In early February I shared my Surprise Money Saver for My Next WDW Vacation! While planning the trip I wanted to do something special with my family and thought about the Ferrytale Wishes, a Fireworks Dessert Cruise. When I looked at the cost I definitely wanted to find a way to save some money since I had multiple special (and costly) things already planned for the trip. With 6 of us going the total cost for the Ferrytale Wishes Dessert Cruise would have been $564.00.
After searching through reviews and speaking to friends I decided to call for information on a Fireworks Specialty Cruise from one of the deluxe resorts and guess what? $318.44! That’s right! For our own private pontoon boat with snacks and soft drinks. It was one of the best Walt Disney World® Resort decisions (next to My Storybook Moment – Princess) I have ever made.
The specialty cruises take place on one of Disney’s deluxe pontoon boats, and board at Magic Kingdom Resort Marinas to sail around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. I chose the marina at Disney’s Contemporary Resort for our launch and after spending the day at the Magic Kingdom, we headed over to the Contemporary excited for another adventure.
The 21-foot pontoon boat can hold up to 8 guests along with your captain and since we were a party of 6 we had plenty of room to spread out. My granddaughter (age 8) was fitted for a (mandatory) life vest by a fun group of cast members and before we knew it, Captain Alan had us all on-board and ready to sail.
Since I knew we would have just finished dinner at the Magic Kingdom before heading over for our ride, I didn’t arrange for any special food to be delivered to the boat. I can honestly say the snacks and soft drinks that are included with your cost are more then enough! We had chips, pretzels, rice krispie treats, soda, water and juice, and there was enough for each of us to have 2 or 3 of each item.
We set sail about an hour before Wishes was scheduled to start so our captain took us on a wonderful tour, entertaining us with fascinating stories. He slowly crept our boat up to the old docks of Discovery Island, inched as close as possible to River Country and took us by the “shoe tree.” For those of you not familiar with the story behind the shoe – when Disney College Program attendees are finished with their program and ready to head home, they sail out to the tree and throw their shoes up into the tree, leaving a little part of themselves behind. One of those behind the scenes traditions and memories that many college program attendees hold special.
I can honestly say there is no better way to watch Wishes. The music is piped in and simply seeing the fireworks display and hearing the music without the noise of any crowds is the absolutely best way ever! Our captain was loads of fun, full of Disney knowledge and really made our excursion worth every penny!
At the end of Wishes, our boat had to wait our turn to return to the dock. Captain Alan started to shift position of the boat and all of a sudden – right next to us! The Electrical Water Pageant! It was loud. It was bright. It was FABULOUS! We sat on our pontoon boat and watched the entire water parade creep by. My kids were thrilled.
Without a doubt, one of the best few hours we have spent at Walt Disney World and worth every penny!
