Our family of four (boys ages 5 & 6) took our first ever family cruise, on the Disney Wish (4 nights in early May)! I spent 1 year+ planning, unnecessary because they make it all so easy, but I love being prepared.
Below are ALL of my recommendations and advice. It’s a lot!
Feel free to skim - headline: it was totally worth it and exceeded all expectations. Disney service is second to none!
PRE-CRUISE
We used a travel agent. She is a Disney expert and we found her help as well as her insider tips to be priceless! Plus, she gifted us an onboard credit. Kristen from Practically Perfect Vacations - I highly recommend her! (FYI - Using an agent doesn’t increase your cost, but you just might get some on-board credits and you definitely get great support)
Packing - I’ll include a full tip list below. We each brought a carry on and I brought 1 HUGE bag with all my “FUN” stuff in it (ducks, wine, costumes, pixie dust, etc.). I bought packing cubes and they were very handy to keep outfits all organized together.
Magic Bands - We opted to use our Key to the World Card on a lanyard and not to buy Magic Plus Bands. This worked out fine for us, but if you have the bands, I think it would be more convenient.
Disney Homework - I gave my boys Disney movie “homework” for 1 month before we left. Every week we watch 2-3 Disney movies with characters that I knew would be featured around the ship. I’ll include our list below. It doesn’t have most of the new Disney/Pixar movies or Marvel movies, because I knew they had seen them and knew the characters. This was about movies (many the more Disney classics) that I was sure they hadn’t seen. They loved it!
Pre-cruise Hotel - We flew to Orlando and stayed at the Pop Century resort in Orlando the night before the cruise. ($250 for the night) It’s cute, clean and on the Disney Skyliner. We ended up walking next door to the Art of Animation (also a value hotel) for a bit. We liked their pool area and food set up better. Ultimately, we wouldn’t choose to stay at Pop again, but only because we really like higher quality food and it’s not available on-site. Plenty of pub-style food and kid-friendly options.
Carry on - The night before departure I packed all critical items, alcohol, medications, technology and swimwear in our carry-ons to keep with us just in case our luggage was delayed getting to our room.
CRUISE
Embarkation Day
We were traveling in a group of 8 (2 families) and decided private transport was best for us. We used Cedar Trans in the Orlando area - they were fabulous!
Download the app immediately, if you haven’t already. You need it for chatting, planning, etc. Complete the pre-trip Health Questionnaire (available via the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app and online).
We arrived 2+ hours before our boarding time which was about 1 hr too early (oops - we had to wait for Concierge to arrive first.) But, because we happened to get into the terminal early we ended up boarding a full 45 minutes before our official booked boarding time!
Cruise Terminal Hack - If you find yourself waiting inside the cruise terminal, go to the front and get your family photos done while you hang out. You will have an official photo opportunity after you are in line and proceeding to board, but if you already took your photos then you get to bypass the photo stop to get onto the ship faster.
Disney Wish Boarding - You enter the Grand Lobby when you arrive. I recommend hanging out for the “First Wish” ceremony. They do one every 12 minutes. And don’t forget to get your wishing wands!
Lunch (12:30pm) - All of the standard restaurants are open with a nice lunch menu. We opted to go straight to Marceline Market and dig into the buffet. Crab legs and shrimp are at the far end, fabulous!
Rooms (1:30pm) - We went to check out our room (Aft 6198) after lunch and our luggage was already there! We had an ocean view family state room with a veranda. The room was awesome!
Door Decor - We ordered and brought custom magnets for our door. Plus, we brought battery operated twinkle lights as well as magnetic hooks and Mickey banners to decorate. It was so much fun! And we really loved seeing how other people decorated their doors. So many ideas for next time!
Navigating the Wish - My only complaint about the Wish is the lack of big, bold signage. Signage is there, but it is beautifully designed, small and often easily missed. Especially if you are in a crowd of people. My best advice is to take a photo of the deck layout (below) and then reference it regularly from your phone. The app makes knowing the location of all of your events very easy, it’s just actually getting there that can be the hard part. We opted to take the stairs as much as possible since elevators were often pretty busy.
Oceaneer’s Club (2:30pm) - If you plan on leaving your kids in the Kids Club I strongly recommend checking out the open house first as a family. This made all the difference with my boys being comfortable to go on their own later.
Sail Away Party (5pm) - This show was the favorite of many in our group (out of all performances we saw on the ship.) Get there at least 20 minutes before so you can actually see it. We arrived only 5 minutes before and it was so crowded with so many adults that the little ones had a hard time seeing the stage.
