Wishes Cruise Questions

[Terk-1]

I just booked a Wishes cruise for our first night at WDW!! I tried to get Illuminations, but it was impossible, so I thought this would be a great alternative. I'm on hold with dining trying to get a PS for Whispering Canyon Cafe prior to our cruise. I booked just the plain cruise, since we'll be dining prior and will be plenty full. The fireworks schedule is not out for this week as of yet, but since it's booked for a Saturday night, I'm sure they will be shown. Plus, she said these boats for this day were almost booked. I want to keep this as a surprise until the day we leave, but it's going to be tough!!

What should we expect from the cruise? Do they circle both lagoons? How big is the boat? Will the kids have fun? Where does it sit to view the fireworks? Can you see and hear everything? Are there other boats right next to you? Is it worth the $$?

Finally, can anyone make my countdown clock go faster!!!

 

[disneyjenca]

I haven't done the Wishes cruise -- yet! -- but since I've got one coming up in a few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading on it.

The boat is a pontoon boat, maybe 15ft by 7ft? From what I gather you'll probably get a quick tour of the lagoon and hotels. Most people say that their captain is really great and knowledgeable, and gives a really entertaining and informative cruise. Just before the fireworks the boats pull into the middle of the lagoon, in line with the castle. There's plenty of room, so you're not crowded. From what I hear the view is great, and you can faintly hear the music (although not enough to make anything out). There's been rumblings that they're testing remote recievers for the soundtrack, but I don't know if they've been installed.

Everyone seems to want to book the Illuminations cruise more, but I haven't heard of anyone who was disappointed with the Wishes one. In fact, lots of people have said that they ended up preferring it!

I'm sure it'll be great -- I mean, it's Disney!

 

[bethbuchall]

We took a Wishes cruise in May. It is a pontoon boat that seats approximately 12, and I would say that 15'x7' is a pretty good guesstimate of the size. We only had 7 for our cruise and could easily fit everyone up front, but it was better for the balance of the boat for dh and me to snuggle in the back and leave mom and dad with the three kids up front

Our cruise departed from the Contemporary and did a tour of both lagoons. We stopped and watched the Electrical Water pageant and took a peak at Fort Wilderness and the Wilderness Lodge. Our captain stopped on the water bridge to allow the kids to really see that we were crossing over the road and to see traffic down below.

We were positioned just in front of the castle for Wishes and had a wonderful view. The night that we were out, they were testing the portable receivers, and the boat next to ours had one, so we were able to hear everything. Without that, we would have barely been able to make out the soundtrack at times.

We had a wonderful evening, and I would definitely do it again. I kept it as a surprise from everyone until we were eating dinner that night.

Beth

PS The faster your countdown clock moves, the sooner you'll be sitting here wishing you could go again.

 

[Terk-1]

Thanks so much for your posts!! I'm getting as excited for this as I am for the rest of the trip!!! It's good to hear about the speakers. I know when I watched from the Polynesian's beach, you could hardly hear anything. Also, this will be the first time for the rest of my family to see Wishes, so I thought that by being able to do this and not have to worry about crowds or putting kids on adults shoulders to see, would be a big plus.

I wanted to do something special for my family on this trip. Having lost our mom a couple of months ago and her being ill prior to that, has been alot on everyone and I know this will be a great (and fun) way to start the trip.

We get to our hotel around noon and I was able to get dinner reservations at the Whispering Canyon Cafe for around 6pm that night. My family has not dined here before and when I was making my PS, the CM said her niece just went and they had a blast. Her mom asked for ketchup and ended up with 15 bottles on the table. My nephews will have a blast setting their father up for these gags and since he's such a great sport, he'll have fun too. I'm thinking by the time we get seated and everyone eats (and plays), that should kill at least an hour. We can always wander around the WL until it's time. The CM said that the cruise departs 45 minutes prior to Wishes, so I told her that we wanted to be picked up at the WL.

Thanks again everyone!!! I'm just too EXCITED!!!!!

 

[westjones]

How much is this cruise, and how can you book it? I saw it on the Fan's Guide to WDW on the Travel Channel and it looked like a really nice thing to do in an evening. I haven't been able to find any online information about how to book it though.

Thanks,
DJ

 

[Terk-1]

For just the basic cruise & driver is $117 plus tax & tip. If you want food brought in, it costs extra.