When to register Kid's Club???

[sters]

Many threads and Passporter recommend that the adults split up to reserve Palo's and spa treatments, but I can't recall any mention of kids' clubs. Since hubby has no interest in Palo's, I thought he could register the kids (ages 4,7.9) for the kids club and I can take care of the spa appointments. On the otherhand, I've heard that the pools are especially uncrowded in the early part of the afternoon, so would like to take advantage of that. So my questions are this:

1. What is the earliest possible time to register for kids' clubs?
2. How long does the regisration process take?
3. Can registration wait till the evenning, or should I do it right after lunch?
4. Do the kids have to be present, or can an adult do the paperwork?

I'm just trying to maximize our time, so your expert advice would be helpful!

 

[OJulie67]

1. What is the earliest possible time to register for kids' clubs? We registered our DD around 1:30. It was pretty crowded at that time, but even more crowded that evening, so I am glad we did it when we did. I suggest you going to the spa and your DH registering your kids...then meet up for lunch.

2. How long does the regisration process take? about 10 minutes or so, depending on how many people are ahead of you. A simple sheet of questions, they put your info into the computer, print up a wrist band for your child, and your on your way.

3. Can registration wait till the evening, or should I do it right after lunch? Personally, I like to take care of the "business" right away, so I can get on with my vacation! I'd do it as early as possible.

4. Do the kids have to be present, or can an adult do the paperwork? Yes, the kids should be present to receive the wrist band etc.

 

[sters]

Thanks, Julie. I saw on another post that the kids club starts for business around 7pm, so I think that is all the administrative questions I have about the kids' club so far.

 

[Melissa]

when we were there on 5/9 Reg opened at 12:45 DH went and it took til about 1:20 for him to do it, The only annoying thing we noticed was when we went back about 7:30 that night to drop her off we had quite a wait b/c every one ahead of us was signing up then and there is no seperate line for sign up vs drop off them the club is open. So next time I might just wait and do it when I am ready to leave her.

 

[Melissa]

when we were there on 5/9 Reg opened at 12:45 DH went and it took til about 1:20 for him to do it, The only annoying thing we noticed was when we went back about 7:30 that night to drop her off we had quite a wait b/c every one ahead of us was signing up then and there is no seperate line for sign up vs drop off when the club is open. So next time I might just wait and do it when I am ready to leave her.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by OJulie67
4. Do the kids have to be present, or can an adult do the paperwork? Yes, the kids should be present to receive the wrist band etc.

No, actually, they don't. And it's actually, for me, easier if they aren't...that way I'm not spinning around trying to follow them in all directions to make sure everything is ok!
My kids stay in the pool with dh while I run and register. This last time was our 4th cruise, so I knew the drill, explained to the counsellor that I didn't need the orientation on how I can't pick up during transition times or how to work the beeper. I didn't take wristbands back with me, my kids got them the first time they checked in, but in hindsight they probably would have given them to me to apply to my own kids.

 

[Tera]

Can we wait until the following morning to register them?

I figure after we eat (early) and catch the later show, and maybe do a little more exploring, there won't be much time for the kids club on the first night.

 

[jilljill]

Depending on the ages of your children I would register them early. If they get lost on the ship they have their armband to identify them and to page you. We have seen so many crying kids the first day.....if only their parents had registered them in the clubs and they had their armbands and pagers, we would have seen less tears and frantic parents.

 

[Tera]

I'll definitely keep that in mind, my kids are older (DD 12 & DD 10), so getting lost probably won't be a issue, but you never know.

Thanks

 

[DrCavin]

Originally posted by sters
:

1. What is the earliest possible time to register for kids' clubs?

2. How long does the regisration process take?
3. Can registration wait till the evenning, or should I do it right after lunch?
4. Do the kids have to be present, or can an adult do the paperwork?

Answers:
1). We arrived on board about 12:30 & went to Rockin'D bar & made Palo dinner & brunch reservations, every time slot was available for dinner, but brunch was getting low on availability. Do the brunch over dinner if you have to choose.