Dinner (5:45, early seating) - Every night you are assigned your location for dinner & there is a show. You get to try all of the standard restaurants and see all the main performances. If you have the early seating then you go to the 8:20 show. If you have the later dinner, then you see the show at 6 PM.
I’ve created a section below with feedback on all the dinner & show experiences.
Day 2 - Nassau
First, we didn’t get off the ship. We felt like we had hardly explored the ship before we made port. We plan on going back and visiting Nassau as a family on a future vacation and we paid so much to be on the boat that we really wanted to take the entire day to enjoy it. We are really glad we did.
Aquamouse - After breakfast at Marceline Market we went straight to the pool area and rode the Aquamouse a few times with very little wait time. This ride experience was another favorite for many in our group! This is 760 feet of winding water tubes suspended high above the upper decks.
Even though the ship was half full (since many left for Nassau), it was difficult to find seats that were in the shade. And the pools are very small. They are almost always pretty crowded. The pool deck is crazy hot. Bring Crocs or flip flops for everyone! Food options at Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods around the pool are solid. Crowd favorites were Mickey’s Smokestack Barbecue & Donald’s Cantina.
Activities - I am an early riser so every morning I woke up and spent about five minutes on the app loading up our plans for the day. The explore section of the app makes it very easy to see everything that’s happening on the ship from character meet and greets to shopping events to baby diaper races (a favorite). The amount of activities is plentiful! Hands-down, my favorite was the one hour I spent each day at bingo. Kids are welcome to participate in the fun, and it is so much fun! Plus, the prizes are big. They get bigger as the cruise goes on. On the final day, one family won $4,700!!
Oceaneer’s Club (Kids up to age 11) - Our 6-year-old loved all of the fun and activities at the kids club so much he regularly asked throughout the day and into the evening if he could pop in for a visit. We almost always said yes and let him go have his own independent fun. On the other hand, our five-year-old said, he only wanted to be with his family. We encouraged him to go try it, which he did a few times. We ultimately let him make the decision and just brought him with us to our activities. The staff at the club was fabulous.
Hero Zone - Meant to spend more time here. Loaded with physical challenges, game-show-style competitions, a sports court, game floor, playground, and a movie theater. Plus, air hockey, foosball tables, and an occasional inflatable obstacle course themed to the Incredibles.
Day 3 - At Sea & Pirate Night
We got up very early & went to the pool area to grab chairs in one of the only shaded sections. This was a must do for our crew as most of us don’t enjoy being in the sun for hours on end and some have a history of melanoma in the family. We spent the majority of the day on the pool deck.
Jack Jack’s Amazing Baby Diaper Race - I took my six-year-old for a break away from the pool and we went to the Hero Zone to watch the crawling babies race. It was absolutely hilarious.
Silent Dance Party - Twice in the evening we hung out at the silent disco. It was a new experience for all and we loved it!
Shuffleboard - In “down” time after dinner, (before the show) we played shuffleboard on the outside deck and everyone had a blast.
Late Pirate Show & Fireworks - I am sure that this was all amazing. We did our best to try to make the show but by 9 PM my six-year-old literally fell asleep with his headphones on at the silent disco. We had to skip out & head to bed.
Day 4 - Castaway Cay
Getting off - Make sure your kids have their Key to the World Cards on them! Our kiddos are so young and went to the kids club so they had bands from the ship and on-board they didn’t need their cards anywhere. But, we definitely missed the notice to bring their cards to get off the ship at Castaway and it delayed our ability to get to the island.
The island itself is wonderful. In May the weather was gorgeous and the water was warm. There was plenty of shade and lounge chairs. My husband and 6 year old loved snorkeling and went out far to see the sunken treasure ship and the hidden Mickey. The kids club on the island was also awesome.
The Castaway Cay BBQ lunch was the worst meal of the entire trip. Burnt chewy hamburgers, no fries, very limited options. They did have lots of fresh fruit & soft serve. Next time I would literally just eat a big breakfast and do fruit & soft serve skipping lunch completely.
I jogged the 5k (it’s on the honor system) and I loved it. 3 reasons:
1. Some mom alone time doing something just for me
2. It was a pretty course and a great way to see a larger part of the island
3. I wanted to earn that Castaway Cay 5k medal!
Debarkation - We found it very straightforward and easy to disembark.
CHEAT SHEET SECTION
Shows & Activities:
I asked our group, "what was your favorite part of the Wish?":
Ages 4 & 11 - Aquamouse
Age 6 - Kids' Club
Age 14 - Themed dinners & Sail Away party
Parents - Aladdin & Little Mermaid shows
Dining:
We dined at night at the standard restaurants (not speciality) and we found all the food to be delicious. We opted for Marceline’s Market most of the other time and loved it.
- Arendelle - Baked scallops app was amazing!!
- 1923 - Easily our favorite menu. Filet was excellent.
- Pirate Night - Crab cakes, seafood pasta dish.
- Worlds of Marvel - Get your camera out because Spidey is super fast.
Kids Eating Hack / Game:
Do you have picky eaters? I do! But, a week before we left I told my boys there was a special Disney Wish game where the more new foods you try and track you would win a prize. They loved going through the buffet and trying new items as we added them to their list (on my phone). It was a fun competition and when we got home the winner got a special Spiderman Bop Game (I bought it on sale from Amazon) with a note from Spiderman who said he was so impressed at all the new foods they tried! Win-win for mom & kiddos!
Outfits:
I took this as an opportunity to create coordinated family outfits and I’m so glad I did, because the photos came out too cute! We did:
- Marvel
- Pirate (go big with this one, people really get into it)
- Star Wars (this one was just for us because we left on May 4th and we are big Star Wars fans)
- Dressy Cruise Casual (think nautical stripes and palm trees, some opted for a formal look but it wasn't our vibe)
- USA/America (Mickey w/ USA Flag, red, white & blue)
Things I wish I had realized sooner:
1. Turn your data off - We bought the mid-level wi-fi plan. It was very confusing how to get it working (had to go to guest services) and I didn’t realize it’s best to turn the data off on your phone to avoid cell charges!
If you aren’t doing a wi-if package then Airplane mode. Leave on wifi and connect to DCL GUEST to use the app onboard and on the island.
If you have an iPhone you should have access to iMessage and WhatsApp for free. No photo sending or receiving but messages yes.
2. Emergency drill - Everyone needs to do this. But, you don’t have room sit in your room to wait for it to start (a staff member told us to do this.) When you board, go enjoy the ship! Then, go to your personal assembly spot. Any staff can help point you in the right direction.
3. Get to shows early - We arrived about 5-10min before the sail away party & the first live theater show. Our littles couldn’t see the stage. Getting there 15-20 min before made a huge difference! We loved all the shows!
Things I’m SO glad I did:
- Magnetic hooks - Used for everything! Quickly realized I should have packed even more than a dozen!
- Packing cubes - Loved them not only for saving space & keeping me organized, but also for staying organized on shelves in the room.
- Alcohol - I’m a wine rep & I brought 4 bottles with me. I loved not having to pay for my wine with dinner- just brought my glass with me! We also pre-ordered a small beer package for our room. And, we ended up buying the Disney Cruiseline Cooler deal onboard. I've been using the cooler all summer. It's a nice size and it works great!
- Youth Club Open House - Spending time with the boys there, all together, made a big difference in their comfort level staying on their own later.
- Photos - Buy the package. Walked away with a dozen great photos of the entire family- totally worth it since usually “mom” isn’t in our pictures.
- Address Labels - Bring them to put on your luggage tags the last night so you don’t have to spend time writing your name on everything.
Packing List:
- Magnetic Hooks - to hang ears, hats, swimsuits, lanyards
- Packing Cubes
- Crocs - Kids lived in these 24/7
- Door decor
- Cash for tips - We pre-paid, but still gave extra because they were awesome. Pre-pay gives tips of $15/ per person in your stateroom per day. The $15 is given to stateroom host, main table server, asst table server and head dining room manager.
- Aloe & Sunscreen
- Beach bag - mesh with built in cooler on the bottom
- Binoculars
- Collapsible sand toys
- Goggles
- Pop-up hamper - not only for dirty clothes but corralling shoes, toys, and anything that might be underfoot or cause a tripping hazard
- Collapsible utility totes and small travel bags - perfect for collecting items on top of the dresser or the nightstand
- Magnetic clips & hooks - At least a 12, make it two!
- Plenty of USB Chargers and Cords - Everyone will be using the DCL Navigator App throughout the day - you’ll want to have plenty of ways to keep your smart devices charging throughout the night
Pre-Cruise Disney Movie Homework Watch List
- Rapunzel
- Cinderella
- Peter Pan
- Princess & frog
- Beauty & beast
- Brave
- Little Mermaid
- Aladdin
- Goofy / Mickey shorts
- Sword in the Stone
- Steamboat Willie
- Snow White
- Alice in Wonderland
- Bambi
I probably forgot to add about a dozen things to this article that I should share, but if you made it this far then you have my top advice. I’ll add, that had I not done any planning we still would have had an amazing cruise. Disney is truly magic and we loved it all! Thank you to all the hard working staff that made it an unforgettable family experience!
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