Adventures and Mousecapades: A Podcast About Disney

208. Would You Rather...? DCL Chaos Edition

• Alicea & Nathan Novak • Episode 208

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Holiday cheer, knee-surgery jokes, and a stack of Disney Cruise Line would-you-rathers: we put our sea-day priorities to the test and uncover what actually makes a voyage unforgettable. From the big itinerary call—seven unhurried nights on the Disney Fantasy versus a Wish double dip at Castaway Cay—to the most controversial dining debate on the ocean, we weigh time, cost, and vibe to help you plan with purpose.

We get honest about premium dining: Remy and Enchanté deliver exquisite, lingering dinners, while Palo brunch fuels your day without stealing it. Then it’s relaxation versus thrills as we square off between endless AquaDuck or AquaMouse runs and a private cabana on Castaway Cay, complete with shade, chilled towels, and your own slice of calm. Entertainment choices spark strong opinions too—front-row Broadway-style shows versus fireworks from your balcony—and we explain why the longer, crafted experience often wins out.

Shore days and tools matter more than you think. Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point dazzles with powder-soft sand and serene water, tempting even activity lovers away from Castaway’s bike-and-snorkel combo. We also pit paper Navigators against the app with concierge help, and there’s no contest when it comes to stress-free planning. Add in spa serenity versus fish extender chaos, a rare character breakfast victory over a Captain Minnie meet, and a few crossover curveballs—Hades in peak sass mode, dinner with the Madrigals, and the ultimate earworm showdown—and you’ve got a playful guide to dialing in your own perfect cruise.

If you’re mapping a DCL trip, this conversation is your shortcut to smarter choices and happier sea days. Subscribe, share with your Disney crew, and leave a quick rating or review so more fans can find the show. What’s your must-pick: cabana day or brunch at Palo?

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Adventures & Mousecapades is a passion project from Alicea & Nathan Novak - two Seattleites addicted to The Mouse. We are not affiliated with Disney, nor are we travel agents. Opinions are our own.

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Nathan:

Please stand clear of the doors. For favor, manténganse a left.

Alicea:

Please stand clear of the doors. Hello everyone, I'm Alicia.

Nathan:

And I'm Nathan.

Alicea:

Welcome to episode 208 of Adventures and Mouse Capades.

Nathan:

Merry Christmas.

Alicea:

Happy Christmas.

Nathan:

Yeah. This is coming out just a few days before Christmas, and uh, we're recording long before that because I'm about to have knee surgery.

Alicea:

So yay! Currently you're chilling.

Nathan:

I am chilling and probably feeling very, very good. Probably. Better living through chemistry. There you go. Yes.

Alicea:

This week we are doing a Disney cruise line. Would you rather?

Nathan:

Yes. So we have several questions that our uh faithful audience slash no, that's not true. It was Copilot helped us come up with. Yep. Um, we haven't looked at these in advance at all. We are going to uh debate, live debate right here with you guys.

Alicea:

Pre-recorded debate for you guys.

Nathan:

Pre-recorded live debate.

Alicea:

It's live for us.

Nathan:

Sure. It's live, it's live to tape.

Alicea:

Live to tape.

Nathan:

Okay, we're old. Tape. Wow.

Alicea:

Like scotch?

Nathan:

Yeah.

Alicea:

I know you didn't think tape for a second there, did you? You're like, what are you? Why is she talking about scotch?

Nathan:

What does tape have to do with drinking? I don't understand. Anyway, all right. Would you rather DCL edition? Alicia, may I go first? Go for it.

Alicea:

We have not seen these.

Nathan:

We have not seen these.

Alicea:

They may be good, they may not be good.

Nathan:

We'll find out soon enough. Would you rather a seven-night cruise on the fantasy or a wish double dip at Castaway Key?

Alicea:

Uh seven night on the fantasy.

Nathan:

Yeah, that's um that's a that's a no-brainer.

Alicea:

Unless it was a seven night on the wish with the double dip at Castaway.

