Disney Wish Rotational Dining, Buffet, and Festival of Foods

In this episode, Dreams Unlimited Travel agent Chris Vorobek discusses his take on the three rotational restaurants aboard the Disney Wish – Arendelle, 1923, and Worlds of Marvel – Marceline Market, and Festival of Foods!

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Hello everyone and welcome to the dreams unlimited travel podcast my name is John Mai and I’ll be your host and in this episode we’re GNA talk about dining on the Disney wish I am joined by our dreams unlimited travel agent Chris vorc hi and our producer Craig Williams

Oh Hoy Hoy so very excited to be talking to to Craig this week um he recently went on a Disney wish sailing with his family and um has some great insight as to what’s going on with that ship and their experience this week we’re specifically going to focus on um the

Dining on the Disney wish he had a chance to do all of the restaurants in the full rotation which is uh great to share with folks who are uh watching our shows and are interested in sailing on the Disney wish so Chris um real quick give everybody a recap what sailing you

On who went what was the circumstances behind that absolutely we were so we were on the uh the Disney wish we were on for President’s Day weekend we had a uh my my I have a 12-year-old son so he had a he had Monday off I took him out

Of school for mon Monday don’t let the for Friday don’t let the school here but um and um and we took advantage I had not been on the Disney wish before we were going to be on the inaugural but when they had to push the the inaugural

Back some so um so we did do that we decided to do Europe instead uh do Italy and Greece last summer so um so this was my first time on the Disney wish um and I was really excited to to to do this um it was my uh my spouse’s birthday

Weekend so we went fancy pancy and did a coner sailing so we were up on Deck 13 which was very nice right near the Concierge Lounge and they have a nice deck area so I’ll talk about food in there a little bit um but um i’ tell you

One of the things that I was really Blown Away by was the caliber of food generally on board uh this the the Disney’s Fifth and newest ship it was they’ve really kicked it up a notch and um and that’s true in the three main dining room areas that’s true in the uh

I think in Marceline Market which is for those who have been on other Disney ships that’s uh that’s the kind of buffet area it’s uh it’s um in the kind of back of the ship and then uh and then they have a quick service area which

They have on other on the other ships but this one is spectacular and so we’ll we’ll talk a little bit about that which do you want me to start with John well let’s um let’s start with a little bit of definition for folks I realize that we have very Disney Savvy audience but

Maybe folks don’t know what does Disney do for dining that’s different talk about rotational dining so so you have a rotation amongst three Disney has three main restaurants and you you will switch restaurants every night uh the awesome thing is your servers will go right with

You so you’ll have the same service team the entire trip um and you will visit each restaurant a different night and that will be on your Disney Cruise Line navigator app it’ll tell you where to go what table you’re at um so all that set in there but um and and so each

Restaurant has a different theme on the Disney wish uh there are three new ones they have aarondale which is um Frozen um they have a world of Marvel uh which is Marvel and then they have um uh the third one is called 1923 which is the day the year that the Walt Disney

Company was created and so it’s very uh it’s a little bit more um fancy I would say U but still very comfortable um but um it’s it has a lot of memorabilia about Disney movies Disney Parks even Disney Cruise Line other things all throughout it and and is really a lovely

Place so um it’s it’s a great way what was the first night we our first night we started in world of Marvel um so um and and this is uh it has screens so a lot of the story is told through screens and while the story isn’t being told

They’re showing scenes of of um Marvel movies which is fun uh I again I have a 12-year-old and Nick with was um kind of testing us on to see if we knew all the characters um I think I did pretty well but it didn’t I didn’t score 100 per.

Yeah I tried I tried testing Kevin and he just kept saying he go that Ant-Man that Ant-Man no you’re not all Ant-Man sorry well they have and and the little story is that you know there’s a story of course it’s Disney they have a story and there’s bad guys who are coming on

The ship and so you have to you shrink the ship and you know they have these generators Cosmic generators or something you know it’s the Ant-Man technology on board um it finishes up with Spider-Man coming on board I think it used to be Ant-Man came through but I

Think not enough people there weren’t not everyone knew who Ant-Man was particularly only Kevin only Kevin well they now have Spider-Man who comes through so um and and I have I got a great photo with he comes around to all the tables at the end and and you

