First timer thoughts from 3/12 sailing on Wonder

[nvrenoughdisney]

Hi everyone,
I found these boards to be a tremendous amount of help when planning our cruise so I thought I would summarize our experience. For background, it was my family of 5 (kids 13, 11, 6). We are DVC members and travel to WDW once or twice a year, but have never done any cruises (although my husband was in the Navy so I guess that counts for him!). Sorry this ended up being so long! I tried to touch upon the questions that I had before the cruise.

1. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for two days prior to the cruise. Since there are 5 of us, it was cheaper for us to rent a car for 8 days (full size: $175) and park it in the parking garage ($80) than it was for us to use Disney transportation (or get a car service). We spent two days at the Boardwalk after the cruise and we like having a car with us so we were happy with this.

2. We left the hotel at 10:45. Our PAT was 12:30. Next time I would probably leave at 10:30. While it wasn’t crowded when we arrived at the terminal and we didn’t really have to wait in any lines, we didn’t walk onto the ship until around 12:45-12:50. Even if we were a few minutes early and couldn’t board, I wouldn’t mind the time to take some pictures. Per suggestion on the boards, I brought cash for tolls. Next time I would try to bring all quarters. Not a huge deal but less lines to wait in at the tolls if you have exact change.

3. The parking garage was super easy and there were plenty of spots. We parked on level 3 (again per suggestion here!) and that made leaving with our luggage very convenient.

4. Although we didn’t love the menu at Triton’s for the embarkation lunch, next time I would definitely choose this. Cabanas was so chaotic. I’m sure part of it was because it was our first time and we weren’t exactly sure how everything worked. However we were with friends who showed us where to go. It was just too stressful with three kids and bags, trying to find a table, get the kids their food, etc. I’m sure if my kids didn’t need help it would be a different story too. It was probably the most stressful part of the cruise.

5. We stopped by the DVC desk to get our lanyards and we went to the DVC presentation. I was a little disappointed. I knew they were going to try and sell us points but it seemed to take forever and besides the free drinks (which were great!), all we got as a rubber bracelet. Not sure I would go again.

6. We were in a family suite with verandah, room 8044. I thought there was plenty of storage space. I’ve seen posts regarding the noise from the pool deck so I’ll tell you our experience. We were right below the pool. I heard chairs scraping on two mornings (very early). One morning it woke me up, the other morning I was already awake. It wouldn’t prevent me from booking this room again, but if you are a light sleeper you might want to have a noise app on your phone.

7. Kids clubs: My youngest son (6) loved the Oceaneers club, more than the lab. He was always asking to go. My older son (11) registered for both Oceaneers lab and Edge. He did not like Oceaneers lab. Thought it was too young. He LOVED Edge. We literally never saw him. He would wait for it to open in the morning and rush to it as soon as he finished eating. My daughter (13) on the other hand did not like Edge. I admit that she didn’t give it much of a chance but there didn’t seem to be that many kids her age; they seemed on the younger side. My daughter is not very outgoing with people she doesn’t know so I’m sure it’s different for everyone. I felt like she was in the middle of the Edge group and the Vibe group, kind of a hard age.

8. We saw ¾ shows (we skipped the comedian). Thought they were great although they were a little long for our 6 year old. He chose to skip the last show and go to the kid’s club instead. My 11 year old opted out after the first night. Make sure you get there early for Frozen.

9. Disembarking was the easiest process ever. I thought it would be more chaotic. Also very easy to get to the car in the garage. We were checking into the Boardwalk by 9:00 that morning.

10. At first I wasn’t sure what the big deal about tipping was. Again, per suggestion from these boards, I brought an envelope with cash for room service and extra tips. Our servers were Kendall, Mike, and Tita. They were incredible. We tipped extra, but I still wish I was able to give them more. Our host was Falcon. He was also great although we never needed anything from him.

11. We had early seating for dinner. Next time I would choose late. Even though we didn’t do any excursions (although we did get off on Castaway Cay), it just felt too rushed. I was always worried about eating lunch too late. My son would come not hungry because he had been snacking during the day. We always like to have a drink before dinner in one of the lounges/bars and we barely had time for that.

