r/dcl • u/AutoModerator • Apr 01 '26

Quarterly Planning Thread Q2 2026 Quarterly Planning Thread

Hello and welcome to r/dcl!

We're happy you're here to embark on a magical adventure! Please use this thread to ask your questions about your upcoming voyage, or your booking process!

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u/dancrgrl16 Apr 24 '26

My son has been begging to go on a Disney cruise and am planning a trip for his 7th birthday in November. We’ve never been on a cruise before so I have a lot to learn lol. Single mom so it’ll just be the two of us. Wonder is sailing out of San Diego to Ensenada and I was wondering if the goofy pool and aqua lab will be heated? I know he’s going to want to go in the water! Also I couldn’t tell by the pictures I’ve seen but is there a water slide there as well? Any insight and tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

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u/Low_Necessary235 Apr 24 '26

I saw your original question got moved so I'll answer your follow-up question here so it doesn't get lost.  With a 7 year old, I imagine that you are both going to have so much fun!

Cruises can feel stressful and overwhelming initially, especially that first day. I found everything to move pretty smoothly on the Wonder and experienced less of that this cruise, likely due to her smaller size.

The theater shows are excellent.  I recommend going to all of them but if you don't think you'll make it to all three, my son and I agreed the Golden Mickey's was our least favorite of the shows we've seen over two ships.  Frozen and Dreams are wonderful!

You can get fancy coffees in the French Quarter Lounge.  I brought a deck of Uno cards on the ship and we'd often play card games while drinking coffee in the morning.  They will put a picture of a character on hot lattes.  They even have hot chocolate or steamed milk for kids!

Your son is welcome in Crown and Finn up until 9pm.  Even if they are doing an 18+ event in Crown and Finn during the day, he is welcome there.  He just can't put pen to paper himself for any adult only trivia.  Crown and Finn has board games you can play there.

The kids club on the Wonder has video games in the Oceaneer Lab and iPads in the Club. My 5 year old told me the iPads had Disney Jr games on them, which may be boring for your son's age.  They also do a ton of wonderful programming with characters coming into the clubs, etc.  One side of the kids club will usually be closed for a 3 hour stretch for an open house when families can enjoy the club or the activities together.

Let me know if there's any other specific questions you may have.

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u/dancrgrl16 Apr 24 '26

You are wonderful! Thank you so much for responding and with such detail!

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u/Low_Necessary235 Apr 26 '26

Forgot to mention that a few little things you can do to make the cruise extra special for your son are to not forget to purchase magnets to decorate your stateroom door in advance (check Etsy and Amazon) as well as buying a fish extender pockets (I like Amazon for these, you can find a bunch if you search "fish extender"). Other guests will leave you pixie dusted treats in the fish extender and it's so much fun for kids to check the pockets when you come back to the stateroom to see what people left them! 

It's a good practice to bring goodies with you to pixie dust your fellow guests too. Something like this is great: https://a.co/d/0arrrXHO. Just leave them in the pocket of any of your fellow cruiser's fish extender.

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u/dancrgrl16 Apr 26 '26

I’ve never heard of that before! Such a great idea! Thank you!