August 21 Day at Sea 2 That Time I Got Recruited for The Avengers
This was our LAST DAY on the Disney Magic!
I woke up around 6 and it was just early enough to see the sunrise on the balcony.
As always, my first order of business was heading to the Cove Cafe for my Iced Salted Caramel Coconut Latte, and I ran right back down to Deck 3 afterwards just to sit in a porthole and enjoy the ocean rolling by on a quiet morning before the rest of the ship woke up.
While nobody was at Guest Services, I stopped there to have my Disney Reward Dollar balance added to my stateroom credit. This is what I love about being a Disney Visa cardholder– I would put payments for the cruise on my card, which would pay itself back in Disney Reward Dollars, which eventually ended up covering about $200 worth of charges for the room!
Cabanas was now open, and being that it was our last full day on board, that could only mean one thing: Churro Mickey Waffles time. I piled up a plate, found a cozy table near the window where I could enjoy the waves rolling by, and had some breakfast.
This breakfast was a bit better than my previous one at the buffet, as everything was hot and fresh. The only thing I disliked was the runny eggs. I think they actually called them something like “wet” or “fluffy”, they weren’t for me.
The Churro Mickey Waffles were the star. They were very good! Not as good as the Crystal Palace ones, but still one of the best things I ate at Cabanas.
When I was done eating breakfast, it was time for me to get in line for one of the most popular character M&Gs on the ship. They were doing some Marvel M&Gs and I wanted to meet Captain America.
The Marvel characters had very limited M&G opportunities on my sailing. Originally, they only had one M&G session, but they added a second one when we got a second day of sea. That meant the lines to meet the heroes were very, very long. These were characters you wanted to get in line for at least half an hour before they were scheduled to start.
I got in line for Captain America 20-ish minutes before he was supposed to start meeting and it was almost too late, the line was pretty deep and I was one of the last guests in his line. But two of my favorite memories from this cruise came from waiting in line to meet Captain America – meeting Tristan and meeting Cynsere!
Both of them were entertainment cast members. Tristan was walking up and down the line assisting guests, and Cynsere was at the end of the line with Captain America. I had wonderful conversations with both. Tristan and I had a heart-to-heart about working for Disney – about my past life as a Character Attendant, our mutual past lives as theatre kids, and about how much I miss the Disney magic. It was the second conversation I’ve had with a Cast Member in the past year where they encouraged me to work for the Mouse again. It was really sweet.
Again, Cynsere was at the end of the line, but we ended up having a conversation about our respective schools. He went to school for musical theatre and I went to Pace, a school in NYC that has a well-respected musical theatre program, so we ended up connecting over that. He was just another fun, lovely Cast Member to speak to and I’m glad I met him and Tristan both!
So when it was finally time for me to meet the Captain, he mentioned that he overheard me talking to Cynsere about NYC and he asked if I was from there. I explained that I was from New Jersey but I lived in NYC when I went to Pace. Then he said that one of the Avengers recruiters worked at Pace and asked if I wanted to join the Avengers.
“I would, but I don’t have super powers.” I confessed.
“Well, do you have any skills?” He asked.
I thought about it for a second.
“I talk a lot. Is talking a skill? Singing? Dancing?” I tried.
Somehow or another we got back to talking about New York and Brooklyn and my friend who lived in Staten Island, and the Captain and I agreed we’d have to see each other soon when we were back in the Big Apple.
The rest of the family was at the pool and I wanted to be there so bad, but Spiderman was going to be meeting in ~an hour and a half-ish and he was the one character I really, really wanted to meet so I killed time by doing a craft at O’Gill’s Pub.
If we’re being honest, I wanted to do more crafts on this cruise, but every time my mom, Grace, or I peeked into a crafting room, it always seemed to be kinda lame (no offense to the incredible Activities CMs). For the final day, they had a “memory page” craft where you basically got a piece of scrapbooking paper and they had stickers, gems, and markers to decorate it so you could commemorate your vacation.
I grabbed a piece of paper, some markers, and a glue stick, and I got to work. I didn’t necessarily want the finished product, but what I loved about crafting was that it offered a low-stimulation activity for those who were tired of the chaos of the pool deck. Sometimes I just need to sit in a quiet room and draw something, you know?
That ate like 45 minutes of my time and then I went back up to the Marvel M&G area so I could get in line for Spiderman.
He pointed out that my shirt was red and blue and he was like, “We’re matching! Have you been bitten by any radioactive bugs?”
I was like, “No, I figured there’d be a radioactive fly on Lookout Cay but that kind of went out the window.”
He was like, “Well, it kinda really hurt, so I’m glad you didn’t. But do you at least know how to make spider webs?”
Of course I did!
So adorable! Love my friendly neighborhood Spiderman.
I was really eager to get to the pool deck for some lunch and swimming, so I got changed and headed up. I decided I’d get a hot dog at Duck-In Diner for lunch instead of grabbing a plate at Cabana’s.
This was fine, pretty good for a pool hot dog I guess. I spent some time swimming with the family, but they wanted to see the Jack-Jack Diaper Dash and I kind of wanted to stay in the water for a little bit. So I swam, I got my last ice cream cone from Eye Scream, and then I headed to the Rainforest Room for the very last time. I was in there for a while, actually, and took a really nice nap on the heated loungers before I thanked the Senses front desk team for such a wonderful week on the cruise and headed back down to the stateroom.
What great character and CM interactions! I always make a point to talk with the CM's (especially the ones on the college program) when I'm down at Disney. I ask them about their school and what they are studying. They spend so much time making magic for others, I want them to be able to feel special for a brief moment. And I'm jealous (again) about your nap in the rainforest room. It sounds heavenly!
You got great character photos! I'm glad since you spent a chunk of time in line. Your day sounds great so far. Even though you're there with your family, I like how you all do your own thing. After your early morning, the nap was perfect. Hope the rest of your last day on board is good!
What great character and CM interactions! I always make a point to talk with the CM's (especially the ones on the college program) when I'm down at Disney. I ask them about their school and what they are studying. They spend so much time making magic for others, I want them to be able to feel special for a brief moment. And I'm jealous (again) about your nap in the rainforest room. It sounds heavenly!
I love that you ask about their school & major! I remember being on my DCP and I always loved when people stopped to ask about my school and my program!
You got great character photos! I'm glad since you spent a chunk of time in line. Your day sounds great so far. Even though you're there with your family, I like how you all do your own thing. After your early morning, the nap was perfect. Hope the rest of your last day on board is good!
Now It's Time to Say Goodbye to All Our Company...
When I got back to the stateroom, Grace was taking a nap and our host had dropped off our disembarkation luggage tags, our tipping envelopes, and because we had pre-paid our gratuities, our tip “tickets” that we would put in said envelopes to deliver to our dining team that night (and leave out for our host).
Now came the challenge of packing everything back up. We were in a bit of a time crunch, as our luggage had to be left outside of our stateroom door by I believe 7 PM? Or 8 PM? And with a 5:30 dining time, that didn’t leave us any time to pack between dinner and the 8:30 stage show, so I spent about an hour packing up everything into my suitcase and my day bag.
Grace decided to take a nap halfway through packing, but when the rest of us were finished, we decided to head down to the atrium. Mom and I had important business to attend to as we headed to the guest services desk and booked our placeholders (for some reason, mom was having trouble reserving it on her phone). Coincidentally, that was the day that they dropped Fall 2026-Spring 2027 itineraries, so we spent some time looking at those during our final dinner service to discuss when we’d sail next!
After we booked two placeholders for our next cruise, we had to visit Shutters. We swore that we had purchased the photo package for my stateroom before the cruise, but it looks like we didn’t. We ended up buying it then and there – it is technically more money to purchase it on the ship, but I got a Disney Visa discount, so it netted out to about the same as the pre-sailing price. We also bought one of the prints of the four of us at dinner and a cute little book to go with it.
When we were finished at Shutters, we heard some commotion happening in the Atrium lobby. On our sailing’s Facebook group, the women were organizing a prank for their husbands where they’d all wear the same shirt on the last night of the cruise and then go down to the atrium, where they’d each be so confused to see so many other guys in the same shirt! Here’s the photo session of the finished product.
This was really funny to watch, as every time a straggler walked out of the elevators wearing the same shirt, all the guys would cheer and you could see the confusion on his face as he walked up to the group to get into the photo.
SO good.
Grace came downstairs as this was happening, and it was almost time for us to head to our final dinner of the cruise. But first, we took some photos of our own in front of the statue:
Finishing up these photos at 5:30 gave us the perfect opportunity to be waiting outside the Lumiere’s doors for our last dinner. We had previously enjoyed breakfast here, as well as the Let the Magic Begin menu on embarkation evening, but now it was time for us to enjoy the restaurant’s regular dining service – an elegant, french-inspired menu to make our last evening a little more special.
The dining room is Beauty & the Beast themed (as you’d imagine), and maybe not the most interesting or beautiful dining room in the DCL fleet, but I do I love the chandeliers with the roses:
Tonight’s bread service was a warm French bread with an olive spread:
This was incredible! This was my favorite bread service of the cruise. The olive dip was so salty and delicious. It reminded me a bit of the oil that they used to serve at a chain restaurant called Carabba’s that was near me when I was younger.
I ordered two appetizers, the Escargot and the Duck Confit.
This was my first time trying escargot. I decided to give it a try because not only was it free, every review I saw raved about it and how mild the dish was, so it sounded like I might enjoy it. I did not, friends. I am not an Escargot girl it seems! I didn’t love the texture or the taste of the snails, so I had one and then this got handed off to dad, who finished it.
I don’t know what I was expecting with the Duck Confit but this was just a glorified chicken salad. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t very exciting or visually appealing and I don’t think I’d get it again.
I had a bite of Grace’s appetizer, the Fried Brie, and I thought it was good. Grace & dad thought it was outstanding, I thought it was flavorful if not a little greasy. Mom had the french onion soup and she really liked that, too.
For dinner, I had the Roasted Rack of Lamb with Dauphinose Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and a Burgundy Rosemary Sauce.
Those Brussels sprouts…. lol.
I ordered this as it was a high recommendation from our server and it was a dumb thing for me to do. I like lamb, but I don’t love it, and I think there were better options for me on the menu. Don’t get me wrong, these were beautiful lamb chops and there was nothing wrong with them, but it’s just not my favorite meat. They were well-marbled and cooked perfectly and I love the crunchy green stuff on the side, so if you love lamb, I’m sure you’ll love these. Also, the potatoes were so yummy, very flavorful and fragrant. But if I could do this night over again, I would have chosen the Crispy Duck entree, which was my first choice until our server recommended the lamb.
For dessert, I indulged in the Tiramisu Mocha Latte, which is one of the coffee drinks the MDRs offer at an additional charge. This is a hot latte with Tiramisu syrup and chocolate sauce. This was very yummy! I love chocolate and espresso so this was fine by me.
I also ordered the Gran Marnier souffle.
Didn’t love it. I know, I know! This is one of those cult desserts on DCL – but it just wasn’t for me. I thought the vanilla souffle itself was bland and the citrusy notes in the Gran Marnier sauce did not help.
What I did love, however, was the fork full I had of dad’s Chocolate Opera Gateau. SO delicious. It’s a cake but there are layers soaked in coffee, almost like a tiramisu, and a rich chocolate ganache, and buttercream frosting… ugh, so good! It was one of the best desserts I had on board, and I only had a bite of it!
So Lumiere’s ended up being my least favorite of the MDR dinners, but this one is on me. I chose poorly this evening. The things I enjoyed – Grace’s fried brie, dad’s Opera Gateau, and even a bite of the steak mom ordered – were the things I picked off of my family’s plates. I usually loved everything that our server recommended, but if I’m ever at Lumiere’s again, I’ll go with my gut and order the duck entree (and that gateau!)
We would see our Server, Assistant Server, and Head Server the next morning for breakfast, but of course we took the time this evening to thank them for everything and hand them their gratuity envelopes. It was so sad that our time on the ship was coming to an end!
After we left Lumiere’s, Grace and I had important business to attend – 2010s Music Trivia at O’Gill’s Pub. And on our way over, we ran into THIS DIVA…
Our Cruise Director Ann!!!! She rocked! It was so great talking to her!
After we thanked Ann for being so awesome, we made it to O’Gill’s for 2010s trivia. We were SO pumped for this one. With me being in high school in the 2010s and Grace being in Middle School, we felt like we had this one in the bag.
WRONG. We were embarrassingly bad at this trivia. There wasn’t a single One Direction song… very sad.
After our last trivia, it was time for us to head to the theatre for the third and final Broadway-style show. We got in line ~20 minutes before the show started and found some seats. Ya’ll… the boat was ROCKING this evening. It was crazy, definitely the worst night as far as movement goes. We were swaying in our seats and having trouble keeping our balance when we stood up!
Rocking aside, Dreams was very good. This was an original show with an original storyline that featured songs & characters from all of your favorite Disney movies. The story itself isn’t anything super exciting, but the musical numbers were giving me chills! I really enjoyed it and DCL’s stage shows really are Broadway quality between the special effects, choreography, costume, sets, and of course – the performers!
After we got out of Dreams, we didn’t have much time before we had to go to the last activity of the cruise… a very sad, very sweet experience in the atrium called “Mickey’s Goodbye.”
As our wonderful week on the Magic came to a close, Mickey Mouse and all of his friends came out to say one last goodbye to everyone. We gathered in the atrium and cheered for not only Mickey & his pals, but also the entire entertainment team, who came out in their costumes from their different stage shows!
Mickey’s Goodbye is your one last chance to meet the characters while you’re on the ship. It’s a bit of a chaotic scene, but if there’s anyone who you missed on the boat earlier this week, you’ll be able to meet the fab five, the princesses, and even some of your favorite entertainment cast members in their costumes from the shows.
Coincidentally, the three cast members who I wanted to see – Tristan, Cynsere, and Meg – were all meeting together in their Twice Charmed costumes. I said goodbye to them and it was really nice to be able to thank them for being so great throughout the week. I love this photo!
Then I gave Pluto a big hug, since his line was so short.
And then, of course – I had to thank the big cheese himself for the best week ever.
Finally, they called all of the characters and cast members back up to the staircase so we could sing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song and finally say “See ya real soon!” to all of our friends.
It was SO sad but so sweet! I love that they do this – it’s like the kiss goodnight at Magic Kingdom, but even sadder because you’re with all of the guests and cast members you just had the best week in the world with.
Before I headed up to the stateroom to go to sleep, I decided I’d head to Mickey’s Mainsail one last time before they closed. I had been going back and forth on this sweater all week long and decided I’d snag it while there was still one in my size left, and I also got this cute key chain so I could carry my memories with this cruise with me every time I got in my car. And a pin for good measure.
Grace was back in our stateroom when I made my way up, and we ordered one last round of chocolate chip cookies before we went to sleep.
Thank you very much my friend! About to drop one last updates that covers disembarkation, our day at WDW/MNSSHP, and the drive home and then I'll post some final thoughts that talk about upcoming vacations!
August 22-24
Disembarkation, Boardwalk, MNSSHP, and Driving Home
I set my alarm for 6:00 AM on disembarkation day. Since we were part of the first dinner rotation, we’d also have breakfast and get off the boat first, too. Breakfast for us was at 7:00, and I got up so quickly that I decided I’d grab one last coffee at Cove Cafe before we headed down to Lumiere’s.
I ran up to deck 9 and ordered my last Iced Salted Caramel Coconut latte and it came with a very bittersweet gift. I don’t know if I mentioned this earlier, but every time you bought a specialty coffee at Cove Cafe, you got a stamp on your punch card like most local coffee stores do to reward loyal customers. With my drink on disembarkation morning, I filled my punch card, so when I get on my next cruise, I’ll be able to start it off with a free Iced Salted Caramel Coconut latte!
