Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

The main dining times on a Disney Cruise can be hard to get, especially if you’ve decided to be spontaneous and book a last-minute cruise vacation. And that can cause a problem if you’re traveling with children, because your seating can be as late as 8:30 p.m., and cruise dinners happen at a leisurely place.

Disney Cruise Lines has introduced a Dine and Play option that will help your kids eat earlier. Here’s how it works:

• Dine and Play is available for kids ages 3 to 12.
• During second dining, tell your server that your children want to participate in Dine and Play.
• The child’s meal is brought first, while your dinner is brought out at a leisurely pace.
• About 45 minutes after second dining begins, Youth Activities Counselors come into the dining room to sign your child in for Disney’s Oceaneer Club and Disney’s Oceaneer Lab, and they escort them to Deck 5 so that you don’t have to leave the dining room.
• You continue your dinner (without hungry, tired kids).

Sounds like a great plan to me. Experienced Disney Cruise Line cruiser and travel agent Celeste Koutavas of Enchanted Destinations says she loves the new option, because dining times aboard Disney Cruise Line ships can be a challenge for her clients.

“It is so hard to get main dining, especially if a guest is booking their cruise late. And by late, I mean 6 months out!” Celeste says.

Disney Cruise Line’s new Dine and Play option is available in any of the main dining rooms on both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder.