The Pool Deck--Deck 11 on the Disney Dream

Want to know where almost everyone gathers on the Disney Dream?  It’s Deck11, the pool deck, between the funnels.  Going from aft to forward, you will find Nemo’s Reef, Mickey pool and slide (the drink stations are on both sides of the Mickey pool), hot tubs, Donald pool, and the Funnel Vision Screen with a stage.  And, the Aqua Duck surround the whole area—click here to read more.  Yep, you can pretty much find everyone here and the pools can disappear with the push of the button giving room for deck parties.  Cool!

On our first afternoon on board, we found some chairs on deck 11 and towels, which are located in the wooden cabinets between the pool deck and the walk-way.  Most often, they are labeled clean towels.  You will also find towel return areas for used towels.  No need to take towels from your stateroom or bring your own beach towels.  We also noticed that the pool deck chairs were very different from the white w/ stripe deck chairs found on the Magic and the Wonder.

 Nemo’s Reef is great for the not yet potty trained set, as swim diapers are not allowed in any of the pools.  At the same time, the boy just had to try it out and loved the fish shaped water guns.  He was allowed to go in the area.  There are steps leading into Nemo’s Reef from the pool deck, so step carefully.  Nemo’s Reef is a huge improvement over the splash zones near the Mickey pool on the Wonder and the Magic.  Nemo’s Reef is covered, adding protection from sun and wind for little ones and is surrounded by clear Plexiglas, which makes keeping an eye on your youngster even easier, as the area has two sides.

Mickey’s pool has the face of the beloved icon on the bottom of the pool, is kept a nice 86°, and is about 1 ½ feet deep.  The boy checked it out, but didn’t spend much time swimming there.  The Mickey slide is off to the side of the Mickey pool and can have very long waits.  Based on my observation, the slide is not as tall as it is on the Magic and the Wonder.  The Mickey slide empties into the Mickey pool on the Magic and the Wonder, but empties into its own splash area on the Dream.  

 The drink stations are located on either side of the Mickey pool and offer free soda, milk, water, coffee, etc. 24 hours a day.  Cups with lids and straws are available.  Tip:  Since slotted drink holders are not available, we would grab a plate from Luigi’s Pizza, as it is square, and use it as a tray for cups.  You can put 4 filled cups on a plate and stack another plate on top if you want/need.  On the Magic and the Wonder, you could grab a tray from Beach Blanket or Topsiders buffets to carry filled cups, but since Cabanas (click here to read more) only has plates, trays are not available.  We made our own trays using the square plates from Luigi’s.  It is okay to ask for just a plate.  When you return to Luigi’s to get a plate of pizza, already carrying your plate of drinks, they understand.  Trust me!

 

Speaking of the Mickey pool, one evening we were riding the Aqua Duck and I thought the Cast Member at the entrance steps looked familiar.  So on our next turn, I stopped and asked if he was the Cast Member that attended the Mickey pool on the Magic.  He looked surprised and said that he was.  I told him that I recognized him from our last cruise on the Magic.  He was pleased and hoped that we were enjoying our cruise on the Dream.  A similar thing happened with a Cast Member at Shutters—Grace—who recognized US from the Magic.

Back to Deck 11.  The Donald pool is next which has a depth of a little over 5 feet, so this pool is for swimmers.  The boy and the husband swam the first day on board and the boy swam again during our evening Aqua Duck adventures.  A fun thing to do in the Donald pool is watch a movie.  What?  Yep, the Funnel Vision Screen is near the Donald pool, so you can take a dip and take in a flick all at the same time!

 The hot tubs are on the side of the ship on Deck 11.  They have clear sides and clear window on the bottom for viewing out to sea, as they hang over the ship a bit.  There is also a clear window on the deck floor to the side of the hot tubs which intrigued the husband and the boy. 

Know that the hot tubs are HOT.  You could find at least one member of the Williams Family in a hot tub late in the evenings on our cruise.

 So, what’s beyond the funnels on Deck 11?  Well, aft is Cabanas—click here to read more.  And, as you go forward on the ship, you would find Luigi’s Pizza, Filmore’s Favorites, Tow Mater’s Grill, Flo’s Café, Eye Scream, and Frozone’s Treats.  The Cove Café and Adult pool are beyond the food locations and Senses Spa beyond that as you move forward on the ship.