I thanked the baristas for being so great to talk to and wished them well and then ran back downstairs. We were in a time crunch, so we grabbed our bags, did a final sweep of the stateroom to ensure we weren’t leaving anything behind, and then headed down to Lumiere’s.
Much like the embarkation day lunch, disembarkation day breakfast left a lot to be desired – it was a very small menu and the food was not great, I had some plain pancakes that were just okay and they didn’t come with any breakfast meat. We hugged our Assistant Server as we said goodbye to her, thanked our Server and Head Server for all of their hard work during our sailing. But we mostly just sat there and tried to get excited for MNSSHP through our sadness.
Finally, we heard those sad, un-magical words– “All guests with luggage tags that are Gray with Daisy Duck are clear to disembark” – and it was time for us to leave the ship.
I don’t cry a lot leaving the Parks anymore knowing that I’ll be back so frequently. But I did cry on the walk from Lumieres off the boat. I was so sad to be leaving! We had such a great week, it was really everything that I wanted out of the cruise and more.
I do have to commend Disney for how quickly the disembarkation process goes. We didn’t do any waiting, like at all. Our bags were easy to find when we got back into the terminal and there were plenty of porters to help us get our bags back to our truck. Customs? No line, and it took us maybe 30 seconds a person to scan in and officially be back in the U.S.
Our porter helped us bring our bags back to our truck and it was time for us to head to Walt Disney World for one last day of fun before we headed back to New Jersey!
The drive from Port Canaveral to WDW was short – I’m pretty sure we left at 8:15 and were at our resort by 9:30, which included a stop at a gas station once we arrived in Orlando.
We were checking off a bucket-list resort hotel for me this time! We were spending the night at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, which we’ve visited several times but never stayed at until this trip.
Grace was hungry (understandably, as it was a really sad breakfast) and our room wasn’t ready yet, so she got a breakfast sandwich from the Boardwalk Deli and I looked around some of the stores. Our room ended up being ready by 10, and we were able to head there.
This is 2334, a standard room at the Boardwalk!
Loved the room except for the location. We were on the same floor as the lobby, which was great, but we were very far away from the Lobby down the labyrinth of hallways. That’s really the only con I have for resorts like the Boardwalk, AKL, and Wilderness Lodge that are all in one building. It’s great to be covered and in air conditioning, but navigating these maze-like resorts at the end of a long night can sometimes be worse than walking to a building that’s just a few feet away from the lobby!
But it really was a gorgeous room. Big, spacious, and beautiful. This artwork was so cute!
We had SO much time before the party and mom & Grace both wanted to swim. I did, too, but I didn’t have a bathing suit, so I had to head to the Screen Door General Store. That meant another loooooooong walk to the General Store and back. That was another thing I disliked – you had to go outside of the main lobby to visit the stores and enjoy most of the dining. I grabbed a bathing suit they had in my size and headed back so I could visit the pool with mom & Grace, where we sat in the hot tub and discussed what our next cruise would be! We were at the “quiet pool,” which was close to our room, but I wish we could have spent some time at the circus pool.
It started to thunder, so we had to get out of the pool, and we dried off for some lunch. We walked over to the Boardwalk Deli, where everyone got a sandwich except for Grace. I had the chicken salad wrap. I thought the wrap itself was fine, actually kind of perfect for a post-pool lunch, but I noticed that the home-made potato chips they offered with this dish last year have already been subbed out for pre-packaged bags of kettle-cooked potato chips. I always hate seeing Disney restaurants cut corners, especially at restaurants like the Boardwalk Deli, where the menu is so small that you really notice the details like this.
We took a long, long break after lunch. Everyone took a shower and a big NAP, which we desperately needed before spending the rest of the night at Magic Kingdom.
We got ready and left the hotel by bus at 4:00-ish so we could party hard at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party!
We got into the Park without incident and our first stop was saying hello to Cruella de Vil on our way through the first “treat trail.”
The park was PACKED this afternoon. We went into the Emporium first to see if there was anything we wanted. Nothing stuck out to me but I know the ‘rents were eyeing up that jack-o-lantern Mickey wreath that they eventually bought at the end of the night.
Dad wanted to see the flag retreat but Grace, mom & I had other plans. I went to get some caffeine from Starbucks, mom & Grace went to shop around some of the stores on the right side of Main St USA.
I got my iced Pumpkin Spice Latte and then we reunited!
While dad was watching the flag retreat, the rest of us went on our first ride of the night, Pirates of the Caribbean.
Dad was waiting for us at the exit of PoTC and we decided to head towards Frontierland. We let dad lead the charge while mom & I lingered behind and schemed about what we would do for dinner. We put our names on the waitlist for Liberty Tree Tavern – it looked like it was about to rain, badly, so we figured a nice, long break at LTT wouldn’t hurt us. They gave us an estimated wait time of 40 minutes, which was fine by us.
Once we got to Frontierland, dad found a new shop with a bunch of hats in it. This is no surprise. If there are hats for sale somewhere, my dad will find them, and he will want to buy them. It looks like they took out the confectionery case/candy store in Frontierland and replaced it with this hat store, actually, which I didn’t even know they did. I’m pretty sure this store is run by the same team that runs the hat store in Disney Springs (Chapel Hats), because they had the same assortment and the CMs were all wearing their Green IDs (third-party CM cards).
He bought a hat here and then we went to Country Bear Musical Jamboree, which I love almost as much as I love the original Country Bear Jamboree.
While we were watching CBMJ, we got the table-ready text for LTT. The sky had opened up and it was pouring, so we took a brisk walk through the rain up to the restaurant!
We’ve loved LTT for years, we’re big fans of Thanksgiving in this house so I’ll never turn down some stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.
The menu hasn’t changed since we last visited – we started with the declaration salad + rolls, then the patriot’s platter (turkey, pot roast, pork loin, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and macaroni and cheese), and of course, ooey-gooey toffee cake for dessert!
Everything was just average this trip. The pot roast and the macaroni were still very good, just like I remembered them to be, but there was something off about the rolls tonight and some things were lukewarm. Heartbreakingly, the toffee cake was just wrong tonight. Ice cold, rock hard, and small. Potentially due to us having such a late, last-minute seating, as the restaurant closed at 6.
Once we finished eating, we did Haunted Mansion with a very reasonable wait, and then we went to Memento Mori to buy some ponchos, as the showers would be continuing all night.
With our ponchos, our next stop was “it’s a small world.” My homeland! I really wanted to hear the verse that they recently added and it looked like that was not the only update they made. Everything was much cleaner and more colorful – a lot of love was put into this ride recently, which makes me very happy.
We did some treat trails after that, namely Philharmagic and Princess Fairytale Hall, where I stopped to get a photo with Maleficent.
“For your castle walls?” She asked after I took my portrait. “Don’t you think this one could use some redecorating?”
We met Anastasia, Drizella, and Lady Tremaine after that. We only had Photopass taken which I did not download, so I don’t have photos, but it was mostly Anastasia and I talking about the word “Diva” while Drizella and Lady Tremaine hung out with the rest of the family.
We were so close to Storybook Treats that I made a pit stop for the only MNSSHP snack I really wanted to try this year, which was the Not-So-Poison-Apple donut holes. These were awesome! They were hot and fresh.
From there, we didn’t really know what to do, but the family decided they wanted to go to Tomorrowland. They wanted to go on Peoplemover, and I will never miss an opportunity to do Space Mountain with the lights off during its MNSSHP overlay, so we split again. When I got out of Space, I texted the family to see where they were at, and they said they were on Main Street to watch the fireworks. Fireworks crowds are a no-go for me, so I said I’d stand back in Tomorrowland while they were happening. I did the Monsters Inc treat trail twice, then I did Peoplemover while the fireworks were going on.
