Pirates & Pals Fireworks Voyage - opinions please?

[cindy2875]

Who has done this? What did you think?

DH hates crowds, and the kids are doing Peter Pan for their school play this year, so I thought this might be perfect. But I want to hear from you all first. What did you love? What did you hate? Thanks!

 

[wyurm]

I've done it. It was fun and in my opinion it was definitely worth it once. You meet in the Contemporary in a conference room. Before entering you are each given a bandanna with a Pirates and Pals theme. In the conference room they have cake and other refreshments. You are also given a meet and greet with Hook and Smee there. After that you are assigned a boat -- either Hook or Smee. One kid will be picked from both groups to lead their group to the boats.

On the boat, the captain will make some jokes and interact with the passengers. You will then get to watch the Electric Water Pageant. After that there will be more jokes and interactions until the Fireworks. The music will be piped in. After Wishes the captain will lead a trivia game with prizes consisting of very cheap trinkets for the kids. A word of warning, if you try to cheat your kid will probably be given a plastic sword. When you get back you get to meet Peter Pan.

 

[cindy2875]

well that just sounds adorable!! Thanks!

How big are the boats? Do they cram you in there like sardines, or do you have room to breathe?

Also, how would we get back to Port Orleans Riverside after? Contemporary doesn't have a bus to the other resorts, would we go to Downtown Disney and then take the shuttle over to POR?

 

[mom2cinderella]

Also, how would we get back to Port Orleans Riverside after? Contemporary doesn't have a bus to the other resorts, would we go to Downtown Disney and then take the shuttle over to POR?

Your best option would probably be to walk over to MK and take a bus back to
POR.

 

[ruthies12]

We did it on our trip in January and did NOT enjoy it. The reception was very rushed, we spent most of the time in line to meet Hook and Smee and barely got to enjoy the refreshments and snacks. There was no photopass photog for the meet and greet and not even a free cast member to take pics with our camera for us.

You have assigned seating on the boat and since they angle the boat in the water we had to stand to watch the fireworks and were looking over the heads of the people who were seated on the other side of the boat. the interaction with the captain and the trivia questions were over the head of our dd who had just turned 5 at the time of our trip. She was very bored during that part.

We did not get to see the water parade, I guess it just didn't run that night. We also had a very, very foggy night so the fireworks were delayed and we sat on the boat in the cold for what seemed like forever. then when the fireworks came on we could barely see them, only the highest ones were visible through the fog.

when we got back to the dock, peter pan was there. My dd was very excited about this because she was dressed as Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Peter has been in episodes of that and is supposed to be friends with Izzy. Peter did not know who she was dressed as and she was very confused by this. I've never had a character be so unknowledgeable before. And again no photopass photographer which was disappointing to me.

The snacks were plentiful and they did have coloring pages for the kids to play with prior to the reception starting. They do give you a warning before you leave since there is no bathroom on the boat. and at the end of the trip they did give a "prize", i.e. cheap trinket as op noted, to all the kids who did not get a trivia question.

Overall, I was hugely disappointed in the experience, but my expectations may have been too high AND the fog played a big part in my disappointment which is obviously something no one can control, so take my opinion for what's it worth!

 

[kitntrip]

We went on the pirates and pals in sept. 2012 and it was one of the highlights of our trip. We had a ton of time with Hook and Smee in the reception area, a lot of snacks and drinks. Our captain was funny and we weren't squished in with everyone else in the boat. My husband and I had a row to ourselves with our 2 kids. Afterwards, we met with Peter Pan and there was a photopass photographer there who took a ton of pictures and PP spent at least 15 minutes playing and talking with my kids. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[BlueFairy]

What is the pricing on this?

 

[Dan Murphy]

We did it last year with grandsons, ages 4 1/2 and 6. They loved it, we loved it.

Here is a good write up from Kenny.

http://kennythepirate.com/2013/01/29/pirates-and-pals-fireworks-voyage/

Price is $57.50 ages 10 and up, $33.01ages 3 - 9.

 

[tigerdragon]

We did this last November and loved it. We didn't feel squished in at all and the view of the fireworks was amazing. Our captain was hilarious and my kids loved getting the cheap little trinkets. My DD got some sort of ball that lights up and she still plays with it from time to time. We did ave a photopass photographer that took lots of pictures with Peter Pan. It's something that I would consider doing again in a couple years.

 

[glohoffman]

does this experience book up really quickly? It seems to be lesser known so I wasnt sure! Interested in it though!

 

[Wendybird55]

It wasn't one of our favorite events. You go to Contemporary (conference center) and wait for them to let you in a big room where there are snacks set out on tables that you can help yourself to. I think they changed a bit since we went, but they were OK snacks...the chocolate coins were a disappointment as they were chocolate mint and DS doesn't like mint.

