Drinking on a Disney Cruise

One of my favorite spots on the ship: the swim-up bar!

Currently Disney does not offer alcoholic drinking packages with their cruises and they recently updated their alcohol policy.  The new policy allows each adult to bring two bottles of wine OR a six-pack of beer on board with them.  At each port, you are allowed to bring on an additional six-pack or two more bottles of wine. (Side note: I could not find bottles of wine or bottled beer for sale anywhere on Castaway Cay).

You can purchase bottles of liquor in the sundries shop where you can purchase sunscreen, Dramamine, and other medications.  I was very surprised at the prices - and not in a bad way!  You could purchase a standard-sized bottle of vodka or rum to take to your room for $13.95+ tax each. They had a decent selection of full-sized bottles of liquors and wine and cordials.

You could also purchase a fun drink
 in a souvenir glass for about $11.

They offered drinks at breakfast such as a Bloody Mary or Mimosa for $4.  You could also order a glass or bottle of wine with dinner.  And anywhere you wander around, you can get the drink of the day for about $6-7 dollars.  Not bad for mixed drinks.

There is a bar district on the ship, where you can drink in any number of cool environments.  And some of the bars host trivia or fun adult activities.

We went to a Mixology class on our Bahamas day and for $20/person got to make and sample 6 mixed drinks.  That was fun!

We spent our day at Castaway Cay on the adult-only beach since we were travelling without children on this cruise.  Don't worry - the only "adult" thing about it is the lack of children.  Everyone is in a bathing suit and being decent - it's still Disney!  Bartenders did wander around on the beach to ensure anyone who wanted a drink had one. Laying in the sun all day, we were careful not to overdo it.

Disney Dining Plan Tips

You can eat in a car at the drive-in at the Sci-Fi Diner!

One of my favorite parts of a Disney trip is eating.  Seriously, I love food.  And the food there is fantastic.  From the snacks to the drinks and most especially the meat, Disney offers a wide variety that will please even the pickiest of eaters.  Although the dining plans have been available for years, many people still have a lot of questions about them.  Hopefully this will help you decide if there is a dining plan for you and also help you identify which one best fits your trip.

Which dining plan will work best for you?

Option 1: If you plan to run around and do not want to spend any time sitting down to eat, you will probably benefit from having the Quick-Service Dining Plan.  It is also great for families who only want to do one character meal, but are trying to stick to a strict budget.

Option 2: If you want to have one sit-down meal each day, you will greatly benefit from the Plus Dining Plan. You can save quite a bit of money with this dining plan.  For example, dinner at Chef Mickey's is $50/adult $23/child, but the total cost of the dining plan per night is $62/adult and $21/child.

Option 3: If you want to enjoy several of Disney's signature restaurants or more than one sit-down meal per day, the Deluxe Dining Plan will be a great fit for you.  It has the most flexibility (you can use your 3 credits allotted per night in any combination of quick-service or table-service meals).  Disney's signature restaurants offer some of the best food in the country and many are highly-rated.  This is also great if you want to try out one or more of Disney's amazing dinner shows!

To look more in-depth, these are links to the official Disney PDFs describing the dining plans:

Quick Service Dining Plan

Plus Dining Plan

Deluxe Dining Plan

How to keep track of used credits:

Whenever you use credits to pay for a meal or snack, you will receive a receipt that lists your remaining credits available.  If you lose track and want to check, you can head to pretty much any gift shop and they can scan your band and print a receipt that will list your remaining available credits.

A few dining FAQs:

Q: When can I use my credits?

A: They are available from the morning you check in until midnight on the day you check out from your Disney resort.

Q: Is the Disney dining plan available to visitors who are not staying in a Disney resort?

A: Nope.  It's a perk available only to Disney resort guests.

Q: Do you have to have theme park admission to add the dining plan to your resort stay?
A: No.  You can book a package with just a resort room and the dining plan, but you will need valid theme park admission for any restaurants that are inside of Disney parks.