Nathan:

So a wish double dip is going to be seven nights.

Alicea:

That's true.

Nathan:

And therefore it will be a double dip. But you also get to hit Nassau twice. Yay?

Alicea:

No, it doesn't say Nassau on there.

Nathan:

But that's what the Wish sails. It sails threes and fours, and it hits Nassau and Castaway. And then the Fournighter adds a uh uh a day at sea that goes nowhere. Got it.

Alicea:

Um I still think I do the fantasy.

Nathan:

Yeah, because you're either getting well, no, what is it doing these days? It's kind of roaming all over the place. Yeah.

Alicea:

I don't know. I haven't finished my my wonderful Excel spreadsheet of all the cruises.

Nathan:

You really should be a PM.

Alicea:

I've I've done I've done the m magic. Like I've finished the magic. Yeah. And I've done January. Um I'm putting together a beautiful little Excel spreadsheet because I like Excel.

Nathan:

Because you should be a PM. Okay. The the world has lots of problems that are screws, and your screwdriver is Excel.

Alicea:

It's a it's a nice visual representation of the cruises in calendar format.

Nathan:

There you go. There you go. Anyway, uh I'm with you. I would rather hang on the fantasy. Hopefully, one of those stops hits Castaway. It's probably going to at least hit Lookout. Now that is assuming that the Fantasy is sailing out of Florida and this isn't during the summer, where it's perhaps going to Europe or somewhere.

Alicea:

I'm still doing seven night on the fantasy. I don't care.

Nathan:

Okay. Fair enough. I like that. Well, because it has an adult pool that you can get to and actually swim in. Yes. Yes. Okay. Co-signed.

Alicea:

Next. Yes. Would you rather dinner at Remy or Enchante every sailing or brunch at Palo every sailing? Ooh.

Nathan:

Ooh. Well, we're both platinum. So technically we can.

Alicea:

No, no, no, no, no. Would you rather than have to pick?

Nathan:

Dang it. Um the the Remy or Enchante meal is definitely a much larger value. Yeah. That is uh an expensive dinner and very fancy and very ornate and quite honestly lovely. Palo brunch is like a solid double, if I'm using a baseball analogy. It may not be a home run, but it's a it's a darn good, like you're batting in some runs. I'm scared of Enchanted's menu more often than not. I can usually deal with Remy. I know I love everything at polo. Does one preclude the other? If I say polo brunch, am I saying I could never do Remy or Enchante?

Alicea:

I don't know. This is the problem with Would You Rathers, is you can talk yourself out of and into things. So uh base value.

Nathan:

Okay. I love Polo brunch. I'm actually gonna go Remy.

Alicea:

Okay.

Nathan:

I that is an experience and it's really fantastic.

Alicea:

I am gonna go Palo Brunch for the reason that shocker. Um the the dinners are long. Yes, they take a lot of time, like three plus hours, four hours. Uh they take the Remy ones take a long time. Yeah, three hours. Um and it's it's a heavy meal altogether. I guess brunch can be two. But um, I don't think Palo Brunch takes as long.

Nathan:

And um we've had it take that long, but that's a different story.

Alicea:

That's a different story. And I just think you can still go about the rest of your day.

Nathan:

I'm gonna change my vote to Palo Brunch because it's gonna be the one place on a Disney cruise where I can reliably get good scrambled eggs. Oh my gosh. Flip flop. Flip flop. Moving on. Would you rather aqua duck or aqua mouse, which I guess is now a verb, every day or a private cabana day at Castaway Key? Um This is a no-brainer for me.

Alicea:

Um please don't say water slide, or else we're gonna have some like No, I'm not a huge water slide person. I would much rather enjoy a cabana at Castaway because that is an all-day thing. I guess you could technically do a water slide all day if you wanted to, but um the cabana is nice. You have the water right there. You have shade, you have nice seating, they have chilled towels there for you. Very nice. I would go with a cabana.

