Disney Cruise...what's not to like?

So...we took our first Disney Cruise. As a disclaimer, I have to admit that it would be considered an understatement to say that I'd recommend Disney Cruise Lines. However, when I post, my intent is to help others, so also keep that in mind. We enjoyed our experience and would definitely do it again, but there are many people who have never travelled on a cruise or on a Disney cruise before and I hope my experience can help inform them and others. I will use a question and answer format for this post.

What happens if there is a storm in the area of my itinerary?
First of all, let me recommend that you buy the insurance for a cruise if you are planning to set sail during hurricane season. While it is rare, there is always the possibility that a cruise may be cancelled and you are only guaranteed your money back if you purchased the insurance. That said, you'll probably never have to worry about this, so you can make your own decision regarding this. Now, I can answer this question from experience because this is exactly what happened to us. A hurricane developed in the Caribbean in the area of our cruise itinerary. I was worried about how this would affect our cruise. Obviously, we would prefer to avoid rain and rough seas. However, Disney contacted us by email, by phone and on their website three days before we were to sail to inform us that they were changing the itinerary to avoid the storm. If you choose a cruise based solely on the destinations, this might be a problem for you. However, we chose to cruise on Disney first, the destinations were secondary for us. Therefore, my next recommendation would be to avoid any attachments to your destinations until your ship actually sets sail.

Is the food/drinks free?
Basically, you can eat from before sunup to well after sundown and all of it was included. We only paid for two drinks the entire time. I never found a time when food on board was not included. However, drinks are not always included. If you order alcohol, it will never be free. Fortunately for us, we aren't big on drinking alcohol. However, bottles of water are also extra and expensive. They can be bought on board, but I would not recommend it. This is not a problem if you plan ahead however because you can take water on the ship. We packed an entire case of bottled water in our luggage. Think you won't need the water? Perhaps not, but we drank the entire case over the week even with water free at all the buffet and drink station on deck 9. Perhaps you can avoid taking water on board, but it is a lot easier carrying a bottle of water ashore for your excursions than it is trying to carry a cup of water with a lid from the drinking station.

How does rotational dining work?
Rotational dining is a rather fun and interesting method of crowd control.  Basically, they can't have everyone on board decide to go to the same restaurant for dinner, so they assign you to which restaurant you will eat in on which nights.  The only exception to this is if you choose to make a reservation at one of the adult only restaurants like Palos.

Now, while this solves the problem of crowd control pretty effectively, it does NOT end the concept of rotational dining.  It is more than just rotating between restaurants. In fact, that technically isn't what it is about at all.  Rotational dining is that your servers (waiters, whatever) rotate with you.  That way, you always have the exact same servers helping you.  This allows them to get to know you and your family a bit and they learn your preferences as well.  In fact, after 2 days of a 7 day cruise, we no longer had to order drinks, they were brought to us when our servers first came to our table.  Of course, we occasionally threw a wrench into that by changing it up a bit, but the staff was very professional and this didn't faze them a bit.

I suppose this could be difficult if it turns out that you do not enjoy your servers, but Disney makes every effort to make you comfortable, so there is probably a way around that as well, if it turned out to be the case, but I doubt it would.

What about tips?
Tips are not left with anyone during the cruise itself.   Tips are paid for when you are settling your bill.  There is generally an "accepted" minimum for tips and you are expected to pay that.  So, do not expect that you can eat all over the ship and use the services, etc. and then not pay the tip.  You probably could make this fuss, but that speaks more about you than it does the service received.  At any rate, the total bill amount will include the tips at the end.  Therefore, PLAN FOR THIS!  One of the biggest complaints I've heard and read is that people didn't plan for this reality and so felt surprised by it at the end.  I had done my research and so I was expecting it and planned for it.  In addition to the base tips, you can choose to provide additional tips.  If I recall, we could provide additional tips to four people, our two waiters and the two people who made up our rooms each day.  We chose to tip extra, but this extra tip is entirely voluntary.

Are port excursions worth the money?
Is the cruise worth the price you pay?
How does the kids areas on board work?
Palos or no Palos?
Should we buy photos on board? If so, when?
Things I didn't know before getting on board?