Hook and Smee show up and then you can wait in line for pics with them. They then separate you into 2 groups. One follow Smee and other Hook to your boat. The seats are assigned on the boat and depending upon which side of the boat you are on you view of fireworks may be better or not.

You have a pirate captain who chats with you and tells corny jokes and all until you get to are to watch fireworks. The sound for Wishes is pumped in on speakers on the boat. The fireworks are nice, but I prefer to see them up close in the park - I just find the atmosphere of being in the park seeing the castle up close is much nicer - just my opinion.

After fireworks you may get to see the electrical water pageant they have every night for the monorail resorts. Then on the tri[ back to contemporary our pirate captain asked trivia questions and give out prizes if you got correct answer. We were sitting towards the back of the boat and found that the captain picked on folks closer to the from to answer questions so DS never got a chance to answer or win a prize.

When we got back to Contemporary Peter Pan was there and you could take pictures with him if you wanted to.

It was OK, but not great. If you want to see Wishes I think the dessert party is much better and less expensive. If you want to do a fun, relaxing extra event on your trip then I would recommend the 2 hour fishing trip. We love it. And if your a family of 4 or more, it will cost around the same or less than Pirates and Pals.

 

[Dan Murphy]

does this experience book up really quickly? It seems to be lesser known so I wasnt sure! Interested in it though!

Yes it does book up. I think it is a 180 day booking.

 

[wolf29]

Yes it does book up. I think it is a 180 day booking.

180 days is correct.

 

[kelly3927]

180 days is correct.

I called today for a Nov 1st booking and they said November is not yet available for booking. Does anyone know when this will be released?

 

[kam1011]

When we did it, it was 180 days. Not 180+10, I had to call back on the 180th day from the date we wanted to cruise.

Remember it only sails certain days, so is the day you are trying to book one of the days it sails?

 

[kelly3927]

When we did it, it was 180 days. Not 180+10, I had to call back on the 180th day from the date we wanted to cruise. Remember it only sails certain days, so is the day you are trying to book one of the days it sails?

Yes I have confirmed that it should sail that day and it is past 180 days. When I called today the CM said October dates were late coming out also but he did not have any idea when November would be released. I was hoping maybe someone here knew something more about November. Thanks!

 

[DonaldDuck77]

If you go on a MNSSHP or MVMCP night, you can see the holiday fireworks without having the extra ticket to those events. We wanted to do a fireworks cruise anyway, so we timed it to one of those nights. Good experience all around. We had photopass photographers for both character meet and greets. And I agree with the comment that those in the back will probably not get asked any of the trivia questions. But the kids still get a trinket at the end whether or not they answered a question.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

This event is really geared toward younger kids.

We always try to do something "new" when we go, so for last January's trip, this was what we picked after reading and hearing good reviews.

It was myself, DH, DS18, DS's BFF16, DD13, DD's friend 12.

The older boys tried to get their money's worth eating the Mickey bars and other ice cream available in the pre-event at the Contemporary. We did our pics with Hook and Smee and headed out to the boats. Corny jokes, but fun. The boat seats about 60, so only 1/2 of the people are on the side with the fireworks.

Just as the firewords started the fog rolled in and we saw about 10% of them.

Peter Pan was on the dock when we arrived.

Really not worth the $360+ I spent on it. I know the weather is unpredictable, but it was a huge disappointment for our family.

 

[Jekyllcat]

We're hoping to do this in November. I've read some places that it runs every day from November to January; that it only runs on non-MVMCP days; that it only runs Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon, regardless of hard ticket events; that it runs specifically on hard ticket days.

I've called a couple of times, but my connection keeps getting dropped while I'm on hold.

Had anyone had any success booking for November 2014? Is there a schedule out there somewhere?

And does it make sense to do Chef Mickey's for dinner before-hand?

 

[dprincessmom]

We're hoping to do this in November. I've read some places that it runs every day from November to January; that it only runs on non-MVMCP days; that it only runs Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon, regardless of hard ticket events; that it runs specifically on hard ticket days.

I've called a couple of times, but my connection keeps getting dropped while I'm on hold.

Had anyone had any success booking for November 2014? Is there a schedule out there somewhere?

And does it make sense to do Chef Mickey's for dinner before-hand?

As to your last question, I would not book a big dinner before hand. When we went March 2013 there were tons of sweet and salty snacks and ice cream. I would maybe do a sandwich type meal a couple of hours earlier. We loved the event and didn't experience any issues.

I will also say that being early for the arrival might be helpful. We were checked in and people watching for 15 minutes or so before the event. I can see if you get there right at the same time as everyone else, that this might lead to a rushed feeling.

I booked closer to 60 days with no problem, but we did end up on the side of the boat furthest from the MK but we still saw them with no problems.