Anyone done the private IllumiNations fireworks cruise?

[TinkerPan]

There are no "facilities" on the boat -- it's an open pontoon boat. I'm always worried about needing to use the bathroom while on the cruise as well. I just make sure to limit my liquid intake for an hour or two before the cruise. And I always use the bathroom at the Yacht Club right before we check-in for the cruise. I try not to drink too much while we're on the boat. You're only out on the boat 90 minutes at most, so it's not that big of an issue, really. I just like to worry about unlikely events.

Thanks. I know 90 minutes doesn't sound like much but for us it's a no-go. We made the right decision to pass on this experience. Too bad, it's sounds wonderful.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

We had a fabulous time last year. One of our favorite memories. In addition to the other notes we were encouraged to pick up a few adult beverages at Hurricane Hanna's. Also sometimes the timing is right your captain may be able to run down to Studios for the fireworks from the Star Wars show. But most of the year the times don't work out. It was great to have elbow space and be with the family or friends. Up to 4 boats may tie up. Sometimes the wind blows toward you which will make the show a bit harder to see but that can happen to you when you are standing in World Showcase.

Thanks for this post. We have done Illuminations cruises previously but never really thought they'd let us bring drinks from Hurricane Hanna's --- we're definitely going to do this in March.

On our May 2016 cruise the captain took us to DHS to watch those fireworks after Illuminations --- but we were the only boat of the 4 that did. It may also depend on which captain you get as well -- not all of them seemed to offer that. I had been chatting with one of the other boat groups before we went out and we actually ran into them after and they mentioned that their captain did not offer to take them to DHS.

 

[mamamelody2]

This really does sound like an amazing experience!

 

[CJN]

Our captain was fantastic and a really cute moment was when he knew the torches were about to go out for the show to begin. He told my children to take a deep breath and blow out the one torch right near us at exactly the moment they went off. My children still to this day think they blew it out heehee!!

Enjoy every second!

We had the same fun moment. The look on my nephew’s face when he blew out the torch was priceless.

 

[jcvalenti]

Weve done it several times - always phenomenal
My favorite was on my 40th Bday a few years back, after a day at Food & Wine. They were testing bringing the boats out even further than they do now, so we were super close. I got to drink a 40 year old Chateau Haut Brion while watching Illuminations on a beautiful fall night .... just wonderful.

 

[CJK]

Thanks for all the reviews!!@jcvalenti, did you bring the Chateau Brion onto the boat? Sounds lovely!

Dh just asked what happens if it rains our day? Would they cancel and refund us?

 

[jcvalenti]

Thanks for all the reviews!!@jcvalenti, did you bring the Chateau Brion onto the boat? Sounds lovely!

Yup. I don't think it's technically allowed, by the way - they tell you if you want anything beyond the basic snacks and soft drinks, you can order from Yacht Club dining and they will have it ready on the boat for you. That day we also had a cheese tray and shrimp cocktail, as well as another bottle of wine (a 2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia, which was fantastic). They don't routinely have 40 year Bordeaux available for purchase, so let's just say it might have been smuggled onboard.

Dh just asked what happens if it rains our day? Would they cancel and refund us?

The cruises, like Illuminations, are weather permitting. If it's raining or super windy, they will cancel it. You will usually know a few hours before - they're really good at predicting whether there will be a weather window to do the show. I will tell you I've done the Illuminations cruise 4 times, and only once (in early August) did we think it might be cancelled. It stormed off and on all day. At 5pm, it was still a cloudy wasteland, and we thought for sure it would be cancelled, but we called and they were pretty confident they would get it in. Sure enough, at about 7:30pm, the clouds parted and we had a fabulous post storm sunset, and a great, calm cruise.

 

[tsme]

I’m assuming you don’t need a park ticket, right?

 

[bluezy]

I’m assuming you don’t need a park ticket, right?

That's correct. The cruise leaves and returns to the Yacht Club dock.

 

[maxiesmom]

Thanks. I know 90 minutes doesn't sound like much but for us it's a no-go. We made the right decision to pass on this experience. Too bad, it's sounds wonderful.

Shoot. That makes it a no go for my dad too. Thought it would be a nice way for him to see the fireworks, but the meds he is on means when he has to go he has to go.

 

[hosler427]

My wife and I purchased this as part of a Christmas present for everyone in our party (5 other adults). This was in early January of 2016. In the first part of the cruise we went towards Hollywood studios and it was timed perfectly so we saw most of the Star Wars fireworks. The captain was great and gave us a lot of cool information about random things on the ride. And to top it off, the view for Illuminations was amazing. Can't say enough good things about it and everyone loved it. This next trip it is only my wife and I but I am still considering splurging a second time.

 

[Babsy]

WE have done the Illuminations cruise, but our last time was on the Breathless so that will tell you how long ago it was! So my information is a bit dated.

