I want some input from people who have left their children at children's activities where the parents do not stay. My daughter is 5. I think some of the options sound exciting, but do not really like the idea of leaving her with strangers while on vacation. I just read a review from someone who left their daughter for a meal and loved it, but I wanted a little more input. I mean, how do we know that any of these people are safe to leave our children with?

I don't have any kids, but I wanted to throw in my thoughts. Disney, as a highly scrutinized company, will go far above and beyond to make sure your kids are safe. Think about it - with the internet allowing people to blow any little thing out of proportion, have you ever heard even a hint of a problem with these programs? I'd think the far greater issue would be how your 5 year old would respond to being away from her parents in a strange place. Some kids (like me!) dig it, while some get freaked out. If you use one of these service, you might want to have a Plan B ready to go in case your child isn't comfortable being separated from you. But I wouldn't give the safety of your child a second thought - she'll be totally safe!

My kids are 9 and 6, and, on our last trip, in August (my little one was still 5), I left them at two kids' clubs, while we dined nearby. They had each other to play with, and were just fine. The kids' club will feed them dinner, although, in one case, we dropped them off after dinner. They liked it just fine. It was mainly simple activities, games and so on, and they mostly entertained themselves. In other words, the staff, apparently, did not organize all the games, but mostly oversaw them doing coloring, playing games, etc. If your child is fine sitting on her own doing something, with nearby supervision, she'd be fine. A word of caution, though, the children must be completely independent in toileting. An issue was brought up, on an e-group, of a family who left a developmentally-challenged child at a center, and was assured they could address his special needs. He had a major toileting problem, and they did not get to the family right away, even though they were dining at the hotel, claiming a problem with the pager. Won't get into the details, but the staff do not touch body fluids at all, and the family was, understandably, very upset, when they stopped to check on the child. As long as your child does not have special needs, and is used to a day care type setting, she would be fine.

In October we left our kids, 8 y/o boy and 11 y/o girl, at the Kid Center at the Beach Club while we went to the Party for The Senses at the Food and Wine Festival. They had a great time and did not want to leave. We dropped them off around 4 I think and then picked them up when Epcot closed around 9pm. If my daughter was going to be still young enough we would use it again in the future but I think the cut off is 12 and the next time we would need it would be 2 years from now.

During our 2000 and 2003 trips, our kids went to the Neverland Club at the Polynesian. We also used the Fairy Godmother babysitting service for our youngest daughter in 2000 because she was too young for the Neverland Club. We had the same sitter several times, and she was delightful; we even arranged for her to take our daughter over to the Magic Kingdom via monorail. Our daughter was very happy with this sitter.

All our kids LOVED the Neverland Club. As a matter of fact, it is one of the places they've requested to go on our upcoming trip, and we have to time it so that the twins will still be 12 so they have one last hurrah before they're too old to go there.

I think some of the options sound exciting, but do not really like the idea of leaving her with strangers while on vacation. I just read a review from someone who left their daughter for a meal and loved it, but I wanted a little more input. I mean, how do we know that any of these people are safe to leave our children with?

If you don't like to idea of it I wouldn't do it. However - you can ask what checks are made on staff in terms of what we in the UK would term CRB checks. Also, what qualifications do the staff have; what is the adult:child ratio; what is the first aid training; how would they contact you in an emergency; what is the total number of children supervised; what are the activities? Asking questions will help you to make an informed choice. Any decent childcare facility will have all of this information available upon immediate request. If they don't I would advise you don't use them. I speak from experience in this field.

As for the ultimtate how do you know any of these people are safe? Despite the best systems in the world and Dan Young may well be correct, they may be in place at Disney - you don't.

DD at age 5 LOVED the Sandcastle club at the Beach Club and would rather go there at night than to Epcot...we did not complain.It was are only time alone since we were married lol..She since has gone every year up until 11 and feels she is too grown up now..

We've done it many, many times. Kids (now 9 and 5) love it at the various clubs.

If you're very concerned, try to eat at the resort you are leaving them at (Jiko at AKL or Yachtsman's at the Yacht/Beach Club). They give you a pager so you can be in touch quickly.

If you don't like to idea of it I wouldn't do it. However - you can ask what checks are made on staff in terms of what we in the UK would term CRB checks. Also, what qualifications do the staff have; what is the adult:child ratio; what is the first aid training; how would they contact you in an emergency; what is the total number of children supervised; what are the activities? Asking questions will help you to make an informed choice. Any decent childcare facility will have all of this information available upon immediate request. If they don't I would advise you don't use them. I speak from experience in this field.

