A few changes on Disney Wonder

[abuck75]

I got the information because we are currently on board. I asked concierge why they changed and that was response.

Only thing it really impacted us was we had dinner scheduled at Palo on pirate night.

 

[Dug720]

I got the information because we are currently on board. I asked concierge why they changed and that was response.

Only thing it really impacted us was we had dinner scheduled at Palo on pirate night.

The Palo scheduling is why I would think they would send an email out since it's a pretty known fact that many people DO in fact schedule their Palo dinner on that night.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We were on the Wonder 2/4 and had to miss the pirate show because our kids couldn't stay up that late. I have a 4 year old and 18m old as much as I'd like to be more relaxed on vacation, the 18m old was screaming at dinner almost every night and ready for bed by 7. And no matter how late they're up they still wake up early, especially the 4 year old, who then would wake up his sister.

I did think it was funny that on a family friendly cruise there would be a family activity so late at night and I would have appreciated it being at 7:30 instead. I can understand not everyone would love the switch, but I still 10:30 isn't very family friendly.

 

[CanuckOnaBoat]

It's been like this for a while over a year The shows at 730 and the fireworks at 8. Same on the Magic.

You mean the pirate night show? and pirate fireworks at 8?

 

[CanuckOnaBoat]

We were on the Wonder 2/4 and had to miss the pirate show because our kids couldn't stay up that late. I have a 4 year old and 18m old as much as I'd like to be more relaxed on vacation, the 18m old was screaming at dinner almost every night and ready for bed by 7. And no matter how late they're up they still wake up early, especially the 4 year old, who then would wake up his sister.

I did think it was funny that on a family friendly cruise there would be a family activity so late at night and I would have appreciated it being at 7:30 instead. I can understand not everyone would love the switch, but I still 10:30 isn't very family friendly.

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!! Last cruise i had a 1 and 3 year old; this time they are 3 and 5. I have no problem with them staying up late for special occasions- BUT they physically can NOT!!! They either meltdown or fall asleep.

 

[cruiser21]

You mean the pirate night show? and pirate fireworks at 8?

Yes

 

[mcd2745]

Someone just off the Wonder heard this explanation for why they are performing the shows on multiple nights...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/news-round-up-2018.3654979/page-154#post-58865260


I don't think I'm buying it.

 

[jcarwash]

Just to clarify, on the 2/18/18 Wonder sailing where the three shows were repeated, the Pirates IN the Caribbean deck party was scheduled for 7:30 to 8pm, not a late show.

...And then it turned out the fireworks had to be canceled due to winds. They still had the Pirate deck party as scheduled (with no fireworks) and they scheduled a non-pirate deck party for the following night (7:30 to 8) and ran the fireworks at the end.

 

[jlynch924]

I'm glad we're sailing Alaska this time and the days will be long... I'm not a fan of Dreams or Golden Mickeys, so I'll be spending lots of time on deck watching the scenery.

 

[dtk07]

Put me in the column for this being a good change regarding the pirate party. Adding an hour from Central time to Eastern plus a long day for our 4 year old equals meltdowns. I personally wish the early dining rotation was 5pm to start evening activities earlier.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Was on the Dream in January, and enjoyed the comedian.

 

[jujubiee4]

I personally don't mind seeing the shows twice. Well....some of them. Others i miss entirely.

However 730 for fireworks?? How does this affect 2nd seating? Sounds like it will be some rushing
going on.

I do think though the pirate show is rather late. For so many people that say they can't stay up
that late it is always packed when we are there.

 

[Geomom]

I really don't like these 'tests' of having each show twice as it sacrifices variety. I want to see something different every night, even if it's a movie/entertainer/welcome aboard show. With the amount we all pay to cruise Disney, we should be able to see something different. If there is a popular show, have a matinee of it as well as the evening showings. My family enjoyed having dinner then going to a show every night on our first cruise, they're going to be disappointed if we have one of these 'tests.' All I can think of are the MSC ads on TV, 'a different show every night.' Why would Disney go away from that model?

 

[Agent 86]

I really don't like these 'tests' of having each show twice as it sacrifices variety. I want to see something different every night, even if it's a movie/entertainer/welcome aboard show.

I agree. However, IF it's still possible to see the other variety shows (e.g. magicians, puppeteers, etc) in a somewhat comparable setting, then it's probably okay. But, I don't see how those alternative spaces are going to be able to fit the same amount of people as a theatre.

