IllumiNation Cruises

[OK GRUMPY]

Has anybody tried one of those IllumiNation crusies that leave from the Yatcht Club Marina to epcot? If so please tell me about it?
Thanks,
Cindy

 

[bianca]

Did one Christmas Eve last year and really enjoyed it. Like you stated, they start over by the Yacht Club marina and take somewhere around 10-12 people at a time. They take you around the Boardwalk/Beach Club resort area then about 10 minutes before Illuminations starts, they "Park" the boat under the bridge at the back of the World Showcase. From this vantage point you can see illuminations and all the accompanying fireworks very well. Of course all this is done with the usual Disney banter, cute jokes and general information about the resorts and Illuminations. We ended up being on the cruise with a cast member that worked on the fireworks at MK, so we had tons of interesting stuff thrown our way! Well worth the money in my opinion.

 

[tim5055]

I agree with bianca, one of the most enjoyable thengs we have done.

I;ll add a couple of points:

• There are two types of boats you can rent; pontoon boats that take up to 12 or a Chris craft reproduction which takes six IIRC
• You rent the entire boat, not a single space. So for the $$ you get the entire boat and determine who you want with you and how many folks go. It is a single charge far any number up to the capacity of the boat.
• Food and drink packages are avialable and cost extra

At one point they only allowed one pontoon boat per night, but have now increased it. The night we went there were three pontoon boats and the Chris Craft.

Remember to tip your captain!

 

[OK GRUMPY]

Thanks for your replys. I had read that the cost of the pontoon boat was $150.00. I thank information might have been old. Can you tell me how much it was? Can you bring your on drinks?
Thanks
Cindy

 

[samkj]

The current price is $250. Here is the "sticky" thread on this subject. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=560160

 

[dgaston]

We did two Illuminations cruises when the price was only $120 for the basic pontoon. I'm not sure I will pay $250 for one. I guess if it was an extremely special event, but might just opt for a Magical Gathering Event if there were enough of us.

 

[TravelinGal]

The current price IS $250. The pontoon boat holds a maximum of 10 people, not 12. (and an infant DOES count as a whole person)

The Breathless is very small and I'm not sure what size people they are thinking of when they say it will hold 7. Certainly not 7 average to 'Pooh sized' adults.

I booked it for our trip and then posted on the Illiminations Cruise thread for my month and found other DIS'ers to share the cruise with me.

We split the cost evenly based on how many people were going.

I asked for 1/2 the amount for each family as a deposit of sorts. (ie - if their total share was $50 then they PayPal'ed me $25)

We'll be there and are excited as can be to see the show from this new view and to be able to share it with other DISers!

 

[OK GRUMPY]

Please let me know how you like it.