Q: How many credits do character dining meals use?

A: Cinderella's Royal Table requires two credits per person, but all of the other character dining meals use just one credit per person.

Q: What should I do if I have leftover credits when I'm ready to head home?
A: You can downgrade your leftover credits as snack credits and use them to purchase food or snack items at your resort's gift shop.  Goofy's Candy makes a great souvenir for kids' friends. ;)

Disney Cruise Tips 101

Things I wish I knew BEFORE I went on a Disney cruise:

1. All of the stores on board are closed whenever the ship is docked in a port.  So if you arrive on the ship on the first day and don’t have sunscreen, you won’t be able to buy it until the ship leaves the port.  Make sure you have those essentials before you board the ship!
2. Everything is charged to your room key card.  When you buy a drink or a souvenir, they’ll swipe your Key to the World card (similar to the room key cards Disney had before they introduced Magic Bands).  You will not have a chance to pay for purchases with cash in the stores on the ship.  At the end of your cruise, you can go to the guest services desk and ask them to apply Disney gift cards to your tab.  At this time, you can also leave extra gratuities for your servers or attendants if you do not have cash to give them and feel you want to give them something extra.
3. Almost everything on the room service menu is included.  We had second dining, so when we went to our room to freshen up before the evening show, we ordered a large plate of fries and a slice of the cake of the day for each of us to snack on.  It didn’t cost anything, but helped us avoid paying for sodas and popcorn during the show.
   
4. You have to visit the kids clubs before the ship leaves port if you want to see them.  For safety reasons, Disney does not want adults milling around with the kids in the kids clubs.  So if you want to see how cool and fun they are, head there to make sure everything is set and your kids are comfortable before the Sailing Away party.
5. On the day you board, you can sign up for all kinds of different on-board activities.  You can plan spa treatments, drink seminars, character passes, etc.  One of my favorite things we did on the cruise was a mixology class.  You can read more about that by checking out my post about drinking on a Disney cruise.
   
6. There is a huge character palooza of sorts in the main lobby on the last night of the cruise.  This is the perfect time to meet Mickey, Minnie, princesses (without a pass), Chip and Dale, etc.  Since it was rather late in the evening, the lines were super short and it was a very cute little last-night show as the characters left.
7. When you order food at the sit-down restaurants, you order all of your courses at the same time and you are welcome to order more than one of each if you want to do so.  The food was excellent and I indulged in more than a few desserts during our voyage.  Be sure to check out the soft-serve ice cream machines and the crepe station if you want a late-night snack!
8. The Disney cruise app makes using you phone the easiest way to find out what’s going on – and as long as you have it on airplane mode it doesn’t cost you anything.  When you leave the port, make sure your phone is on airplane mode, but go ahead and turn the wi-fi on.  The ships have intranet wi-fi which allows you to see which characters will be out for autographs and pictures all the time.  You’ll also be able to check and see which restaurants are serving a sit-down breakfast and lunch each day in case you don’t want to eat at Cabanas every day.
9. Sometimes the best strategy on the elevator is to go down to go up.  Especially on the larger ships, like the Dream, we have found that during peak times it can be tough to get on an elevator going the right direction.  So we would hop on an empty one that was going down and just stay on it until it went back up to our floor.
   
10. Decorating your door is a big deal!  The doors are magnetic, but you’ll need a pretty strong magnet, in order for your decorations to stick to them.  You can do something simple, such as laminated printed Disney characters or round shapes with your names on them.  Or you can do something more elaborate.  For some great ideas, check out my blog post about decorating Disney cruise ship doors.
11. If you book 100% of your trip with a Disney Chase Visa card, you are eligible to receive a $50 on-board credit.  But they will not automatically give it to you – you (or your amazing travel agent) will have to request it!