12. I wasn’t planning on doing laundry but I ended up doing it twice. There were always open machines, even on the at sea day. Everything washed/dried fine (I had read some people having problems with the dryers).

13. My daughter and I (and one of our friends) did the Castaway Cay 5k. Super fun. Would definitely do it again. Plenty of walkers as well so there was no pressure.

14. My husband, daughter and I used the app to text each other. Very easy. My 11 year old doesn’t have a phone so we mainly used the wave phones with him. However, they were often unreliable and kind of a pain to carry around. After the first two days we just made him come and check in with us, or we would just stop by edge. I also liked being able to check the activities on the app.

15. I brought motion sickness medication but after the first night we stopped taking in. Our last night was fairly rough. My two older kids did not feel well by the end of the night. Next time I might just have them take a pill a day as a preventative measure.

16. Our sailing was completely booked. However, the only time the ship ever felt crowded was at Cabana's and in the family pools. When it was warm out, the line for the slide was always pretty long as well, which was a major disappointment for my kids. We have a pool at home so my kids wanted nothing to do with the pools. I was definitely glad about this! There was always room in/around the adult pool. The bars always seemed empty as well.

17. We booked a wine tasting on the at sea day with our friends. There was only a total of 5 of us there, and our party made up 4! It was really enjoyable and I thought it was a good value.

I think that covers it! We had an amazing time. I loved it more than I thought I would! I’m happy to answer any questions!

 

[chaseg03]

Hi everyone,
I found these boards to be a tremendous amount of help when planning our cruise so I thought I would summarize our experience. For background, it was my family of 5 (kids 13, 11, 6). We are DVC members and travel to WDW once or twice a year, but have never done any cruises (although my husband was in the Navy so I guess that counts for him!). Sorry this ended up being so long! I tried to touch upon the questions that I had before the cruise.

1. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for two days prior to the cruise. Since there are 5 of us, it was cheaper for us to rent a car for 8 days (full size: $175) and park it in the parking garage ($80) than it was for us to use Disney transportation (or get a car service). We spent two days at the Boardwalk after the cruise and we like having a car with us so we were happy with this.

2. We left the hotel at 10:45. Our PAT was 12:30. Next time I would probably leave at 10:30. While it wasn’t crowded when we arrived at the terminal and we didn’t really have to wait in any lines, we didn’t walk onto the ship until around 12:45-12:50. Even if we were a few minutes early and couldn’t board, I wouldn’t mind the time to take some pictures. Per suggestion on the boards, I brought cash for tolls. Next time I would try to bring all quarters. Not a huge deal but less lines to wait in at the tolls if you have exact change.

3. The parking garage was super easy and there were plenty of spots. We parked on level 3 (again per suggestion here!) and that made leaving with our luggage very convenient.

4. Although we didn’t love the menu at Triton’s for the embarkation lunch, next time I would definitely choose this. Cabanas was so chaotic. I’m sure part of it was because it was our first time and we weren’t exactly sure how everything worked. However we were with friends who showed us where to go. It was just too stressful with three kids and bags, trying to find a table, get the kids their food, etc. I’m sure if my kids didn’t need help it would be a different story too. It was probably the most stressful part of the cruise.

5. We stopped by the DVC desk to get our lanyards and we went to the DVC presentation. I was a little disappointed. I knew they were going to try and sell us points but it seemed to take forever and besides the free drinks (which were great!), all we got as a rubber bracelet. Not sure I would go again.

6. We were in a family suite with verandah, room 8044. I thought there was plenty of storage space. I’ve seen posts regarding the noise from the pool deck so I’ll tell you our experience. We were right below the pool. I heard chairs scraping on two mornings (very early). One morning it woke me up, the other morning I was already awake. It wouldn’t prevent me from booking this room again, but if you are a light sleeper you might want to have a noise app on your phone.

7. Kids clubs: My youngest son (6) loved the Oceaneers club, more than the lab. He was always asking to go. My older son (11) registered for both Oceaneers lab and Edge. He did not like Oceaneers lab. Thought it was too young. He LOVED Edge. We literally never saw him. He would wait for it to open in the morning and rush to it as soon as he finished eating. My daughter (13) on the other hand did not like Edge. I admit that she didn’t give it much of a chance but there didn’t seem to be that many kids her age; they seemed on the younger side. My daughter is not very outgoing with people she doesn’t know so I’m sure it’s different for everyone. I felt like she was in the middle of the Edge group and the Vibe group, kind of a hard age.