Know Nick still was excited to Spider-Man so it was that that’s great fun as I say the food I I’m trying to remember what we got um I have to say our dining our our dining team were just I think the dining teams on Disney ships are exceptional anyway probably on most

Cruise ships but the on Disney ships they’re really exceptional and really go above and beyond to look out for you um our our dining team on this cruise I mean on a three-day you know you kind of don’t get to know them they were phenomenal I was uh I wanted to take him

Home with me um they they just really helped make our trip very very special um and always one of the things that I like to do is kind of get okay what’s really the good thing and they’ll generally tell you yeah get this stay away from that kind of thing um and um

And I should have looked before we started to see what I had on each of these things the the worlds of Marvel menu for me it feel like it’s the restaurant itself is very reminiscent of animators palette and I feel like the menu also kind of has that same feel

Like there there’s some interesting things on it like uh they do have like bow buns on there and uh you know just a salad Iceberg wedge uh creamed potato soup stuff like that uh it just it’s like it’s kind of all over the place with their menu it’s not like locked

Into one specific theme where like where you’ll talk about it more with 1923 and Arendelle Arendelle is very much trying to go for a Scandinavian style restaurant in 1923 is really giving off like Steakhouse Vibes in a way so uh this one’s just kind of like your your

Mixed bag there’s there’s a little bit you know you might have a German entree but you went with uh something Asian inspired for the appetizer so it’s just as you talk about it I think I got the Schnitzel when in3 so it was good it was great so and I

Think what’s great about Arendale is you know nothing a kid likes more than pickled fish and I was actually worried about that because Nick’s a fairly uh um you know he’s he’s not he’s not picky which is good um but I I was like oh my

Goodness is there going to be able to something in there that he can eat and he did fine so I you don’t need to worry about that they’re they’re good about making sure that the that there’s something for the kids oh yeah absolutely the menus are are diverse

Enough um so you know one of the things that I have to do is I have to also step back my impression of the Marvel restaurant was that it was very very chaotic that there was so much going on and so much input and so much going on

But it’s not meant for me right it’s meant for Nick it’s meant for kids so I want to hear you know was he into it was it really do you think it was cool do you think it was lame was it like oh Disney’s trying to do this or was he

Like excited about it no nick nick still gets a big kick out of Marvel movies and um and so so he enjoyed it you’re right it’s um I wouldn’t I was trying to think uh uh we were talking about it last night was it some of the we were just at

A restaurant a couple weeks ago here in in DC that was so loud you could barely talk to the person across this across the table from you and I don’t remember the the space being that loud but definitely it is um it there’s volume

There and it is and it is you know I think if you’re a parent having that kind of show going on is helpful because those dinner times can be particularly if you have smaller ones when when Nick was four you know okay we need entertainment and it meant that I didn’t

Have to do jazz hands all the time so it was awesome um but um but even at 12 he got a real kick out of it and as I say we were playing the game of you know what movie was that one from and kind of thing um and even going through and

Remembering okay do we like that movie did we like we’re not big fans of Doctor Strange the second one um the second movie creeped me out so uh so we were talking about the movies as as they would come up on the screens which was

Was fun and and you know made for a nice light discussion and and I think like Disney likes to embrace the uh Nostalgia stuff and and focus on together time and stuff like that so it was all it was very fun for us so you’ve got this restaurant that’s uh you know

Interactive and it’s got stuff going on let’s talk about 1923 I know what that’s a big contrast beautiful space I loved it my opinion I thought that was the best meal I had totally on the ship I thought it was fantastic but what about Nick did Nick

Think like oh now I’m bored because I went from exciting restaurants to this yeah so it’s um no I mean Nick’s 12 and um and his dads who uh like to eat so um we we don’t we go out to restaurants a lot so he’s used to that um there were

There was a table with a a big table next to us that had uh probably 15 people and half of them being kids and the kids were fine because they they were entertaining each other um but if you only had one kid it some of the

Waiters do a good job of of making sure that the kids are entertained also if you need your food brought out right away they’ll do that and then the kids can go to the kidss club if they want um and I don’t think it’s an accident that

There’s a slide down to the kids club that’s literally right outside 1923 right um it’s been like the laundry shoot for kids right exactly okay go slide down the slide and be gone with you um so it’s um I think he actually got a kick I mean Disney Disney has been

A part of Nick’s life literally from the time he was his first Disney World trip was at three months old so he’s grown up with this and I mean you can see his crazy father so you know it’s um this has been part of what he so he was

