OMG who's ever heard of a high maintenance Pirate, sounds like with all the hype Capt Jack's got in contact with his inner JoLo
.
Okay, I think I can safely award you the "I made Jay REALLY spit her tea award". That line struck me as so funny that while I didn't literally spit out the tea I had in my mouth, I did suck it in down the wrong pipe when an unexpected urge to laugh hit me while reading that. I was laughing/choking/laughing again!
Also, good point about the Indiana Jones type person. They might be a bit "boring" without the stunts. Great thing to consider! Thanks for pointing that out!
Hi Jay,
So no Captain Jack? He is one expensive pirate! I suspect you would have had many extra people there wanting a look or picture with him. I think whoever you pick will be great, it's all such a fun idea. Will the character go on the boat with the party or does he leave after dinner and before the treasure hunt?
We would only have the character for a thirty minute span and that thirty minute span also includes his walk time from the back stage area to our event. Hopefully we are close to where they are coming out! I am thinking the time most likely to work out for a character would be either at the very start of the lunch to kick it off right or at the very end of the party with the character being the one who kicks off the treasure hunt somehow. Either by handing them a clue or maybe just pointing out that they should dig in the sand. I am leaning toward the second idea.
WOW! Captain Jack sure doesn't come cheap does he?!
I guess it makes sense that he can't come to an outdoor event, he would probably be mobbed at your private party!
Can't wait to hear what your final plans will be!
I guess it does make sense...but WOW...that man is one pricey piece of
!
I will PM you back within a few days. I just need to get the information back from them and then get the time to sit down and type. Who knew having four kids would keep a girl so busy?!
Capt. Jack probably doesn't want to smear his makeup!!
My goodness, pirates are expensive these days. I am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE you will come up with something simply amazing.
Now Barb, you had me laughing "smear his makeup". I totally see him as a diva. NOT that he is...just from the comments I read. I am still chuckling over them!
:
Wow that sounds like a cool internship!!! I would have loved that. The penguins are both my DD's and my favorites at the zoo....followed by the monkeys, of course!
HA HA HA...did I mention the nasty filter cleaning that occurred daily? Or the very glamorous "check out the consistency/color/frequency of his poo" watch that sick penguins sometimes were put under?! Very cool indeed. All joking aside, it was a load of fun. If I wouldn't have had little monkey boys of my own, I might have ended up working there permanently (not sure with which animal, but at the zoo in general I mean). It was that or teach biology/ecology at a college, work in a museum, work in the zoo (or ecological park) education outreach programs, work as an ecologist, a marine biologist or on the flip side, use my other major and get into teaching or lecturing about American literature or history. I wanted to write the next great American Novel on top of all of that. As you can see, I was all over the charts. One day this appealed more, the next day it was that. Not being able to pin down what I wanted cost me dearly. I spent so much time getting my degrees/graduate level degrees yet to this day, I still couldn't tell you what I could see myself doing. I am too interested in too many things.
Oh my gosh Jay....this day will, without a doubt, be AMAZING, regardless of which you choose!!!! How exciting!!!!! Like I have said a million times before, you ROCK!!!! You can be my event planner ANYTIME!!!!
Those planning services are at your beck and call my dear! 
I shall plan away for you. Another future career, Disney planner...I would LOVE that! YOU ROCK...or you are dangerous...suggesting the vow renewal and that leading me to my current "dream day" idea. 
I will place the blame squarely on your shoulders when dh comes to his senses and starts giving me grief over the costs.
My words are in red.
Holy smokes, Captain Jack would break our bank!
I can't wait to hear what you end up deciding for the day. It definitely is going to be out of this world! I would never be able to convince my husband anything remotely close to this, so I'll just have to enjoy reading about it. I'm living my dreams through you, so no pressure!
I told dh that if we somehow won, earned, inherited, or otherwise came into an unexpected million dollars before our trip that I was going to have Capt. Jack!
Short of that, it's not gonna happen. I bet you would be surprised what you could convince your husband of. If you go to the Grand Floridian and go to the house phone over near the pool, you could order off of the private dining menu and have them deliver it to the pool area and then carry it over on to the sand and enjoy a special meal as a family on the shores of the lake. AHHHH....that is a blissful idea. Then you could plan out your own treasure hunt and end up at the Grand 1 yacht (if you wanted to go nuts on one portion of the day), a pontoon boat or even just the GF dock to catch a ferry to the Magic Kingdom or the Poly. Ahhh...what a special day. And done on a budget too! Although, I will admit, it gets pretty pricey to order private dining at the GF. But think of it this way, it's no more then a sit down dinner and although you are not in a restaurant, it would be a special meal in a whole different sort of a way.
Leave it to a pirate to charge so much!
Now that you mention the private party issue - I wonder if that will be an issue no matter what character you choose? I mean, if I saw Mickey at the beach at the resort with a crowd around him I wouldn't even think twice about walking up to him. Well, now that I know he can be booked for private parties I would think twice...but before I read your pre-trip I didn't know it could be done. I wonder if they can put up a sign that says "private party" so people know?
I would imagine it might feel awkward having to ask people to leave. And I would feel terrible if I walked into a private party and didn't know!
I was worried about that. I mean, I would have scurried over to check out Mickey on the beach too. The way they have characters come out and play in the lobbies of resorts sometimes, I would have made that assumption. I mentioned this worry to the event planner and she gave me a lot of reassurance. Although a Disney character is never allowed to ask someone to leave (ie if a kid runs up for a hug, the character will not turn his back on them) their handler WILL be forceful in informing outside parties of the private nature of the character visit.
She also told me that they would sort of "rope off" the entire area we are planning on using and have signage indicating the area was closed off for a private event. She said a few people might not notice and walk through but that it would stop most foot traffic through the area. So, my hope is that without the sound of music attracting their attention, that most people would just walk by and not even realize that anything worth peeking into is going on.
I really wouldn't mind it if a little kid or two stumbled across our character visit and we were able to gift them with a special photo opportunity of them and whoever the character ends up being. Now, if they tried to stick around and play with the character...then I would most likely ask the handler to step in and move it along. But even at Disney prices for a character, I think my kids can have the patience to share the happiness for a minute or two with another little one. If that were even to happen I mean. Most people won't go looking around the backs of quiet buildings and crossing through roped off areas to get there to even realize a character was in the area.
Can you tell I am a total worry wart that already had those same thoughts? HA HA HA. It's part of my obsessive planning disorder.
Oh Jay...all your other anniversary celebrations sound so amazing!!! You definitely know how to plan an "event". Hehehe...I am so glad you liked my idea of the vow renewal!! 
I can't wait to read the Pre-TR for that one!!! 
Hopefully it all works out as I am dreaming. If not, no matter what the reality, I am sure it will be great. 
" if someone else books it first. Hopefully that won't happen. The dessert party on the yacht is a big part of my dream for that day.
Actually, I really think they will enjoy the little Disney touches as well, they just won't be likely to ever admit it. 
I am sure they would think that they are too cool for that. 