2). Took about 10 minutes. You fill out a form with a lot of info about your child & they explain the check-in/out process & go over the activities sheet with you. Assign you a pager & they print the wrist bands for your child. It was pretty busy when we arrived about 1:15.

3). You can register at any time, not sure if they have a limit on number of kids or not.

4). Our kids were with us, so I can't answer for sure if they have to be there.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by DrCavin
3). You can register at any time, not sure if they have a limit on number of kids or not.

There is a limit on the number of kids, but if you were able to book, then your child is included in that count. Disney will not allow anyone with children to book if their clubs are "full" for that cruise. You'd still be able to book if you left the kids at home though

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Very good thread. Thanks to all for the information.

Please confirm I have the order down pat:

1) Immediately upon boarding, make palo ressies (brunch preferred)

2) Have lunch

3) I can register the kids while my husband goes to the pool with the kids and I will meet up with them there.

How did I do? We will not be doing any spa. Is the pool ever crowded in the afternoon on sailing day?

Thanks.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR
Please confirm I have the order down pat:

1) Immediately upon boarding, make palo ressies (brunch preferred)

2) Have lunch

3) I can register the kids while my husband goes to the pool with the kids and I will meet up with them there.

How did I do? We will not be doing any spa. Is the pool ever crowded in the afternoon on sailing day?

Here's what we do and it works. Dh takes kids to the pool (suits on under street clothes) I get Palo ressies. On the way up to the pool I stop in the kids club and register the kids. When I get to the pool we get lunch in shifts, bringing it out to the tables by the Mickey pool. We get food for the kids and attempt to get them to eat between trips down the Mickey slide. Of course, this plan usually fails, they eat an ice cream cone and then are hungry right at 3:30 when everything shuts down for the life boat drill!

Embarkation day is about the ONLY time the pools aren't busy. Unless you go first thing in the morning or while everyone else in on CC. In fact, my kids really have no desire to swim other than in the Mickey pool on embarkation day. Could be b/c they are usually either on their way home from, or going to, WDW which has MUCH better pools, OR it could be b/c we have a pool at home that they can actually SWIM in without getting run over by other kids (and the water is clear!)

HTH

 

[tkd lisa]

Register early!!! Our first cruise, our daughter had just turned 10, son was 8 1/2. DH took them to the pool while I unpacked after lunch. DH promptly lost our daughter, right as they called us for the lifeboat drill. She thought our room was 7050 not 7005. I was frantic for a good 45 minutes, because they can't do anything during the drill! If she had a wrist band on, they would have paged us saying that she was at xxxx location. As it was, they did the drill, looked her up in the computer and brought her to our stateroom.

2nd cruise, as soon as those doors were open we registered. The peace of mind was worth it!

 

[TheWog]

You can register at any time during the cruise. If you don't take them with you remember to come up with a password beforehand as that is part of the registration process.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

On our cruise last summer they had a booth set up in the terminal and we registered her then. After we boarded we went to the club and they put her wristband on her. Does anyone know if they are still doing this?

 

[DrCavin]

They did not have anything in the terminal to register. We registered after doing palo & spa reservations. Had no problems at all.

 

[gottaluvdis]

We boarded the ship at exactly noon, bought the soda sticker/mug in the lobby, then went straight to PC for lunch. After lunch we headed to Wavebands for Palo dinner ressies. We had no wait and no problem getting the day/time we needed for Palo. We then went directly to the kids club and registered our daughter (she was with us). It was probably 1-1:30 at this point - busy, but no wait. We sat with a counselor, got our pager, filled out the paper, and chatted about whether our daughter should go to the club or the lab. The longest wait was for the front desk to print her wrist band (maybe 10 minutes). Went to the cabin (luggage was already outside), changed and hit the Goofy pool by 2:00. It was crowded, but not impossible. The pool got a lot more crowded by 2:30-3:00 however.