Upcoming Trip Questions

[kaysee]

I am going on the Disney Land Sea Vacation in April and have a few questions pertaining to the cruise portion of the trip if anyone can help. Has anyone out there requested a specific dinner rotation? I am traveling with four other families and there will be a total of nine children between the ages of 5-10. The adults want to eat at Palo's of coure but are concerned about which night is the best to go. In case the last night when you repeat the first restaurant is not available at Palo's which restaurant would anyone advise to skip. When we check in to the disney resort and get our key to the world card does anyone know if it will include our dinner rotation schedule. I am very concerned about the fact that the disney transportation does not leave from the hotel to get to the port unil 12:45. I know we will already be checked in when we get to the boat but am I correct to be concerned that leaving that late could cause us problems when making reservations for Palo's and the spa? I am thinking about alternative transportation from the hotel and want to make sure it is worth the money to do so.

Thanks for any input that can be provided!

[Senor Ferrari]

Based on your post, I'm guessing you want to request a rotation so you can all eat together? If you're travelling with a couple other groups, you can have your reservations "linked" so that you can all eat together, either at one large table, or two smaller ones right next to each other, depending on how many are in the group. You just have to call DCL and let them know you're all travelling together. They'll link your reservations so you'll all be on the same rotation, hopefully sitting together. If you have everyone's reservation #, it makes this process a bit faster.

 

I can't help regarding the transportation question, because I've never taken the DCL buses from the resort to the port. However, regarding which night to choose Palo, I always tell people not to worry about which restaurant they're missing. Just pick a night and go. The whole cruise consists of choices between several things that will be enjoyable. If you worry too much about what you're missing, it might lessen your enjoyment of what you end up doing. BUT....if you put a gun to my head, I'd say skip Triton's. My guess is that you'll probably get a pretty even split on this question, as everyone's tastes are different. I think that Palo is better than any other meal on the ship, so it doesn't matter which restaurant you'll miss.

 

The other thing you can do is to "double dip." For example, if you have early dinner, you can go to the dining room at 6:00pm and sit with the kids while they eat, maybe having a drink and/or an appetizer. You can make reservations for Palo for later that evening, say 7:30. You can do the opposite if you have the late dinner seating, eating at Palo earlier and then stopping by your rotation restaurant at 8:30. That way, you can at least get a feel for the restaurant you're missing, and get to eat at Palo.

[RayDyer]

I just returned from a land sea trip and we too stayed at the animal kingdom lodge with disney transportation. Yes you should be concenred ablut getting to the ship in time to make reservations at Palo. By the time we made it to the ship and went through the lines etc and got on board we went straight to Palo to make reservations and they only had 2/4 nights avaliable, we went to palo the first night and for brunch on Wednesday try to do both it was great. Now the negative about geting your own transportation is you would have to take care of your luggage and it is so nice for DCL to pick up your luggage in your room at the lodge and with a little disney magic it is waiting for you in your stateroom.

 

No you will not know your rotation until you get in your room on the ship

 

as far as which resturant to miss I would exchange Tritons as well, you dont want to miss animators palate b/c of the show and parrot cay had the best meal for us

[laujac]

Check out the menus on Castawayclub.com and see if any interest more than others... that may help with your decision on which night to go to Palos. Personally I would skip Parrot Cay. I would also be concerned about not leaving for the boat until 12:45... I am not sure about the 3 and 4 day cruises, but I know that for the 7 day you are allowed to embark at 12:00. So if you are not leaving WDW until 12:45, people have already been on the boat for 45 minutes before you even head for the port. I like to board as soon as possible not only for being able to make reservations... but to also start enjoying the amenities on the ship... remember, this first day is considered one of your days. Why not start it as soon as possible?

[RayDyer]

One other tip, at the end of our three days at disney world we packed all of our dirty clothes and what we knew we not use on the cruise, packed it in an extra suitcase and and shipped it home. they were very helpfull at the front desk at the hotel and took care of all the details and price was reasonable (about 50 dollars) well worth it not to have an extra suitcase in the cabin as space is limited

[sweet angel]

One other tip, at the end of our three days at disney world we packed all of our dirty clothes and what we knew we not use on the cruise, packed it in an extra suitcase and and shipped it home. they were very helpfull at the front desk at the hotel and took care of all the details and price was reasonable (about 50 dollars) well worth it not to have an extra suitcase in the cabin as space is limited

You can also ship souveniers bought at WDW home as well. I hadn't been to WDW in a few years and went a bit souvenier happy, so I know!

 

As far as which restaurant to skip, it's a toss up. I don't think one stood out moreso than the others. Since it was our first time on DCL, I wanted to see them all, so probably the best bet is what another poster suggested..."double dipping"!

 

As far as transportation is concerned, if you're that worried about it, why don't you look into a one-way rental?

 

We just did the land/sea in November (AKL for the land portion) and had a blast. I don't really think you CAN make a "bad" decision.