Actually enjoying a lot of the Nostalgia and what we got to see and um you know it was I think he really got a kick out of that he’s not like every kid so um but um I mentioned on our last show that Nick right now pretty much eats breath

Breathes and sleeps uh basketball uh he if this was an NBA room we probably would have never gotten him out of there but so I’m glad it wasn’t that and then uh the third restaurant is Arendale correct um I actually be did you find that one cluttery because that one’s that one’s

Even that one we did find hard it was hard to talk uh to the you know there wasn’t much conversation because the show is really the focus in that one I first of all I’m not if here’s a deal this shouldn’t be about me cuz she went

On the cruise but I am not a fan of the community tables yeah not a big fan of that I’m not a big fan of um I would like to be able to eat and enjoy my food I don’t need it to be quiet all the time

Or anything like that but this was so busy and so much going on and so much show oriented that was very distracting and then finally in my opinion this food was not very good we had meatballs that Nick could have used for basketballs we had the Swedish meatballs

That were literally basketball ball so that was my opinion of this restaurant but please give yours because it’s no uh I mean I I think again this is has a dinner show feel to it so this is very much a show and you’re being fed and I

Actually felt sorry for the for the weight staff because they’re trying to sneak stuff in front of you as the show is going on so it’s it has that very much that feel this was I agree with you this was my third of the three rotational restaurants um in terms of food quality

Um I I’m hard pressed to come up with what I had um it was all fine but it was it you know of the three of them it was my least favorite um we were lucky we had seats right at literally right next to the stage so and we were just us so

Um we had we had great seats we we didn’t have the communal seats um but it was it is um it’s it’s loud in there and they’re singing and there’s show going on and um so it’s a very different if you’re looking for the dinner where you

Can all just sit and chat that it’s that’s not the space for you but it’s one of your your nights on the ship so and and Frozen I’m gonna I don’t know if I’m gonna get in trouble here Frozen seems like a show that would be appeal

To um younger kids correct and maybe more girls so maybe was Nick was it something that even interested him or was it kind of like let’s eat and get out of here no he was fine I mean he gives his dad a lot of leeway and I was busy taking pictures

Around the place and we went back um and it’s the place so on the back of the ship is uh is Tangled and it from the windows outside of the uh outside of uh uh uh that restaurant you can actually get see the Tangled uh um back on the

Back of the ship it’s the closest space you can see it and I think probably the closest you can see on any of the ships none of the other ones have Windows back there so um so we wanted to do that and um so we you

Know I’ve been you get to by the time you they’re 12 and 13 years kind of figure out okay what do I need to do to entertain him but it wasn’t he enjoyed the show but it wasn’t something that that blew his socks away well it feels

Like you guys have a good it feels like you guys have a good give and take yeah right let’s do this for me we’ll do this for you we’ll make sure that everybody gets in uh what they want and it’s interesting because um you know there’s very little discussion right about the

Actual food and I think that’s kind of what Disney is doing here and is doing best is it’s about the experience and it’s about the space and it’s about the immersiveness of your meal and you know there’s good food but I think that as you as we’re talking about this you’re

Not talking specifically about items that you had that chical blew you away or the best thing ever but with that said let’s move on to the other venues because I have a feeling there might be something yeah and I’m going to go to what I think is the biggest uh it’s the

Biggest difference but also the biggest ad on the ship is the Quick Service locations so they have What’s called the Festival of foods um and it’s on the kind of pool deck and wraps around it’s all covered un like it’s more open on the other ships this one’s kind of more

Covered um and it has different stations that are all all around um they have what I will call like Chipotle a Mexican you know you can get tacos or burritos or all those kinds of things that was great they have a a a barbecue place

That’s on the very back of the ship they have of course the ice cream station where you can get ice cream um there’s one of the oh there’s of course hamburgers hot dogs you can get those we didn’t do the hamburgers hot dogs my my

Son I think ate almost ate them out of barbecue I mean Nick was he would have never left there he could have done that every meal he was in thought that was the best thing ever oh my God that barbecue was spectacular it was really really good we talk about these other

Venues and what did you eat and you’re kind of like struggling to figure out what you ate this is what I remember I remember the barbecue was unbelievable on the ship like we would go back and just over and over again and even hot dogs were great hamburgers were great

