early / late dinner debate

[makaylee]

I have read many a post that says people prefer the late dinner seating so they don't have to feel so rushed to get dressed. My question is don't you still have to get dressed at the same time to make the show? Doesn't the show for the late dinner seating start at the same time that the early dinner seating starts. I'm asking this because we have early dinner this time and i'm wondering if I should change it. Does it REALLY give you more time?

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Yes, the shows start the same time the early dinner seating starts. (People who have late dinners will see the 6:30 shows, people who have the early dinners will see the laters shows.) Please keep in mind, there is not necessarily something every night for which you'll need to be prepared. I mean, they'll have a show one night, 'who wants to be a mouseketeer' another, and so many umpteen thousand things going on that you might have a night you just want to relax in your stateroom before dinner.

If you're wanting to do a few shore excursions, the later seating really will give you more time. Also, the last day at CC, our DD was drained, (she had mild sunburn too,) and we were so thankful we weren't booked for the early.

However, the early seating is the first to book up, so obviously there are many who prefer it!

But to answer your other question. Yes, I do think it gives one more time.

(You also won't have to rise so early on disembarkation day!)

 

[RKB]

We did early seating on the Wonder July 2002 and I always felt that we had to rush to get there (especially after excursions). Often I wouldn't be hungry due to having a late lunch, etc... On the last day we also had to get up super early to make the first seating for breakfast. I decided that on the next cruise I would do late dining. On the Magic January 2004 we did late dining. We would go to the show in "regular" clothes and still have a half an hour after to get dressed for dinner. This worked out well. The other positive is that character breakfast and the last morning breakfast are second seating so you don't have to get up so early. The downside is that you eat so late you go to bed stuffed and it is very uncomfortable. I couldn't indulge in the midnight dessert buffet or the Tropicali buffet, because I was still stuffed from dinner. And the most annoying downside to me: Lunch on the ship ends at 2:00 and late dining is a long way off. I had to eat pizza and hamburgers for almost every lunch (room service offers sandwiches - but I wanted the "real" lunch)! I personally think that they should extend lunch until 3:30. Hope this helps you decide. My kids are 10 and 15 so they had no problem staying up.

 

[makaylee]

We do the buffet for breakfast on last day so that doesn't really apply to us. This will only be our second Disney Cruise also so we are not tired of any of the shows yet. Oh well, I have plenty of time to think about it and it's not like it's hard to switch from early to late. We had late seating last time and liked it well enough but, I was just wondering if we should try something different

 

[disneyfan551]

We LOVED late seating on our 1st cruise in December! Can't compare it to early, but there are many pro's for it! We had 3-2yo's in our group, and things still worked out great for them!

Good luck in your decision!

 

[hsteacher]

We liked late seating for a few reasons:

less little kids and since my kids aren't little anymore, I enjoy the quieter surroundings of older kids and adults

def. less rushed -- we didn't see the shows every night and enjoyed some relaxing time before dinner especially if we had done excursions

we found we weren't hungry that early on vacation -- at home, we def. eat before or around that time and at first I thought first dining would be better, but that wasn't the case

either way, the food is good, the servers are wonderful and you will enjoy either seating and adjust your schedule according to it. I request late dining but if I had first, we'd just adjust!

Have a great vacation

 

[Gina]

I know I always feel bad for people having to leave the Sailaway Party early to get ready for dinner...

-gina-

 

[aaronamy]

We love the late seating. On our last cruise our kids were 8 and 11 and the late time didn't bother them, they usually had snacked enough durring the day that they were not all that hungry and they loved staying up late. As far as the shows go we had early seating one cruise and I was so tired after I ate a big dinner and then sat through a show that I was ready to go to bed. With late seating I burn off some of those calories dancing the night away! One other thing to consider is the time change, we eat around 6:30 normally and with the time change that puts us eating way to early! Have fun!!!!

 

[kcashner]

I definitely prefer second seating because there are so many fewer little kids there. That may seem ugly, which is not my intent...but since I'm travelling with teens, I'd prefer to avoid the preschool set. I think my server has more time for our party when he isn't so busy with the little ones.

As to more time to get ready...it really depends on how ready you need to be. Yes, you'll have more time after excursions. You may chooses to skip some shows or whatever. You don't have to "dress up" for dinner most nights--you can be as dressy as you choose.

There were times when we'd get back from a day ashore and be really hungry. We'd order a snack from room service or grab a slice of pizza since dinner was late.

I think you can be quite happy/satisfied with either dinner schedule...but with older children or adults, I prefer late.

 

[crisi]

I suppose it depends on what you need to do to "get ready for dinner" If you've been swimming, and need a shower, blowdry, curl, makeup, formal attire - especially if you are the type that can take an hour to get ready for a Saturday around the house - it may be rushed. If you are talkiing about trading your shorts for capris or a skirt - maybe throwing on a coat of lipstick, that doesn't seem like it would be that much of a big deal.

We just did a formal dinner over the holidays. I got home from work at 5:45 wearing jeans and we were out the door at 6:00. My hair is finger styled with a little gel, my makeup takes five minutes, my formal jewerly means adding a tennis bracelet to my normal earrings, wedding ring, and pendant, and it doesn't take that long to slip out of jeans and into nylons and a formal dress.

 

[CheapMom]

What time is breakfast if you have the early seating?

 

[LAMPSKIES]

If to are late seating the show is at 6:30. Early seating is at 6. Makaylee......You are from Utah?? That's at least 3 time zone changes. 8:30 is 5:30. What we usually do is have DD's 13and 11 "do themselves up" prior to the show. There is about an hour between the show and late seating which is enough time for me to shower and dress. Don't forget if you are early.......pictures are about a half hour prior.

 

[makaylee]

Sorry.........why dont they let you fully delete your own messages?

 

[makaylee]

 

[makaylee]

Youre right LAMPSKIES, I hadn't thought about the time change, I'll probably change. We had the late seating last time and it did work well for us minus 3 things 1. we would get hungry before dinner 2. We would still be stuffed when it was time to go to bed 3. To full for midnight desert buffet. Well, like I said earlier it is always easy to switch to late seating from early so thats probably what I will do. Thanks for all the imput guys.

 

[macege]

When you're looking for a late afternoon snack before late seating, what are the options? I hear a lot of pizza/burgers (which I love but try to stay away from). Are there salads, fruit, etc? Is room service always available and are these items available from room service?
Thanks!

 

[christinou]

Scoops offers fruits and wraps, room service is always available and they have salads, fruit salad, and cheese and crackers, as well as a lot of other things.

 

[jrabbit]

There is a reason why you are not so rushed with late dinner.

Early Dinner Seating = 6pm
Early Show = 6:30pm and you don't have to show up until 6:20 or so.

It's amazing that 20 minutes can give you that much "more" time. In our family one of the reasons we gain more time is because "everyone" in our family goes to dinner together. The shows are optional.

So for early seating everyone needs to get cleaned up and to dinner by 6. With late seating we leave the island at the same time as everyone else and have an extra half hour to get ready for the show.

For dinner everyone is in the room getting ready to go, its more crowded and hetic, there usually is fewer of us going to the shows, so those that are skipping the show can get ready after those of us going are gone.

BTW: early vs. late dinner seating isn't a debate. The debate is over what is "Formal Dress" for formal and semi formal nights