How long are the waits for the elevators on the Disney Magic?

[kate3177]

My family of four, Me, DH, DD(13), and DD(11) are booked for our first disney cruise aboard the Disney Magic on April 24 out of miami. I am Disney World obsessed! We normally go at least twice a year, but I’ve been reluctant to go on a cruise because I was afraid I’d miss the parks and resorts that we love. But now that I’ve booked a Disney cruise I’m all in and doing my normal amount of obsessive research. I’ve been stalking the cruise thread for months now, and I’ve started questioning the room I’ve booked. My husband and I went on a Royal Carribean cruise in June to visit Cuba and Key West. While the cruise was fun, we’d booked late and were stuck on the second floor and waited a long time for elevators every time we needed to go anywhere. I booked the Disney Magic and did an inside room cause I could get it on the fifth floor right next to the Oceaneer Clun for my 11 year old. She’s really excited about the Marvel area in there. But now I’m second guessing myself and wondering if I should pay the extra to have an ocean view room even though it’ll most likely be on a lower floor. I just don’t know if as many people are congested in the same area on this cruise or not. On the fifth floor, we don’t mind walking up a few flights, but from the second or first floor the stairs can get old fast! Thank you in advance for any advice

 

[Geomom]

We've stayed on deck 2 AFT oceanview for both our cruises--Wonder Alaska and Magic Northern European. We walk upstairs to deck 3/4/5 for all the stuff there. We use the elevator to go up to deck 9. It's usually not an issue, maybe a couple minutes to wait, and the elevators are empty when you get on. Once you've pushed the button, that elevator is going to go down until it gets to you. Once it's going up, expect a few stops along the way to get the other people going up. I believe there are 4 small elevators each at aft/mid/forward. Midship elevators might have more of a wait and crowd.

 

[Shanti]

My family of four, Me, DH, DD(13), and DD(11) are booked for our first disney cruise aboard the Disney Magic on April 24 out of miami. I am Disney World obsessed! We normally go at least twice a year, but I’ve been reluctant to go on a cruise because I was afraid I’d miss the parks and resorts that we love. But now that I’ve booked a Disney cruise I’m all in and doing my normal amount of obsessive research. I’ve been stalking the cruise thread for months now, and I’ve started questioning the room I’ve booked. My husband and I went on a Royal Carribean cruise in June to visit Cuba and Key West. While the cruise was fun, we’d booked late and were stuck on the second floor and waited a long time for elevators every time we needed to go anywhere. I booked the Disney Magic and did an inside room cause I could get it on the fifth floor right next to the Oceaneer Clun for my 11 year old. She’s really excited about the Marvel area in there. But now I’m second guessing myself and wondering if I should pay the extra to have an ocean view room even though it’ll most likely be on a lower floor. I just don’t know if as many people are congested in the same area on this cruise or not. On the fifth floor, we don’t mind walking up a few flights, but from the second or first floor the stairs can get old fast! Thank you in advance for any advice

The fore and aft elevators have shorter waits than the midship elevators. Still, the stairs are faster. We sailed on a sold-out Magic cruise and never found passageways congested.

As for room type, we sailed in an inside on the Magic and it was a nice room. Whether an upgrade is worth the cost is a matter of finances. I personally wouldn't stretch financially, just to get a window, since you'll spend so much time out of the stateroom. The view on a Caribbean/Bahamas cruise is nice but nothing extraordinary.

 

[dcassetta]

My family of four, Me, DH, DD(13), and DD(11) are booked for our first disney cruise aboard the Disney Magic on April 24 out of miami. I am Disney World obsessed! We normally go at least twice a year, but I’ve been reluctant to go on a cruise because I was afraid I’d miss the parks and resorts that we love. But now that I’ve booked a Disney cruise I’m all in and doing my normal amount of obsessive research. I’ve been stalking the cruise thread for months now, and I’ve started questioning the room I’ve booked. My husband and I went on a Royal Carribean cruise in June to visit Cuba and Key West. While the cruise was fun, we’d booked late and were stuck on the second floor and waited a long time for elevators every time we needed to go anywhere. I booked the Disney Magic and did an inside room cause I could get it on the fifth floor right next to the Oceaneer Clun for my 11 year old. She’s really excited about the Marvel area in there. But now I’m second guessing myself and wondering if I should pay the extra to have an ocean view room even though it’ll most likely be on a lower floor. I just don’t know if as many people are congested in the same area on this cruise or not. On the fifth floor, we don’t mind walking up a few flights, but from the second or first floor the stairs can get old fast! Thank you in advance for any advice

5th floor is great because of being close to mid-deck amenities and not having too many cabins.

The only time I ever notice issues with elevators is right before the dinner seatings and sometime near the end time of port visits.

 

[Dug720]

5th floor is great because of being close to mid-deck amenities and not having too many cabins.

The only time I ever notice issues with elevators is right before the dinner seatings and sometime near the end time of port visits.

Deck 5 is also good because it's in the middle and it's not huge stair walks to anywhere. Think of it as earning that food.

 

[kate3177]

Thank you all so much for the helpful input! It’s so good to have advice from those who have cruised Disney before.

 

[GPaLarry]

After nine DCL cruises we have never been lower than deck 6 with verandah or porthole (wife gets antsy with no view of outside). Agree with above that elevators are less crowded forward and aft...the stairs are always available. We like to walk a lot to work off all the great food (Mickey Bars...mmm!). Take your time and enjoy the ship, there is a lot to see (hidden Mickeys) all around you. Have a great cruise!!

