Pirate Cruise or Wonderland Tea Party?

[nicolep91]

I wanted to sign my kids up for either the Pirate Cruise or the Wonderland Tea Party and I wasn't sure which was better. What would you advise for a 8 year old boy and a 5 (almost 6) year old girl?

I originally thought they would like the Tea party better because they are big Alice fans, but then the Pirate cruise looks like fun and it is longer (2 hours as opposed to 1). They are both about the same price and my son said he would like them both (I was worried he would think the tea party would be too "girly") but because of budget constraints, I need to pick 1.

Also, what did you as parents do to occupy yourself while the kids were having fun?

TIA!

 

[jacksonsmom]

I can't say much about the Tea Party because my son has never done it (YET!!!!)

He did to the Pirate Cruise last month & he really enjoyed it. The smile on his face when he came off the boat was PRICELESS!!!
(he is 3.5 yrs old).

He had a wonderful time & from the looks of it ALL the kids had a wonderful time.

They all got a bag full of "loot" & my son had to show us everything right away.

As for what we did for 2 hours, we decided to take the monorail & check out the monorail resorts. We LOVED the poly.
Then we came back a little early & had a light lunch at the Grand Floridian

 

[Bradford]

We've never done the Pirate Cruise - so i am no help to you.

What are the ages for the Pirate Cruise? What do the kids do for 2 hours? Do the parents accompany them? How much $? From where does it originate? In other words I need all the info. Thanks.

 

[nicolep91]

Jacksonsmom - Thanks for the info! I think this is probably the one we'll end up going with. I guess I need to make up my mind soon if I want to still get a spot. And I like your idea of what to do while the kids are off "pirating"!

Bradford - the Pirate Cruise is at the Grand Floridian and kids ages 3-10 (provided they are potty trained) are able to attend. It is kids only and takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays (seasonally) and Thursdays, I believe. It is from 10:00 - 12:00 and was about $28 per child unless it has changed (I read that the tea party is now $30 so this might be also). I can't tell you any first hand experience but it's supposed to be great fun. Their "ship" sails to other resorts where the kids look for buried treasure and they all get a share of the "booty". Hope that helps!

 

[jacksonsmom]

Originally posted by nicolep91


It is from 10:00 - 12:00

Actually the times now are 9:30-11:30.
It is a lot of fun or seems like it is.

Infact my son told me the other day that the next time we go to Disney he wants to do the Pirate Cruise again!
I want to let him try to Tea Party, since he loves Alice in Wonderland, so we will see

 

[jacksonsmom]

I forgot to say they also give a little lunch/snack.
They had pb&j sandwiches (I believe it was those uncustables you see in the grocer's freezer section) , rice krispie bar, gummy bears & a juice box.

 

[GRAYWIFE]

My DD attended the Wonderland Tea Party last December. We received our pager and left to have lunch. Not ten minutes later they paged us. I ran back to the Tea Party and Sydney was in tears. She said she was scared and she wanted me to stay with her. They did not allow me to stay so Sydney left with me (after we convinced her to take the photo with the Mad Hatter and Alice). Sydney has never been afraid of anything like this. She attends Jr. Kindergarten and Daycamps at home as well as the Neverland Club at the POLY. We could not figure out what happened. Later that night she finally told us that the Mad Hatter had come up behind her and shouted loudly (part of his character!!) and it scared her and that was the end of that! We had not told her who was going to be at the Tea Party and she was surprised, but not pleasantly!!! Please note: all the other children were having a blast!!

This year we have her scheduled for the Pirate Cruise (her idea after seeing it on the Food Network Special!)and she asked if Captain Hook was going to be there. I said I didn't know but I would find out. She said, "that's ok mom, he doesn't scare me like the Mad Hatter does!!" I didn't even think she remembered that!

 

[jacksonsmom]

Originally posted by GRAYWIFE

This year we have her scheduled for the Pirate Cruise (her idea after seeing it on the Food Network Special!)and she asked if Captain Hook was going to be there. I said I didn't know but I would find out. She said, "that's ok mom, he doesn't scare me like the Mad Hatter does!!" I didn't even think she remembered that!

Poor Sydney! Mad Hatter must have really scared her

There are no characters at the Pirate Cruise, at least any I saw when the boat left. I asked my son if he saw Captain Hook & he said No.

 

[nicolep91]

Thanks, Jacksonsmom - I didn't know the time had changed! Thanks for the info! And yes, with lunch thrown into the deal, it does seem to be more affordable.

Graywife - I think that would probably scare most children! I'm really surprised a character would do this. They are already a little bit scary in their costumes anyway. I remember when we did the Villains dinner at the GF when they had it a few years ago and my daughter (Addy, then 3 years old) was petrified of the Queen of Hearts. She was very much "in character" and she grabbed my daughter's hand and wouldn't let it go. Of course, she didn't speak so my daughter didn't know what she wanted her to do. Eventually, she noticed my daughter was starting to panic so she let go but then Addy wouldn't go near her for the rest of the night!

 

[GRAYWIFE]

Quote from nicole91: I think that would probably scare most children! I'm really surprised a character would do this. They are already a little bit scary in their costumes anyway.

nicole91: I absolutely do not think that the Mad Hatter meant to scare Sydney, I think he was "in Character" and it caught her by surprise.