8. We saw ¾ shows (we skipped the comedian). Thought they were great although they were a little long for our 6 year old. He chose to skip the last show and go to the kid’s club instead. My 11 year old opted out after the first night. Make sure you get there early for Frozen.

9. Disembarking was the easiest process ever. I thought it would be more chaotic. Also very easy to get to the car in the garage. We were checking into the Boardwalk by 9:00 that morning.

10. At first I wasn’t sure what the big deal about tipping was. Again, per suggestion from these boards, I brought an envelope with cash for room service and extra tips. Our servers were Kendall, Mike, and Tita. They were incredible. We tipped extra, but I still wish I was able to give them more. Our host was Falcon. He was also great although we never needed anything from him.

11. We had early seating for dinner. Next time I would choose late. Even though we didn’t do any excursions (although we did get off on Castaway Cay), it just felt too rushed. I was always worried about eating lunch too late. My son would come not hungry because he had been snacking during the day. We always like to have a drink before dinner in one of the lounges/bars and we barely had time for that.

12. I wasn’t planning on doing laundry but I ended up doing it twice. There were always open machines, even on the at sea day. Everything washed/dried fine (I had read some people having problems with the dryers).

13. My daughter and I (and one of our friends) did the Castaway Cay 5k. Super fun. Would definitely do it again. Plenty of walkers as well so there was no pressure.

14. My husband, daughter and I used the app to text each other. Very easy. My 11 year old doesn’t have a phone so we mainly used the wave phones with him. However, they were often unreliable and kind of a pain to carry around. After the first two days we just made him come and check in with us, or we would just stop by edge. I also liked being able to check the activities on the app.

15. I brought motion sickness medication but after the first night we stopped taking in. Our last night was fairly rough. My two older kids did not feel well by the end of the night. Next time I might just have them take a pill a day as a preventative measure.

16. Our sailing was completely booked. However, the only time the ship ever felt crowded was at Cabana's and in the family pools. When it was warm out, the line for the slide was always pretty long as well, which was a major disappointment for my kids. We have a pool at home so my kids wanted nothing to do with the pools. I was definitely glad about this! There was always room in/around the adult pool. The bars always seemed empty as well.

17. We booked a wine tasting on the at sea day with our friends. There was only a total of 5 of us there, and our party made up 4! It was really enjoyable and I thought it was a good value.

I think that covers it! We had an amazing time. I loved it more than I thought I would! I’m happy to answer any questions!

How was the wonder as a ship? Im staring to get used to the dream class ships. I like the bigger ship feel, how was it? Im 13 so how did your 13 year old do? And btw, I was on the 3/13 sailing on the dream one day before you. thanks for answering.

 

[hanscarlet]

Great review! How was the Cfrozen show?

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

How was the wonder as a ship? Im staring to get used to the dream class ships. I like the bigger ship feel, how was it? Im 13 so how did your 13 year old do? And btw, I was on the 3/13 sailing on the dream one day before you. thanks for answering.

We loved the ship but haven't been on a larger one so we can't compare. Honestly though my kids have no desire to try the larger ships. The wonder was easy to navigate and they are a little worried the larger ships would be more overwhelming both in terms of space and people.

My daughter is 13. She loved the cruise but as I mentioned she didn't enjoy edge. She hung out with us, read a little, we played ping pong, watched movies, worked out, etc.

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Great review! How was the Cfrozen show?

We thought it was excellent! It was clever how they portrayed Olaf and the younger Anna/Elsa.

 

[bcwife76]

What did you think of Tiana's Place? I've read others' comments that they feel the restaurant is very loud. How did you find it?

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

What did you think of Tiana's Place? I've read others' comments that they feel the restaurant is very loud. How did you find it?

Well I never thought of it until you mentioned it, and this was the restaurant we ate at twice. I guess it was louder than the other two, but it wasn't so loud that we couldn't hold a conversation or anything. We were seated fairly close to the stage. I will say that I have three kids so I'm pretty used to loud!