Stay on property for extra magic hours!

For Disney residents (those that stay on property), one of the primary benefits is the extra magic hours. Each day, one park opens early and/or closes late. These "extra hours" are for Disney guests only, so they can be very advantageous. This is especially true for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

My children aren't old enough to enjoy many of the rides at EPCOT, although they do love that park for other reasons. Therefore, the extra hours at EPCOT have not been something we've done as a family. However, we have used them at all three of the other parks.

At Animal Kingdom, we got in early and were able to do the Safari and the river rapids rides before the first hour was up (the extra one).

In Magic Kingdom, we've only used extra hours in the morning, although they also have extra hours at night. Our kids, at 7 and 4, just don't last long enough to use the extra hours at night. They are lucky to make it long enough for the fireworks. However, in the morning, we get in early, do Dumbo and the Speedway because they have no fast passes and their lines can get very long. After that, it is on to Buzz Lightyear. We love this ride and the kids often want to do it more than once, so we get it in during the extra hour and then also get a fastpass for later in the day. Of course, you have to choose what you most want to do based on your preferences.

Hollywood Studios is where we benefited the most from the extra hour in the morning. Usually, to get into Jedi Academy, you have to race there first to sign up. However, you also want to race to Toy Story too...therefore, if you have a Star Wars loving child, where do you go first. You can split up. One get signed up for Jedi Academy and the other get Toy Story fast passes, but this is how it worked for us. We raced to Toy Story and I got in the fast pass line (it will be long) while my wife and kids got in the Toy Story regular line. I got the fast passes and then found my family in line. We rode the ride and then raced over to sign up for Jedi Academy, hoping that they won't have used up all the sign up because of the extra hours. We turned out to be right (I won't guarantee this especially during busy season) and actually got signed up for a time before lunch. After that, we returned to Toy Story (our kids favorite ride at HS) and rode it again with only a 15 minute wait. When we got off the ride, the line was then 1.5 hours long because the "extra" hour was done and the park was open generally. Plus, we still had our fast pass for later. With typically 2 hour lines, it is amazing we were able to do Toy Story 3 times in one day.

I would highly recommend taking advantage of the Extra Magic Hours when possible. If you are older and have older children, I'm sure the late night hours are worth it too. The parks are generally very pretty with all the lights after dark.

Are meal plans worth the money?

The Disney Dining plans are convenient and useful methods of managing your money when traveling. After all, if you know ahead of time that you will be eating almost all your meals on property, it may be worth it to purchase one of these because you will not have to worry about added food costs while traveling. However, these plans aren't for everyone. Here's a few things I've picked up that might help you make a decision whether these are right for you.

Here is a link to the dining plan site.

For 2011, the three plans and their costs are:
Quick service dining
Adults (Ages 10+): $34.99 per day
Children (Ages 3-9): $ 11.99 per day
Dining
Adults (Ages 10+): $45.99 per day (regular season) / $47.99 per day (peak season)
Children: (Ages 3-9): $11.99 per day (regular season) / $12.99 per day (peak season)
Deluxe Dining
Adults (Ages 10+): $78.99 per day
Children: (Ages 3-9): $21.99 per day

First of all, when choosing a dining plan option, it important to plan ahead and know how your family eats and vacations. If you are going to stay in the parks all day every day, then you might want to consider a dining plan option. If you plan on leaving the Disney resort area at all, then this may not be your most cost effective option. So, ask yourself this question when planning
Is my family going to spend the overwhelming majority of our time at the Disney parks and on Disney property?
There are many dining options on Disney property that are not in the parks, at various resorts or Downtown Disney. If you do not plan to leave Disney property much, then you might consider a dining plan. However, if you are the kind of family that will leave Disney property for breakfast because you get up early or for dinner because you just can't stay out too late, then you will certainly find cheaper options off property. Only you can answer this question though because only you know how your family behaves when on vacation. Finally, even if you do spend a lot of time on property, you may be a family who tends to share their meals a lot at dinner. If this is true, then you may find that a dining plan is not cost effective.

So, you will spend most of your time on property and you do want a dining plan? But which one?