Nathan:

It's it's pretty great. It's pretty great.

Alicea:

Are you ready for the next one?

Nathan:

I am ready for the next one.

Alicea:

Would you rather a meet and greet marathon or a silent sunrise on deck with tea and ocean?

Nathan:

I like how you change that from coffee to tea.

Alicea:

We don't drink coffee.

Nathan:

Um assuming I naturally woke up before sunrise, I think I'd enjoy a tea and a croissant uh on the deck uh and enjoy the sunrise on the ocean. I don't know that I could deal with the character energy prolonged. It would be cool, but now practically speaking, if I have to set my alarm real early to make it for sunrise, and I've been up a little late the night before and maybe having a drink or two, uh I'm gonna much rather do a character breakfast or a character uh uh marathon and just enjoy what happens there than uh have to, you know, wake up super early. I mean, I remember we tried to do that when we did the Panama Canal crossing in 2013, and I got up to start the camera for uh uh my time lapse at like 5.15 or something like that. I was like, hey, Leasha, you gonna get up? You're like, no. So I have a funny feeling that's your answer.

Alicea:

Yeah, no. For this, I would choose the meet and greet marathon. Yeah. We naturally sit on the veranda and watch sunsets all the time. And I don't think that this would be anything different or or special than what we do anyway. So having a meet and greet marathon, just a slew of characters would be great.

Nathan:

If this was a meet and greet marathon or a sunset on deck, a silent sunset on deck with a drink and stuff, I would a hundred percent hit sunset. But it's not.

Alicea:

So we could do that anytime.

Nathan:

Exactly. All right, moving on. Would you rather have rotational dining with themed costumes or the same favorite restaurant every night with a VIP server?

Alicea:

I don't know what any of these mean.

Nathan:

Like, um, I guess this is like DCL versus other cruise lines, maybe? I don't know. I'm going rotational dining. I don't want to have the same restaurant every night. Yeah. Because rotational dining, I'm still getting my server coming with me.

Alicea:

Yeah. It's already a VIP server.

Nathan:

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I'm doing rotational.

Alicea:

Same restaurant every night. No.

Nathan:

No.

Alicea:

Would you rather? I don't like this one. Would you rather Broadway style show front row or fireworks at C Balcony View? Uh both. Uh both. We do, I mean, we've done both.

Nathan:

So you have done both. Um the the show's gonna last longer. This is true. I would argue the front row isn't necessarily where you want to be.

Alicea:

I would agree with you.

Nathan:

Depends on the show. Okay, I'm gonna try to not overanalyze this, which is very difficult. I'm gonna go show.

Alicea:

I agree. I would rather do show. The shows are for me more enjoyable than the fireworks. Fireworks are fine. I don't mind them.

Nathan:

Yeah.

Alicea:

But I The show's gonna last longer. The show's gonna last longer, and it will be to me more entertaining.

Nathan:

Yeah. And you can hear the music.

Alicea:

Yes.

Nathan:

Versus if you're on your veranda and the fireworks are going off, you're not hearing the music. Or you're on the wrong side of the ship.

Alicea:

Yeah.

Nathan:

All right. Let's look at what is next. Would you rather have a beach day at Lookout Key at Lighthouse Point or a Castaway Key bike and snorkel combo?

Alicea:

For this one, thankfully, we have just been to Lookout Key and have seen that beach. For this one, I really like the beach at Lookout. It's very nice. It's gorgeous. The sand is super soft. The water is really nice. Castaway is nice as well, but I am not so much a bike and snorkel person. Well, I would love to do the snorkeling sometime because we've never done it, and there's things to not at Castaway. I have not done it at Castaway. Maybe you have. I have not.

Nathan:

I remember having a mask and stuff at Castaway and being forced to wear the vest. So I know I've done that.

Alicea:

Okay. I think maybe Sterling or Caitlin wanted to do it and you maybe went with them.

Nathan:

Probably. Probably. Yeah.

