Onboard when WDW ADRs open!

[ilovebassets]

I have a bit of a (good?) dilemma. We will be onboard the Fantasy in June when our ADR window opens for our WDW trip in August. I have never purchased an internet package before on a cruise and don't have a good sense of how much data it will take using the WDW app to make ADRs for our nine day trip (so a lot of ADRs!) We are a larger family, so it's critical to book as early as possible. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[FLPrincessMom]

Honestly? I would see if there is someone who isn't going that could do it for you. I'm sure you have a list of what you prefer so hopefully they can get pretty close.

 

[MomOTwins]

I agree! DCL internet is too slow/glitching/frustrating to deal with ADR day on the ship. Will you be at a port that day? If so would buy an international plan to use data—likely cheaper and better than DCL internet.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Get someone to do it for you- you’ll blow through a large $90 data package on the WDW site before you’ll probably get anything booked-

It’s not known to be a ‘light data’ site- I’d get a Travel Agent or a trusted friend that you could toss $$ to do it before I’d even attempt it on board..

 

[mmouse37]

Our international phone plan is only $10 a day. I agree that should try to make them under your phone plan instead of buying DCL internet. I would imagine you would need at least the largest internet pkg and even that may not be enough. I know how long it takes to book from my laptop at home, can't imagine trying it from the ship.

Hopefully you will be in port the day you have to book ADR's.

Good luck

MJ

 

[Cruising Engineer]

I'll second the suggestion from @FLPrincessMom; find someone onshore to do your ADRs. If the WiFi signal is strong that early morning (depending on what time zone the ship is located) you could be on the MDE for some time to find and reserve your ADRs. Hopefully, all your first choices will be available. But, if not, the second choice, the third choice will be eating a lot of WiFi time and money.

 

[ilovebassets]

Sigh, not what I wanted to hear. Unfortunately we are at sea that day.

Here's the AT&T "set sail and stay connected" package, and it doesn't look great for data at all. $100 only includes 200MB of data which doesn't seem very much, plus the overage charges are crazy. That said, I think it includes data used in port (Mexico).

It looks like you can get 1000MB from Disney for $89 plus $0.09/MB. I get that it might be slow, but it at least seems better priced? We don't get to port until the following day. I wonder if it would just be better to book the following day and miss opening day for ADRs especially since we're staying on site for nine days. Still would be a significant head start. Unfortunately, I don't really have anyone that I can ask to do this back home.

 

[lanejudy]

I thought the WDW website was also free access onboard DCL? No? But I do agree that you might want to have someone on land try to make your ADRs if it's really important.

 

[n2mm]

That happened to me on my cruise earlier this month. Nothing I could do about it. I tried to get some adrs when I got off the ship once we got to our resort. Got a couple of things. my timing sucked. I just let it go.

 

[ilovebassets]

I thought the WDW website was also free access onboard DCL? No? But I do agree that you might want to have someone on land try to make your ADRs if it's really important.

I saw it earlier today and can't find it now, but all the Disney websites EXCEPT WDW are free access onboard. So Disney Cruiseline, Adventures by Disney, Disney Vacation Club, etc, but not Disneyworld. Really wish I could find that list again....

 

[VWLforever]

Honestly, just book after you return to the USA. On a recent 6-day WDW trip, I completely forgot about the window until a week late. I had set a phone calendar alert, but it must've gotten deleted because I didn't get it. At 53 days out, I was still able to get about half the places I wanted to eat, with a little time flexibility. Picked up all the others the day before dining, when people cancel to avoid no-show fees. Didn't need to stalk the website at all between the 53 days and 1 day before dining. And I decided to eat a couple places I'd never been before, just because their times were available. It was a great trip and not in any way inferior to when I've booked within seconds of the 60-day window opening.

I get it, food is absolutely part of the WDW experience. And booking those ADR's is always something I like doing. But it simply isn't true that late booking will fail, and it also can be quite healthy and enjoyable to try new things. So truly, don't waste money trying to book them on an expensive data package while onboard the ship.

 

[ilovebassets]

Honestly, just book after you return to the USA. On a recent 6-day WDW trip, I completely forgot about the window until a week late. I had set a phone calendar alert, but it must've gotten deleted because I didn't get it. At 53 days out, I was still able to get about half the places I wanted to eat, with a little time flexibility. Picked up all the others the day before dining, when people cancel to avoid no-show fees. Didn't need to stalk the website at all between the 53 days and 1 day before dining. And I decided to eat a couple places I'd never been before, just because their times were available. It was a great trip and not in any way inferior to when I've booked within seconds of the 60-day window opening.

I get it, food is absolutely part of the WDW experience. And booking those ADR's is always something I like doing. But it simply isn't true that late booking will fail, and it also can be quite healthy and enjoyable to try new things. So truly, don't waste money trying to book them on an expensive data package while onboard the ship.

If it weren't for the fact that we're a family of six, I'd probably let it go a bit. I'm with you that some of this stuff is really overhyped, and we rarely want the most desirable places, but with four kids in tow in August, I do want to make sure that we have somewhere air conditioned to sit at lunchtime in the parks. Which can be a stretch for a party of six if you're not at least somewhat on top of it. Plus with our youngest only being 4, there's only so much time flexibility we can handle. Making him eat dinner at 9pm or lunch at 3pm will be a set up for misery.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

I saw it earlier today and can't find it now, but all the Disney websites EXCEPT WDW are free access onboard. So Disney Cruiseline, Adventures by Disney, Disney Vacation Club, etc, but not Disneyworld. Really wish I could find that list again....

How do you access the websites while on the ship? We’ll be at sea on the 9 night Southern Caribbean cruise when Platinum opens up for our Thanksgiving cruise. I thought I was going to have to pay for a bunch of data to book our tastings and excursions.