 

[lklgoodman]

How early do you need to get in line for Frozen? We sailed on the Wonder in 2014. Back then people would line up outside the theater 20 mins before the shows, the doors wouldn't open until 5-10 mins before showtime and it was a mad dash for seats. On the Fantasy the doors were always opened and never had to line up before shows. Never had trouble getting seats. I was worried about the Fantasy being so much bigger than the Wonder and Magic. Honestly, it didn't feel a whole lot bigger. My 8 yr old knew how to get to everything after the first 2 days. We never let her go anywhere on her own, but she'd lead the way. We never had problems getting a table at Cabanas on the Fantasy, hated going there on the Wonder. We're sailing on the Wonder again next year, can't wait.

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

How early do you need to get in line for Frozen? We sailed on the Wonder in 2014. Back then people would line up outside the theater 20 mins before the shows, the doors wouldn't open until 5-10 mins before showtime and it was a mad dash for seats. On the Fantasy the doors were always opened and never had to line up before shows. Never had trouble getting seats. I was worried about the Fantasy being so much bigger than the Wonder and Magic. Honestly, it didn't feel a whole lot bigger. My 8 yr old knew how to get to everything after the first 2 days. We never let her go anywhere on her own, but she'd lead the way. We never had problems getting a table at Cabanas on the Fantasy, hated going there on the Wonder. We're sailing on the Wonder again next year, can't wait.

We headed over to the theater after dinner. I think it was probably a little after 8:00. We did wait in line for a few minutes outside the theater but doors were definitely opened sooner than 10 minutes before the show. We had no problem finding seats but people coming in after 8:15 had a harder time.

 

[chaseg03]

We loved the ship but haven't been on a larger one so we can't compare. Honestly though my kids have no desire to try the larger ships. The wonder was easy to navigate and they are a little worried the larger ships would be more overwhelming both in terms of space and people.

My daughter is 13. She loved the cruise but as I mentioned she didn't enjoy edge. She hung out with us, read a little, we played ping pong, watched movies, worked out, etc.

Edge seems to be a hit or miss, on my last cruise I was there FOREVER. My other two times were a no. I just met friends that were no joke their all day long! Edge is full of the same people. I will recommend dream class ship at some point, well worth it!

 

[LAX]

......
1. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for two days prior to the cruise. Since there are 5 of us, it was cheaper for us to rent a car for 8 days (full size: $175) and park it in the parking garage ($80) than it was for us to use Disney transportation (or get a car service). We spent two days at the Boardwalk after the cruise and we like having a car with us so we were happy with this. ......

Just curious if you had looked into two one-way rentals. I guess $255 for an 8-day rental and parking isn't so bad. I am actually looking to do something similar to what you have just done, staying at one of the villas (fellow DVCer) at WDW pre-cruise (but not post). TIA.

LAX

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Just curious if you had looked into two one-way rentals. I guess $255 for an 8-day rental and parking isn't so bad. I am actually looking to do something similar to what you have just done, staying at one of the villas (fellow DVCer) at WDW pre-cruise (but not post). TIA.

LAX

No I didn't. I'm sure it's not a big deal but I didn't want to deal with dropping off a rental before the cruise and then having to get another one after the cruise. It was so convenient to park the car and then have it there after the cruise so we could leave right away, to me it was worth it even if it cost a little more.

 

[hardis5]

What did you think of Tiana's Place? I've read others' comments that they feel the restaurant is very loud. How did you find it?

Would add to the OP's comments on it not being so loud one could not carry on a conversation, as they said it is the loudest of the three but that would be because it is the only MDR with live entertainment and a show to speak of during the meal (do not consider Animators drawings pictures to be a show like Animators on the Dream class with Crush). We sat directly beside the stage in Tiana's Place and we did not think unbearably loud. For us it was by far the most enjoyable dining room in terms of character, the space, and the music/show.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Loved your review! You hit so many interesting points, and the numbering made it easy to read. Thanks! Not too long at all. Length is no problem when you have something worthwhile to say!

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Loved your review! You hit so many interesting points, and the numbering made it easy to read. Thanks! Not too long at all. Length is no problem when you have something worthwhile to say!

Thanks! I feel like I had tons of random questions before we left so I'm happy to help others!