any one take the Pirates and Pals cruise to see MK fireworks?

[horse11]

We have three boys and though it seems there is soooo much out there for little girls it seems we have stumbled upon the Pirates and Pals cruise. Our day starts at the Poly for an early (8:00am) character breakfast and then head to MK where we will have the boys face painted like a Pirate. We will also allow them to dress up like a Pirate for the day. We plan on doing many of the Pirate theme activities at the park, have an early diner at BOG and then have reservations for the Pirates and Pals cruise. Has anyone been on it? was it worth the money or is it best to hang out with the crowds and see the fireworks at the park?

 

[denneg]

We have done it and loved it, especially if your boys are into pirates! We had a blast and will do it again!

 

[ladeeesquire]

its good you're doing an early dinner because the first portion of the experience is being in the pirate room with the snacks and sweets. We did it last year with our 4 yr old dd. We all really enjoyed it!

"worth it"? I have a hard time with this concept at WDW because I find that almost all of it seems expensive. I try to focus on whether or not we had a good time and would do it all over given the chance. For the pirate pals I vote yes!

Have fun!

 

[scrappinannie]

We liked it well enough. The pre-cruise stuff was fun, we really "felt" like we were getting special treatment by being a part of this experience. Kids enjoyed the snacks (can you say free Mickey bars??), but we thought the fireworks cruise itself was just so so. Maybe cause we were on the EVEN side of the boat (odd numbered rows are facing the fireworks, even rows are looking over the other side) and didn't have a very good view of the fireworks, I don't know. Just didn't feel as special being outside of MK for fireworks. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it. It was fun night, a fun theme, and we got to have some nice character greeting with characters we would not have, but I'm not sure we'd do it again. We had chosen that for our one special thing instead of the Halloween Party due to our kids' ages (3 & 6), but next time we'll do the Halloween Party instead. Yes, two different experiences, but still "extra" and less than $50 difference for our family of 4.

 

[horse11]

How do you get on the odd side of the boat? Sure would rather have those seats. Were the fireworks pretty close or far. We were hoping to get away from the crowds and thought this would be a more relaxing way to see the fireworks but if they are hard to see kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[horse11]

its good you're doing an early dinner because the first portion of the experience is being in the pirate room with the snacks and sweets. We did it last year with our 4 yr old dd. We all really enjoyed it!

"worth it"? I have a hard time with this concept at WDW because I find that almost all of it seems expensive. I try to focus on whether or not we had a good time and would do it all over given the chance. For the pirate pals I vote yes!

Have fun!

What time do the pre activities start? Do you think a 9 year old would be intrested? We have 9,7, and 5 year old boys.

 

[rymahoney]

Would my 4 year old daughter like it? She like character a lot and hook isn't available to meet in parks.

 

[Disneylovingdad]

We've done it twice and enjoyed it both times. Great way to meet Pan too after the trip is over.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We did it with our grandsons, ages 4 and 6. We all enjoyed it a lot. A great evening.

 

[DWillowBay]

We just did the cruise in November. It was great …both before the cruise, during and after. It is certainly worth the price and terrific fun!!

 

[kitntrip]

We went on this cruise last year and it was a wonderful night. My kids, 4 and 8 at the time, still talk about that cruise. The meet and greet before was wonderful and the kids got a lot of interaction with Hook and Smee. The drinks and snacks were great, though I didn't realize they did that. We had a wonderful pirate guide who made us all laugh and we had no issues seeing the fireworks. Afterwards the kids met Peter Pan and he was fantastic! Spent a fair amount of time with both kids, got a ton of pictures with him and we all enjoyed his antics. It really was magical.

 

[disneyjunkie]

How much is this? How far in advanced can you book? How do you get on the odd numbered seats~ for come first served or preassigned?

 

[Dan Murphy]

This is a great thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2199704

A good rundown here.

http://kennythepirate.com/2013/01/29/pirates-and-pals-fireworks-voyage/

And here is current price, plus tax. 180 days

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/e...ary-resort/pirates-and-pals-fireworks-voyage/

http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/fireworks.htm

 

[northeast_minnie]

we have booked fthe pirates and pals cruise for our trip to WDW in April. This will be the first time we ahve done this - we have booked our DS 8 into the pirates league earlier the same day - cannot wait to tell our DS on Christmas Day about our trip.

 

[EEPETEZ]

Went with our boys (5 & 10) in September. They loved it. We made a pirate day of it as well with the pirate's league. Worth it is hard to say as always at Disney-everything is expensive. We had a great time and it was terrific for a one time experience, it wouldn't be something we do every year, but for something new-it was great. My older son got to carry the pirate flag with Captain Hook to the boat-he could not have been happier. I also think they make a big deal out of the kids dressed as pirates, so your boys should feel pretty special.

 

[disneyjunkie]

This is a great thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2199704

A good rundown here.

http://kennythepirate.com/2013/01/29/pirates-and-pals-fireworks-voyage/

And here is current price, plus tax. 180 days

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/e...ary-resort/pirates-and-pals-fireworks-voyage/

http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/fireworks.htm

Thanks Dan

 

[cadets68]

Thanks for the links. I had the same question.

Heading to DW late April. Will be sure to book the voyage.

 

[Sleepy425]

We did it when we had 3 kids all under 3, so in our opinion it was totally worth it - we only had to pay for adults! The 2.5 year olds liked it, the adults loved it. We will definitely do it again in a couple years. We took my parents with us and I really think my dad had the most fun out of everyone. We were on the "good" side of the boat, and it was the perfect way to enjoy the fireworks without having to deal with the kids in a crowd.

 

[disneyjunkie]

We did it when we had 3 kids all under 3, so in our opinion it was totally worth it - we only had to pay for adults! The 2.5 year olds liked it, the adults loved it. We will definitely do it again in a couple years. We took my parents with us and I really think my dad had the most fun out of everyone. We were on the "good" side of the boat, and it was the perfect way to enjoy the fireworks without having to deal w ith the kids in a crowd.

How do you get the good side? Is it first come first serve?

There will be 14 in our group 7 adults, 2 teens and 5 kids (7-11 year olds). Good seats will be a must for our group.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Just as a point of reference, the 'good' vs. 'bad' side is of little difference. The boat views the fireworks with the boat pointing toward the Contemporary. The left side seats are what you might refer to as the first row, if seated in a theater setting, the right side seats are like the second row. You can see fine from either.

I am not sure how the seating was done.