What a wonderful memory it is though. There was just the Breathless and one pontoon boat at the time. The skipper really gave us a fun ride! and watching Illuminations from there was magical!

Maybe it's time to think about doing another one of these - on a pontoon boat now, I suppose.....it really has been a long time.

 

[KurtC]

Thanks for all the info from everyone! We booked the cruise for a month from now and we can't wait. I especially appreciated the question and answer regarding the "facilities" question. I was wondering about that myself and will be sucking on mints for the first half of the cruise instead of drinking the provided sodas

 

[Liz Z]

We did this last NYE for the 1st fireworks at 6pm. Absolutely spectacular!!

 

[paradesintherain]

WE have done the Illuminations cruise, but our last time was on the Breathless so that will tell you how long ago it was! So my information is a bit dated.

What a wonderful memory it is though. There was just the Breathless and one pontoon boat at the time. The skipper really gave us a fun ride! and watching Illuminations from there was magical!

Maybe it's time to think about doing another one of these - on a pontoon boat now, I suppose.....it really has been a long time.

Can you tell me more about the Breathless? I've only recently started hearing about it. I gather that it's an old, wooden boat but what ever happened to it?

 

[Babsy]

Can you tell me more about the Breathless? I've only recently started hearing about it. I gather that it's an old, wooden boat but what ever happened to it?

"I can tell you all about it! It was a HackerCraft runabout, modelled after the ChrisCraft runabouts from the 50's. All wood hull and deck, chrome accents, and powered by a 350 cu in shortblock V8 from Chevrolet. It sounded like an old hot rod on the water! It had a single keel design that was exceptionally stable at high speeds, and it could turn on a dime. It really was a performance machine." post by DavidS1234 in 2015

I will give you the short version...A little more than 6 years ago, The Breathless II hit one of the sea walls and was damaged beyond repair.

posted by Master Yoda in Sept 2016


The Breathless was an awesome craft along the lines of the JFK era. Absolutely beautiful!!! It was powerful, perhaps too powerful for the area but so much fun. The luxury water taxis that we rode in Venice last year reminded me of it - similar lines and feeling of old world luxury.

I wish that Disney had another one to replace it, but I can understand that the investment just wasn't worthwhile.

The pontoon boats look like fun, but this one was special, IMO. I am very happy that we had the experience while it was available.

 

[kimmyg26]

I surprised my boyfriend with an Illuminations cruise last week fir his birthday. We invited my niece and her husband to join us. It was an amazing experience. The boat was decorated and we had plenty of snacks and drinks. Our Capt took us for a ride before hand. The view of the fireworks was spectacular. It was absolutely worth the money.

 

[Pakey]

Just returned from WDW and my 5th Illuminations Cruise. They tell you to arrive at 7:45 but we didn't board until around 8:00. It's much nicer paying in advance and not having to stand in line at the little booth window to pay as was done in the past. You should tip the boat captain at end of cruise. This time I ordered champagne and strawberries from Yacht Club private dining and it was setup before we boarded the boat; the captain did the corking and pouring but we had to serve ourselves with the strawberries. There was a little table set up at the back of the boat for private dining items but the complimentary snacks (bags of chips and popcorn)/sodas were at the front of the boat and you can take the leftovers with you.

 

[amberwc]

We just got back, let me say that I was a little disappointed.
I really thought we'd be a little "closer". I felt like our view was blocked a little by the other seating areas.
I guess they used to go further into the "lake", but the fire marshal now says they can only be just in front of the bridge. I think we would have had a better view from the bridge.

This is one of those things where I went in with high expectations, and those expectations were not met. Yes, it was nice not to have to fight crowds and try to find a space, yes it was easy to get back to the hotel afterward (we got an uber at Yacht). But I wasn't expecting all those tables and chairs to be in our view.

 

[bluezy]

We just got back, let me say that I was a little disappointed.
I really thought we'd be a little "closer". I felt like our view was blocked a little by the other seating areas.
I guess they used to go further into the "lake", but the fire marshal now says they can only be just in front of the bridge. I think we would have had a better view from the bridge.

This is one of those things where I went in with high expectations, and those expectations were not met. Yes, it was nice not to have to fight crowds and try to find a space, yes it was easy to get back to the hotel afterward (we got an uber at Yacht). But I wasn't expecting all those tables and chairs to be in our view.

I'm sorry you were disappointed. I guess we've been lucky on our cruises...we've never had anything blocking our view. Both times we've done the cruise we were anchored right in front of the bridge -- the back end of the boat was about even with the front edge of the bridge -- so I think we were in the same spot you're referring to. I will say that our captain always made sure we headed to Epcot early so we could get a "good spot". We were the first or second boat there each time and always anchored right in the center of the bridge. Now I understand why he did that -- I never even noticed the tables (maybe they weren't there when we did the cruise in 2013 & 2016???) but there were always people standing around in the areas around the bridge.