Alicea:

Yeah. Well, I would like to do that sometime just to see the because they have the little statues and things that they've put in the lagoon there. For this, I would rather uh beach day at Lookout.

Nathan:

Yep. I'm co-signed. Alrighty. That beach was absolutely fantastic.

Alicea:

Next one. Would you rather a navigator app free cruise? Old school. So like the uh what are this called?

Nathan:

The nav the It was the navigator, right?

Alicea:

Yeah, it was called the Navigator.

Nathan:

Versus the Navigator app. It's just the navigator.

Alicea:

It's just the navigator. Would you rather have a navigator only paper copy cruise or only use the app concierge everything?

Nathan:

Um concierge? Because then I don't need to use the app. I just talk to concierge. Like, yeah, hey Alice, I'd like to get a massage. Hey, Alice, when should I go do this thing? Or that yeah, concierge.

unknown:

Yep.

Alicea:

This isn't this is a to me, this is a silly question.

Nathan:

Uh-huh. 100%. All right. Would you rather undergo fish extender chaos or spa pass serenity?

Alicea:

Well, if we're on the wish treasure destiny, definitely spa pass serenity because that rainforest room is phenomenal.

Nathan:

Yes.

Alicea:

What a beautiful space.

Nathan:

Uh-huh.

Alicea:

Lots of just lounge seating area, the two hot tubs outside.

Nathan:

Right.

Alicea:

The cool room inside. Yeah. And the the heated loungers.

Nathan:

Oh my gosh. I mean, even the other ships, the the dream of the fantasy and then the magic and the wonder, like those experiences aren't horrible. This is true. And uh a fish extender can be really fun, but there's a reason we don't do it anymore. It's because we've been there. We've done that. We are tired of dedicating half a suitcase to bringing stuff there and or bringing stuff home and walking all over the ship and all the stress that you have of putting all that stuff together. Like it's great, it's fun for you know great for kids.

Alicea:

Yes. Like it really is.

Nathan:

We're not saying don't do it. We're just saying we've graduated.

Alicea:

Yeah.

Nathan:

Yeah. So spa pass. Spa pass. Yes. Yes.

Alicea:

Would you rather meet Captain Minnie on deck or surprise character breakfast with rare classics?

Nathan:

Breakfast with classic characters. Yeah. Yeah.

Alicea:

Agreed.

Nathan:

Great. Good debate.

Alicea:

Yes. Nice job.

Nathan:

Hey, Alicia, let's do one more group of these. What do you think?

Alicea:

Okay. We can do that.

Nathan:

All right.

Alicea:

So this is Disney Cruise Line edition and Crossover Fandom and Chaos Energy.

Nathan:

Whoa. Chaos Energy. That sounds interesting. What do you got? Hit me first.

Alicea:

Would you rather face off against Isma with zero Kronk assistance or go head to head with Hades, but he is in peak sass mode.

Nathan:

Ooh. Wait, is Kronk not helping Yesma or Kronk's not helping us?

Alicea:

Kronk's not helping us.

Nathan:

Oh. I don't know. I think I'd enjoy Hades' sass as he completely owned me a lot more than Yesma just being completely egotistical, egotistical and evil.

Alicea:

I agree. I like um I like Hades' sarcasm and sass. I and yeah, Yesma's just mean. Yeah, exactly.

Nathan:

Exactly.

Alicea:

I mean, Hades is is kind of mean, but he's kind of funny about it too.

Nathan:

So yeah, the sass. That's important. All right. Alicia, would you rather have your life turned into a musical number by Alan Mencken or a dramatic epic by the Russo brothers?

Alicea:

Oh, this is fun. Oh I think as much as I love music, I think I'd rather have a dramatic epic by the Russo Brothers.

Nathan:

Okay. I love that. I'm gonna take the opposite one. I'm gonna go musical just cuz. Just cuz.

Alicea:

I mean, it's Alan Mencken, so Right, exactly.

