First DCL cruise Dream vs Magic

[michael730]

Hey everyone! Thinking of doing our first DCL cruise next year!
I am vaguely familiar w both classes of ship as I’ve listened to podcasts so I am aware of the size difference, being on Castaway with the larger ships w more people, the sit down dining & the shows

We have a child who will be most likely 9 at the time for reference.
I was just wondering how the ships compare in terms of the following:
A. Variety of Character meets
B. Pool deck space for families (he loves to swim)
C. Onboard activities or if there’s more on the Dream since it’s a larger ship
D. Quick service options

Thanks so much for everyone’s time!

 

[msmama]

In my experience (and things may change at any time, I suppose).
A: Magic has more characters. I've seen Marvel and Pixar characters on the Magic (outside of their dedicated cruises), though that may change depending on length of cruise, but I've done TA's on both and Magic had many more characters than the Dream.
B. Don't know, not a sun person. Dream slides seem more family friendly, Magic seems more "adventurous."
C. Dream has the midship detective agency which was fun for a couple of hours, but I wouldn't pick a ship just for that. Dream seemed to repeat things more than Magic (same trivia, for example). I'm a grownup but I prefer the kids club on the Magic (it's not a cruise until I've tried out the Slinky slide, though I did enjoy flying the Millenium Falcon on the Dream).
D. Magic has shwarma, otherwise I would say they're close to the same. Seemed like maybe Magic had a few more options at the salad/sandwich place, but I could be imagining that.

I'm pro smaller ships, but I also pick cruises by itinerary so would sail whatever. I did wonder if my preferences would change now that the Magic and Dream have changed places in the world, but we did the WBTA on the Dream and it was still just meh to me and I found myself missing the Magic.

 

[Calantha]

A. Variety of Character meets
B. Pool deck space for families (he loves to swim)
C. Onboard activities or if there’s more on the Dream since it’s a larger ship
D. Quick service options

My DS just turned 9. The Magic and the Dream are his two favorite ships.

A. Agree with Msmama - I feel like I meet more characters on the Magic (and the lines are shorter)
B. Dream pool space is slightly better - and slides are 100% better. Both have hot tubs though.
C. Other than midship, nothing really stands out. Magic has the Encanto experience (I assume it is still happening) - which is unique. DS likes the kid's club on the Magic better, too.
D. Agree they are about the same other than shawarma, but DS has no interest in shawarma, just pizza, so no difference there. I generally try to avoid the quick serve, except on the Wish, so that's not a consideration.

The Magic does have an older feel, but I think it is a bit cozier, for what its worth. We're doing a back-to-back on the Magic this summer, so actually super excited about that, but we were just on the Dream in January. All things being equal (cost, itinerary, etc.) if you told me I had to get on a ship tomorrow, I might actually pick the Magic over the Dream (but Fantasy over the Magic, so don't ask me to make sense!)

 

[tidefan]

Doesn't matter the ship, just go for the most days...

 

[auntlynne]

They are both great.

Magic has Rapunzel’s as the third dinner restaurant, which I consider the best combination of decor and character interaction (I think she visits every table; and we had no children with us). On the Dream, you get Enchanted Garden, which I liken to a corporate dining room - yawn.

I like the Nemo theme for Dream’s Animator’s Palate with guest interaction better than the Magic’s, but was happily surprised with the experience on the Magic after several years’ break.

I don’t know about kids’ clubs; that could make a difference.

As could the hamster tube water ride in the Dream.

Evening shows. My preference would be the Dream. But I am also a fan of The Golden Mickeys show, which seems to have a lot of non-fans. They are all done well.

• Disney Dream
  • Beauty and the Beast. This show is based on the live-action movie, not the animated version.
  • The Golden Mickeys. A jukebox-style show that takes the form of a faux awards ceremony.
  • Disney’s Believe. A jukebox-style show that tells about a daughter’s relationship with her botanist father.
• Disney Magic
  • Tangled: The Musical. Includes several songs that are not in the movie.
  • Disney Dreams. A girl talks with Peter Pan and sees scenes from a variety of Disney movies.
  • Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story. What if the glass slipper broke before Cindy could slip it on?

I like the smaller ship layout of the Magic.

It almost feels like nitpicking to decide.

 

[michael730]

Thank you all so much for your input I was leaning more towards the Magic I think anyways!
One more question if y’all don’t mind!
As far as the characters go. Are the Fab 5 plus Daisy out multiple times during the day? Or just once a day typically in your experience? Thank you!