A few things you will be glad to have on your Disney cruise:

1. A lanyard – it will make keeping track of your Key to the World card SO much easier.  Tons of parents were yelling at their kids for losing their cards multiple times… it’s easier for them to just wear their lanyard. You can buy them on the ship, but you’ll pay Disney prices… If you book through a Wishdrawals agent (like me) we’ll send you one for each person who is cruising as part of your cruise gifts!
2. Cash – small bills are useful for tipping.
3. Dramamine – but if you need it, there’s a sundries shop where you can buy more.  It’s recommended that you take Dramamine one hour before boarding the ship.  If you find that you don’t need it, you can stop taking it.  But for yourself (and kids) it can be tough to shake off feeling seasick once it starts.  I did not need it – even when the seas were at their “roughest”, but everyone is different.
4. Bring a wide-mouthed water bottle for filling at the drink stations.
5. Swimsuit cover-up – since you will probably have to ride an elevator and walk through air-conditioned rooms when you are going to and from the pool and/or beach.  You (and your kids) will be glad to have something to wrap up in as you walk through the ship.  You won’t need to have your own beach towels on the ship and Castaway Cay, but if you are stopping in other ports, you may be glad to have your own.
6. A waterproof camera – for pictures at the pool and on Castaway Cay.  There are statues of Mickey and Minnie underwater to snorkel for and tons of fish that you can swim with at one of the beaches.  Don’t worry – Castaway Cay is enclosed so sharks cannot get in!

7 Reasons to use a Disney vacation planner!

Why use a Disney planner when you can do it directly yourself?

This is a picture from my 87th Disney trip!
I know what I'm talking about - I promise. 

​1. It's completely FREE to you! 

Disney pays us directly for our expertise and help, which means you're getting help from a professional at no extra cost.  I know we're not doctors or lawyers, but we are true experts when it comes to Disney.  If you're going to spend several thousand dollars on a vacation, don't you want it to be the very best it can be?

2. We work to save you money.

Even after we've booked your trip, we are constantly looking for ways to save you money, get you free upgrades, and add any extra magic to your trip.  When you book directly through Disney (and with many travel companies) they are content to have your business and do not notify you of any discounts you are eligible to receive.  The minute we know of a discount that could apply to your trip, we're on the phone or on-line trying to save you as much money as we can!

3.  We help as much (or as little) as you want us to.

If you are big on planning and feel you know what your family wants to do, we'll just be here for money-saving and moral support.  If it's your first time visiting Disney and you want lots of input we are happy to give it to you.  In the end, all of the decisions are left to you.

4.  We're up at all hours to make sure you get what you want.

Some dining reservations and Fastpass+ selections can be tough to get, even 180 days in advance.  We are up and at it making dining reservations for you at 6am and stay up until midnight to make your Fastpass+ selections - if you want our help!  We will also check and search frequently for dining reservations if there are any meals that you want that you don't see available.

5.  You will receive extra goodies when you book through us!

You never know what your agent will send you, but we've been known to send gift cards, t-shirts, lanyards, string bags, ponchos, autograph books, and many other fun little gifts to help your family get into full Disney-mode!

6.  If something goes awry on your trip or you have any questions, you have an expert to call on at any time.

If you aren't going to make it to a ride in time for a Fastpass or you need to make a dining reservation, we will be there to help out.  Sometimes the web system even crashes, but we'll have a copy of your itinerary so that you'll never miss a dining reservation or a Fastpass!

7.  You're helping a real person running a small business.

And we appreciate it so much!  Keep small businesses in business!

If these seven reasons aren't enough to convince you, head over to the testimonials page and check out a few referrals we've had from happy clients!

PLUS: Contact me to find out how you can save 5% on your Disney trip!

Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar

Jock's is a fantastic new restaurant in the recently renamed Disney Springs!

It's not on the dining plan and I doubt it ever will be.  The menu consists of drinks and appetizers only, so it really does not fit any of the dining plans.

There is indoor seating and outdoor seating - if you time it right, you can see fireworks from the outdoor seating area.  Insider tip: Not sure what time that will be...? Ask your Disney travel expert!

