Safely back on the ship after our mini-tour of Nassau, we checked our Navigator to see that there was going to be a character meet & greet in the atrium. Being characters themselves, Madison and Evan decided to get into the Halloween spirit. Orrrrr....they were replaced by undead versions of themselves by some Bahamian witch doctor when we weren't looking back on the island.
And what would Halloween be without some costumes!
After making our way though the character line (they ran it like the Character Spot in Epcot - you get in one line and see each character in turn), we decided to head up to Goofy's Sports Deck to see if we could catch his son Max playing a round of golf.
But I must warn you. The next picture is quite graphic. It seems that the local bird population in Nassau can get downright nasty when they're looking for food. And it appears that they have acquired a taste
for blood. We thought we would be safe sticking to the interior hallways of the ship, but one flying death monster seems to have wiggled his way through some loose shutters. Bambi fought it valiantly, desperately trying to keep herself between the vicious, blood thirsty fowl and the kids. In the end, she saved the kids, but was left with a nasty ouchie on her finger.
Ah, Goofy's Sports Deck on Deck 13. Or for you superstitious folk
"the deck between 12 and 14" . Filled with all sorts of fun athletic games such as basketball, vollyeball, Foosball, ping pong, and of course....mini golf!
Max was up there putt-putting a round with a lucky family, so we waited patiently until he had finished then got in a quick photo.
As long as we were up there, we grabbed a set of clubs and balls and tried our luck at keeping the ball on the ship and out Nassau harbor.
Based on Madison's backswing, I don't think we were successful.
You get quite a view from up on deck 13. For one thing, you can see when some of the crew members decided to hijack one of the lifeboats and go on a pleasure cruise.
You can also see a lot of the local wildlife. Like this momma duck bringing her ducklings back to the nest after a day out on the water. Or something.
We cut our round of minigolf short because it was starting to rain. Which was OK, since we had to get back to our room to get changed. Yes, Disney sent us an email before the cruise saying that the characters will be in costume, so you should too! On the way down, we passed Animator's Palate, all decked out for the occasion.
The problem with the rain is that it was going to put a damper on the Halloween Deck Party scheduled for Deck 11 that afternoon. (Damper! Ha!) But no worry, this is Disney after all. Just because they can't control the weather (yet), doesn't mean they don't have a backup plan. Cruise Director Rachel made an announcement that the party was going to be moved inside to the Atrium.
We arrived to see the area already filling up, but were able to get the kids a sort-of-kind-of front row view. It would have been a full front row view if the *$@%! 6 foot tall woman with the poofy hair and batgirl costume would step back 9 inches and let a few of the 3 foot tall kids have a better view. This was as close as I came to throwing someone overboard. With my luck she would actually have spider powers and could climb right back up.
Anyway, the folks that designed this boat really had their thinking caps on. It seems that Peter Parker is not the only one with a secret identity. Mild mannered atrium ceiling by day, but hiding a wild side. With the flip of a switch...hidden dance party lighting! Colored lights, black lights, spot lights - it's party time!
A DJ was spinning the tunes (Did I say that right? Is that what the kids are doing these days? "Spinning tunes?), and characters would be announced, come down the grand staircase and shake their booties to some pumped up Halloween songs.
The party kept going while roving photographers were taking family pictures. We went with two themes this year - A butterfly and bumblebee for the ladies, while Evankin Skywalker and Obi-Wan KaBarry protected the ship from the Empire.
Up Next:Dinner Time!