Dream vs. Magic for Group of 9 with 4 kids

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WallyBear

Mouseketeer

Joined

Sep 17, 2013

• Feb 5, 2016

• #1

We are thinking of taking a cruise next year with two families and grandma for a total of 9 people. The kids will be 7, 9, 10, and 12. The cruise will be a 4 day out of Orlando to Bahamas. We have never cruised before so this is completely new to us. My initial thought was to book Magic because it is more manageable in size, but now I am not sure what to do.

What's your favorite ship and why?

 

MickeyEarrings

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jul 1, 2012

• Feb 5, 2016

• #2

I'm voting for the Dream, for the kids' sake. The AquaDuck, Vanelleope's Sweet Shop, Midship Detective Agency...the kids will love it.

The adults will also love Satellite Falls and Remy...

 

PrincessShmoo

DIS veteran

Joined

Feb 12, 2009

• Feb 5, 2016

• #3

MickeyEarrings said:

I'm voting for the Dream, for the kids' sake. The AquaDuck, Vanelleope's Sweet Shop, Midship Detective Agency...the kids will love it.

The adults will also love Satellite Falls and Remy...

Click to expand...

Just a head's up - Vanellope's costs extra.

 

NHDisneyFan

Mouseketeer

Joined

Aug 18, 1999

• Feb 5, 2016

• #4

PrincessShmoo said:

Just a head's up - Vanellope's costs extra.

Click to expand...

OP-So does Remy.

 

J

JTBE

Mouseketeer

Joined

Jun 6, 2014

• Feb 5, 2016

• #5

I loved the Dream and my kids were 6 and 8 when we first went on the trip. We just came off the Magic and my kids were 8 and 10. I liked the Dream because it was newer and larger. However, the kids loved both ships-- they enjoyed Aquaduck on the Dream and the Aquadunk on the Magic. They liked the Aquadunk a little more than the Aquaduck since it's more thrilling to them than the Aquaduck which they felt was slow. They enjoyed the midship detective on the Dream which the Magic does not have. They liked both kids clubs, but my daughter is 10 so she was able to participate both in the Oceaneer's kids club and in Edge on the Magic and loved it. My kids enjoyed the theater shows -- Twice Charmed, Tangled, and Dream on the Magic better than the theater shows on the Dream. My kids (son and daughter) liked the fact that on the Magic there were both princesses and superheros meet and greets with Thor and Captain America- who were actually awesome to take pictures with. They also liked being on the ship for 5 days (Magic) rather than 4 days (Dream), less chaotic and more time to do different activities.

 

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DisneyWishes14

DIS Veteran

Joined

Nov 21, 2011

• Feb 5, 2016

• #6

We really prefer the Magic - we just like the smaller ship size. We spent 20 nights on the Magic (B2B European cruises) last summer and my DS8 is begging to go back. We've also done both the Dream and the Magic to the Bahamas and one thing I'll mention, Castaway Cay is much less crowded when the Magic is docked as opposed to the Dream. The Dream can carry up to 1600 more passengers than the Magic and that makes a big difference on CC.

 

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WallyBear

Mouseketeer

Joined

Sep 17, 2013

• Feb 5, 2016

• #7

Thank you for the great replies.

Which ship feels less crowded, especially around the pools? Is everything double in size on the Dream to accommodate the extra people?

 

PrincessShmoo

DIS veteran

Joined

Feb 12, 2009

• Feb 5, 2016

• #8

WallyBear said:

Thank you for the great replies.

Which ship feels less crowded, especially around the pools? Is everything double in size on the Dream to accommodate the extra people?

Click to expand...

Not really. The pools seem smaller on the Dream. At least the adult pool is smaller on the Dream

vs. the Magic (this is the Wonder, but it's the same)


And the pool area on the Dream (Mickey & Goofy) are in the same space


while on the Magic there's only the Goofy pool, and the AquaLab took over where the Mickey pool/splash area was.

 

Last edited: Feb 5, 2016