey pool, the ears were deep, it was cool. When we went last year with our DD 4 and DD2 they did let alot of water out of the ears, so now there is no water "falling" into the rest of the pool. Sad because there is no water fall any more, but much better for the kids, now all can enjoy the pool.

I was just about about to reply to the other posts about how the 2 ears' water certainly does run into Mickey's face part of the pool and I couldn't see how they kept these two areas separate (without the ears' water running into the face part).

I guess they made changes since our cruise Dec 2001. I did a search and found a great shot of the pool and you can see the ears' water running right into the face pool....pool picture.

All they did was lower the amount of water in the ears? Or did they also alter the side of the ears that the water used to run into the face part of the pool (the waterfall area)?

 

[mariamard]

WOW! I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE A PROBLEM BRINGING A POOL THAT IS 2 1/2 FT ACROSS. I THOUGHT IF WE WERE IN A QUIET AREA IT WOULDNT BE A PROBLEM. THIS WAS SUGGESTED TO ME A WHILE AGO AND IT SOUNDED LIKE A GOOD IDEA -AT THE TIME. NO, I HAVE NOT BEEN ON A DISNEY CRUISE BEFORE SO I WAS NOT AWARE OF IT BEING THAT PACKED.I WILL FOR SURE LEAVE THE THING AT HOME..........

 

[jel0511]

Originally posted by mariamard
WOW! I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE A PROBLEM BRINGING A POOL THAT IS 2 1/2 FT ACROSS. I THOUGHT IF WE WERE IN A QUIET AREA IT WOULDNT BE A PROBLEM. THIS WAS SUGGESTED TO ME A WHILE AGO AND IT SOUNDED LIKE A GOOD IDEA -AT THE TIME. NO, I HAVE NOT BEEN ON A DISNEY CRUISE BEFORE SO I WAS NOT AWARE OF IT BEING THAT PACKED.I WILL FOR SURE LEAVE THE THING AT HOME..........

Yes, unforunately, it would be a problem, since DCL wouldn't allow the pool on the deck. It would have to be on the "rubberized" deck which is right next to the pool and pretty much full of lounge chairs. They won't let anything with water on the teak deck, since it becomes slippery VERY quickly and will constantly need to be mopped. When we sailed last Nov, they had just enforced the no swim diapers rule, and they hadn't fixed the mickey ear yet. We brought buckets for CC and just filled it up in the pool and placed it on the rubberized deck for my DS 18 months at the time, to play. It worked out great, and he even got another non-potty trained friend to play with. We at first had him farther away from the pool, on the teak deck and were promply told to move him to the rubberized deck, due to the water making the teak deck slippery. I understood, and he played there.

 

[piglet33]

My 11 month old loved playing in mickey's ear. In fact, I felt safer having her there instead of mickey's face. There was one incident where an older child sat in mickey's ear and tried to throw water in my daughter's face and pull at her. I had to ask her to please stop. When that didn't work, I just moved my daughter to another part of the ear. When that didn't work, we just left the pool. I couldn't believe the amount of unsupervised children that were in that pool. That was one thing I was not happy about.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by piglet33
My 11 month old loved playing in mickey's ear. In fact, I felt safer having her there instead of mickey's face. There was one incident where an older child sat in mickey's ear and tried to throw water in my daughter's face and pull at her. I had to ask her to please stop. When that didn't work, I just moved my daughter to another part of the ear. When that didn't work, we just left the pool. I couldn't believe the amount of unsupervised children that were in that pool. That was one thing I was not happy about.

I know what you mean!!!! It's a pet peeve of mine!!! It happens everywhere though like McDonald's play area, Chuckie Cheese etc... and it drives me crazy!!!

How can you leave a child unattended anywhere but especially near a pool??!!!

 

[mcnuss]

My DD was no where near a toddler, she was 8 when we cruised, and she really did not like the pool. It was probably the only thing she didn't like! She made some friends and they hung out by the pool, but did go in. It was too crowded with too many kids being rough for her taste. Also, bc of the configuration of the Goofy pool, at least, you have to be right up on it in order to see in it, so all the parents are crowded around the edge. I was perfectly happy that she did not want to be a part of the melee. The only time it was fun was when we came back early one day from an excursion.

 

[BuzzBoyMom]

It seemed that the OP was a little bothered by the no-potty trained/no-swim rule. Please understand it is for the health of all children involved. Those of us who are parents of older children have been where you are. We all want our children to have fun but not at the expense of other's health. I'm not trying to be harsh here. Sorry if it sounds that way!

 

[softfluff]

When we went last April I didn't find the Mickey pool unsupervised. I found all the children were being supervised by their parents. I personally set on the edge of the pool while my child played. I met several other parents doing the same thing.