 

[auntlynne]

Here are the character appearances listed in the daily Personal Navigator from the Dec 27, 2023 Magic cruise out of Galveston (6 nights).



This day would have the nighttime Pirate Party:








I found this info on the Disneycruiselineblog under Personal Navigators.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...bbean-cruise-from-galveston-december-27-2023/

 

[michael730]

Here are the character appearances listed in the daily Personal Navigator from the Dec 27, 2023 Magic cruise out of Galveston (6 nights).

View attachment 834055

This day would have the nighttime Pirate Party:

View attachment 834056
View attachment 834057
View attachment 834058
View attachment 834059
View attachment 834060


I found this info on the Disneycruiselineblog under Personal Navigators.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...bbean-cruise-from-galveston-december-27-2023/

Thanks for this!

 

[Ronneeaght]

We have a child who will be most likely 9 at the time for reference.
I was just wondering how the ships compare in terms of the following:
A. Variety of Character meets
B. Pool deck space for families (he loves to swim)
C. Onboard activities or if there’s more on the Dream since it’s a larger ship
D. Quick service options

Thanks so much for everyone’s time!

We’ve been on both and are trying to decide between the two for a cruise this fall. I think we are leaning Magic for the smaller crowds at Castaway and the menu at Rapunzel’s. For your specific questions:

A. We don’t do many character meet and greets so I’ll defer to others here. The kids saw more characters in the clubs on the Magic (but also spent more time in the clubs on the Magic, so that might have had something to do with it).

B. For a 9 year old, Dream hands down. The Aquaduck is more fun for that age than the twist and spout and the family pool set up is better. Depends on how adventurous your 9yo is because they might also like AquaDunk on the Magic.

C. The Dream has more activities that are built into the ship (mini golf, midship detective) but the Magic makes up for it by having more activities on offer, in our experience. There was more to tempt the kids at the kids clubs and more happening around the ship. We’ve been going back and forth on which is better for our family.

D. The quick service options are very similar. We liked the Magic better for Shawarma and liked the fresh fruit and cookie offerings at Daisy’s De-lites.

 

[jillinastoria]

My son is about to turn 9 and has been on both the Magic and the Dream. He prefers the Dream because of specific features like the AquaDuck (which I personally like much better than the AquaDunk) and ship activities like the Midship Detective Agency. He liked the kid clubs equally on both ships.

 

[michael730]

In hearing all this would anyone say the age of the magic and the older technology made it less desirable than say the dream? As it’s obviously very old.
Also, would y’all say the crows difference on both ships is noticeable? Does the dream handle the larger number of guests w a larger pool deck space or is it pretty similar? Thanks again

 

[tigerchic89]

They're both great ships.... go for the most days that you can get for the money!!!

 

[brentm77]

In hearing all this would anyone say the age of the magic and the older technology made it less desirable than say the dream? As it’s obviously very old.
Also, would y’all say the crows difference on both ships is noticeable? Does the dream handle the larger number of guests w a larger pool deck space or is it pretty similar? Thanks again

I have only sailed the Magic and the Fantasy (the sister ship to the Dream) and don't think there is any significant difference in technology on the two ships, other than the moving portraits/ Midship Detective Agency on the Dream, which is fairly insignificant in the overall picture. My kids did it once on the first cruise and have never been interested in it again. The Magic has recently been through a dry dock and is pretty much identical to the Dream in technology, which doesn't really play a big part in the classic Disney ships anyway, which are more about capturing the feel of a classic ocean-liner with a touch of Disney magic. If having cutting edge technology is your thing, there are better lines, or even the Wish on Disney compared to the classic ships.

But being an older ship shouldn't be a concern. Disney's specialty is keeping the ships feeling new and clean. You can often see the difference in maintenance between Disney and other lines when in port, with the ships docked next to each other. There were a few posts here about some things looking worn on the Magic before the last dry dock, but I think most of those things were fixed, and we didn't notice the ship feeling old when we sailed about six months before those posts showed up.

The scale of the lobby and other areas on the Dream will generally be bigger and more impressive, to be frank, but they also fill up those spaces with more people, so it pretty much evens out. The Magic lobby in particular seemed underwhelming since we had sailed on the Fantasy first, but once we realized the benefit of the smaller crowds and more intimate feel of the ship, it didn't matter. I prefer the Magic now, but you honestly can't go wrong with either ship. They are so similar and both have the DCL magic/feel/experience that keeps bringing us back. That's why I agree with the poster above - take whichever cruise is longer, because anything shorter than 7-days doesn't really give you a chance to settle in and really relax and enjoy the ship, in my opinion. Also take into account the ports if that is important to you - it wasn't for us on our first cruise, but becomes more important with each cruise.

