Wait list for dining?

[AGP]

Looking into booking our first Disney cruise - Dec 2017.. have a room on hold right now and need to get back to the TA by Monday. Only concern is that we are on a waitlist for the early dining time... I have two young ones coming, so having an 8pm dinner is too late for us. Does anyone have any insight into how likely it is that our "wait list" will come through and we will get the earlier dining? And how would we find out if it did, not until we board or would they email at any point between now and Dec? If anyone has any experience with this, I'd love to hear. thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Looking into booking our first Disney cruise - Dec 2017.. have a room on hold right now and need to get back to the TA by Monday. Only concern is that we are on a waitlist for the early dining time... I have two young ones coming, so having an 8pm dinner is too late for us. Does anyone have any insight into how likely it is that our "wait list" will come through and we will get the earlier dining? And how would we find out if it did, not until we board or would they email at any point between now and Dec? If anyone has any experience with this, I'd love to hear. thanks!

At this time, quite likely. We booked a summer cruise and were placed on the wait list for it. It came through no problem. You're fairly far out from a December cruise, you should be fine.

As a suggestion, you could call DCL periodically (like once a month or so) to "confirm" that you're on the wait list. Sometimes a CM may move you then. If it hasn't come through by the time the cruise goes, you can go to the dining changes location once onboard to make the request again. Most of the time these steps will get it for you, sometimes not. If it does come through, you won't be notified, you'll just notice it sometime when you're looking at your reservation online.

There's also the option of dining in Cabanas for dinner. It's a sit down table service and you can go anytime during their serving hours.

 

[AGP]

thank you for the info! you've given me hope very excited to try a disney cruise but was really worried about this dining time thing with the kids. Good to know there is another option as well

 

[Dug720]

At this time, quite likely. We booked a summer cruise and were placed on the wait list for it. It came through no problem. You're fairly far out from a December cruise, you should be fine.

As a suggestion, you could call DCL periodically (like once a month or so) to "confirm" that you're on the wait list. Sometimes a CM may move you then. If it hasn't come through by the time the cruise goes, you can go to the dining changes location once onboard to make the request again. Most of the time these steps will get it for you, sometimes not. If it does come through, you won't be notified, you'll just notice it sometime when you're looking at your reservation online.

There's also the option of dining in Cabanas for dinner. It's a sit down table service and you can go anytime during their serving hours.

Cabanas is not available for the first or last night, however.

 

[aksearaven]

thank you for the info! you've given me hope very excited to try a disney cruise but was really worried about this dining time thing with the kids. Good to know there is another option as well

our first cruise the kids were 6 and 8 and we had first dining....we ended up wishin and from there on out we take second seating. The kids, if they cant wait can always get something up on deck or at cabanas. we found that when we were to the ports we liked to eat local food. so second seating let us eat in port for late lunch and then not be hungry until the late dinner. Just a thought!

 

[AGP]

interesting, you bring up a good point- and my kids will be 6 and 8 when we sail in Dec! typically they get pretty hungry by 6 and would be starving by 8, but to your point, we may be eating later lunches... i just worry that my younger will be pretty tired by that time- i just brought her up to bed now at 8:30 b/c she was yawning like crazy

 

[msmama]

I've booked 3 cruises now (one completed, one this summer, one this fall) and I was waitlisted for first seating for all three.

I'd say I got the email moving me to first seating within 3 weeks of the booking for all three.

 

[anricat]

We have done three cruises: two with second seating (late) and one with main dining (early). My daughter was just shy of 6 on our first Disney cruise and we had second seating and we were very happy with it. When she was 7 on our second cruise, we did second seating again, but for our third cruise, I decided to try early dining (she was 8) and we found it is not for us. (We wait listed for main when I suddenly decided we should try it and got it a few months before sailing.)

We found that we somehow ended up with a lot less time on our hands. We felt like we had to race to dinner at 5:45 (instead of the first show, which is 6:15) so we had to be ready 30 minutes earlier. Then, we found on several occasions that we weren't very hungry because we had inadvertently snacked far too late (and more heavily than we intended). Then we felt like we had less time between dinner and the show, mostly because, to our surprise, the second show was much more heavily populated than the first and we had to get there 30 minutes early just to get seats together (with second dining, we were able to roll into our show 5-10 minutes before show time and get great seats).

Also, dine and play is great (the waiters fast track the kids through dinner so that councilors can come pick them up and take them to the club). DH and I were able to enjoy a kid-free meal a couple of evenings.

My daughter is in bed by 8 PM every night at home, lights out at 8:30 and she's asleep by 9. On a cruise, she definitely has a completely different schedule. She sleeps in in the mornings and if we have a really late night activity we want to do (Pluto's Pajama Party is one of her favorites and it tends to be late) then we try to get a nap in mid-day. Even long after dropping her naps, she will nap on a cruise (and we do this at WDW too) to take advantage of late night activities.

So, if you don't get early dining (though, at this stage, you likely will), you never know - it might be a win!

 

[strikermiz]

We are cruising in April with our 8, 6 and 9 month old. When we booked last june we were the late seating. We called to be placed on the wait list and the CM said it should not be a problem given our kids ages. I don't know exactly when we were bumped to main seating because it just showed up on our reservation one day. But, my best guess would be around october.

