This is a big decision that you must make for your Disney Cruise that will determine a lot of how you are spending your evenings aboard any of the Disney Cruise Line ships. Disney refers to this as First Seating or Second Seating meaning having an early or late dinner. You can make your decision on First or Second Seating on the DCL website after paying your trip in full.
I do not know many children that can wait until 8pm or later to sit down for dinner and have a good night which is why many families traveling will choose the earlier dinner.
If you are a group of adults or have children that are in their teens, then a late dinner is probably the one for you. There are fewer small children at the later dinners. This means that there will also be fewer small children at the show that you go see. Disney Cruise Line usually does two showings a night of their productions so that one is happening during both early and late dining times.
The late dinner also gives you the ability to fill your night with more events before exhaustion kicks in. I find it hard to eat, then head to a sit-down hour-long show, then out to one of the lounges. When we have experienced this way of doing things everyone in our party has been ready to relax in their rooms after the show. If you chose the later dinner, you have already experienced the show before filling your stomach. We find it easier to want to go out on the ship and do things if you are going straight from dinner rather than straight from the show.
The Disney Cruise Line ships usually have a lot to do throughout the nighttime hours. We saw a major decline in these late-night offerings after the COVID-19 pandemic, but these offerings seem to be coming back.
We chose a late dinner on the new Disney Wish Cruise Ship as an adult group because we wanted the ability to dine at Enchanté without possibly missing one of the new dining rooms on board. A big drawback of dining on the cruise ship is you won’t know what dining room you will be in each night until you are actually on-board the ship… Disney does a great job of making each included rotational dining room unique, especially on the Disney Wish, that it makes it hard to book an adult dining experience ahead of time if you don’t want to miss a dining experience one evening.
I know, two dinners is a lot, but if you are a die-hard Disney fan (raises hand) then you will understand what I mean. Having a late dining time for rotational dining will give you the ability to book that dinner at Palo or Enchanté between 6-6:30 with time to make it to your rotational dining at 8pm – Once on board the ship you can decide if you want to skip the later dinner, cancel your adult dining, or just have small bites at the adult dinner so you can enjoy both meals.
If traveling with kids 10 and under I would no doubt chose the earlier dining time. The best way to avoid meltdown after sugar, mickeys ice cream bars, characters, pool time, beach time, etc. is to try and keep somewhat of their normal home routine while on vacation.
Disney will make sure that all big events can be attended by both dining groups so don’t worry about missing fireworks or pirate night by choosing one time or the other.
What factors play into your decision when choosing early or late dining?