As the crowds were clearing out for fireworks, Grace text me that the family was tired and headed back to the hotel. I decided to hang back for a bit, I still had some juice left and I figured it would be better to just let them hash it out for who would shower and use the sink area first while I was out of the room.
I went to Tron next while the wait time was still low from the fireworks crowd, then I did some more treat trails in Fantasyland (Storybook Circus and the other side of PFTH with Evil Queen), and then I went on 7DMT since the wait time was short there as well.
After 7DMT, I eventually decided I was tapped out and started walking towards the front of the park. I did a sweep of the Emporium and I didn’t see anything I loved. As I was heading out of the Emporium, Main Street was kind of tied up while the second Boo to You Parade was coming through. With very limited options for getting from the Emporium to the front of the park, I just decided to watch the remainder of the parade from one of the little cattle corrals they set up for people on Main Street. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?
I decided to take one last pit stop at the end of the night and it was to get a custom popcorn mix from the Confectionary. This ended up being my longest line of the evening. No bueno. It was ultimately worth it, though. I got the “Starlight Mix” commemorating the new parade and it slapped. Fresh popcorn with that sweet, sugar-crusted colored flavoring over it, m&ms, sprinkles, some type of chocolate drizzle, and glitter! It was really good.
I considered it a 10/10 night at MNSSHP, but maybe it's because I've done it so often that my expectations are tempered. Crowd control seemed great, I got to do a handful of really fun things, and my family was really happy. Weather wasn't challenging to navigate and didn't seem to impact too many things once the party started (although I'm sure the Headless Horseman didn't get to ride this night -- boo!)
I took the next bus home to the Boardwalk, got into my PJs, and then enjoyed one of the best parts of staying at Disney hotel … watching Mickey shorts with a snack before you go to sleep.
We woke up at 7:00 the next morning, by 7:45 we had grabbed coffee and brought our luggage to the truck to check out and start heading home.
Overall? Don’t need to stay at the Boardwalk immediately again. It is a pleasant & pretty hotel but I think there are better options in the Deluxe price range. Quick service options were not great, walk to the merchandise store(s) were long, and both of those required a walk outside. Hallways were long and getting to/from our room was not fun. If we stay on this lake again, I want to stay at Beach Club.
Anyway, my dad has this “new”ish tradition at the end of the trip where he stops at the Epcot resort area speedway, gases up, and gets his truck washed at the auto car wash station. I guess his truck is always covered with pollen from being outside all week and he just likes having it cleaned before we go. Then we hit the road headed North!
It was actually a pretty pleasant drive home, which it normally isn’t. We stopped for Buc-ee’s in Florida around 9:30 and I was starving, so I was happy to grab a brisket sandwich and snacks for the road. I remember stopping for dinner at McDonalds but not much else. We made good time, we got home around 5 or 6 in the morning after driving straight through which I think is a record for us.
And THAT finally concludes the story of our trip! I’ll be back soon with a pretty lengthy “final thoughts” post in the conclusion!
Thank you so much for reading along! We'll be back at the World in early May!
The Starlight mix was soooo good! They honest have great mixes for every season, if you don't see the Starlight one during your trip I would just ask for what's in season and they'll hook you up with something else that's equally delicious!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I’m thankful for so much, especially all of my friends on the DIS. Hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones.
We have reached the end of another Trip Report! And my first Cruise report, at that! I have quite a few thoughts on this new experience, but before I dive into them, I think it’s time to give you some updates on the next trips on our docket and some life-happenings lately. I realized as I was wrapping up that I didn’t pepper in any life updates on this TR and there are certainly things I need to update you on!
The four of us are just about 5 months from our 2026 trip to Walt Disney World Resort. Things are very simple this time around. Staying at the Poly, possibly doing a Disney After Hours event (we think Hollywood Studios). We’ll be there over Cinco de Mayo and May the Fourth, which will be really fun.
We are also about a year and a half away from our next cruise! We pretty much booked that bounceback immediately and we are very excited for our next sailing, which will take place over my 30th birthday! I’ll be spending my 30th on the Disney Fantasy, which is really exciting. This is the ship that I really wanted to sail on for this trip, but she was in Europe for a little while and just came back to the states recently. It’ll be the same itinerary and hopefully, knock on wood, we’ll get to go to Lookout Cay this time! This is going to be a really unique trip for my family. Mom and dad will be in one stateroom and I will be in another stateroom with my best friend from growing up, Molly, who I’m really excited to introduce you all to. I think Molly and I will likely fly in a few days before the cruise and hopefully enjoy Epic Universe and a day at Magic Kingdom before we set sail.
You’re probably wondering now “well, what about Grace?” and I think that is a good pivot to some life updates. I am just over the moon to introduce you all to Grace’s fiancé, Jake!
They've been together for about 3 years, moved into their new apartment earlier this year, and got engaged at the beginning of September. We really could not be any happier. Jake is terrific, as is his entire family. He has also never been to Disney, but he’s excited to be married into a Disney-loving family and join us on future trips! Hopefully, you’ll all get to know Jake virtually over the years as I continue to write more trip reports with our expanding family. As far as the 2027 cruise goes, Jake & Grace unfortunately won’t be coming with us. The big day is scheduled for early 2027, so they’ll be honeymooning when this trip is supposed to come around for the rest of us.
(Speaking of the big day – Grace asked me to be on “Maid of Honor” duty tonight before we carved the turkey. She cried, I cried, we all cried. It’ll be the greatest honor of my life, no pun intended. I can't wait for the big day!)
I think that’s really the only major update I have, so we can go back to the real conclusion of this report, where I want to give some general thoughts on my first Disney sailing. We’re going to break this down into sections.
THE SHIP
I adored the Magic for so many reasons. I would sail with her again in a heartbeat, but I’ll start off this section by saying that this poor girl is showing her age She is a 28 year old ship and showing serious wear-and-tear. We covered off on the midship elevator incident already, but there were other things happening all around the Magic at all hours. Multiple automatic doors leading to the outer decks broken all week long with maintenance crews being unable to fix them for more than an hour or two, staircases having odd “bumps” in them you’d have to watch out for, staircases being curtained off and repaired in the middle of the day. Other recent Magic cruisers have reported sewage smell issues in their staterooms, especially on deck 6. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter this in my stateroom, but I did notice a very faint sewage smell in public areas from time-to-time. She is just an old girl with old girl problems.
WIth that being said, I loved absolutely everything else about her and wouldn’t have wanted to sail on any other ship. There’s so much vintage, old-school 90’s Disney charm in every corner. The Triton class ships are marvelous and have insane feats of imagineering all around them, but there is just so much heart and classic Disney love in this boat. With the exception of Rapunzel’s Royal Table, everything screams “golden era Disney” and I love her for that.
Our Staterooms were great. Loved the split bathrooms. Deck 6, Midship, Starboard side was perfect. We are looking forward to trying a different category – Admiral’s Balcony – on our Fantasy sailing, which is Forward but still Starboard so we can have that great view of Castaway Cay.
All of the amenities she offered ranged from “fine” to “outstanding.” I do wish her pool area and waterslides were as cool as they were on the newer ships, and there were some things about the food situation I’ll talk about in the next section, but everything else was cozy and charming.
Say what you want about how cool and elegant and modern the newer ships are, but they will never beat Magic in terms of how easy it is to get around the ship. The Triton layouts with their lack of midship elevators, multiple counter-intuitive dead ends, and bottlenecking in hallways and stairbanks is absurd to me. And I know I brought this up during the first few updates, but I really hate that instead of giving the new ships an adult district, they scattered everything all around the ship. It’s a convenience thing but it’s also a boundary thing – they serve the same purpose to adults that Oceaneers Lab does for kids. It gives us a designated space to socialize and explore common interests together. So, Magic: you win for the sake of deck plan design.
