I have a young child with a life threatening allergy and Disney cruise is one of the first recommendations of our allergist and pediatrician. You have the same waitstaff for the whole trip, they are extremely thorough with each dish served at the entire table, but do it in a way that never seems to single the child out. The kids club staff is SUPER well trained (I was chatting with some of the lead counselors about their training) and, again, it’s seamless from the perspective of the child who is treated exactly like all the other children and never singled out or kept from doing activities.

When my kid is old enough to self manage her condition we may move on to other things but I will still consider Disney cruise the gold standard for treating kids well AND keeping them safe.

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Anonymous wrote:To me, the sweet spot for a cruise with kids is 5-6 nights.

4 nights is too short but 7 felt long. Our 5 and 6 night cruises were perfection.

My son, now a teen is obsessed with Disney cruises.

Our teen DS loves Disney and we are considering a cruise for the first time. Does your son bring a friend or are there other teens he meets on board?

Join the FB group for your specific cruise. It’s a great way for teens to connect before the cruise.

Go to the teen club on the first day. That’s where all the kids meet and then they start hanging out around the ship.

Anonymous wrote:To me, the sweet spot for a cruise with kids is 5-6 nights.

4 nights is too short but 7 felt long. Our 5 and 6 night cruises were perfection.

My son, now a teen is obsessed with Disney cruises.

Our teen DS loves Disney and we are considering a cruise for the first time. Does your son bring a friend or are there other teens he meets on board?

We have done the 4 night cruise 2 times 5 years apart. We had 3, 5, and 7 year olds the first time and they loved it! They loved the spray area of the pool and the huge slide ride.

They had an equally good time 5 years later. As previous posters mentioned, the private island was the highlight. They had a 5k run/walk on the island that was a lot of fun!

They had a pirate night and fireworks so if your kids are into that, all of the kids dress up so bring some pirate hats or costumes!

We had 4 generations with us! So many great memories. Our kids still talk about those cruises many years later. Have fun!

Anonymous wrote:We don’t think we can do Disney World this year and are considering a Disney cruise instead. I’m not someone who cared for cruises pre-kids but I definitely see the appeal in some ways (meals, activities on site). I keep hearing that the Disney cruises are amazing but I don’t really understand why. Would love to hear specifics about what people have loved about them (and any tips). A couple of people have said that they liked that the kids club is included but we want to be with our kids (luckily they are still at an age where they feel the same) so that doesn’t hold much appeal for us.

Book early dinner!!!!!!!!

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Anonymous wrote:Don’t be so literal. Disney parks is non-stop 30-60 minute lines for every ride. Disney cruises have no lines by comparison.

If that is what you are experiencing, then you are doing the Disney Parks very very wrong. I was just there and only waited in one line approaching 20 minutes and the rest were under 5 with lightning lanes, etc.

Oh give me a break.

I guess you go there with no planning and have no idea what you are doing. I’m sorry for your experience.

Not everyone wants to spend $100 a day to pay for a good spot in line on ONE RIDE let alone $500 on five rides. We don't all make as much money as your husband does.

LLMP is $20-35 a day per person and allows once per attraction except the single most popular ride. Even if you bought the single pass too it’s another $20. It’s not $500.

$20 pp for LLSP is $100 for a family of five (plus tax). There are five LLSP rides in the park =$500. That poster isn’t wrong.

There are 5 LLSP rides across the 4 parks (2 in MK). A 4-day ticket costs about $600/pp, plus about $60/pp each day for LLMP+SP. So figure about $2500 for tickets for a family of 4 and another 1k on LL use for a trip to all 4 parks.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get why people keep comparing the cruise to the parks. They have nothing in common and are two completely different vacations.

Correct.

One is a trip while the other is a vacation.

One requires a lot of energy and planning (prompting stress) while the other does not.

But the reality is a lot of parents feel pressed to do the Disney thing for their kids, and the cruise is the more enjoyable version. You get to interact with the characters, see Disney shows, and have special Disney experiences without the crowds.

Plus: everyone knows the restaurants at Disney World are pretty bad and it’s stressful trying to get a table. That’s not an issue on a cruise.

PS - We aren’t Disney people. My kids didn’t even know the characters the first time we cruised. I just wanted to try a cruise on the hunch that it would be more relaxing since everything is so easy.

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Anonymous wrote:Don’t be so literal. Disney parks is non-stop 30-60 minute lines for every ride. Disney cruises have no lines by comparison.

If that is what you are experiencing, then you are doing the Disney Parks very very wrong. I was just there and only waited in one line approaching 20 minutes and the rest were under 5 with lightning lanes, etc.

Oh give me a break.

I guess you go there with no planning and have no idea what you are doing. I’m sorry for your experience.

Not everyone wants to spend $100 a day to pay for a good spot in line on ONE RIDE let alone $500 on five rides. We don't all make as much money as your husband does.

LLMP is $20-35 a day per person and allows once per attraction except the single most popular ride. Even if you bought the single pass too it’s another $20. It’s not $500.

$20 pp for LLSP is $100 for a family of five (plus tax). There are five LLSP rides in the park =$500. That poster isn’t wrong.

I don’t get why people keep comparing the cruise to the parks. They have nothing in common and are two completely different vacations.

Best part of the cruise is you don’t need to put much thought/effort into your plans. Book the cruise, book activities 90 days in advance, then forget about it. There’s lots to do on the ship, meals are good, lines are relatively short and pleasant, and so on.

At the parks either you’re glued to your phone 24/7 trying to maximize the use of Genie+/LL, or you’re spending most of the day in 60-90 minute lines. I still like the parks since our kids are young, but I’m not sure how we’ll handle it when the kids want to do the top rides.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t be so literal. Disney parks is non-stop 30-60 minute lines for every ride. Disney cruises have no lines by comparison.

If that is what you are experiencing, then you are doing the Disney Parks very very wrong. I was just there and only waited in one line approaching 20 minutes and the rest were under 5 with lightning lanes, etc.

Oh give me a break.

I guess you go there with no planning and have no idea what you are doing. I’m sorry for your experience.

Not everyone wants to spend $100 a day to pay for a good spot in line on ONE RIDE let alone $500 on five rides. We don't all make as much money as your husband does.

LLMP is $20-35 a day per person and allows once per attraction except the single most popular ride. Even if you bought the single pass too it’s another $20. It’s not $500.