Disney Wonder to Ensenada, Mexico

By alantvuong on April 22, 2023

Last month, a friend and I boarded the Disney Wonder for a 4 night roundtrip cruise from San Diego. There were 2 stops on this cruise: Catalina Island, California and Ensenada, Mexico. I already wrote about my experience in Catalina Island and will now only focus on Ensenada.

Getting Off The Ship

gangway to get off the ship

At this port, the Disney Wonder was able to dock right at the pier. This means we do not have to take a tender boat to get off the ship. A large gangway is used as a platform connecting the ship to the port. A staff does help me and grabs my wheelchair handles and wheels me backwards to get off the ship.

Disney Wonder docked right up to the pier

Since we didn’t leave right in the morning when everyone was allowed to start leaving the ship, there was no wait for us at all. We just had to scan our Key to the World card to get off and back on the ship. We didn’t book any excursions but was really happy to spend a few hours in sunny Ensenada.

downtown was just a few short blocks away

Ensenada, Mexico

just getting downtown

Ensenada is the 4th largest city in Mexico with a land area of 20,000 square km (7500 sq mi). It is only 80 miles south of San Diego, where travellers can get a taste of Mexican food, culture, and nightlife. This port attracts a lot of people who likes to surf, kayak, horse ride, or mountain bike. Again, my friend and I did not book any excursions as they weren’t really wheelchair accessible.

photo op

Our Day

Plaza Civica de la Patria

After we got on land, we had to walk/stroll a short distance away just to make it to downtown Ensenada. The weather was actually sunny and warm as we went to a park nearby to try use the free wifi there. It didn’t work the best so we did look around the park at some of the booths with sellers and some sculptures and fountains.

free wifi at McDonald’s

After that, we went to a nearby McDonald’s and my friend got a snack and we used the free wifi for a while. We then explored a bit more of the city, checking out a few more blocks downtown. We browsed at a few stores including a Sears department store, got a few snacks from a grocery store, watched some locals play pool at a pool hall, and just had another relaxing day at port.

shopping at Sears

After that, we used the free wifi again at the McDonald’s and by then, we have spent over 4.5 hours in Ensenada and decided to head back to our ship. We didn’t have to be back until 4.45pm but we wanted to get back to our room to rest a bit before dinner time.

watching locals at a pool tournament

Accessibility

We only explored within a few blocks of central downtown of Ensenada and it was really wheelchair accessible. There weren’t any steep roads or hills like Avalon and we got around very easy. I think if we were to visit the suburbs of the city, accessibility won’t be as great as the downtown area near the port was.

accessibility was generally great downtown

Final Thoughts

Our 4.5 hr visit to Ensenada was great. We didn’t book any excursion but still had fun getting some sun and experience being in Mexico. The docked port was super easy for us to get off and on the ship and was worth exploring for sure.