Sandcastle kids club review

As I mentioned in a previous post, on our last trip my wife made the decision to stay in a single room at Port Orleans rather than get a suite at the All-Star Music resort. Our thinking was that we would rather save the money and would prefer the more upscale accommodations and resort. In addition, we decided that we would rather have a night out by ourselves by applying the savings toward paying for one of the kids clubs for our 3 kids.

Being a meticulous planner, I realize that the various in-room babysitting services are more affordable for 3 kids but we decided that the kids would enjoy going to one of the kids clubs more than an in-room service. Since it's their vacation, too, we felt that this was a good compromise. Although it's quite a bit more expensive than in-room we figured they would enjoy it a lot more and my wife was more comfortable, especially since we were able to arrange for dinner at EPCOT which is very close to the Sandcastle club. However, if you are interested in the in-room services here are the two that I've heard the most about:

Fairy Godmothers
(407) 275-7326

and

Kid's Nite Out
1-800-696-8105


At first our middle daughter, Laura, was nervous about going. Although 8 at the time, she is the most tentative of the 3. We really talked it up and our older daughter, Elizabeth (9) and youngest son Gabriel (4) were eager to go. I had pictured a bustling room filled with kids, but when we arrived, our kids were the only ones there. That suited them fine. They were excited to check out each room. They found princess dresses (for the girls), video games, and toys galore. Dinner with all the standard Disney kid options such as mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, french fries, etc. was included. It amazes me how many times my kids can each mac-n-cheese in a week and not get tired of it.

We were given a beeper in case of an emergency, which really made us feel much better (our 4 year old can be pill sometimes). We left for our dinner at Chefs de France and had a wonderful time. When we came back several hours later the kids begged us to let them stay for a little while longer! It turned out to one of their favorite things on the entire trip. It ended up costing a grand total of $66 ($33/hour). We were actually gone for a little more than 2 hours, but they didn't charge us for the extra time. In our opinion it was money well spent.

Several things that worked well for us:

• Choose a club that is close to where you are going to spend the evening. This cuts down on the time you waste in trasportation as well as peace of mind. Ask the cast member to help you choose the best kids club when you call to make reservations.
• Make reservations! Call 407-WDW-DINE. You have to make reservations for the kids clubs just like you have to make reservations for dinner. Make sure you can get reservations for both at the same time.
• Talk it up to your kids. Let them know that it's a special treat for them, too. It's not just dumping them off somewhere while you go off to have fun (even though that's kind of what you are doing!) The kids clubs are really set up to be a kid paradise. I understand some kids just won't like being away from their parents and you'll have to judge that, but the vast majority of kids will be in heaven.