Everything on this deck was really spectacular so we were we were happy about this space when it came to actual food offered yeah no it was and it’s well done and there’s there’s a variety of different things that I don’t think you find on other Disney ships um so it

Was um it was really really enjoyable and it’s a fun place to hang out too there was enough seating and stuff so it was uh it was I had I had the I got tacos which were were great and you could get them made to just like

Chipotle you can get them made the way you want them which is really nice so uh so that was great um the buffet area uh is called marcelene Market as opposed to the uh um cabanos on the other ships um and um on the on the last show we talked

About how how things feel more Compact and this is where I noticed it I think the most was the it it felt tight getting through this space felt crowded to me um the food was I think uh good you know it’s the buffet food they serve

You as opposed to on the on cabanos on the other ships you serve yourself this you you get served um which is is different um and um when you say Ser you they’re they’re they’re plating the food you hold your plate so they they have it behind glass

And then they put it on plate for you exactly kind of a shift that’s happened since covid we see this on a lot of cruise ships now that the buffet area very little interaction between the people and the food health safety reasons right yeah and I

Totally get it they tend to put you know like I’m always cautious about how much I eat on a ship because it’s easy to have it get away from you um and so I like they gave were always giving me more and I feel bad about wasting it but

It was um as I say the food I think the the Quick Service food was so good that this ends up being a a secondary place that we would go um because you know we want to go get barbecue or go get tacos or go get exactly right you know there so this

Wasn’t the main place we would go to get where that’s not true on the on the other ships so exactly right it’s a that uh that area is an incredible addition to the ships and I hope they continue It On All Ships I hope they retrofit the

Older ships with it as well and they and they do have a coffee shop with you know there’s a bunch of coffee shops around it’s not you can’t just get fancy coffee I mean you can get free coffee um but some people like higher-end coffee um they have a coffee shop in that

Marceline market area so you can get you can get coffee there if that’s what you want they also it’s also a little bar so you can get if you want some a glass of wine or something you or a cocktail you can get that there too which I found to

Be a nice ad and I know it’s on the other they have one on the other ships but it’s it it was felt more prominent to me on on this on the wish so one of the things I liked about Marceline Market um I don’t know if it was because

Of the sailing we were on specifically but um great many of the people servers would come up or the staff would come up and ask us can we get you anything can we go up and get it for you um so that was a nice little addition was you know

What I don’t feel like going up there and waiting in line can you go and grab me something so was that the case when you were there or was mine because it was a yeah as I said we we had breakfast there one morning but we were in we were

Really enjoying the the Quick Service place so we spend a lot more time up there than we did in Marceline Market you know it it felt to me like similar to the other uh other Buffet on the other ships so we wanted to try the new

Stuff and so we didn’t spend nearly as much time back there as we have on on other cruises you uh mentioned you stayed conge tell us about the coner lounge and the food and the offerings there so the Concierge Lounge is is lovely it’s it’s

A good size uh um so plenty of space for for people um they have a nice deck up to upstairs too that you can go and sit on if you want to take food they do have some some offerings up there um and they have cocktails at night that uh that I

Have clients who say oh it’s free and I said well how about we just say it’s included it’s included in your price um and uh and those are all good uh the food was you know we we ended up as I say I was on this race to see as much of

The as I possibly could so we didn’t spend a ton of time in there but it all looked great and and I think one time they had a they were doing a character meet and greet up there and I always like doing that so um so we we did get a

Munchies to eat while we were there but that was that was the extent of it but it all looked delicious so you know it’s tough because um we like to say con but you there’s so much food and so much available to you that

It’s like what do I do do I sit here and have something before I go to dinner so sometimes it’s kind of a a redundancy that you don’t really need and I think particularly on a three night cruise I’m not sure if you get to use the the

Service that comes along with I what I always tell clients if they say oh is concierge worth it and I never like getting into the worth it question because that’s a judgment call on your part I your budget is your budget and I don’t know how you want to spend your

Money um the way that I basically say to folks is if you’re going to try and put this in a spreadsheet to see if it pays out don’t do concierge because it’s not going to you’re not going to be able to eat and drink enough to make that the

The cost difference pay off um that being said the service that you get is is amazing and you have this team that will look after anything you want um you don’t on a three night cruise you don’t get to really experience or deal with

