Late Dinner and Shows

[ClarabelleCow]

Okay, I just had a major brain fart!!! And we only did our first DCL cruise in August. We have lat seating again, so the shows are before dinner, do you go to the shows dressed for dinner, or is there time inbetween to jut go in your shorts and then after get dresssed for dinner?

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

there is time inbetween. we did it both ways on our cruise. be aware that there are characters and pictures to be taken inbetween, so you might want to be dressed and ready for dinner anyway!

 

[jordgubben]

So, with the inbetween time I guess you have time to go to some of the other shows?

 

[tvguy]

Some of the shows have a third performance AFTER late dinner....so you have that option sometimes too.

 

[debm]

We never had a 3rd performance after late seating but we did have the option of a matinee one day. We love to be able to get dressed after the shows or go to one of the family entertainment shows right before dinner. Sometimes we did dress some of us before the show just so we didn't have to all 7 be rushing around in the room to be ready. We LOVE late seating!!

 

[inkkognito]

At night it's definitely only twice at night for the main shows, although matinees are occasionally scheduled. We usually use the time inbetween to change, but there may be other activities scheduled inbetween, such as Bingo or a family game show.
Barb

 

[deedz]

Why does second seating take longer than first?
I am reading that first seating is about an hour, but second seating is much more relaxed and 2 hours??? Is that right?
My DD will never last 2 hours for dinner! 15 minutes and she's done!!!

Any all replies welcome and appreciated!

 

[inkkognito]

Second seating typically runs longer because they don't have to worry about "turning over" the dining room for the next set of diners. If you want to be in and out quickly, let your serving team know and they will adjust their page. They usually bring out the children's meals more quickly anyway.
Barb

 

[Hollyster2]

Why does second seating take longer than first?
I am reading that first seating is about an hour, but second seating is much more relaxed and 2 hours??? Is that right?
My DD will never last 2 hours for dinner! 15 minutes and she's done!!!

Any all replies welcome and appreciated!

How old is your DD? That wasn't a problem at all for us! My four year old was so entertained and looked so forward to interacting with our servers she didn't miss a dinner! She did however, leave the table early once or twice. The servers don't make the children wait...especially since we had a group of 8. She would enjoy her mickey mouse chicken noodle soup appetizer, have her mickey nuggets with her ketchup poured in the shape of mickey, and then they always remembered she liked her vanilla ice-cream with whipped cream and sprinkles. If she wanted to leave early, my DH or I would quick walk her to the clubs. Not a problem, and I did it without my dinner getting cold either! Really, we always will choose late seating!

 

[allears]

We've always done late seating and we started when my youngest son was 4 or 5. He always did great. The meal doesn't have to take two hours, you can also determine your pace. Let you server know if you'd like to be in and out quickly. We always linger over the meal and spend time chatting with our team, so we tend to close the dining rooms. It's one of the many things we like about late seating, since they don't have to get you out to get ready for the next seating.

We usually dress for the show. One reason is for us, we enjoy going to the theatre dressed nicely, just makes it more of an occassion for us. We also always take in the family cabaret show, game show or whatever event may be going on in between the first show and second seating. But you also have time to go back and get changed. The longest show isn't quite an hour, so there is at least that much time to stroll to the state room and change. So you can handle this whatever way works best for that day.

 

[mmouse37]

First seating definately takes longer than 1 hour...closer to 1.5 hours or more. Early dining is at 6:00, late at 8:30. We always get late dining and are usually out by 10:00 pm, sometimes we linger longer if we want.


MJ

 

[lbgraves]

We also have had first seating and never got out of the dining rooms in an hour. I did get DS to the club after 45 minutes though. We tended to be there 1 1/2 - 2 hours as well. Our server Rudy never rushed us out and we weren't the last table to leave either. We usually go get pictures with the characters done after dinner & before the show. I am really hoping that we do NOT get stuck with late dining on our next cruise. The only thing that I am thinking might be better with late is that we can get more pictures done before the show, after the 6:00 diners leave the lines to go to the dining room. We found this to be the case on the night we went to Palo and skipped our seating. We took the kids downstairs at 6 and there were very short lines for pictures.