In another situation, the characters after "Cinderella's Surprise Celebration" came out to meet the crowds. Jafar (from Aladdin) was looking at Sydney and motioned with his large finger to come over to him. Sydney started to walk over to him and another child ran up and pushed Sydney out of the way. The Jafar character motioned to the other child to move (which he did!!) and had Sydney walk under the rope and take a photo with him!! Syd was not scared for a moment! After the photo, he shoo-ed Syd away and she waved at him. He nodded and moved on to the other kids. It was great.

You see, I believe that Sydney not knowing the Mad Hatter was going to be there was the real scare, not the character himself. We have learned that trying to surprise Syd is not the way to go. She likes to be informed. (much like me...her mother!!!)

 

[nanalisa]

My granddaughter has enjoyed both the Tea Party and the Pirates Cruise. The Tea Party might be a little girlie for your 8 yo son. When DGD went, I think there was 1 little boy out of all of those giggly girls. She loved the cruise too, and would like to do it again but it is so hot in August - they are outside the 2 hours.

Did you know they do a cooking party too at GF?

 

[buddyboo]

DD went to the tea party last year, when she was 6. She had a great time. There were mostly girls there, and I'd say most 7 and under, so I'm not sure your son would like it. Actually I think there was one boy in the entire group and he was probably about 5.

 

[nicolep91]

Graywife - Oh, I agree that the Mad Hadder didn't intentionally try to scare your daughter. I was just surprised that a character would startle a child that way! I would think there would be 2 ways a child would respond to someone coming up behind you and screaming - either laugh or cry. And he had a 50/50 chance at having to deal with either one! It just seemed like a strange thing to do to 3 year olds to me. But anyway, I'm glad that Sydney had lots of other positive interaction with the characters! Thanks for sharing.

Nanalisa & Buddyboo - I thought the same thing as you - that the my son would feel out of place at the tea party or that it would be too "girlie". But I wanted to offer him a choice (especially since he's such a big Alice in Wonderland fan) and I didn't want to portray either one as being "gender restricted" if you know what I mean! It's actually pretty funny - he wanted to do the tea and my daughter the pirate cruise! But I wouldn't want him to feel out of place either and since I think the tea seems to be mainly young kids and since the pirate curise seems more like an adventure, that is the one we're going to go with. Oh, and I did read about the cooking class one but we do that sort of thing at home all the time so I wanted to do something different. Thanks though!

 

[ceecee]

We still take about the Pirate cruise, my 6 yr old DD LOVED it...they got a bag of treasure and searched the "islands" and a lunch was included. They get "pirate bandanas" for the head too. It was great fun! A nice 2 hour break for parents too.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

My girls, almost 4 and 6 were scheduled nex week for both and also the grand adventures in cooking. But after some thought I canceled the Pirates Cruise for a few reasons, the most important one being the heat and humidity. I booked these activites as a break from the parks, crowds, heat etc. and I thought maybe the PC could wait until our November trip when the weather is cooler.
Of course now, I am second guessing my decision. But the Tea party and cooking class should be enough.

Laura

 

[vhoffman]

To nicolep,

I guess I'm the lioness type mother. NOBODY abuses my children, and I consider scaring them to be abuse! If the Queen of Hearts or whatever grabbed my dd and wouldn't let go, well, she'd find out who the real wicked witch was! Also, if my child had to leave a child's event such as Alice's teaparty because a character scared her, I'd demand my money back. Even if you found out the reason the next day, I'd complain. After all, this is Disney. They're supposed to know how to make children happy, not scare the begabbers out of them! An event scheduled for children should know how to treat children. Like I say, I'd demand my money back. Besides, such a complaint could keep this from happening to other children.

 

[GRAYWIFE]

vhoffman...I, in no way, shape or form, felt my daughter had been "abused" at the Wonderland Tea Party. It was my responsibility to inform her of who was going to be there, and I did not do this in case it was a different character (Alice for example) and then she would have been disappointed if she had not met her. She did not really know who the Mad Hatter was and his flamboyant nature took her by surprise. As a matter of fact, she saw him at the parade later that day and waved to him.

As to demanding my money back, this was not an issue. The CM's (including Alice & the Mad Hatter) tried everything to help Sydney enjoy herself, but it was one of those "only mommy will do" moments. I would have been really upset if they wouldn't have called me. I guess I could have insisted she stay, but that in my opinion would have been the real abuse. keep in mind, Syd was the only child out of 25 or so that was not having a good time!!!

 

[vhoffman]

Hey, Graywife,

I didn't mean to attack anyone here. Just my opinion. Of course, I'm only going by what I read in the posts. You know the situation best. Still, if I found my child reduced to tears by an event supposed to be fun and for which I'd paid good money, I'd want my money back. And yes, I agree, they should have called you when they did. Best to shut down that bad experience and go on. But if the kid didn't even get ten minutes of fun and left in tears I'd wonder what I was paying for. Still, like I say, its a judgment call only the parent can make in the situation. I'm sure you made the best call for the circumstances. Sorry if you took offense.