I used to work in childcare and what you mention above is what makes me think it's not a good idea. I was speaking of the meals and little boat cruises that are offered that say no adults. I doubt I will use any of these services anyway, since my better judgement says not to. And, after all it is a vacation for my daughter so I am fine with having her and doing things with her the whole time. But, thanks to everyone for the advice:)

As for the ultimtate how do you know any of these people are safe? Despite the best systems in the world and Dan Young may well be correct, they may be in place at Disney - you don't.

Yeah, you never know. And, I agree that Disney is probably one of the safest places, but then again if something did happen, I couldn't live with that. So, it's not worth it. And, if anything has happened in the past, Disney has enough money to pay people to keep it out of the news. But, no worries, the trip is going to be wonderful!

The middle part of what was written above about working in childcar was written by me. just wanted to clarify because I must not have used the quote feature right.

And, if anything has happened in the past, Disney has enough money to pay people to keep it out of the news.

Trust me - there isn't enough money on the planet to keep this kind of thing out of the news. There are just too many people involved, too many kids and their parents who would know what had happened. A child has never been seriously hurt due to the negligence of Disney caretakers, or it'd be all over the internet.

But anyway, enjoy your trip!

I used to work in childcare and what you mention above is what makes me think it's not a good idea. I was speaking of the meals and little boat cruises that are offered that say no adults. I doubt I will use any of these services anyway, since my better judgement says not to. And, after all it is a vacation for my daughter so I am fine with having her and doing things with her the whole time. But, thanks to everyone for the advice:)



Yeah, you never know. And, I agree that Disney is probably one of the safest places, but then again if something did happen, I couldn't live with that. So, it's not worth it. And, if anything has happened in the past, Disney has enough money to pay people to keep it out of the news. But, no worries, the trip is going to be wonderful!

I'm sure that Disney runs criminal record checks, child abuse clearances, etc. on its employees for child care. All that any check can do is find people who have been "caught" in wrongdoing. If a person has never been arrested or accused of child abuse, the record will come up clean. Passing a clearance is a reasonable indicator that the person will behave responsibly, but not a guarantee; all it really means is that the person was never caught, and the hope and expectation that past behavior will predict the future behavior. A parent's instinct is a good indicator. I know that when I was choosing a daycare provider for my child, all the places I checked were licensed and everyone went through all the record checks, but the determinative factor was my comfort level. A major factor in choosing the preschool was how I "felt" there. If you think you will be spending that precious evening out only thinking about the child, then it's not worth it. Objectively, the kids' clubs are a good place, assuming, as I stated above, the child is used to a group day care type situation, and does not require special attention. If a parent doesn't feel right about it, then it's not a good plan for them.

I think the safety of your child at a WDW babysitting club is as good as your child's school. I mean, think about it - your kid is interacting with adults all the time when you are not with them. You don't truly know about any of the adults in their life. Sure, people make checks. So, you have to just trust sometimes that things are going to be alright - and teach your kids to know when things aren't alright.

I, for one, would trust Disney-sanctioned activities, but have not yet risen to the level of trusting an in-room babysitter. This is even though my brothers and I had them growing up and never had a problem with a babysitter!

It truly is up to you. I know that we left our kids (2 and 1) at the play center at Saratoga Springs for an hour when we did a DVC tour and they were just fine. The room was well monitored and there was really nowhere for the kids to go but the room. Adults could not come into the room unless they worked there or were signing in or out a kid (which had to be done with i.d. each time). CMs worked in pairs - and the room was visible from the outside.

I saw no problems with the set up and my kids had a good time. They did not even notice when we came back.

My kids 10,8,and 5 all did the pirate cruise at the Grand Floridian this year and the two oldest did the one at the Beach Club two years ago and it is always one the the highlights of the entire trip for them. I was very leary the first year to leave them but friends had done the cruises in the past and said how much their kids enjoyed it. For my husband and I this year it was a really enjoyable time to have a nice breakfast and go shopping alone together. There were 21 kids on the cruise this year with three leaders. They had a blast and the leaders were great with them. I'm already planning to send them on the cruise at the Carribean Beach next year per their request. I got over my hesitation and I am glad I did because it is a wonderful memory for my kids. I don't know how I would feel about sending only one child though. I guess it depends on how easily she makes friends. I'm sure you will do what feels right to you. :)

I am a self admitted over cautious parent. While the relative ease of utilizing the different clubs sounds wonderful. I know that no service could ever match the watchful eye I provide for my son. With that being said, we will bring our normal babysitter or a family member who will act as a "nanny" the additional cost that we foot for the extra person is well spent for my sanity. That way DW and myself can enjoy a night out at Jellyrolls and dinner once every trip. I am sure the Disney service is wonderful...I'm just far too over protective.