That a whole bunch so it’s um you know I I’m not sure it’s it’s fully worth it but um um there were a couple of people we were talking to folks who were in the tower Suite so the inside the the front funnel is a whole suite and I think you

Can sleep I think it’s 10 or 11 people in there it’s incredible um but it’s uh and they were telling us about that and I think for that kind that’s I mean there you’re like getting this amazing room and amazing space and so that’s I think different and okay doing that but

So there’s a lot of factors if you’re doing concierge to a lot of factors to think about and a lot of times for us for Kevin and myself concierge is a lot about the room we get right you get a bigger room you get something that’s a

Suite so in addition to the services you get the room that you want and the location on the ship that you want so it’s it’s all got to be bundled together you think about it all together as a package for sure any last words about food that you want folks to know

Anything you want to tell folks about the Disney wish and one of the things that I always tell people is if you’re doing something special on on board they uh the most recent three restaurants all have a higher end uh ice cream location on this one it’s all themed around inside out

It’s called joyful sweets and if you’re like if you’re having a birthday or anniversary or something you can go up there and Order uh they have these Sundays and you can order it and have it delivered to your uh rotation dining table um and they’ll bring down these

Special Sundays um and it’s a great way to like kick up your celebration a little bit um again there’s a fee associated with with uh th that location uh so it’s not included in your dinner priz but it is a fun way to to celebrate something if you’re doing something like

That def fine to fine fancy and special Sunday so so they have one it comes in this uh well the one on the for for sweets uh comes in a uh a pi are the Bing Bong head um you know the half elephant kind of guy um and so I think

It’s five scoops of ice cream and a bunch of toppings six toppings or something and there it makes a very dramatic it’s it’s dramatic and fun um and I I will tell you not this we went on a cruise a couple couple years ago

And it was two of the people that I was traveling with it was their birthday and so I ordered Sundays down for them and the table next to us was all looking and like how do you get those and it was it was funny because the the server brought them all down and

Literally as they’re about five feet from the table they were in these things and they all tottered over it oh no it was fine for us like it we weren’t but they went back and brought new ones and brought a whole plate of of like cookies and everything and uh and the people

There were a couple kids at the table who were really yearning for some stuff and I said we weren’t going to eat all that stuff so I gave all the cookies and stuff to them and they were uh they were very they thought they like died and

Gone to heaven they were very excited so well it sounds like one of these could be shared by a table right oh yeah absolutely they’re big they’re big like it’s more than I mean Nick eats everything these days he’s a vacuum of food but he he eats one but I split I

You know my my better half and I Sam and I split split one so excellent it sounds like a great addition to anybody’s Cruise yeah it makes it fun if you’re doing I have F uh folks a client who’s doing a h 40th anniversary and I suggested to them and

I think they’re I think they’ve ordered them and going to do them so it’s fun it’s fun excellent all right sounds great sounds like you guys had a great time on your cruise sounds like you had a lot of fun it was fantastic I I as I

Say the we we talked a little bit on the last one that the wish I think has gotten a lot of um a lot of people like grimaced about it CU it is a it’s very different than the other ships it has a different feel than the other ships the

Other four all have a similar feel to them and the flow is similar and you get used to that this one’s different and you know my joke on the LA when we were talking about it before is Disney folks love love change as long as everything stays the same this one’s different and

I think people are still getting used to that if if it’s your first Disney Cruise you’re going to love it it’s fantastic ship and just enjoy the food it’s really really good and they’re doing something right because their ships are going out full so people are loving it whatever the

Opinions were in the past Chris thanks so much I really appreciate your opinion sounds like you guys had fun and I kind of wish I was with you yeah come on let’s go next time want to remind folks if you’d like to book your vacation your Disney Cruise Line vacation with dreams

Unlimited travel we do offer a shipboard credit of up to $1,000 for you to spend on board you can get one of those Sundays Chris was talking about it’s about $1,000 for one of those I assume and um in addition to that you get our gift bag uh every client

Receives a gift BAGI prior to sailing and it is uh full of things we think will help make your Crews a better experience for you if you’re interested in Booking with dreams unlimited travel you can contact Chris at chrisv dreams unlimited travel.com or your dreams unlimited

Travel agent or if you don’t have an agent you can write to me John at dreams unlimited travel.com thank you everybody at home for listening and watching we hope you have a great week and we hope you have a great Vacation