200 Kids in OC????

[mividajp]

I was reading through threads on DISboards and there is a former CM who was trying to help a lady decide if her autistic child would be able to function in OC without the parents being with him. Along with several obvious things like being ok in a day care setting, the CM asked if he would be comfortable with 200 other kids. I'm hoping I misunderstood what the CM was saying. She didn't actually mean there's 200 kids in the OC at a time did she? She was working on the Dream so it was one of the bigger ships but from the pictures and videos I've seen it doesn't seem like 200 kids could fit in there at one time. Does anyone know what the kid/CM ratio is? I'm not sure I'd be comfortable leaving my DD in a place like OC with that many kids.

[moki'smommy]

Yes, there could be 200 kids in the OC at one time, but remember that the space is quite large. There are typically 4000 guests on the Dream/Fantasy when reasonably full. Typically, 1500-1800 are age 0-17. The exact number of any particular age range can vary greatly depending on school breaks.

 

The staff ratio in the OC is 6:1. But do remember that the ratio includes those CMs who are working the desk, checking kids in and out. It is like a school--while they may list a ratio of 6:1 in a school setting, there may be a class of 20 kids with one teacher and one aide. The rest of the ratio comes from people working at other tasks.

 

I can't say that I've ever seen 200 kids in the OC....but it is totally possible. The area contains many different play areas, each of which could contain 20 or more kids. There are typically 4 organized activities at any time in addition to the free play.

 

It is rather like saying there are 200 kids in a pre-school. Yes, but they are divided into various rooms and different activities. In a pre-school, they are divided into different classes while in the OC, they are more open areas rather than classrooms.

Edited February 15, 2015 by moki'smommy

[vinotinto]

It's a big space and it is divided, so they have multiple activities going on at the same time. For example, my DD would be doing a storytime in Pixie Hollow with Tink and my DS would be playing a videogame. So, it's not like they are trying to have 200 kids do the same activity. They may have 40 kids doing one activity, 10 kids doing videogames, 25 kids doing this other activity, in the Club and the Lab.

 

Where I would say there was definitely a crunch is to pick up and drop off. The lines to drop off an pick up kids were very, very long in our 1/2/14 cruise, which had a lot of kids. We waited anywhere between 10 - 25 minutes *each* time we wanted to pick up and drop off. It was particularly bad dropping off after the first seating dinner (around 7:00 - 7:45 pm), not bad in the early afternoon.

[Stephylynn02]

I have never seen anywhere near that many kids in the clubs at one time. We have been on 3 Disney cruises so far and had wonderful experiences with the clubs. We don't travel during peak times or when kids are out of school, but have still been on full sailings. I will say the pick up and drop off needs some work, it will get backed up, they will have you in line but rude people will walk up and try to get in front of you. Other than that we like it and DD has to be dragged out lol!