 

[Lawdawg]

We have done three cruises: two with second seating (late) and one with main dining (early). My daughter was just shy of 6 on our first Disney cruise and we had second seating and we were very happy with it. When she was 7 on our second cruise, we did second seating again, but for our third cruise, I decided to try early dining (she was 8) and we found it is not for us. (We wait listed for main when I suddenly decided we should try it and got it a few months before sailing.)

We found that we somehow ended up with a lot less time on our hands. We felt like we had to race to dinner at 5:45 (instead of the first show, which is 6:15) so we had to be ready 30 minutes earlier. Then, we found on several occasions that we weren't very hungry because we had inadvertently snacked far too late (and more heavily than we intended). Then we felt like we had less time between dinner and the show, mostly because, to our surprise, the second show was much more heavily populated than the first and we had to get there 30 minutes early just to get seats together (with second dining, we were able to roll into our show 5-10 minutes before show time and get great seats).

Also, dine and play is great (the waiters fast track the kids through dinner so that councilors can come pick them up and take them to the club). DH and I were able to enjoy a kid-free meal a couple of evenings.

My daughter is in bed by 8 PM every night at home, lights out at 8:30 and she's asleep by 9. On a cruise, she definitely has a completely different schedule. She sleeps in in the mornings and if we have a really late night activity we want to do (Pluto's Pajama Party is one of her favorites and it tends to be late) then we try to get a nap in mid-day. Even long after dropping her naps, she will nap on a cruise (and we do this at WDW too) to take advantage of late night activities.

So, if you don't get early dining (though, at this stage, you likely will), you never know - it might be a win!

Dine and play? Is this something you have to tell your servers about ahead of time? I had not heard of that previously.

 

[anricat]

Dine and play? Is this something you have to tell your servers about ahead of time? I had not heard of that previously.

It's only available for those with late dining. And yes, you just tell them on the way into the restaurant that you want dine and play. Your server will make sure your children's food is brought out first and then around 9, the councilors will come from the clubs to pick up all the kids. They sort of line up by the door and then once they've rounded them all up, they take them all up as a group.

 

[gotomu212]

We are someone who likes later dining (our son is 9 now but we started when he was 3). I echo that there was just more time for us. When everyone else was going to get ready for early dining, the pools cleared out so he could enjoy pool time and then he was wide awake for the shows. When he was really little he'd eat at dinner and promptly fall asleep.

The one time we did early (to accommodate extended family) he would be too tired or cranky for the shows and never hungry for dinner because he'd still be full from late lunch or afternoon pool snacks.

I was also surprised by his changing sleep schedule. Even now he's promptly in bed at 8:30 at home but on our cruise he would be in the kids clubs until 11 pm every night.

 

[Bishoparc]

Our last cruise we just got off of, we only had the choice of late dining (because it was a last minute booking). I thought about getting on the wait list but decided we'd give it a try. Surprisingly, we liked it. You definitely felt like you had a lot more time on your hands than you do with first seating. The only thing we did notice was that the lines to get into the MDR's for second dining were crazy long (longer than I've ever seen). We still got in fairly quickly but it was interesting. I know for most people with young kids, second seating doesn't work but if you can try second seating, I'd recommend trying it at least once.

 

[AGP]

thanks everyone of you feedback - it's great to know that many people prefer later seating, even with younger kids. I was worried it would be a deal-breaker, but I feel much better now, and as some said, it could be a blessing if we don't get early seating! The dine and play sounds great by the way- dinner with the kids, then just about the time they complain they are bored, Disney comes and takes them to play while Mom & Dad get to enjoy some adult conversation for a few minutes- sounds amazing!

 

[FigmentSpark]

As someone who made the mistake of making seating a deal-breaker once, don't follow in my footsteps. I've always regretted not just going for it. I didn't know anything about dining waitlists at the time. You know, even if they can't stay awake, they'll get to see the shows, which they'd miss with a first seating. You can do dinner at cabanas or room service, so there are other options. I believe pizza and burgers are available on deck throughout the day (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Your kids won't go hungry with a late seating and might just enjoy other things more.

 

[anricat]

The only thing we did notice was that the lines to get into the MDR's for second dining were crazy long (longer than I've ever seen). We still got in fairly quickly but it was interesting.

If you give it even 5 minutes, there tend not to be lines. We try to be prompt for dinner, but not on the nose, we're usually several minutes after and it's cleared out a lot.

 

[texasgingerbread]

Party of 30 here - waitlisted for early dining - bumped to main dining 2 months after we booked. I didn't think with a group this large we'd get it but we did. Good luck.

 

[Bishoparc]

If you give it even 5 minutes, there tend not to be lines. We try to be prompt for dinner, but not on the nose, we're usually several minutes after and it's cleared out a lot.

Also if you use the back entrance to Royal Palace and Animators you don't either

 

[Bishoparc]

As someone who made the mistake of making seating a deal-breaker once, don't follow in my footsteps.

We really try to follow that too. Like this last one, we got second seating, tried it, liked it. We also got assigned an 04E on deck 5 and survived that too. We're all about new experiences. You never know if you will like something until you try it.

 

[Keggy]

As you can see dining is very subjective. My daughter is 5 and we are getting ready to go on her 10th cruise. We prefer main dining with her. Our preference is to do dinner and then a show and then she goes to the kids club after. We enjoy dinner together as a family and we don't get to do that a lot at home so it's something we look forward to on our cruises. We've been on cruises with late dining and the kids fall asleep at late dining and we are forced to carry them back to the cabin after dinner. It's just not as enjoyable for us. But again completely personal preference that is different for every family.