 

[DCL_Wonder]

I booked the Disney Magic and did an inside room cause I could get it on the fifth floor right next to the Oceaneer Clun for my 11 year old. She’s really excited about the Marvel area in there. But now I’m second guessing myself and wondering if I should pay the extra to have an ocean view room even though it’ll most likely be on a lower floor. I just don’t know if as many people are congested in the same area on this cruise or not. On the fifth floor, we don’t mind walking up a few flights, but from the second or first floor the stairs can get old fast! Thank you in advance for any advice

Two things. The elevators can get really crowded, but if you can't fit into one, there will always be another. And, I remember my 14 year old when he was 11 saying the Edge was full of babies. His words, not mine. The point being your 11 year old will be one of the older children in the Oceaneers Club. She might make more friends and feel more comfortable in the Edge. However, you know your children better than a stranger on a chat board. Enjoy your cruise!

PS, we love the second deck of the Disney ships. That's all we book. We are close to the restaurants, shops, theaters, etc. Granted the second deck is a long way from the top decks, but there are trade offs wherever you are.

 

[kate3177]

I was wondering about the Oceaneer club being a little too young for her, but she’s read up on it and insists she wants to take advantage of all the stuff offered in there. I think if we go to open house, and she realizes it then she’ll just join her sister at the Edge which is what I’d prefer. Thanks for the warning though. I was wondering if it was going to be almost all younger than her.

 

[Quellman]

The 5th floor on the Magic? We have sailed verandah on that floor. We took stairs everywhere. Elevators are crowded during the following times: After muster drill, after shows in the Walt Disney Theater, after pirate night. Right around dinner seatings. That's it. A note, that if you are on the bottom floor, you won't have to worry about a full elevator on the ride up.

 

[disneyeek]

We stayed on deck 6 on the Wonder (Magic's sister ship) and didn't take the elevator once. It was the perfect place in between everywhere we wanted to be.

 

[kate3177]

We stayed on deck 6 on the Wonder (Magic's sister ship) and didn't take the elevator once. It was the perfect place in between everywhere we wanted to be.

I was hoping that it would be like that with the 5th floor, but I got nervous that we’d be missing out with not having an outside cabin. But from the responses, I’m really feeling good about where our cabin is. Thanks so much for the advice. All of it helps me get a better picture of what to expect.

 

[KashasMom]

A hint for catching an elevator during a crowded time...take the elevator in the opposite direction and then ride it back the way you want to go. As far as re-boarding the ship...climb up one set of stairs and take the elevator back down and then up to your floor. Most of the time the stairs are manageable. Personally I wouldn't change your room - you should be fine.

 

[DisneyHelen]

We stayed on deck 6 and walked most of the time.We had no trouble getting elevators forward and aft to deck 9 when needed.

 

[Garyjames220]

Should take 3 minutes and 43 seconds from when the button is pressed

 

[mmmears]

We were on deck 7 and mostly used the stairs. But there were times we wanted the elevators (like when we boarded on 1 and wanted to go up to 9 to eat and we were starving) so we did use the elevators at times. It wasn't awful at all in terms of waiting. I will add that our recent cruise on the Magic was in Europe and there were fewer small children on board - so few strollers or people who needed the elevator. So demand might have been lower than an average cruise.

 

[Rob1872]

Once you've pushed the button, that elevator is going to go down until it gets to you.

This is NOT a true statement. When we were on Magic on Deck 1, we would be watching elevators coming down to the 3rd floor that would turn around and go back up. With normal elevator logic they keep going in the same direction if someone has called for one; on Magic they definitely kept the elevators during busy time going between the main dining and the upper levels and only occasionally sent an elevator down to 1 and 2. My family just decided that it was easier to walk up from 1, and to fight the cruise ship weight gain we ended up usually walking from 1 all of the way up to the pool deck, etc. It doesn't take that long to walk and it was good exercise.

 

[Agent 86]

We've always stayed on Deck 2. We take the stairs UP to most of the floors, except for the pool deck. With all the eating that we do, we definitely need the little exercise provided by the stairs! We also usually take the stairs DOWN, unless we're dripping wet from being in the pool.

The wait times for the elevators never seemed to take very long, but we don't usually use the "midship"elevators - just the ones closest to the adult pool area.

 

[shoes99]

A hint for catching an elevator during a crowded time...take the elevator in the opposite direction and then ride it back the way you want to go. As far as re-boarding the ship...climb up one set of stairs and take the elevator back down and then up to your floor. Most of the time the stairs are manageable. Personally I wouldn't change your room - you should be fine.

We will be on the Magic in 3 weeks. DH uses an ECV. We almost always use your logic of going in the opposite direction. We avoid mid ship elevators and this time we will be staying aft. We have learned to be patient. Some folks see you in an ECV and just push in front of you.

 

[KashasMom]

We will be on the Magic in 3 weeks. DH uses an ECV. We almost always use your logic of going in the opposite direction. We avoid mid ship elevators and this time we will be staying aft. We have learned to be patient. Some folks see you in an ECV and just push in front of you.

The lack of elevator etiquette - actually the downright rudeness of people - really bothers me. I have seen what you describe with ECVs. I frequently say something!