I liked the Quiet Cove a lot but it was busier than I thought it would be. We had a hard time finding loungers out here and would usually put our bags on a table on the outer deck by the “windows”. But as far as the area itself goes, it was one of my favorites on the ship. I liked that the pool had an edge you could sunbathe on, personally I liked getting into the pool and finding a spot to hang on that edge but it got crowded sometimes. The Goofy Pool was fun, too, but I was only in there once. I did love Funnelvision, particularly at night, where I could enjoy an ice cream cone and sit on a chair and watch whatever movie was on.
The stores were fine. Nothing really remarkable about shopping on the Magic but I came home with the souvenirs I wanted. There are more places to shop on the other ships but I really didn’t need more than some shirts and DCL-related chachkies. Everyone on my DCL related FB groups warned that certain things (ship collectibles, loungeflys, etc) would sell out and you needed to rope drop the stores on Embarkation Day for them, but I found that even the hot commodities were mostly in stock all week, with only one or two certain collectibles getting sparse by the final evening. I will say that if you are shopping for a certain size in clothing (which, it is VERY nice and surprising that DCL shirts go all the way up to a 4XL), you will want to get anything larger than a L as soon as as possible, as certain sizing becomes hard to find later on in the sailing.
The Rainforest Room was a highlight for me. I didn’t really care that it was the smallest Rainforest Room out of every ship in Disney’s fleet, I never had to fight for a stone lounger and was actually the only person in that room on several occasions. I brought the question of “should I buy a weekly pass” to TikTok before the cruise and people were really divided on it, with some people suggesting I buy a day pass when I got on the ship, but I am glad I bought the weekly pass. Some people suggested that I likely wouldn’t be there every day, but no – I was there every single day, in the afternoon, after pool time. Actually, I don’t think there is a better feeling on earth than baking in the sun on the pool deck for a few hours and then detoxing in the sauna and napping on a stone lounger. Oh my god, the heated stone loungers. I want one in my home. I am very giddy to try the newly-enhanced Fantasy Rainforest Room with whirlpools and cooler sauna options but to me, the Magic’s tiny Rainforest Room was well worth the $99 for 5 days herself. My little slice of heaven.
As for the actual services that Senses offers – the massages, facials, etc. – I don’t think I could ever personally book one here. Not only are the services ridiculously expensive, the hard up-selling of add-ons and products is a big issue here. I know there are many, many CMs who don’t do this, but there was a horror story in my sailing’s FB group after we got off board where a woman was asking for advice on being charged for a different, more expensive massage than she booked and felt like she had been “tricked” by the CM. Mom & dad did a tour of Senses while I was meeting Minnie on Embarkation Day and said that they were pressured hard to book & buy. If everything from products to services wasn’t so ridiculously expensive, I almost wouldn’t care, but I am simply too impulsive and too easy to persuade to book anything other than the Rainforest Room here.
My favorite thing about her is that she really is just the perfect size. I’m so relieved to hear we’re getting a new ship class that is similar to her own, because I think I’ll be in heaven sailing on a ship that has the amenities & enhancements of 2025 on a 1998-sized ship. Smaller ships = smaller crowds on Castaway Cay, easier to navigate, and less crew, which gave me a great opportunity to bond with really special crew members.
Other than the wear and tear – she is just perfect. I love the Disney Magic and I hope I can sail with her again soon!
THE FOOD
Very, very good. Outstanding, actually, in 9/10 cases. I thought the Main Dining Rooms were all incredible. My last evening at Lumiere’s was only a small miss due to user error and I will even forgive RRT’s embarkation lunch menu, since the lunch menu for the rest of the days on board looked so much better.
We will not do 5:45 PM seating again. It was too early for us and we felt like it was disruptive to our day – more on that in a few paragraphs, but we’re excited for 8:15 seating on the Fantasy.
I will miss Rapunzel’s Royal Table dearly when I sail on the Fantasy next, as it really doesn’t have a comparable “character” dining room, even if Animator’s Palate has some fun interactive features. I really thought the three dining rooms were perfect and each offered something that was unique. Not to judge Fantasy unfairly but Royal Court and Enchanted Garden look very similar, with Royal Court’s menu being identical to Lumiere’s. Enchanted Garden – while being a beautiful and interesting dining room – is also quite similar with a French-inspired menu. The variety is much wider between the three MDRs on the Disney Magic.
Food quality was outstanding across the board in all three MDRs, just wish I had chosen more wisely during Lumiere’s menu. But the Pork Wellington, the Chicken Bastilla, the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes – those will live in my heart forever. Everything was extremely palatable. Even the dishes that didn’t stick out to me were still pretty good. I consider myself a pretty picky eater, so I was a little apprehensive of all of these menus before getting on board, but I am glad I trusted my Server’s recommendations and went with the flow, because a lot of these dishes were fantastic.
Cabana’s was fine. I don’t love breakfast food, so take this with a grain of salt, but I was unimpressed with the breakfast offerings. Donuts were cold and hard, eggs were runny. Churro Mickey Waffles? Pretty good, but I just am not into breakfast like that. I enjoyed breakfast at Lumiere’s with the peanut butter & jelly pancake more. I wish I had more time to enjoy Cabana’s lunch offerings. The one (1) plate I had there was fine, although I did get there like 10 minutes before lunch closed so pickings were slim and naturally, not everything was going to be hot and fresh. I know that they do different regionally-inspired dishes every day and the butter chicken/naan on our last day looked incredible, sad to have missed out. The lunch variety looked outstanding and I’m looking forward to trying some more of it on the Fantasy.
Palo was the most incredible brunch of my life, I wrote about it ad-nauseum so no need to harp here but I can’t wait to see her again. She is on every ship and just as wonderful in every class, so I’m looking forward to reuniting with her for years to come.
I liked Castaway Cay’s buffet, but I can see why it is love-or-hate for the majority of cruisers. Some of the offerings that other cruisers loved, like the macaroni salad, were missing from Serenity Bay and I get the feeling that everything can be hit-or-miss depending on the day on this island. Don’t get me wrong, I was satisfied with our meal, but I felt like I didn’t eat much because of the circumstances. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more at Cookie’s versus Serenity Bay. Cookie’s BBQ doesn’t usually have the steak, which I considered the highlight of the meal, so I guess that would be a bit of a trade-off there. And I’m glad I threw caution to the wind re: my alcohol aversion at Pelican Plunge because the Konk Kooler really is the stuff of legends.
Going back to the ship to round out the “fringe” offerings, room service was a real treat. I am so beyond thrilled that this is 24/7 and also included in the cost of the cruise, it was wonderful getting back to the room at midnight and knowing I’d be able to get something to eat. The quality of food was just as good here as it is in the parks and in other dining rooms on the ship. I can’t even complain about the menu being small because honestly, chicken wings and cookies are really all you need at midnight on a boat.
I ate at the pool deck grills once and it was the adequate hot dog from Donald’s Diner. It was fine but the bun was a bit stale and I watched that chef sift through multiple buns at the grill before he found one that he felt was acceptable to serve, so I guess quality can be a bit questionable here. Dad did not like Pinocchio’s pizza and felt like it shouldn’t even be called “pizza.” Honestly none of the pool options were particularly great and that doesn’t really change across the board until you get to the Triton class which has the Festival of Foods. The BBQ and Cantina options really elevate these offerings and make it feel like you’re not just eating whatever is available because Cabana’s is closed. The Fantasy actually just came out of dry dock with the Cantina window added, which is exciting because I’ve heard really good things about the tacos.
I can’t really speak to the bar cocktails but Cove Cafe was worth the upcharge for every single drink. I looooooooved my iced Salted Caramel Coconut Latte every day and my only regret is that I never had it hot so I could enjoy the character foam art. Cove Cafe is also just a really relaxing and quiet space. In a world where I bring a laptop onto a cruise ship, I might enjoy doing some writing here.