The Quick Service Dining plan offers 2 meals and 2 snacks a day. Obviously, this leaves out one of your meals...doesn't it? You'd think so, but most of the food in Disney is very filling and you may be the kind of family that shares your food a lot. If this is true, the quick service plan may be right for you. After all, if you are a family of 4, with 2 kids, the adults might wish to share their breakfast and lunch amongst themselves and that leaves them each with dinner. This tactic can also be used with the kids. Also, remember that you will have 2 snack options with this plan, so if you love popcorn and ice cream and you are busy (often happens), then you may discover that one of the meals ends up getting skipped anyway.

This is a popular plan because it offers a lot of flexibility and is the most cost effective for families that aren't interested in the more elegant dining experiences. It does limit you to only the quick service places, so no fancy restaurants.

The main dining plan offers 2 meals and 1 snack per day. This still seems to leave out one meal as the above option does and it has one less snack option so there will need to be sharing with this plan as well. It is more expensive and allows you to eat at one of the nicer sit down restaurants. It basically allows you one quick service and one table dining experience per day. A good scheduler who plans ahead could make this very cost effective. Most table dining will require reservations ahead of time and you don't want to find yourself in the wrong park or on the wrong side of a park when you reservation time comes up. After all, who likes to run to make a reservation? So, you have less flexibility, but good planning can overcome this. If you don't plan on eating at a nice restaurant on property or you think you will only do it once or twice, then I suggest you go with the quick service plan and just plan on paying for the table service meal out of pocket. It is important to not that tip and alcohol are NOT included in the dining plans. So, if you don't want to pay tip, then the quick service option is probably better for you.

Finally, the deluxe dining plan allows you to have 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. This has the same reservation limitations as the regular dining plan but more of the flexibility of the quick service plan. Each quick service and table seating restaurant counts as one meal so you are not limited to 1 quick service and 1 table seating as you are with the regular plan, but can mix and match how you want. Be very aware that some restaurants count as 2 meals. The brochure at the link above can tell you which ones, but basically, if it is a character dining, a signature restaurant or a dinner show, it will count as 2 meals. So, added flexibility, but also more need to plan well and plan in advance.

If you are not an advance planner but you want a dining plan, the quick service plan is probably your best option. Cost of the plans differ, but it comes down to whether you think you can share food or go off property to save money. If this is your plan, then the dining plans probably don't make sense for you. For instance, the quick service plan costs 35 dollars per adult and 12 dollars per child. If you eat at a quick service restaurant, then each adult will pay about 10 bucks and each child will pay about 7. Therefore, after the two meals, you children will have paid for their plan and they haven't even had their snack yet. However, the adults will have paid only 20 bucks if they are frugal. Their snacks costs about 2.50 each which will bring their total up to 25 dollars. Add in the 2 snacks for the kids and you will spend about $88 a day. The dining plan will cost you $92 dollars a day. I've found that even though we try to be frugal and save money that we always end up overspending our budget. Therefore, that $88 is ideal, but not typical. If you go to a sit down restaurant or have a character dining experience, then your overall costs go up even more, which is why the other dining plans go up so much in cost. I can't speak for whether this is a cost effective option, but hopefully, this information is helpful in figuring out if you want a dining plan at all and which one most fits your family.

Want to call people in Epcot?

No, the title of this does not refer to calling a friend or family member on their cell phone and it does not refer to calling people from within Epcot either. It seems that the three red phone booths in the U.K. pavilion can be called just like any other phone booth could have, when phone booths were common. To call them, try these three numbers and see if anyone will pick up. If you get several rings followed by a fax sound, nobody answered.

(407) 827-9861
(407) 827-9862
(407) 827-9863

Paintbrushes

Disney does a lot of things that are fun but also relatively unknown. One of these things are the hidden paintbrushes on Tom Sawyer's island. There is no secret to finding the brushes beyond getting to the island first. If you get to Disney early then you can easily make it to the island. The first raft leaves about an hour after the park opens. Be on it. Assuming you find a paintbrush, you have to take it to a castmember when leaving the island to get something special. Only one paintbrush per party though, so if you find more than one, leave it/them for others to find.

