We were a group of 8 and did the Pirates Fireworks cruise. From what I understand it's now open to non-Grand Gathering folks as well, but even so, I highly recommend it.
We met at the Contemporary 2nd floor, checked in and then waited for them to open the "lounge". They had various food, snacks, beverages all set up and once they let us in we had our fill of all the junk food we could carry. Gold wrapped chocolate coins, pretzels, cotton candy (in bags), crackers, cheese, fruit... etc... plus warm drinks, cold drinks, water etc..
While everyone was waiting, Capt'n Hook and Mr. Smee came out for autographs and pictures. It looked like everyone that wanted to get a photo had plenty of opportunity to do so, there was a line, but nobody was rushed or turned away.
About our "sailing time" two pirates showed up with a couple flags and in character the whole time, they announced our ships were ready to sail. They did a little show for the kids and then pulled out a slip with a kids name written on it to be the flag carrier. It happened to be my niece. I'm not sure how they picked her, but it appeared to be done ahead of time. We were not the first ones to check in, but we may have been the first ones to reserve the cruise (6 months out) so that may be why they picked her. So they gave her the jolly rodger and assembled all the kids and made a parade out to the docks. The grown-ups followed behind.
Once we got out to the docks, they directed us to the appropriate ships and made sure all the kids were re-united with their grownups. We set sail and took a tour around Bay Lake and got to see the Electric Light Pageant up close. It was kind of neat, but after a week on Bay Lake in the Wilderness Lodge I had already had my fill of that music
On the way to our viewing spot, our pirate leader kept everyone entertained with songs and dances. Pulling people up who were celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, doing quizzes and giving out prizes. I think every kid got at least one prize. Our pirate was phenomenal. I thought he looked familiar and it was after a few minutes my sister-in-law pointed out that he "must be the twin brother of the fire chief in the magic kingdom" Sure enough, when I got home and looked at the photos, it was the same actor. We had some time to interact with him and "Miss Victoria" in front of the fire station the next day and I asked him if he had a twin brother who joined a pirate crew. He gave me a knowing wink and then went on to explain how his twin brother had run away to join the pirates much to the sorrow of his dear old parents. It was very well played and while I don't know this CM's real name, he did a fabulous job and is a very talented performer.
Anyway, we eventually made our way to a spot in the Seven Seas Lagoon directly in front of the Magic Kingdom. We had a perfect viewing spot. The boats held about 60 people each (I'm guessing) and had about a dozen rows of seats in bench form. We were all pre-assigned rows to sit in, so all the groups were kept together. What worked really well was the way the parked the boats at an angle so everyone had a clear view.
The true measure of how great an experience this was happened when I looked over to see my parents enjoying the show. My dad is one of those typical "guys" who never shows emotion. But when I looked over near the end of the show, he had his arm around my mom and sure enough had a tear in his eye.
By far this was the best part of our trip.
I think these are the kinds of things that Disney really excels in. They made it seamless, the CM's were out of this world great and the viewing location is not to be missed.
Highly recommended.
John
), so thanks for the opinions!! Any more?
