Disney Cruise Secrets: What To Ask For on a Disney Cruise

If you’ve ever been to a Disney park before then you know how magical they can be, not just for kids but grown-ups, too. Well, going on a Disney Cruise, where excitement and special moments are surrounding you 24/7, is already pretty darn exciting. But did you know there are a few Disney Cruise secrets you can ask for that will take your experience from WOW to WHOA?!

On a mission to discover all the magic aboard the ship, I dug around and found out what some of them are. And you’re in luck, because I found some hidden gems! Read on to see all the tips and tricks!

Magical Moments on a Disney Cruise

One night while we were dining in Tiana’s Place, I chatted with Bonny, the hotel operations assistant on the Disney Wonder. I asked her how what different ways guests can get a dose of that Disney magic while they’re on board, and she told me that cast and crew members call these secrets, “surprise and delights,” and are basically, “Spontaneous magical moments.”

That sounded pretty good to me, but she went on to say that they sometimes provide a spontaneous magical moment when they’re trying to “turn experiences around or put a smile on someone’s face.”

Awesome “Baby Mouse” onesie from Twinkle, Twirl, & Sass

I liked that. Because as much as we’d like to think that kids will always be happy-go-lucky and walk around with giant cheesy smiles on their faces, it’s important to remember that kids will be kids, and toddlers…bless their little hearts…will have tantrums anywhere they want.

But when those tears start falling on a Disney Cruise there’s a Mickey Bar, an ice cream cone, or a princess to help wipe those tears away.

…now if only Cinderella could follow me around at home.

Disney Cruise Secrets

Just in case you’re looking to make your own magic, here are some Disney Cruise Secrets, and things you can ask for to make your own magical moments. (And don’t worry; I’m throwing a few things that may just make life a little easier for parents, too.)

Fun Character Sheets

Ask for these as soon as you see your stateroom attendant on your first day, because I’ve heard they can go fast. If you’re in luck, they can trade out the boring ol’ white sheets and make your kids’ beds with fun character sheets.

Our girls slept on top of Elsa and Anna sheets, and I believe they have Cars and other characters for boys. For the babies, they had Mickey crib sheets.

I loved seeing their faces light up that first night that they saw their sheets. It’s the little things, ya know?!

Get Some Real Pixie Dust…for FREE.

Here’s another magical Disney Cruise secret: You’ll see little girls walking around with fancy princess-like hair, but if you don’t want to shell out the cash to turn your daughter into a real life “princess,” have no fear, because they can still step foot in there and get something magical.

If you’re on the Disney Wonder or Magic, head up the stairs to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique—a bonafide beauty salon for little prince* and princesses.

You can get your little one’s hair done there, but it does come out of your pocket (in other words, get ready to shell out some pennies since it’s not covered completely by your cruise)…unless you stop in for some real, free pixie dust!

Watch as my daughter makes her wish and gets her very special pixie dust!

Ask for some pixie dust, and they’ll plop your kid in the seat, have them make a wish, and then after some Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, voila…pixie dust will be sprinkled over their hair*. Talk about a magical experience!

 

*By the way, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique becomes the Pirates League, and everything is pirate themed on Pirate Night*

**Fair warning: Pixie Dust likes to linger; we found it in their hair almost a month after our cruise. Although, there are certainly worse things we could discover in their hair, so we were cool with it.

Mickey Bars ALL the Time

These were a H U G E favorite with our kids. Not only did we have magnets of Mickey Bars plastered on our Disney Cruise door one day, but they picked a Mickey Bar for dessert after dinner almost every single night.

And get this: they come with Mickey confetti sprinkles if you order one for dessert.

Want one another time during the day? They’re not on the room service menu, but (here’s the Disney Cruise secret): you can order one via room service, and they’ll bring it up to you whenever you want!

Our cruise wasn’t jetting off to some warm, tropical location, so we actually didn’t partake in that room service freebie. But you better bet your bottom dollar we would’ve been all over that if we cruised somewhere warm!

Room Service for Kids and Parents

I just mentioned you can get Mickey Bars from room service, but you can also get warm cookies and milk delivered (at any time) right to your room. We ordered some a couple of times to surprise the kids after nap time…and we got a cheese plate for the grown ups.

Since you can bring wine and beer on board (2 bottles or a 6-pack per person), we enjoyed some wine in the afternoon with cheese while they had a sweet snack.

COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE!!

If you want hot coffee in the morning, and don’t want to bother with waking people in the morning with room service, get it the night before!

Order a carafe of coffee via room service before you go to sleep, and then sip on it first thing in the morning; it’ll still be warm.

Because waking up the kids before they actually had to get up was the last thing we wanted to do. We could drink our coffee in peace out on the verandah while they slept.

Speaking of verandahs, if you’re traveling in a group and have two rooms next to each other, you can open up the divider and have one large balcony.

Get Your Dole Whip at Sea

In case you’re on Team Dole Whip instead of Team Mickey Bar, don’t you worry, because cruises have Dole Whip on board just for you, too. This is an extra perk, so you’d have to pay for it, but you can get some boozy Dole Whip at the smoothie shop, so don’t forget to get some before you disembark.

(I totally forgot to get some, and I’m really regretting it right now.)

Free Food in the Pub

If you’re over 21, head over to The Crown and Fin, because not only do they have fun activities like trivia (we were so close to winning one night!), they also have some free food out for you to nosh on. Things like hot wings, and chips and dip, and veggies.

They bring the spread out around 6pm, so stop by if you want a little snack before or after dinner.

Send Cool Texts with your App

Before you leave your port, make sure you set up your Disney Cruise Line Navigator App. Not only does it tell you every single thing happening on board, but you can send texts to anyone else who has the app (and is on the ship).

Not only that, but you can use exclusive Disney emojis!

Things like Disney princesses, the Avengers, classic characters, and more.

I’m kicking myself for discovering this on one of our last days aboard our cruise, because I would’ve used this feature so much more!

Pirate Night Bandanas

If you just couldn’t get your pirate night costume together in time, have no fear, because Disney has you covered.

You actually don’t even have to ask for this, because when you head back to your room in the afternoon/evening, you’ll find bandanas for everyone in your family waiting for you one the bed.

Arrrrrrrr you ready for Pirate Night? Now you will be!

Everyone wears them to dinner (at least the first dinner seating) and it’s fun to see everyone with them on. The kids got a kick out of the fact that their menu turned into a pirate hat. It’s truly the little things that made this cruise so much fun.

Boosters For the Shows

As soon as you walk through the doors of the theater, look around for a stack of booster seats. Grab one before they’re all gone to ensure your little one can see the show.

There were several parents scrambling for a seat right before the shows started, so get there early, snag your spot, and grab a booster!

Disney Cruise Secrets for Parents

(But Really For the Kids) To Make Your Life Easier.

Okay parents, these are for you. But not really. They’re for you, because you have kids, but they’ll make your life easier on the cruise.

When you make your reservation you can request the following:

a Diaper Genie
(because poop stinks, and those rooms are tiny)

bed rails
(the beds for kids turn into bunk beds, so just in case you have little ones who aren’t familiar with sleeping high off the ground, some rails can bring a little peace of mind)

a stroller
(sure you can bring your own, but might as well take it off your packing list and borrow one from Disney if you need it. I heard they’re pretty good.)

a Pack ‘n Play
this is pretty standard for a stay at any hotel, but they won’t charge you any extra for using one during your stay. They also come with cute Mickey sheets.

Fun Extras at Dinner

Truth be told, this isn’t really something you can ask for, but it was something my kids both picked up on, and made their day (#itsthelittlethings). When we sat down for dinner the first night, their names were written on their drink lids, and our wait staff knew who they were.

They went crazy over this and wondered how the servers knew we were going to be sitting at that table.

This happened at every single dinner, and they got excited every time.

Parents, I don’t know if every wait staff will do this, but our two servers even offered to cut our kids’ food every night. Maybe it’s because we had three of them, and they felt sorry for us, or because that’s just how Disney rolls, but it was AMAZING.

We kept saying no thank you to the offer, but one night things were a little crazy with the baby, and she just willingly cut up our daughter’s food, and whoa.

It was actually really nice to sit back and actually eat our own food for once! They even entertained them while we ate. Our lead server did fun little magic tricks for our kids. It was so nice and fun, and our daughter still talks about it.

It’s the little things that make things extra magical.

Care to Share Your Disney Pixie Dust?

Have you been on a Disney Cruise? Can you think of anything that’s “off the books” that you can ask for to make your time aboard extra special? Share them below and help spread the Disney Cruise secrets love!