While people often think of Disney theme parks as family destinations, regular visitors know that Disney parks offer plenty of options for adults to enjoy themselves without the kids. Often times, families on vacation take breaks from each other. Parents might want to dine together at a fine dining restaurant, participate in a runDisney event such as a half marathon, or enjoy over-21 entertainment such as the dualing piano bar, Jellyrolls, at the Walt Disney World Resort: How do you arrange for others to watch your children on a Disney theme park vacation?
The Oceaneer's Club on the Disney Dream includes a play area based on Andy's room from the Toy Story movies. Disney features kids clubs at resort hotels at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts, as well. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
Mary Kraemer is an avid Disney fan and a co-owner at EscapadeAdventures, who loves to travel with her husband and children to Disney destinations as often as possible. Mary writes:
When my kids were little, we did a big family trip to Walt Disney World (WDW), and because we were splurging on the vacation, our package included babysitting (at the kids’ club as well as private in-room sitters), so we decided to give it a whirl. We scheduled some spa time, as well as dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. One evening, we even went to the Magic Kingdom Park to ride the fast rides that our little ones couldn’t ride.
Because our youngest child was too young for the kids’ club minimum age requirement, we got a sitter for her. At the time, we could give the sitter permission to take our daughter to the Magic Kingdom (we were staying at Disney's Polynesian Resort, so it was easy), and they had a great time. Our twins went to the Neverland Club (now known as Lilo's Playground), and enjoyed it so much, they asked to go back again, not just on that trip but on a later trip. So, darn it, just to accommodate the kids’ wishes, we went to the California Grill at Disney's Contemportary Resort for dinner, on the same Monorail route.
We are parents who really LOVE doing things with our kids on vacation, and it’s not really a priority for us to have adult time without them. But we certainly enjoyed being able to do this, and our kids had a great time.
On a later trip, we didn’t have babysitting exactly, but we signed all the kids up for the pirate adventure cruise (departing from Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa), so while the kids were out hunting for treasure, we were getting massages at the spa. Perfect! Everybody had a great time.
The kids clubs are one of the big pluses for families when they go on Disney Cruise Line, and, even though the kids clubs at Walt Disney World or Disneyland aren’t included in the price of a vacation, it’s still a really viable option for grownups to have fun while their kids have different fun.
There are four kids clubs at WDW:
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Simba's Cubhouse at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
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Lilo's Playhouse at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
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Cub's Den at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
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Sandcastle Club at Disney's Beach Club Resort
At Disneyland, the children’s activity center is Pinocchio’s Workshop, located at the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
It’s strongly recommended to make reservations at the kids clubs at Walt Disney World or Disneyland (but at WDW, you aren’t limited to the kids club at your resort hotel; so, for example, if you are going to Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge, you might want to book your kids’ reservation at Cub’s Den).
Jen, also known as *Nala*, is an engineer, a Disney fan, and a MouseAdventure fanatic. She lives in Southern California with her husband and two future MouseAdventurers, ages 3 and 5. Jen writes:
We've been Disney fans long before we decided to have kids, and it's been incredible to see Disney all over again through their eyes. That said, we still enjoy and appreciate the rare occasions we get to spend some grownup time at Disney, whether it's at a runDisney half marathon or a dinner at Napa Rose. It is always worth the planning and effort required and leaves us ready for the next fun day with the kids. Here are a few of our favorite adult Disney activities.
runDisney Races. While we have enjoyed experiencing Disney 5Ks and kids races with the children, the longer distance races are appropriately age-limited and so we run these events solo or with friends. My husband and I have both finished runDisney races of every distance from a 10K to a full marathon, and there is something special and unique about running through the parks at zero-dark-hundred with 10,000 of your closest friends. We're fortunate that the kids' grandparents are local and usually willing to watch the kids on a weekend when we both want to run.
Nice Dinners. Disney is a great place to introduce our kids to nice(r) restaurants, but they are still little kids and so there are restaurants that we aren't quite ready to take them to yet. Our general rule of thumb is if a restaurant has a separate wine list, we'll get a babysitter or reserve time at one of the on-property kids' clubs. We've especially enjoyed meals at Palo and Remy, the adult-only restaurants on Disney Cruise Line (DCL). While those meals do come with an extra charge, the kids' clubs on DCL are free for potty-trained kids ages 3 and up.
DiveQuest. One of my husband's favorite things to do at Walt Disney World is dive in the Seas With Nemo and Friends Pavillion on the backstage tour called DiveQuest. It's a unique experience for certified scuba divers where they get to dive in the huge aquarium that is visible from both the Seas attraction and the Coral Reef restaurant. On most of our WDW trips, I'll take the kids for an afternoon so he can dive, and it's always special to watch him swim up to to the glass and blow kisses to the kids on the other side.
Just Wandering. In my opinion one of the best ways to spend grownup time is to just wander around the park with no particular itinerary. Time with the kids is often spent going from one ride to the next, so when either or both of us have time to ourselves it's nice to slow down a bit and just enjoy the Disney atmosphere. My favorite place to do this is World Showcase at Epcot. I'll pick up a glass of wine or a snack and look around the shops in all the countries. Even an hour of wandering around the World while my husband has the kids is enough to relax me, so I'm ready for the next family activity.
Elizabeth, who posts on our MousePad message board as eabaldwin, has been a Disneyland Annual Passholder since 2010. She and her husband have three little ones: two daughters and a son. Elizabeth writes:
We love going to Disneyland and Walt Disney World with our kids. We also love having the option of doing things while we are there without our kids. As much as we love our kids and enjoy spending time with them, we do enjoy spending time with each other as well.
My favorite thing to do without my kids in Disneyland is enjoying a dinner at the Chef’s Counter at Napa Rose. We leave our kids behind in our hotel room (with an adult!) when we participate in runDisney events. We have also gone back to the parks and enjoyed rides by ourselves. My parents stayed in Walt Disney World with our girls when we went a couple of years ago, so my husband and I could have a night away. We drove to St. Augustine and enjoyed a night in a bed and breakfast, while our girls had a great time going to the Magic Kingdom with their grandparents.
We have had different types of babysitting situations. The easiest and cheapest option for us is to have my mother join us. She is wonderful with our kids, and they love spending time with her. She enjoys going to the parks with us, and she usually goes to bed a little earlier, so she does not mind retiring earlier to the hotel with the kids. She has also joined us and helped with the kids during race weekends for runDisney events. When we did the Tinker Bell Half Marathon a couple of years ago, she couldn’t come out, so she sent my older brother in her place. He also enjoys going to Disneyland and hanging out with our kids. It is great to have family join us on our trip because we don’t have to pay a sitter and our kids are already familiar with them.
We have also used a babysitting service, Sitters Unlimited of Southern California, after using their services several years ago for a conference that my husband attended. We have used the same service a few times and have been very happy with the different sitters that they recommended. The babysitters that they introduced us to were very warm and friendly, and reminded me of someone’s grandma. They came to our hotel with a “bag of tricks,” and our girls really seemed to enjoy their time with the babysitter. While their rate is higher than we would normally pay for a sitter at home, we felt more comfortable hiring a complete stranger that had been thoroughly screened and came with great references. We would have no reservations using this service again if a family member was unable to watch our kids for us.
As our kids get older, I could see us using the kids clubs, but we would probably only do that when they are old enough to all go together.
Disneyland, and Walt Disney World, are great places for family vacations, but it is also wonderful to have some adult time.
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