The decorations are not too obviously Indiana Jones - you may not recognize everything on the walls, but the menu items will definitely be familiar to even casual Indy fans!  A few of the drinks come with special songs or stories... such as the "Anything Goes" which is delivered by singing waiters and waitresses who dance with jazz hands!

The food was absolutely delicious!  We ate the "Good Dates" (as opposed to bad dates... remember the monkey?) and they were really, really good.  We enjoyed the "Squid! Why did it have to be squid?" and the dipping sauce for the calamari was really yummy.  I think that with the drink and the appetizer we came out from "lunch" feeling refreshed and like the price was fair (one drink, one appetizer, tax, and tip made each of our totals about $25).

The wait staff talks about Jock as if he were a real person AND as if he were a well-known character in the movie.  It caught me off guard for a moment, but I found that I really enjoyed it!  We enjoyed stories about how Jock got stranded on an island and invented a drink or met some famous dignitary and came up with a delicious appetizer that made it on the menu.

At this point, there is no way to make advanced dining reservations for Jock's and a large part of me doubts there ever will be since it's not a traditional dining location.  The tapas bar feel is very fun and relaxed.  There were families there with kids, but there is not a whole lot on the menu for picky children.  For three Indiana Jones fans, it was one of the highlights of our weekend ladies' trip!

Pictured here: Shorty's Singapore
 Sling in the foreground and
the "Anything Goes" in the background.

The front of the menu.

The drink list (there are pictures of many of the drinks throughout
 the book, but this at least gives you prices to check out!

These were all the menu items that were available when we were there in December.

We were seated in the submarine which is the VIP seating.
We were bummed to miss seeing Neil Patrick Harris and
David Burtka, who sat there the night before us!

Birthdays at Disney!

Today is my birthday and I'm ready to share two major revelations:
1.  Birthdays are fabulous!
2.  Disney is fabulous!

Mix those two fabulous things together and you have something... magical!

I have been lucky enough to spend several awesome birthdays with Mickey Mouse and his friends, so I thought I would share just a few fun tips for birthday celebrations at different ages.

#1 - Birthday badges!
These are great for all ages from 1-101!  They are completely free and often get you a little special attention.  Writing your name on it with a sharpie or permanent marker is especially important.  I always keep the sharpie with me in case it rubs off - this happens quite frequently.

#2 - Birthday dining reservations!
I'll just give these general age ranges, but here are a few suggestions for extra special places to celebrate a birthday:

2-12 - Cinderella's Royal Table - yep, it's pricey - but it's totally worth it for a special occasion like this one.  Although I usually favor Akershus because I feel less claustrophobic and also think that you get more time with the princesses, I think there is something special about eating in the castle on your birthday.  Definitely get her a princess crown for the meal and note the celebration when you make your reservation.  The princesses usually give a special little gift for a birthday girl or boy of any age.

13-18 - Sci-Fi Dine in Theater or Be Our Guest
Sci-Fi is just a really cool place to eat - the atmosphere is dark and fun and the cast members there make sure birthdays are properly recognized. Be Our Guest (still new, so definitely make those reservations 180 days out) is beautiful inside and is a perfect place to celebrate a special occasion.

19+ California Grill
Make a dinner reservation an hour before the fireworks, arrive early and make sure you tell them you want to be able to watch the fireworks from where you're seated when you check in.  It's so incredible - especially if you happen to go during a Not So Scary Halloween Party and catch that version of Wishes - it's panoramic and incredible.  Definitely a great place for a birthday dinner!

19+Hollywood Brown Derby
I personally think this restaurant has the best menu of any restaurant on Disney property.  The cobb salad alone has my mouth watering any time it's mentioned.  And the steaks, seafood, and pasta dishes... well, they're perfect for celebrating anything!  Especially a birthday!

19+Le Cellier Steakhouse
The steaks melt in your mouth.  Particularly for a man, this is an awesome place to celebrate a birthday.  Start with the cheese soup and move into a delicious steak... I guarantee it will be a birthday you won't soon forget!

