Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is the Diaper Dash?

Take a look at your Disney Cruise Line Navigator app and you’ll see a listing for “Jack Jack’s Incredible Diaper Dash.” The Diaper Dash is literally baby racing. And it is my family’s number one favorite activity on any DCL sailing. Truly, it’s a hoot.

The Diaper Dash typically takes place on the last sea day of a sailing, often in the late morning. On the Magic, Wonder, Dream, and Fantasy, the Diaper Dash will take place in the lobby atrium. On the Wish (and presumably the Treasure) the Diaper Dash takes place in the Hero Zone multi-purpose activity space.

Parents of crawling babies are invited to register their tikes for the competition. There will be as many heats run as needed to accommodate everyone that is interested in participating. There are a number of loosely enforced rules, such as, “If a baby gets up and starts walking, they are disqualified,” but the overall vibe is fun and supportive.

The cast members running the event are skilled at improv and will “interview” the babies as if they were at the Olympics, asking about their nutrition intake and training habits. I’ve been to more than a dozen runnings of Diaper Dash and have never seen fewer than 200 people in the audience, cheering on the babies. And, shhhh, my family may or may not have made some friendly wagers amongst ourselves about which tiny tot we thought might win. (I’ll put $5 on the kid with the overalls and heavy drool.)

Prizes for the winners are modest, sometimes a DCL bib or a plush Jack Jack toy, but the bragging rights are intense.

Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is an offshoot of our “Disney in a Minute” posts. Both are bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic, but here we’ll be focused on all thing Disney Cruise Line (DCL). Have a question about a DCL term that is unfamiliar to you? Suggest it here for an upcoming segment.