 

[michael730]

I have only sailed the Magic and the Fantasy (the sister ship to the Dream) and don't think there is any significant difference in technology on the two ships, other than the moving portraits/ Midship Detective Agency on the Dream, which is fairly insignificant in the overall picture. My kids did it once on the first cruise and have never been interested in it again. The Magic has recently been through a dry dock and is pretty much identical to the Dream in technology, which doesn't really play a big part in the classic Disney ships anyway, which are more about capturing the feel of a classic ocean-liner with a touch of Disney magic. If having cutting edge technology is your thing, there are better lines, or even the Wish on Disney compared to the classic ships.

But being an older ship shouldn't be a concern. Disney's specialty is keeping the ships feeling new and clean. You can often see the difference in maintenance between Disney and other lines when in port, with the ships docked next to each other. There were a few posts here about some things looking worn on the Magic before the last dry dock, but I think most of those things were fixed, and we didn't notice the ship feeling old when we sailed about six months before those posts showed up.

The scale of the lobby and other areas on the Dream will generally be bigger and more impressive, to be frank, but they also fill up those spaces with more people, so it pretty much evens out. The Magic lobby in particular seemed underwhelming since we had sailed on the Fantasy first, but once we realized the benefit of the smaller crowds and more intimate feel of the ship, it didn't matter. I prefer the Magic now, but you honestly can't go wrong with either ship. They are so similar and both have the DCL magic/feel/experience that keeps bringing us back. That's why I agree with the poster above - take whichever cruise is longer, because anything shorter than 7-days doesn't really give you a chance to settle in and really relax and enjoy the ship, in my opinion. Also take into account the ports if that is important to you - it wasn't for us on our first cruise, but becomes more important with each cruise.

Great info thank you!!

 

[Ronneeaght]

In hearing all this would anyone say the age of the magic and the older technology made it less desirable than say the dream? As it’s obviously very old.
Also, would y’all say the crows difference on both ships is noticeable? Does the dream handle the larger number of guests w a larger pool deck space or is it pretty similar? Thanks again

We felt the Dream was much more crowded than the Magic, but we went Easter weekend (spring break for lots of elementary schools) with the Disney+ offer last year, so that probably had a lot to do with it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

In my experience (and things may change at any time, I suppose).
A: Magic has more characters. I've seen Marvel and Pixar characters on the Magic (outside of their dedicated cruises), though that may change depending on length of cruise, but I've done TA's on both and Magic had many more characters than the Dream.
B. Don't know, not a sun person. Dream slides seem more family friendly, Magic seems more "adventurous."
C. Dream has the midship detective agency which was fun for a couple of hours, but I wouldn't pick a ship just for that. Dream seemed to repeat things more than Magic (same trivia, for example). I'm a grownup but I prefer the kids club on the Magic (it's not a cruise until I've tried out the Slinky slide, though I did enjoy flying the Millenium Falcon on the Dream).
D. Magic has shwarma, otherwise I would say they're close to the same. Seemed like maybe Magic had a few more options at the salad/sandwich place, but I could be imagining that.

I'm pro smaller ships, but I also pick cruises by itinerary so would sail whatever. I did wonder if my preferences would change now that the Magic and Dream have changed places in the world, but we did the WBTA on the Dream and it was still just meh to me and I found myself missing the Magic.

We did 3 TA’s on Magic, and 1 on the Dream. I missed the Magic, too!

 

[auntlynne]

I have no statistics to back this; but I think you will feel the crowd more the shorter the cruise is. With limited time onboard, it seems the guests are on the move to experience as much as they can. And perhaps, shorter cruise = more families with children.

No matter the ship or cruise line, the place/time I notice crowds the most is arriving at ports. And then, it’s just going to be part of the experience.

Don‘t get to dinner early. Just to stand in line. Arrive on time or one minute after.

 

[Calantha]

Don‘t get to dinner early. Just to stand in line. Arrive on time or one minute after.

I generally agree BUT we were a table of 3 paired with 2 tables of 8+ on our last cruise. If we hadn't arrived first, I'm not sure when we would have gotten served. So we turned up early each day.