First or Second Seating?

Going on Disney Dream with my 2.5 yr old and 5 yr old. Any tips on which dining we should take to coordinate the timing of shows? Thinking that a late nap and late snack might allow us to take second seating. What time do the shows, deck parties and fireworks run? Do not want to miss out on those things because we are having dinner. Suggestions?

We cruised on the Magic in December. Early dining works best for kids and the shows. The theater shows have 2 times each night so both dining times can make one. But the Pirate Show with fireworks is during late dining. Late dining might also be tough on your kids if they are worn out from fun during the day. Nice thing with shows is they are on room tvs so you can watch late shows in your room if you are tired.

Don't worry about coordinating meals and show times; DCL has this covered. If you do early seating you'll see the show after dining. If you do late seating, you'll see the show before dining.

In either case, you'll be out in time for any special deck parties like Pirate night.

You will not miss shows, deck party or fireworks because of either seating. There are 2 shows each night. early dinner=late show. late dinner = early show.

The kids pirate party is between dinners, the big pirate party is after late dinner (as are the fireworks).

You can do late dinner with a late afternoon snack or just do early dinner--your choice. Honestly, with little kids, I'd do early dinner. If they fall asleep during the shows...well, that's the way it goes with kids.

The post above that says the pirate show with fireworks is DURING late dining is wrong. It is AFTER late dining. We always do late dining and have never had it interfere with the pirate deck party. They do hurry dinner that night just a little, but dinner is at 8:15 and pirate party is at 9:45. Plenty of time to eat and get upstairs.

Going on Disney Dream with my 2.5 yr old and 5 yr old. Any tips on which dining we should take to coordinate the timing of shows? Thinking that a late nap and late snack might allow us to take second seating. What time do the shows, deck parties and fireworks run? Do not want to miss out on those things because we are having dinner. Suggestions?

As noted, there are two shows in the Walt Disney Theatre each night, at roughly the same time as the dinner seatings. So, early dinner goes to the show after dinner, and late dinner goes to the show beforehand.

Pirate night - there is a family-friendly (Mickey & friends) pirate show on the pool deck between the two dinner seatings. And a more "Jack Sparrow"-type pirate show late (around 10:30) followed by the fireworks.

I prefer second seating...

• extra port time
  
• extra time to let a port snack settle down
  
• I'm a night owl
  
• closer to the time I normally eat at home
  

Just something to think about knowing that you won't be missing anything by doing either seating. We did late seating because we had no choice (I guess main seating was full). I was completely unaware that my stomach shuts down after about 7:00 every night. I had no idea my digestive system was that regimented. So I ate close to 9pm every night and the food just sat there.. bleeeech!!! My husband and son were fine with late seating by the way, it was me with the issues...

Next year's cruise I made sure to get main seating.

Other than in Europe, I've never seen "extra port time" based on dinner seating. All aboard time in most ports is 5 pm or earlier unless the Captain allows an extended stay in Nassau--that it typically midnight. So, if I have to be back on the ship by 5, I'll really be back around 4:30 (never know when there might be an issue). That's certainly enough time to be ready for dinner at 5:15.

Think about where you live and what time you normally eat. It is sometimes a good idea to try to keep the kids on something like their normal schedule. I'd rather have kids fall asleep during the shows if that happens...if they fall asleep during dinner, they might wake up at 2 am because they are hungry. Then you have to get up, order room service, etc. Groan. Mine was too entranced by the shows to ever fall asleep during a production, but that's another story.

I think, with kids, unless they are USED to eating very late, the early seating works best for most things.

You have PLENTY of time to get to early seating, even on port days!

Just want to make sure that I got the pirate night down. We are on the early dinning which mean late shows, can we still make it to the firework and the pirate party and still get a good spot? How early do we need to be on deck for the firework? Is there a good spot that anyone would suggest for the firework?

Thanks.

Ling

We prefer late dining but we don't have young kids. While it is true that all aboard time in the same for everyone, when you have early seating you may feel you need to get back early to get ready for dinner and the rest of the evening. With late seating you can board later, go to the show and then go back to your stateroom to change for dinner. The end result is more time to enjoy the port.

In our case, we are on the west coast and typically eat at about 7pm. That means an 9pm main course service is still an hour earlier than we would normally eat.

There are a couple of additional considerations that seem to make early seating a better choice for Disney.