#3 - Free cupcake or ice cream is great, but don't forget you can order a specialty cake!
Any restaurant where you have a dining reservation can take an order for a specialty cake.  And they'll accommodate special dietary restrictions!  So if your loved birthday girl/boy/man/woman can't have something (gluten, dairy, peanut, etc.) feel free to order something special that they CAN enjoy!

#4 - Go to the birthday person's favorite park on the day they celebrate their birthday!
I know this seems obvious, but sometimes in my Disney-obsessed mania I think that we must go to the park that has extra magic hours or I could get a special dining reservation, but the truth is: on my birthday I want to be at Epcot.  And so I believe that whatever park the birthday person wants to be at on their special day... they should be at!

5 Resort Restaurants You Don't Want to Miss!

These five restaurants often get overlooked, but I think they're worth visiting!

1.  Kona Cafe [Polynesian]

This is an awesome place to grab some sushi, have a beverage, and relax. If you aren't into raw fish, don't sweat!  There are lots of non-raw roll options and plenty of awesome entrees that won't force you out of your comfort zone.  I love the lump crab cakes and the sesame seared scallops are fantastic!

The Polynesian is a beautiful resort, so plan to come around 7 or 7:30 and eat, then head down to the beach to watch the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom.

2.  Sanaa [Animal Kingdom Lodge]

Come for the amazing view - the restaurant is surrounded by a savanna filled with wild animals (zebra, giraffe, ostrich, etc.).  The traditional Indian cuisine and fun wine flight pairings make dinner memorable.  Don't love Indian food?  Don't worry - there are lots of options for diners who aren't too adventurous and plenty of safe options for children!

Plan to stay after you eat and enjoy a free night vision goggle viewing session of the animals.  Ask your travel consultant to check the sunset time for your trip dates and schedule your dinner time for shortly before that time.  You'll see the animals when you arrive, eat while the sun sets, and then head out for the night vision viewing when your meal is done.  It's a fun way to spend the evening!

3.  Whispering Canyon Cafe [Wilderness Lodge]

This is a fun restaurant to eat at.  There are several complaints or requests you can make to your server that will likely result in a flurry of fun!  For example, asking for ketchup, complaining that your straw is too short, chewing gum, or even ordering soda for breakfast...  If you want the food, but don't like the attention, there are now signs that will help the servers identify you as a normal person who wants ketchup as opposed to a person who wants 15 people to bring you 15 bottles of ketchup...
No matter which level of service you prefer, don't leave without trying the caramel apple pie.  It's wonderful!

Finished up with dinner?  Hop on the boat over to the Magic Kingdom - it's a lovely, relaxing ride!

4.  Trattoria al Forno [Boardwalk]

The interior of this restaurant is beautiful and romantic!  It's still a safe option for the family and the food is excellent.  Traditional Italian cuisine, amazing pizzas, and a caprese salad worth fighting for make great menu options here.  My recommendation: get your own caprese salad and split an entree or a pizza! I recommend the eggplant rollatini!

Hang around after dinner and take a ride on the surrey - it's a bicycle that seats a whole family.  Kids can ride in the back or on the very front in a shopping-cart style seat.  The view as you ride around the Boardwalk-Swan/Dolphin-Beach Club-Yacht Club circle is beautiful and relaxing.  Our family shared some of the loudest laughter of our vacation on one of those surreys!  It's definitely worth the time and the money.

There's also lots of free nighttime entertainment on the Boardwalk!  You never know what you might see.

5.  Garden Grove Cafe [Swan Resort]

**Not on Disney dining plan
The Garden Grove is a beautiful restaurant - you feel as though you are eating in a gorgeous garden.  And it's a character meal at dinnertime!  Most nights, Goofy and Pluto are the hosts, but on Friday nights, Chip and Dale take over!  It's often overlooked because it is NOT on the Disney dining plan, but it's a lot of fun!  There are options for those who don't love meat, but also amazing meat selections!  A win for the whole family.