Still, IF the "reason" behind this change is that the theatres on the three (?) new ships are smaller - then that seems like pretty poor planning by Disney given the popularity of their entertainment.

 

[MelSpees]

Put me in the column for this being a good change regarding the pirate party. Adding an hour from Central time to Eastern plus a long day for our 4 year old equals meltdowns. I personally wish the early dining rotation was 5pm to start evening activities earlier.

Actually, you're better off coming from the west. When it's 10 eastern it's like 9 central. Your point about a 4 year-old still stands, of course.

 

[mareed]

I was on this Wonder cruise where Natalie (cruise director) said they were testing the duplicate shows for the 3 Broadway shows (Golden Mickeys, Frozen, Dreams) for the first time. She said it was because there wasn't enough capacity in the Walt Disney Theatre for everyone to see the performance with just 2 shows. They had matinee performances of 2 of the featured entertainers, and evening shows in Azure for some of them (with video broadcasting the show in the pub for overflow). I wrote her a letter about it during the cruise and talked to her about it on day 2. I didn't get a chance to talk to her later in the cruise to let her know what I thought after actually trying it out so wrote her another letter and left it in the comments box.

I hated it because:

• I missed being in the large Walt Disney Theatre each evening which is one of my favorite parts of cruising, and I normally never miss a show.
• I was unable to see some of the entertainers at their matinee showing because it conflicted with other items I wanted to do. When entertainers are in the evening as usual in WDT, I never had a conflict.
• Azure doesn't have capacity for everyone to see the entertainers and broadcasting in the pub instead of seeing live is really just unacceptable at Disney's prices.
• This schedule required looking ahead at the Navigator app to plan which show to attend to minimize missing things I really wanted to see/do, much like planning required for a Disney parks trip. Normally, Disney cruising is a welcome break from that level of planning!
• Second night of Frozen and Dreams was sparsely attended and didn't have usual audience responses & involvement, and I think the performers may have felt that and weren't at their top performance.

I'm very interested to see if this is something that was continued on the Feb. 25 cruise and hope that someone from that will report back here.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I really don't like these 'tests' of having each show twice as it sacrifices variety. I want to see something different every night, even if it's a movie/entertainer/welcome aboard show. With the amount we all pay to cruise Disney, we should be able to see something different. If there is a popular show, have a matinee of it as well as the evening showings. My family enjoyed having dinner then going to a show every night on our first cruise, they're going to be disappointed if we have one of these 'tests.' All I can think of are the MSC ads on TV, 'a different show every night.' Why would Disney go away from that model?

I agree. However, IF it's still possible to see the other variety shows (e.g. magicians, puppeteers, etc) in a somewhat comparable setting, then it's probably okay. But, I don't see how those alternative spaces are going to be able to fit the same amount of people as a theatre.

Still, IF the "reason" behind this change is that the theatres on the three (?) new ships are smaller - then that seems like pretty poor planning by Disney given the popularity of their entertainment.

Great so when do we start the fast pass system to accommodate those that don’t want to wait over a half hour with their small children before the show starts? We could start the line at the theater and have a go all the way past the gift shop so nobody could come in or out and shop through the windows for a half hour. Everybody can get in line to guarantee that they get a seat in the smaller theater because they want to do two or three other things in the evening, and who wouldn’t (I’m OCD and want to have it all)? I guess my question is are they really finding so many empty seats in the theater of the Magic and the Wonder that they feel they should start this kind of program? Is this to handle the crowds during their bread and butter summer months and sold out winter holidays? Doesn’t sound like it, does it?

 

[dtk07]

Actually, you're better off coming from the west. When it's 10 eastern it's like 9 central. Your point about a 4 year-old still stands, of course.

Ha, I'm back home and brain is off vacation mode. I was thinking of the time zone difference but the negative was early morning rope drop at the parks not anything in the evening.

But yes, point stands with long days and small kids. And I still wouldn't mind 5pm dining.

 

[jlynch924]

They had matinee performances of 2 of the featured entertainers, and evening shows in Azure for some of them (with video broadcasting the show in the pub for overflow).

If they're going to do repeat stage shows, they should add a daily matinee rather than a repeat for the evening show, IMO. I prefer having new main stage entertainment of some sort every evening, whether it be a stage show, a movie or an entertainer.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If they're going to do repeat stage shows, they should add a daily matinee rather than a repeat for the evening show, IMO. I prefer having new main stage entertainment of some sort every evening, whether it be a stage show, a movie or an entertainer.

Sounds like a good compromise.