In October, I surprised my mom with a fireworks cruise for her 60th birthday. I had been looking for a great idea of something special we could do while in Walt Disney World when I heard about the new cruise offering, and I immediately booked us a spot. Since these cruises are new, I had no idea what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
I was told we could board the boat an hour prior to Wishes, which was at 10:00 that night. We arrived at the Transportation and Ticket Center at 8:45, and were greeted by a check in desk and a lot of cute signs and balloons.
My mom still had no idea what was going on, so I had the guy at the desk explain it to her, then she got excited! We were handed a special pen and the dessert menu, and were led around the corner to where everyone else was waiting.
We were then handed a light up necklace and a light up glass of cider. We were told there would be alcohol onboard and to hold on to our glass.
At 9:00, we were able to board our ferry, the General Joe Potter, for the evening and get the party started. Once onboard, we were handed a special plate we were told we would get to keep. They had coffee and water right as we got on, and then drink tables in the back corners, with dessert tables on the lower and upper decks.
There was Prosecco, Vodka punch (delicious) beer and wine.
We grabbed some drinks and headed upstairs to where it was less crowded and got some food. Everything was delicious!
There were cheese and cracker trays which I was not expecting.
My favorite of the desserts was the chocolate from the Contemporary and the pineapple upside down cake from the Polynesian. Delicious!
The boat sailed around the Seven Seas Lagoon as we ate and chatted with other guests. We were able to see the Electrical Water Parade as well.
At some point in our journey, they began handing out Mickey bars, ice cream sandwiches, and popsicles.
They even had special trash cans!
A few minutes before 10:00, we parked in the lagoon in preparation for Wishes. The music was piped in, and it was a great end to the evening.
As soon as Wishes was over, the Ferry docked and we got off the boat. They were handing out extra ice cream sandwiches and Mickey bars as we got off along with water, so of course we grabbed one each, and they were also handing out the helium balloons on the dock so we each took one of those as well.
They had busses to take people back to their resorts which was a nice touch, but luckily since we were staying at the Polynesian we just walked back to our room with our light up gear, balloons, and Mickey bars. I’m sure we were quite the sight! It was definitely the highlight of our trip and I would love to do it again so my husband can experience it.
Here are my final thoughts on the experience:
-It’s pricey, but worth it in my opinion for adults at $99, but at $69 for kids 3-9, it seems steep…especially for those kids over nine. For the adults, you get unlimited alcohol which helps make it a little more worth it. There were not many kids, but some of the ones I did see seemed bored after the initial dessert-eating.
– The desserts and drinks themselves were all excellent, and I thought the take home plate, cup, and glow necklace were a nice touch.
– There were cast members on the boat that came around and chatted with us making sure we were happy, also a nice touch.
– There were a good number of people on the boat but it never felt too crowded.
– There was a photopass photographer onboard, and I realized when I got home that the pictures showed up for free in my account. I’m not sure if that was a test or if they plan to continue to offer this, but had I known I would have asked them to do more pictures!
– When you board the boat head to the right side, upper deck for the best view of the fireworks (the boat turned sideways during Wishes).
-There is limited seating, only the benches in one on each side of the ferry. They had a few stand up tables as well, so if you need to sit be sure to snag one early.
I would love to help your family plan your trip and other fun experiences like this one! Contact heather@travelwiththemagic.com for a free, no obligation quote. You can also find me on Facebook or Twitter, or my blog.
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