HEA Pirates and Pals

[Pdollar88]

I’m traveling solo and am considering booking Pirates & Pals in January. It will be for a HEA night. Thoughts?

I realize I wouldn’t really be able to see the projections, but did people enjoy the cruise view of HEA?

 

[DCLPrincess]

I've never done the cruise but have seen HEA from both the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. I enjoyed it without seeing the projections.

 

[Newsies]

I'm not quite certain that the P&P cruise is worth its money ATM. You're correct in that it is extremely difficult (impossible?) to see the projections in HEA on the P&P cruise. Most people who have done the cruise since HEA debuted have complained that this has ruined the experience of watching the show. Being that HEA is a product of the new technology that's developed since Wishes was debuted, the projections have been incorporated into the show so much that it becomes the primary element of the "story" that show tells. P&P was not meant to view HEA, it was meant to view Wishes-- which didn't rely on projections on the castle. You may enjoy watching the fireworks and listening to the soundtrack, but without being able to see the projections, you'll lose that key element. In addition, recent reports have complained about the quality of the snacks that they've received. I would encourage you to read this thread, where someone who recently attended it laid out their complaints.

Provided that you haven't already done so already, if I was in your shoes, I'd book the MK dessert party for HEA instead. My family really enjoyed it when we booked it back in 2015, and as someone with experience touring the parks solo, I could see myself enjoying it even more as a solo traveler. Hope I've helped.

 

[Pdollar88]

I'm not quite certain that the P&P cruise is worth its money ATM. You're correct in that it is extremely difficult (impossible?) to see the projections in HEA on the P&P cruise. Most people who have done the cruise since HEA debuted have complained that this has ruined the experience of watching the show. Being that HEA is a product of the new technology that's developed since Wishes was debuted, the projections have been incorporated into the show so much that it becomes the primary element of the "story" that show tells. P&P was not meant to view HEA, it was meant to view Wishes-- which didn't rely on projections on the castle. You may enjoy watching the fireworks and listening to the soundtrack, but without being able to see the projections, you'll lose that key element. In addition, recent reports have complained about the quality of the snacks that they've received. I would encourage you to read this thread, where someone who recently attended it laid out their complaints.

Provided that you haven't already done so already, if I was in your shoes, I'd book the MK dessert party for HEA instead. My family really enjoyed it when we booked it back in 2015, and as someone with experience touring the parks solo, I could see myself enjoying it even more as a solo traveler. Hope I've helped.

Thank you for reminding me about the dessert party! I might do that instead as I’ve never done it. And my last HEA viewing was seriously impaired.

Plaza Garden View is generally the better option, correct?

 

[Newsies]

Thank you for reminding me about the dessert party! I might do that instead as I’ve never done it. And my last HEA viewing was seriously impaired.

Plaza Garden View is generally the better option, correct?

I'd say so!

 

[anomamatt]

I'm not sure how old you are, but Pirates & Pals is heavily geared to 8-12 year olds (or younger) (not likely the age range for a solo trip). I enjoyed it, but only because my kids loved it. I would have personally been miserable there alone (the snacks were not compelling and the view of the castle is non-existent).

 

[Pdollar88]

I'm not sure how old you are, but Pirates & Pals is heavily geared to 8-12 year olds (or younger) (not likely the age range for a solo trip). I enjoyed it, but only because my kids loved it. I would have personally been miserable there alone (the snacks were not compelling and the view of the castle is non-existent).

Fair enough. It might be a little awkward for me to go solo.

I took a previous poster’s advice and went ahead and booked the dessert party instead.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

@Newsies Thanks for the info re: Wishes vs. HEA. My family of six did this cruise in Dec 2016 and LOVED it. We had an especially hilarious CM who we'd seen before earlier in the week at Mickey's Backyard BBQ (RIP) and at the DHS "Frozen" show, and he did not let us down in our third experience. We did the cruise for two main reasons that still stand for our upcoming trip: 1) DH hates crowds, that shoulder-to-shoulder mess, and 2) One DS really loves meeting the special guest at the end of the cruise. He is close to aging out of being able to wear costumes freely, and I would love one more (a fourth) photo of him dressed up as/with the special friend.
But your description hits hard in my personal desire to go, as what I said after seeing Wishes is that I felt like we had a better view than people in the park because we could see the entire expanse of the show, which was far wider than any vantage point in the park could take in. I felt like we saw it as fully designed and did not miss seeing the castle At. All. Now I'm wondering if that won't work for HEA... DH is keen to do this again, but maybe a different firework experience? It seems like all the dessert parties are crowded? Which one would you do with someone who'd really prefer some breathing room?

 

[djc9699]

I guess, to each their own, but we just went last week and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I am 48, daughter is 15 (this is our fourth time for P&P over the past 10 years) and we took my 12 year old niece for her first DW visit. We enjoy meeting Smee and Hook and the snacks, to me, are better than the so-called desserts at the dessert party (which we have done 4 different times). They have Mickey ice cream sandwiches, Olaf bars, chips and salsa, bananas, grapes, mini carrots, apple slices, cookies, cupcakes, and bags of pretzels, popcorn, and pita chips. We brought a few bags home with us. All of these are portable and you are encouraged to take some on the boat. We also got a handful of chocolate coins. There were a few other things that didn't interest me so I don't remember what they were. There was a single young adult and a young couple with no kids there as well. The projections can not be seen, but Tinkerbell flying can and if you have seen HEA, the audio and fireworks are enjoyable without the projections. The jokes and trivia by Patch is enjoyable, and seeing the electric water pageant from the boat is an added bonus. We will do this again with my granddaughter in a few years if still available.

 

[MarkinNM]

We booked it for our arrival day, seeing how I did not want to use a park ticket and wanted to see the fireworks, the projections, meh, could care less, never seen a FW show from the water and am so looking forward to it, just the wife and me so no kids........have fun!

 

[fire616]

We scheduled P & P for our arrival day. Wanted to do something different and we have never seen the Electric Water Pageant. So excited. We leave in 31 days!!!

 

[Crystal824]

I'm not sure how old you are, but Pirates & Pals is heavily geared to 8-12 year olds (or younger) (not likely the age range for a solo trip). I enjoyed it, but only because my kids loved it. I would have personally been miserable there alone (the snacks were not compelling and the view of the castle is non-existent).

I love Pirates and Pals because my kids love it. We have done it twice. I'm not sure I would do it alone. It is definitely geared towards kids and more enjoyable with a group. I probably wouldn't do the HEA dessert party either. If I were doing a solo trip, I would do either the Frozen dessert party or the Star Wars dessert party. They are much much better than the HEA one.