For me, one the most appreciated inventions/additions to the Disney Dream were the automatic doors on Deck 11 at midship, just after the Donald pool, that lead to the midship elevators.  Inevitably, I would find my hands full of either drinks, food, or both, and trying to make my way back to our stateroom.  Navigating the elevators was easy with no hands as typically there is someone else going the same place or direction, or you can ask someone to push your deck number when you enter the elevator.  Note:  The hardest door to open on the entire ship?  The door from the Adult pool on Deck 11 to the forward elevators.  Even though taking that route would put me closer to our stateroom, handling the doors with my hands full was almost impossible.  Hence the new route using the automatic doors at midship. 

Deck 11 is certainly a hub of activity on the Disney Dream and offers something for every cruiser.  

Swimming In The Mickey Pool On Disney Cruise Line

One of the amazing features of any cruise ship is the pools. Disney Cruise Ships provide plenty of pools to be amazed by. . . adult only pools, the Goofy pool with its retractable covering, the crew pool, and the Mickey Pool. This post is dedicated to the Mickey pool onboard the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic.

Many of you readers may already know that we have experienced three Disney cruises and are about 10 months away from our 4th Disney cruise on board the Disney Dream. On each of our three cruises, the Mickey pool has been a spot for fun and relaxation.

Know that the Mickey pool can get quite crowded, especially on “sea” days. We have found that hitting the pool shortly after boarding or early in the morning gives you plenty of less crowded time in the pool and shorter waits for the slide. We just pack swimsuits in our carry on bags, so we can change right after eating lunch after coming onboard. (This is important to do, as your luggage may not arrive at your stateroom until late afternoon.)

One of the draws to the pool is the slide. The 2-story high bright yellow slide held by one of Mickey’s hands is on every kid’s must do list. The boy is no exception.

The “face” portion of Mickey is the main swimming area with two depths. The pool has a 1 ft depth and another that is about 2 feet deep.

Mickey’s two ears act as shallow portions of the pool. Think of them as mini hot tubs. Before the “diaper” splash zone was built just on the other side of the slide, one of the ears was reserved for children in swim diapers. Now the whole pool is for kids without swim diapers.

It was interesting to watch some parents on our last cruise at the Mickey pool regarding the swim diaper issue. While the signs are posted that lifeguards are not on duty, there are a couple of crew members that man the slide—top and bottom. It is also posted that any children in swim diapers must use the splash zone behind the slide. The crew member at the bottom gets to tell parents that if their child has swim diapers, they must use the splash zone on the other side of the slide—this means no swimming in the Mickey pool. Remember, I wrote that swimming in the Mickey pool is a must do for most kids? Well, it must also be a must do for some parents, too. The moms, yes, mostly moms, would argue with the crew members. When the crew wouldn’t give in to the demands, the moms would whip the swim diapers off their kids and the kids would go about swimming. The moms would complain and argue the rest of the time. So much for a happy, relaxing vacation?!?

The Mickey pool is also in a very convenient location to get food and drink. The drink station is just steps away. Fruit, ice cream, sandwiches, and pizza are also within steps. I remember on our second cruise, the boy swimming for a bit and then telling us he was hungry. Within 2 minutes we had a cup of milk, a bowl of strawberries, and 2 slices of pizza for him to eat. All of it included with our cruise. That is one thing I tell people considering a Disney cruise that have small children. . . there is no easier place to feed your kids. I mean, I couldn’t have whipped up the pizza, strawberries, and milk in two minutes at our house. Easy!

Now that the boy is a bit older, he still enjoys the Mickey pool, but we have backed off a bit. We can now find deck chairs on deck 10 while is in the pool on deck 9. He knows where we are and we can see him in the distance. All good. One day during our last cruise, he chose not to swim, saying that the pool was too crowded. He decided to go to a movie with his dad and the kids’ club instead. Again, so easy!

The only other drawback to the Mickey pool is that if your family has children of multiple ages, it could be difficult to use both the Mickey pool and Goofy pool and feel like you were supervising your children at the same time. Disney is addressing this issue in the new ship, the Dream, by having both pools together on the same deck. There will still be a splash zone for those children in swim diapers with a Nemo and friends theme. The boy is worried that he may be too tall or too big to check it out. We can’t wait to check out the design and the pools!