The only thing I really wish the Magic had was a sweet shop that they have on the larger classes! Room service had a really limited dessert menu so if you wanted a sweet treat late at night, you were kind of out of luck. Sometimes you just want a good old-fashioned vanilla cupcake with radioactively colored buttercream frosting. It would have been nice to pick up something to enjoy later on in the stateroom after everything else had closed. And don’t get me wrong, the self-serve AYCE ice cream left nothing to be desired… but if there was a sweet shop on the Magic, I might have indulged in one of their epic gelato flavors. With lots and lots of sprinkles.
My final rant about food on the Magic can be universally applied to all ships on the fleet: I wish they would just re-open Cabanas for dinner. The hours for Cabanas and the pool deck grills are so unnecessarily annoying and complicated. Cabanas open from 8 AM-11 AM then 12 PM-2 PM, pool deck grill hours all over the place with all of them opening at 12 PM, some of them closing at 6 PM, some of them closing whenever they feel like it, pizza window being open alone until 10 PM. I would rather see the pool grills universally open from 12 PM-5 PM and Cabanas open from 8 AM-11 AM, 12 PM-2 PM, 5:00-10 PM. I love the MDRs but I think there are cases, especially with families that have small children, where sitting down at the MDR is disruptive to your day. Like, if you have a full day in port, the chances of you wanting to go to your assigned 5:45 MDR time is slim. We will not ever do First Dining again because of this reason, but in a world where Cabana’s was open for dinner during our sailing, I imagine there would have been a day where I enjoyed the pool until 4 or 5, grabbed a plate of butter chicken and garlic naan from Cabana’s, and ate on the deck before going inside and getting ready for the 8 PM stage show. And it would have been glorious.
THE ENTERTAINMENT
We had a lot of fun on the Magic! There wasn’t a shortage of things to do. Trivia was honestly my favorite activity on the boat, even if I didn’t win a single game. I imagined myself only doing one or two trivias on the entire sailing but I ended up doing one or two every single day! I liked sitting there and racking my brain for the answers, mom & Grace got a kick out of writing purposely wrong answers, dad liked sitting there with a drink and contemplating what an answer might be… everyone found their “thing.” Music trivia was the most fun because we’d all be wailing the lyrics out when it was time to check the answers. Broadway trivia was my absolute favorite and I’ll never get over them adding it to the Navigator for that extra day at sea!
This was the only aspect of the cruise where I felt like I truly “missed out” on a lot. I regret that I didn’t get to see the diaper dash, didn’t get to do karaoke, and didn’t get to do bingo. They had so much to do that you won’t be able to do it all, so be sure to check your Navigator every day and prioritize what you want!
The characters were fun, but I didn’t meet as many as I wanted to. I like meeting the rare ones and the only ones that were really “rare” (to me, as an East Coaster) were the Marvel ones. The pirate costumes were cute, though! And the island outfits were SO cute – I am still kicking myself that I didn’t get that photo with Mickey with the perfect view of the ship in back of him!
I didn’t think I was going to waste precious cruise time watching a movie, BUT… getting to see Freakier Friday for free (well, included in the cost of my cruise as opposed to $14 when I got back on land) was pretty epic. I’ll never forget the wise words of Cruise Director Ann… “Some people ask, ‘how are we able to show movies that are currently in theatres for free?’ and the answer is… because we own them.”
The stage shows were a class of their own and one of the highlights of the trip. Broadway quality. Do not miss them, make these a priority. Get in line early for them, as seating can be a challenge. I cannot believe I missed the first one! Disney’s Entertainment Cast are incredible and I loved watching them do their thing on stage every night. Which brings me to…
THE SERVICE
I am absolutely in love with the cast of the Disney Magic. I can’t believe how many Cast Members left such a lasting impression on our family and on our vacation.
There was one thing that surprised me, which is that I did not love our dining team or our stateroom host like everyone said I would. I didn’t have a problem with any of them, but our stateroom host just wasn’t as present as everyone said he would be and my dining team had issues. Our Server was just okay. Now, granted, our Assistant Server was one of my favorite Cast Members from the cruise. She was lovely and fun and would often have our regular drink orders ready as soon as we sat down. But I had the feeling that the pair of them did not work super well together, there were moments in our service on some nights where it felt like communication might have been missed and for some reason, our table always seemed to be the last to receive our meals in our section. Maybe my expectations were too high but our “personal team” just didn’t leave the impact other Cast Members left.
It was actually the Cast Members who weren’t assigned to us - the character attendants, the officers, the photographers, the custodial CMs, the bartenders – who made the biggest impact on our vacation. Everyone went out of their way to say hello to you in the hallway and ask if you were having a good vacation. All it took was one good conversation with a Cast Member before they recognized you and by the end of the cruise, every time you ran into them your eyes would light up like you were running into an old friend. This is one of those things that made the cruise special: bonding with Cast Members over the week versus meeting a different cast member every time you do anything at Walt Disney World.
IN CONCLUSION…
Everything about this vacation was a 10/10. DCL culture is so wonderfully laissez-faire that even missing an entire island couldn’t bring me down. I was too busy napping on heated lounges and ordering room service. Magic Kingdom will always be my home, but I’m counting down the days until I can nap on a hammock in Castaway Cay again. 540 days until we sail away on the Fantasy! Thank you all so much for reading along!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I’m thankful for so much, especially all of my friends on the DIS. Hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones.
We have reached the end of another Trip Report! And my first Cruise report, at that! I have quite a few thoughts on this new experience, but before I dive into them, I think it’s time to give you some updates on the next trips on our docket and some life-happenings lately. I realized as I was wrapping up that I didn’t pepper in any life updates on this TR and there are certainly things I need to update you on!
The four of us are just about 5 months from our 2026 trip to Walt Disney World Resort. Things are very simple this time around. Staying at the Poly, possibly doing a Disney After Hours event (we think Hollywood Studios). We’ll be there over Cinco de Mayo and May the Fourth, which will be really fun.
We are also about a year and a half away from our next cruise! We pretty much booked that bounceback immediately and we are very excited for our next sailing, which will take place over my 30th birthday! I’ll be spending my 30th on the Disney Fantasy, which is really exciting. This is the ship that I really wanted to sail on for this trip, but she was in Europe for a little while and just came back to the states recently. It’ll be the same itinerary and hopefully, knock on wood, we’ll get to go to Lookout Cay this time! This is going to be a really unique trip for my family. Mom and dad will be in one stateroom and I will be in another stateroom with my best friend from growing up, Molly, who I’m really excited to introduce you all to. I think Molly and I will likely fly in a few days before the cruise and hopefully enjoy Epic Universe and a day at Magic Kingdom before we set sail.
You’re probably wondering now “well, what about Grace?” and I think that is a good pivot to some life updates. I am just over the moon to introduce you all to Grace’s fiancé, Jake!
They've been together for about 3 years, moved into their new apartment earlier this year, and got engaged at the beginning of September. We really could not be any happier. Jake is terrific, as is his entire family. He has also never been to Disney, but he’s excited to be married into a Disney-loving family and join us on future trips! Hopefully, you’ll all get to know Jake virtually over the years as I continue to write more trip reports with our expanding family. As far as the 2027 cruise goes, Jake & Grace unfortunately won’t be coming with us. The big day is scheduled for early 2027, so they’ll be honeymooning when this trip is supposed to come around for the rest of us.
(Speaking of the big day – Grace asked me to be on “Maid of Honor” duty tonight before we carved the turkey. She cried, I cried, we all cried. It’ll be the greatest honor of my life, no pun intended. I can't wait for the big day!)
I think that’s really the only major update I have, so we can go back to the real conclusion of this report, where I want to give some general thoughts on my first Disney sailing. We’re going to break this down into sections.