How to pick a hotel

This hotel tip is all about choosing between staying on property or off property. There are a number of things to keep in mind.

So, the real question is: are the advantages offered by Disney really worth the extra price? Let's examine a few things.

1. Price--Any Disney hotel can be beaten in price by many conveniently located options off property. However, with Disney's pricing structure, the value hotels are competitive with most places, but often still more expensive. This does not discount the Disney hotels though because there are other things to consider.

2. Parking--Parking at Disney can be expensive. All the major parks cost $15 dollars as of the date of this post, but parking is free if you are staying at a Disney resort. So, if you are staying somewhere off property, you have to consider that you'll be paying an additional fifteen dollars a day over and above your hotel rate unless the hotel offers a shuttle service. This can effect your decionmaking regarding pricing, especially if you are considering one of the value resort hotels.

3. Shuttles--Shuttle services can save you money if you are staying off property since you won't have to pay the parking fees. However, Disney shuttle services off the convenience of picking you up in front of your hotel and dropping you off at the entrance to the parks. So, it is basically door to door service. Sure, you have to wait sometimes, but there are plenty of busses so the waits are usually minimal. Many hotels off property offer shuttle services as well, but make sure you understand how it works before choosing this option. Over the years, we've tried a multitude of options. In order to provide this service, most hotels join up with other nearby hotels to arrange them. This results in a round trip that is significantly longer than anything you'll have with Disney. Why? Well, say you are staying at a hotel that offers free shuttle service. You need to be aware that they have likely gone in with 2 or 3 or sometimes more hotels in order to provide that service. Therefore, the bus will travel to each of those destinations before heading to the park. If you are first on this route, then you might be picked up at 8 and make 2-3 stops before being dropped off at a park around 9, just in time for it to open. This assumes an hour round trip. We've taken shuttles that have had round trips of up to an hour and a half. In that case, you can get the shuttle at 8 and still not make it to the park in time for it to open. Now, you might be the last hotel to be picked up which means you'd go directly to the park. This is great in the morning, but can be awful at the end of the day when you are tired and you have to sit through 2-3 stops before the bus gets you to your hotel. Another thing to note regarding off site shuttle services is that they drop you off in a lot that is farther away than Disney shuttles. However, this is really only an issue at Magic Kingdom, where off site shuttles will drop you off at the transportation center where you'll have to take the monorail or the ferry. Disney busses drop you off at the entrance gates.

4. Amenities--Most hotels offer an array of amenities. What kind of amenities appeal to you will depend entirely on your tastes and what you plan to do on your trip. For instance, Disney has three basic hotel types. Value, moderate and deluxe. These are comparable to any hotel off site. The value resorts are nice, but are basically your typical hotel. They offer a nice themed room, a nice pool, dining services of some sort, basically anything you'd expect to find from your typical hotel. The moderate resorts are larger with themed rooms that are much more impressive. They have more pools than the value resorts as well as waterslides. So, you can compare moderate resorts to a slightly more upscale place. The Deluxe resorts really are deluxe. They are very upscale in the amenities they offer as well as in the price. These would be your five star hotel equivalents. Note that all the Disney resort hotels have free wifi. Basically, the amenities Disney offers vary with the price, just like you'll find at any off site hotel.

5. Additional transportation--If you are flying in to Orlando and choose to stay at a Disney property, then you'll be given shuttle service from the airport right to your hotel. Many non Disney hotels also offer this kind of service, but usually you'll need to use the airport shuttle service or a taxi or rent a car. If you are driving in, this will not be an issue for you.

6. Other intangible considerations--This section is just about Disney. Off site hotels offer many services to their guests and do what they can to help you to have an enjoyable vacation. Disney resort properties offer a few additional amenities you won't find off site. First, your room key acts as your park ticket as well as your credit card, so you don't need to carry around a lot of cash or worry about losing your tickets. Plus, you get to keep your key as a memento. Additionally, if you purchase something inside one of the parks, you do not need to carry it around with you all day because Disney will deliver your items directly to your room. These are simply two added incentives for anyone looking for an excuse to spend the little extra money to stay on property.