illunimations Cruise in Pontoon Boat

[PegIra]

We are thinking of spending the money and renting a pontoon boat at Epcot to watch the Illuminations Show . Has anyone ever done this? If so, is it worth the cost.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peg

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are thinking of spending the money and renting a pontoon boat at Epcot to watch the Illuminations Show . Has anyone ever done this? If so, is it worth the cost.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peg

You don't rent a boat. You purchase the cruise for up to ten people.

I thought it was worth it years ago when we did it. It cost us about $150. It is more expensive now. So we won't be doing it again.

 

[PegIra]

I guess I phrased it wrong when I said rent a pontoon boat. I know it is for 10 people and there is a boat captain, I guess I just wanted to know if the experience is worth the cost as it is about $350 now.

Thanks for your help.

Peg

 

[4mousefans]

I would be interested in hearing from others that have done this as well! We just booked a "specialty cruise" from the Contemporary Resort to enjoy the MK fireworks. It is a little over $300 for up to eight of us. Since we will be visiting in January, I was looking for a little bit of information from others. I started a thread, but guess I didn't use the correct wording because I haven't gotten any feedback as of yet...will be following yours!

 

[PegIra]

I hope we can find some more people that have done it and can give us a clue as to if it is a good idea. We want to do this the last week in March. We are spending the winter in Kissimmee, but our best friend will be spending 10 days with us in March. I thought this might be a great birthday and Christmas gift for him and for my husband. (Their birthdays are only 2 weeks apart). It will be a little late, but I'm hoping it is worth the wait !

 

[Pakey]

I have done the Wishes one once and the Illuminations one 4 times-most recently was a year ago.

The cost does not include the tip for the boat captain so you need to add that on. There is no set amount but I always tip 20% of the cruise cost.

I love Illuminations but I didn't think Wishes was that great--for me Wishes is so much better inside the park. Illuminations has a lot of the show at water level so you get a great view from the pontoon but you aren't any closer than you would be if you stood on the bridge between UK and France. From prior posts, I would say that about half of the people prefer Wishes so YMMV.

The downside on Illuminations is that if the wind is blowing towards you, you will have a great view of smoke. There's no way to predict this ahead of time.

The pre-show cruise around the waterway is better for Wishes than it is for Illuminations. But IMO, if I didn't want to watch Wishes inside the park, I would just go stand at the Narcoosees dock where the music is piped because the boats are not that close to the fireworks anyway.

The boat holds 10 but IMO, only about 6 have great seats. I have never shared the cruise with strangers--I've done this cruise with 2 people up to 6 people, depending on who I am vacationing with and I have always paid for the entire thing. But if I were sharing and splitting with everyone else, I wouldn't be happy to have the back seats for Illuminations (since Wishes is all above, it's not a big deal).

 

[PegIra]

Thanks so much for the great evaluation of the 2 cruises. You input was great and just what I was needing to hear.

Truthfully I hadn't thought about the tip, but that was great advice too. Thanks again for taking the time to help me make a decision.

Peg

 

[tinkerpea]

Hi we just did this last month and it was AMAZING!!
We did it as a special treat for our friends we was holidaying with and our 3 children " 4 including our friends"
You get on at the dock by yacht club and cruise around the lake and up to Hollywood studios, then you go on to Epcot.
Once at Epcot you dock just out from under the bridge in France depending on how good the weather is means wether you can go out a little further.

We had an amazing night weather wise it was beautiful no wind water was perfect and calm and it was lovely and warm for the 1st November,

1st we was poured the champagne I ordered which I had as a surprise for my dh as it was the same bottle from our disney fairy tale wedding and I added chocolate strawberries
The children was given cookies crisps and soft drinks all included in the price of the boat.
The caption was fab and gave each boy a bag of popcorn to feed the ducks while waiting for the fireworks which they loved,
" as did the ducks"

The fireworks!!
Wow what can u say except they was sooo much better seeing it from this view, you could feel the heat from them and felt like you was in the middle of it all,
It's truly breath taking.
You see them burst up above you, and the best bit is the view of the ball when it glides across the lake

They supply blankets in case you get cold too.
It was a really great night worth every single penny! .

 

[PegIra]

Tinkerpea,

Thanks so much for you input in helping me make my decision. I really do appreciate it. I wasn't sure if it was worth the price, but I really did want to do it. I think you have convinced me. Now to see if it is available the night I want it.

Thanks again,

Peg

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

Have done in past and IMO it was worth it. Besides you should try everything in WDW at least once ! Just did Sleigh ride in FW last week for first time and I give that a also.

 

[PegIra]

Wilderness Fan,

Thank you, I appreciate you input. I am beginning to really think I will do it.

Peg