THE SHIP
I adored the Magic for so many reasons. I would sail with her again in a heartbeat, but I’ll start off this section by saying that this poor girl is showing her age She is a 28 year old ship and showing serious wear-and-tear. We covered off on the midship elevator incident already, but there were other things happening all around the Magic at all hours. Multiple automatic doors leading to the outer decks broken all week long with maintenance crews being unable to fix them for more than an hour or two, staircases having odd “bumps” in them you’d have to watch out for, staircases being curtained off and repaired in the middle of the day. Other recent Magic cruisers have reported sewage smell issues in their staterooms, especially on deck 6. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter this in my stateroom, but I did notice a very faint sewage smell in public areas from time-to-time. She is just an old girl with old girl problems.
WIth that being said, I loved absolutely everything else about her and wouldn’t have wanted to sail on any other ship. There’s so much vintage, old-school 90’s Disney charm in every corner. The Triton class ships are marvelous and have insane feats of imagineering all around them, but there is just so much heart and classic Disney love in this boat. With the exception of Rapunzel’s Royal Table, everything screams “golden era Disney” and I love her for that.
Our Staterooms were great. Loved the split bathrooms. Deck 6, Midship, Starboard side was perfect. We are looking forward to trying a different category – Admiral’s Balcony – on our Fantasy sailing, which is Forward but still Starboard so we can have that great view of Castaway Cay.
All of the amenities she offered ranged from “fine” to “outstanding.” I do wish her pool area and waterslides were as cool as they were on the newer ships, and there were some things about the food situation I’ll talk about in the next section, but everything else was cozy and charming.
Say what you want about how cool and elegant and modern the newer ships are, but they will never beat Magic in terms of how easy it is to get around the ship. The Triton layouts with their lack of midship elevators, multiple counter-intuitive dead ends, and bottlenecking in hallways and stairbanks is absurd to me. And I know I brought this up during the first few updates, but I really hate that instead of giving the new ships an adult district, they scattered everything all around the ship. It’s a convenience thing but it’s also a boundary thing – they serve the same purpose to adults that Oceaneers Lab does for kids. It gives us a designated space to socialize and explore common interests together. So, Magic: you win for the sake of deck plan design.
I liked the Quiet Cove a lot but it was busier than I thought it would be. We had a hard time finding loungers out here and would usually put our bags on a table on the outer deck by the “windows”. But as far as the area itself goes, it was one of my favorites on the ship. I liked that the pool had an edge you could sunbathe on, personally I liked getting into the pool and finding a spot to hang on that edge but it got crowded sometimes. The Goofy Pool was fun, too, but I was only in there once. I did love Funnelvision, particularly at night, where I could enjoy an ice cream cone and sit on a chair and watch whatever movie was on.
The stores were fine. Nothing really remarkable about shopping on the Magic but I came home with the souvenirs I wanted. There are more places to shop on the other ships but I really didn’t need more than some shirts and DCL-related chachkies. Everyone on my DCL related FB groups warned that certain things (ship collectibles, loungeflys, etc) would sell out and you needed to rope drop the stores on Embarkation Day for them, but I found that even the hot commodities were mostly in stock all week, with only one or two certain collectibles getting sparse by the final evening. I will say that if you are shopping for a certain size in clothing (which, it is VERY nice and surprising that DCL shirts go all the way up to a 4XL), you will want to get anything larger than a L as soon as as possible, as certain sizing becomes hard to find later on in the sailing.
The Rainforest Room was a highlight for me. I didn’t really care that it was the smallest Rainforest Room out of every ship in Disney’s fleet, I never had to fight for a stone lounger and was actually the only person in that room on several occasions. I brought the question of “should I buy a weekly pass” to TikTok before the cruise and people were really divided on it, with some people suggesting I buy a day pass when I got on the ship, but I am glad I bought the weekly pass. Some people suggested that I likely wouldn’t be there every day, but no – I was there every single day, in the afternoon, after pool time. Actually, I don’t think there is a better feeling on earth than baking in the sun on the pool deck for a few hours and then detoxing in the sauna and napping on a stone lounger. Oh my god, the heated stone loungers. I want one in my home. I am very giddy to try the newly-enhanced Fantasy Rainforest Room with whirlpools and cooler sauna options but to me, the Magic’s tiny Rainforest Room was well worth the $99 for 5 days herself. My little slice of heaven.
As for the actual services that Senses offers – the massages, facials, etc. – I don’t think I could ever personally book one here. Not only are the services ridiculously expensive, the hard up-selling of add-ons and products is a big issue here. I know there are many, many CMs who don’t do this, but there was a horror story in my sailing’s FB group after we got off board where a woman was asking for advice on being charged for a different, more expensive massage than she booked and felt like she had been “tricked” by the CM. Mom & dad did a tour of Senses while I was meeting Minnie on Embarkation Day and said that they were pressured hard to book & buy. If everything from products to services wasn’t so ridiculously expensive, I almost wouldn’t care, but I am simply too impulsive and too easy to persuade to book anything other than the Rainforest Room here.
My favorite thing about her is that she really is just the perfect size. I’m so relieved to hear we’re getting a new ship class that is similar to her own, because I think I’ll be in heaven sailing on a ship that has the amenities & enhancements of 2025 on a 1998-sized ship. Smaller ships = smaller crowds on Castaway Cay, easier to navigate, and less crew, which gave me a great opportunity to bond with really special crew members.
Other than the wear and tear – she is just perfect. I love the Disney Magic and I hope I can sail with her again soon!
THE FOOD
Very, very good. Outstanding, actually, in 9/10 cases. I thought the Main Dining Rooms were all incredible. My last evening at Lumiere’s was only a small miss due to user error and I will even forgive RRT’s embarkation lunch menu, since the lunch menu for the rest of the days on board looked so much better.
We will not do 5:45 PM seating again. It was too early for us and we felt like it was disruptive to our day – more on that in a few paragraphs, but we’re excited for 8:15 seating on the Fantasy.
I will miss Rapunzel’s Royal Table dearly when I sail on the Fantasy next, as it really doesn’t have a comparable “character” dining room, even if Animator’s Palate has some fun interactive features. I really thought the three dining rooms were perfect and each offered something that was unique. Not to judge Fantasy unfairly but Royal Court and Enchanted Garden look very similar, with Royal Court’s menu being identical to Lumiere’s. Enchanted Garden – while being a beautiful and interesting dining room – is also quite similar with a French-inspired menu. The variety is much wider between the three MDRs on the Disney Magic.
Food quality was outstanding across the board in all three MDRs, just wish I had chosen more wisely during Lumiere’s menu. But the Pork Wellington, the Chicken Bastilla, the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes – those will live in my heart forever. Everything was extremely palatable. Even the dishes that didn’t stick out to me were still pretty good. I consider myself a pretty picky eater, so I was a little apprehensive of all of these menus before getting on board, but I am glad I trusted my Server’s recommendations and went with the flow, because a lot of these dishes were fantastic.
Cabana’s was fine. I don’t love breakfast food, so take this with a grain of salt, but I was unimpressed with the breakfast offerings. Donuts were cold and hard, eggs were runny. Churro Mickey Waffles? Pretty good, but I just am not into breakfast like that. I enjoyed breakfast at Lumiere’s with the peanut butter & jelly pancake more. I wish I had more time to enjoy Cabana’s lunch offerings. The one (1) plate I had there was fine, although I did get there like 10 minutes before lunch closed so pickings were slim and naturally, not everything was going to be hot and fresh. I know that they do different regionally-inspired dishes every day and the butter chicken/naan on our last day looked incredible, sad to have missed out. The lunch variety looked outstanding and I’m looking forward to trying some more of it on the Fantasy.
Palo was the most incredible brunch of my life, I wrote about it ad-nauseum so no need to harp here but I can’t wait to see her again. She is on every ship and just as wonderful in every class, so I’m looking forward to reuniting with her for years to come.