Nathan:

It can't be horrible. Yeah. Just don't ask me what like the main theme song would be. I have no idea. Yeah, I don't know.

Alicea:

Or it wouldn't be up to us.

Nathan:

Well, that's very true. There, not my problem.

Alicea:

Would you rather dine with the madrigals or the ratatouille crew? Yes, the rats are at the table.

Nathan:

Uh the madrigals? Mm-hmm. Because I want to see like little dude's uh forest room. That's pretty cool.

Alicea:

Antonio.

Nathan:

Yeah, sure. Whatever his name is.

unknown:

I don't remember.

Nathan:

That his name? Sure. Great.

Alicea:

I don't I I agree because you wouldn't be able to understand the rats.

Nathan:

My hearing aids couldn't get turned up that hard.

Alicea:

It would just be squeaks and squeaks and squeaks. Yeah.

Nathan:

It'd be good, some some good. Actually, there'd be good food in both, so never mind.

Alicea:

That's well, and I totally blanked on her name. Um, Mirabelle's mom has healing arepas. And oh, she can fix my knees. Oh, your eyes just got really big. Yes.

Nathan:

Yeah, we're totally going there. Yes. All right. Would you rather take a cruise on the Disney Wish or spend a month at Alani?

Alicea:

Oh man, this is this is so pilot.

Nathan:

You're an idiot. I don't I don't know. Let's see, a three or four night cruise versus a month in Hawaii.

Alicea:

Hmm.

Nathan:

Let me think about that.

Alicea:

Yeah, this is another, this is another no-brainer here. A month in Hawaii versus three days on a cruise.

Nathan:

I think I'm gonna go with Hawaii. I agree. I don't mean to surprise you. Please dial down your shock level.

Alicea:

All right, last one here.

Nathan:

All right.

Alicea:

Would you rather be trapped in it's a small world for one extra loop? Or here we don't talk about Bruno on an infinite loop until someone rescues you.

Nathan:

Okay, hot take. I can actually survive small world. It doesn't drive me as insane as it does other people. We don't talk about Bruno as an absolute bop. And I would probably be singing along. Now, the question would be until someone rescues you, how difficult is the rescue?

Alicea:

Yeah. Let me change this.

Nathan:

Okay.

Alicea:

Would you rather be trapped in it's a small world for three hours or hear we don't talk about Bruno on a loop for three hours?

Nathan:

Bruno. I would much rather be jamming out for three hours.

Alicea:

I think I would actually do small world.

Nathan:

No, no, no, no.

Alicea:

I'll just lay down on the boat and fall asleep.

Nathan:

Okay, that's fair.

Alicea:

That song could actually could put you to sleep. I am very good at tuning things out.

Nathan:

You're not very good at falling asleep, though.

Alicea:

Oh, that's true.

Nathan:

Alrighty then. Well, let's call it there, shall we? We have a whole bunch more of these, but we're going to save them for other episodes where say, hey, it's Christmas, and we're pre-recording because I'm about to have knee surgery, and let's just get something in the bucket. So what? We have we have more content. Yeah. Yes. We're going to do that. Okay. So, with all of that, happy holidays to all of you. We are so thankful for all of our listeners and uh this whole community that is surrounded us and uh welcomed us in. Disney adults are the best adults. Yes. And thanks for uh giving us a home and letting us uh pontificate and just wax poetic or not poetic as the case may be, about uh things that we love and things that hopefully you guys love too.

Alicea:

You can follow us on socials. We are at our mousecapades. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, threads, and YouTube.

Nathan:

Please go there. Give us a rating in your podcast app. That really helps people find us.

Alicea:

If you have any questions or suggestions, or would like to be interviewed on our show to share your own Disney experiences, please send an email to podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Nathan:

And of course, don't hesitate to share us with your friends and fellow Disney lovers of all ages.

Alicea:

Thank you for listening. We'll be in your ears next week.

Nathan:

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye bye.

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Alicea Novak

Host
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Nathan Novak

Host