1) Having dinner followed by a show is a more natural order of events. Think "dinner and a movie". Sure, you can do it in any order, but it seems strange to have dinner and then ... no show. You can go to the clubs, but even those are somewhat of a problem. We found the seats already full with early seating diners by the time we got there ... straight away from dinner.

2) On pirate night they have food and snacks. You can certainly get to pirate night with late seating, but you are NOT going to want to eat much of anything. With early seating, you just might be ready for a late evening snack.

Just want to make sure that I got the pirate night down. We are on the early dinning which mean late shows, can we still make it to the firework and the pirate party and still get a good spot? How early do we need to be on deck for the firework? Is there a good spot that anyone would suggest for the firework?

 

Thanks.

 

Ling

OK, on Pirate night, there are 2 deck parties and fireworks. If you have early seating, your schedule will be:

Dinner--5:15

Kid oriented pirate party on deck--about 7:30

Show (if 3 night cruise), otherwise see characters in pirate costumes, etc. 8:00

Regular pirate party 9:45 (may be a little later depending on sunset time

Fireworks--at the end of the pirate party

Best spots I've found for fireworks are one deck up from the stage. While the crowds all head for the starboard side, you can get an amazingly good view from the port side as well. Unless you want to be on the main pool level, we've always found fewer crowds a deck up (regardless of ship)

CHECK NAVIGATOR for exact times. You don't have to be very early unless you want to be right in front of the stage.

Thank you for the info.

We are on a 7 night Fantasy cruise, is that mean on the pirate night there is NO show only the character show on deck, correct?

Can kids still goes to the regular pirate party? What is the difference?\

Ling

Thank you for the info.

 

We are on a 7 night Fantasy cruise, is that mean on the pirate night there is NO show only the character show on deck, correct?

 

Can kids still goes to the regular pirate party? What is the difference?\

 

Ling

On a 7 night cruise, there is no big stage show on Pirate night. The actors are busy with pirate night duties. Anyone can go to any pirate party. DCL had a lot of complaints that the regular show was too late for little kids and the pirates were "too realistic" (although characters did appear also). The kid show is earlier and basically features characters in pirate costume....a "kinder, gentler" pirate show.

We will be on the port side near the aft elevators, with an extended balcony on Deck 5. Is it possible to see the fireworks from that vantage point, or do we have to be up on the pool deck? Are there fireworks only one night on a 4 night cruise?

We will be on the port side near the aft elevators, with an extended balcony on Deck 5. Is it possible to see the fireworks from that vantage point, or do we have to be up on the pool deck? Are there fireworks only one night on a 4 night cruise?

Fireworks are fired on the starboard side aft. You won't be able to see them on the port side of the ship.

Fireworks are only one night (Pirate night) every cruise.

We will be on the port side near the aft elevators, with an extended balcony on Deck 5. Is it possible to see the fireworks from that vantage point, or do we have to be up on the pool deck? Are there fireworks only one night on a 4 night cruise?

Fireworks are only one night regardless of length of cruise (unless the ship is in an area where they are prohibited...in which case they are zero nights). The fireworks are shot off from starboard aft. it is impossible to see them from a port balcony. There is this big metal thing (the ship) in the way. You can get a good view from the port side open decks.

We just returned from our first disney cruise on the Fantasy. We had a larger group with only 2 children, so we decided on 2nd seating since that was the majority's preference. I was a little nervous it wouldn't work well for our children (7 and 3) but it ended up working out great! As long as we remembered to feed them a snack around 5-6pm (all of us were having too much fun!) it was easy to make it until 8:15pm.

Our boys transitioned nicely to going to bed later and sleeping in, which was a nice treat for us to get a few extra hours of sleep in the morning than what we are used to at home:)

We also took advantage of "Dine and Play" which is only offered at 2nd seating. The kids club cast members come to the dining room at 9:15pm to pick up the kids and take them to the kids club. The food is served faster to the kids so they are done by that time. It allowed us to finish up the meal and dessert at a relaxed paced with the rest of the adults in our party. Then we would usually get another drink in an adult bar before picking up the kids and calling it a night.

The first day was a little rough though - since our travel to Florida started at 5am and the boys went to bed a 11pm!

We don't have kids, but we liked late seating. We usually eat late on a normal night anyway. If we get hungry around 4 or 5 we just grab something quick at Flo's. We also usually go out for a drink or something after dinner. We like getting to the atrium, enjoying the live music, having a drink before/during the 1st show.