I liked Castaway Cay’s buffet, but I can see why it is love-or-hate for the majority of cruisers. Some of the offerings that other cruisers loved, like the macaroni salad, were missing from Serenity Bay and I get the feeling that everything can be hit-or-miss depending on the day on this island. Don’t get me wrong, I was satisfied with our meal, but I felt like I didn’t eat much because of the circumstances. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more at Cookie’s versus Serenity Bay. Cookie’s BBQ doesn’t usually have the steak, which I considered the highlight of the meal, so I guess that would be a bit of a trade-off there. And I’m glad I threw caution to the wind re: my alcohol aversion at Pelican Plunge because the Konk Kooler really is the stuff of legends.
Going back to the ship to round out the “fringe” offerings, room service was a real treat. I am so beyond thrilled that this is 24/7 and also included in the cost of the cruise, it was wonderful getting back to the room at midnight and knowing I’d be able to get something to eat. The quality of food was just as good here as it is in the parks and in other dining rooms on the ship. I can’t even complain about the menu being small because honestly, chicken wings and cookies are really all you need at midnight on a boat.
I ate at the pool deck grills once and it was the adequate hot dog from Donald’s Diner. It was fine but the bun was a bit stale and I watched that chef sift through multiple buns at the grill before he found one that he felt was acceptable to serve, so I guess quality can be a bit questionable here. Dad did not like Pinocchio’s pizza and felt like it shouldn’t even be called “pizza.” Honestly none of the pool options were particularly great and that doesn’t really change across the board until you get to the Triton class which has the Festival of Foods. The BBQ and Cantina options really elevate these offerings and make it feel like you’re not just eating whatever is available because Cabana’s is closed. The Fantasy actually just came out of dry dock with the Cantina window added, which is exciting because I’ve heard really good things about the tacos.
I can’t really speak to the bar cocktails but Cove Cafe was worth the upcharge for every single drink. I looooooooved my iced Salted Caramel Coconut Latte every day and my only regret is that I never had it hot so I could enjoy the character foam art. Cove Cafe is also just a really relaxing and quiet space. In a world where I bring a laptop onto a cruise ship, I might enjoy doing some writing here.
The only thing I really wish the Magic had was a sweet shop that they have on the larger classes! Room service had a really limited dessert menu so if you wanted a sweet treat late at night, you were kind of out of luck. Sometimes you just want a good old-fashioned vanilla cupcake with radioactively colored buttercream frosting. It would have been nice to pick up something to enjoy later on in the stateroom after everything else had closed. And don’t get me wrong, the self-serve AYCE ice cream left nothing to be desired… but if there was a sweet shop on the Magic, I might have indulged in one of their epic gelato flavors. With lots and lots of sprinkles.
My final rant about food on the Magic can be universally applied to all ships on the fleet: I wish they would just re-open Cabanas for dinner. The hours for Cabanas and the pool deck grills are so unnecessarily annoying and complicated. Cabanas open from 8 AM-11 AM then 12 PM-2 PM, pool deck grill hours all over the place with all of them opening at 12 PM, some of them closing at 6 PM, some of them closing whenever they feel like it, pizza window being open alone until 10 PM. I would rather see the pool grills universally open from 12 PM-5 PM and Cabanas open from 8 AM-11 AM, 12 PM-2 PM, 5:00-10 PM. I love the MDRs but I think there are cases, especially with families that have small children, where sitting down at the MDR is disruptive to your day. Like, if you have a full day in port, the chances of you wanting to go to your assigned 5:45 MDR time is slim. We will not ever do First Dining again because of this reason, but in a world where Cabana’s was open for dinner during our sailing, I imagine there would have been a day where I enjoyed the pool until 4 or 5, grabbed a plate of butter chicken and garlic naan from Cabana’s, and ate on the deck before going inside and getting ready for the 8 PM stage show. And it would have been glorious.
THE ENTERTAINMENT
We had a lot of fun on the Magic! There wasn’t a shortage of things to do. Trivia was honestly my favorite activity on the boat, even if I didn’t win a single game. I imagined myself only doing one or two trivias on the entire sailing but I ended up doing one or two every single day! I liked sitting there and racking my brain for the answers, mom & Grace got a kick out of writing purposely wrong answers, dad liked sitting there with a drink and contemplating what an answer might be… everyone found their “thing.” Music trivia was the most fun because we’d all be wailing the lyrics out when it was time to check the answers. Broadway trivia was my absolute favorite and I’ll never get over them adding it to the Navigator for that extra day at sea!
This was the only aspect of the cruise where I felt like I truly “missed out” on a lot. I regret that I didn’t get to see the diaper dash, didn’t get to do karaoke, and didn’t get to do bingo. They had so much to do that you won’t be able to do it all, so be sure to check your Navigator every day and prioritize what you want!
The characters were fun, but I didn’t meet as many as I wanted to. I like meeting the rare ones and the only ones that were really “rare” (to me, as an East Coaster) were the Marvel ones. The pirate costumes were cute, though! And the island outfits were SO cute – I am still kicking myself that I didn’t get that photo with Mickey with the perfect view of the ship in back of him!
I didn’t think I was going to waste precious cruise time watching a movie, BUT… getting to see Freakier Friday for free (well, included in the cost of my cruise as opposed to $14 when I got back on land) was pretty epic. I’ll never forget the wise words of Cruise Director Ann… “Some people ask, ‘how are we able to show movies that are currently in theatres for free?’ and the answer is… because we own them.”
The stage shows were a class of their own and one of the highlights of the trip. Broadway quality. Do not miss them, make these a priority. Get in line early for them, as seating can be a challenge. I cannot believe I missed the first one! Disney’s Entertainment Cast are incredible and I loved watching them do their thing on stage every night. Which brings me to…
THE SERVICE
I am absolutely in love with the cast of the Disney Magic. I can’t believe how many Cast Members left such a lasting impression on our family and on our vacation.
There was one thing that surprised me, which is that I did not love our dining team or our stateroom host like everyone said I would. I didn’t have a problem with any of them, but our stateroom host just wasn’t as present as everyone said he would be and my dining team had issues. Our Server was just okay. Now, granted, our Assistant Server was one of my favorite Cast Members from the cruise. She was lovely and fun and would often have our regular drink orders ready as soon as we sat down. But I had the feeling that the pair of them did not work super well together, there were moments in our service on some nights where it felt like communication might have been missed and for some reason, our table always seemed to be the last to receive our meals in our section. Maybe my expectations were too high but our “personal team” just didn’t leave the impact other Cast Members left.
It was actually the Cast Members who weren’t assigned to us - the character attendants, the officers, the photographers, the custodial CMs, the bartenders – who made the biggest impact on our vacation. Everyone went out of their way to say hello to you in the hallway and ask if you were having a good vacation. All it took was one good conversation with a Cast Member before they recognized you and by the end of the cruise, every time you ran into them your eyes would light up like you were running into an old friend. This is one of those things that made the cruise special: bonding with Cast Members over the week versus meeting a different cast member every time you do anything at Walt Disney World.
IN CONCLUSION…
Everything about this vacation was a 10/10. DCL culture is so wonderfully laissez-faire that even missing an entire island couldn’t bring me down. I was too busy napping on heated lounges and ordering room service. Magic Kingdom will always be my home, but I’m counting down the days until I can nap on a hammock in Castaway Cay again. 540 days until we sail away on the Fantasy! Thank you all so much for reading along!
So glad you guys loved your Disney cruise! We can't wait for our next time, but waiting until Millie is a bit older so she can enjoy the pools. I totally meant to do a TR on her first trip to Disney this June but got too busy with life. Congrats to Grace and Jake!!
She is a 28 year old ship and showing serious wear-and-tear. We covered off on the midship elevator incident already, but there were other things happening all around the Magic at all hours. Multiple automatic doors leading to the outer decks broken all week long with maintenance crews being unable to fix them for more than an hour or two, staircases having odd “bumps” in them you’d have to watch out for, staircases being curtained off and repaired in the middle of the day. Other recent Magic cruisers have reported sewage smell issues in their staterooms, especially on deck 6. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter this in my stateroom, but I did notice a very faint sewage smell in public areas from time-to-time. She is just an old girl with old girl problems.