Just to clarify I was talking about the cruises and stuff mentioned above, not a baby sitting service. I wasn't looking to drop my child off to have time for myself, this vacation is for my child. I was just wondering because some of the things like cruises sound neat, and thought they might be something she would enjoy. But, she will never know the difference and will be happy with whatever we do and will enjoy her time with us all to herself for a whole week.

And, as someone mentioned above checks and all that only show what someone has done in the past and if they haven't been caught they haven't been caught. And, as I mentioned above I have worked in daycares and seen this process. Almost all jobs I have had have required some sort of check, through working with children and working for the government. But, believe me I have worked with some real weirdos and people that I would not want my child around. I have seen things that shouldn't happen in daycare happen and report them and nothing is done. And, I'm not trying to scare people with kids in daycare, I know there are more good than bad. And, I know Disney is probably one of the safest places, but your kids can't be replaced so if you are not comfortable with it don't do it. And, I won't.

I don't know if anyone watches/reads the news but there are a lot of things happening to a lot of people who thought they were safe or never expected it. Accidents happen too. And, as parents we do as much as we can to protect our children, I know you cannot prevent everything, but when you can control it you do. And this is one of those cases. It's not an idea that settled well with me, so I asked and got pretty much the expected answers, but I have long ago made the decision to keep my child with me.

Thanks.

Just to clarify I was talking about the cruises and stuff mentioned above, not a baby sitting service. I wasn't looking to drop my child off to have time for myself, this vacation is for my child. I was just wondering because some of the things like cruises sound neat, and thought they might be something she would enjoy. But, she will never know the difference and will be happy with whatever we do and will enjoy her time with us all to herself for a whole week.

And, as someone mentioned above checks and all that only show what someone has done in the past and if they haven't been caught they haven't been caught. And, as I mentioned above I have worked in daycares and seen this process. Almost all jobs I have had have required some sort of check, through working with children and working for the government. But, believe me I have worked with some real weirdos and people that I would not want my child around. I have seen things that shouldn't happen in daycare happen and report them and nothing is done. And, I'm not trying to scare people with kids in daycare, I know there are more good than bad. And, I know Disney is probably one of the safest places, but your kids can't be replaced so if you are not comfortable with it don't do it. And, I won't.

I don't know if anyone watches/reads the news but there are a lot of things happening to a lot of people who thought they were safe or never expected it. Accidents happen too. And, as parents we do as much as we can to protect our children, I know you cannot prevent everything, but when you can control it you do. And this is one of those cases. It's not an idea that settled well with me, so I asked and got pretty much the expected answers, but I have long ago made the decision to keep my child with me.

Thanks.

I do think there is a big difference in leaving a child of 5, versus one who is a few years older. My older daughter's birthday is less than a month before the school district cut-off, so she is one of the youngest in her class. Starting in first grade, they start to get more independent, and, as a mother, it is very hard to, gradually, start letting them go, for playdates, and excursions with other families, and group activities. Our school district is very small, and everyone lives in the same neighborhood, so you get to know the families well, and you "hear" things, as well. You use your best judgment, ask the right questions, create the right environment in your home, but, ultimately, at some point, you have to let go, and allow them the playdates and sleepovers. My younger one is 6, and is starting to have more playdates, but the kids also come to our house, so there is an element of mutual trust. By the time your daughter is 8 or so, you will probably both feel a lot more ready for her to have an independent activity on vacation. Until then, keep her close.

Another, perhaps greater concern, is having your young child in a physically active situation with kids who are significantly older, and larger than your child. If the big kids are excited and running around, the little ones could, inadvertently, get knocked down, even with responsible, and adequate adult supervision. My younger child is tiny for her age, and, when she plays with bigger kids, I am always concerned that she may be injured. Fortunately, she normally plays with her big sister and her pals, who don't tend to play rough. My older daughter was knocked down on the playground, when she was in the first grade, and ended up in a pediatric ICU overnight with a concussion. The kid did not mean to hurt her, he was just running out of control, the way kids do. I would be cautious about leaving a 5 year old in a situation where she is running with kids who may be a great deal larger and stronger than she is.