Sometimes the best opportunities are not found but rather made. Cyan Nardiello is a student at the University of Central Florida. Like many college students, she worked while going to school, but Cyan didn’t want to just work any regular job, she wanted to work with kids while she pursued her degree.
Unfortunately, as she began working at a local daycare center, she soon found that her job was too exhausting to warrant the low pay she was receiving. Rather than continue to work where she was, she decided to strike out on her own and start her own babysitting service in Orlando, Florida. And that is how she became “The Disney Nanny.”
Given that Cyan lives close to Orlando, where the famous Disney theme park is, she decided to go into business for herself. She was inspired after a local couple hired her as the part-time nanny to their little girl who also happened to have a Disney World pass. That inspired Cyan to invest in an annual pass of her own.
As she explained to Fox Business, “Their daughter had gotten a Disney annual pass as a birthday gift. Since she lived close, I offered to take her while her parents went to work and she was in my care.”
That is how she first founded Once Upon a Nanny. The business has been running for three years, and it continues to grow. Essentially, Cyan accompanies her young charges to Disney World. Cyan usually finds families through posts to the Disney Annual Passholder Facebook page.
Once she has been hired by a family, she will typically meet up with them at the park and then get to know the children before taking off with them to explore the theme park.
Her services have become quite popular and she even has her own TikTok where she features what a typical workday for her looks like.
@themeparknanny so cool seeing Sav + Cole! use code ‘nanny’ for $$ off! #YesDayChallenge #disneynanny #disney #fyp #savandcole #nannytok #nanny
During the time of running her business, Cyan has gone from being the only Disney nanny to having several other “Fairy God-Nannies” on her payroll.
If a family is looking to hire Cyan or one of her associates, the cost begins at $25 per hour, and there is a three-hour minimum time.
She offers several different child-care options. You can either get single-day care options or multiple days and depending on you and your child’s needs, the care can be customized. Quite a great setup that she has come up with!
You can keep up with the Disney Nanny on Facebook and TikTok.