From the moment you enter the terminal you will get the opportunity to visit with characters. This line was less than 10 minute long. The character varies with each sailing. The boarding process moves fast once they announce the family of the sailing. We were in line about 2 minutes when they started boarding and they were up to 6 or 7 when we got through the line. We were lucky and had boarding group 1, so we walked right to the front to board the ship.
As soon as you board the ship, head over to guest services and request tickets to meet with Anna and Elsa and the Princess meet and greet. This information will be listed on the front page of the Navigator when you check in. We received tickets for early the first morning, well, early for us on the first day of vacation! 9am! Many little girls were running around in costume to meet the characters, some parents were even changing their child's clothing in between each princess.
Anna and Elsa, were located inside the restaurant, Animator's Palate.
All of the screens were showing scenes from the movie.
They had music playing loudly so it was hard to hear what they were talking about. My children said they asked about being family.
After meeting the Frozen girls, we headed over to get in line to meet more Princesses' with our 9:30am tickets. Cinderella, Belle and Tiana were on our sailing. each took about 3-5 minutes with our children to sign their books and chat with them. Belle asked all about what books they were currently reading. There was a pianist playing loudly in the lobby and the kids could barely hear what the characters were saying.
Mickey ends the first round dining experience in Animator's Palate. Music is playing and he dances through all the main walk ways.
Mickey dancing through the dining room after dinner was a great end to the meal! There is no real chance to get photos with Mickey. We also didn't see Sorcerer Mickey at any of the character meet-n-greet sessions. During our sailing we saw Nautical, Halloween, and Captain Mickey.
Hook and Peter Pan were available for 2 days, we decided the day before Halloween would be a little less hectic. The downside is Smee only appears the day of Halloween, or whatever day your sailing is celebrating.
Chip and Dale saying goodbye on Pirate night.
Captain Mickey Mouse
Captain Minnie Mouse on the stage at the Pirate event.
Cast members and Characters dancing at the Pirate Party.
After the Nightmare Before Christmas is shown you can meet the characters, Jack and Sally. My daughter and I saw them at midnight. The line wasn't long, but it moved slow and was mostly adults chatting with the characters.
Mickey's Mouse-Querade Party/Family Halloween Party had plenty of opportunities for everyone to dance and play with the characters. There were 2 times to choose from. I took some videos of the first and then enjoyed the second session with my kids. It was held at 4:30pm and 10:15pm in the Lobby on decks 3 and 4.
All the kids were invited to dance with Pluto in the D Lounge between dinner and the nightly show.
Poor Pluto was crowded. Not a lot of kids, but they were all super close to him.
The characters enter/leave through Lumiere's for the Halloween show.
The people in these costumes do a great job dancing! I'm sure it's not easy with all the kids dancing around their feet.
The characters got down and mingled with all the guests. Pluto even grabbed the bowl of candy off one of the tables and started throwing candy around.
There are a few opportunities to meet characters on Castaway Cay. Stitch was greeting people off the gangway. There is also a character dance party at designated locations. When we were there it was at a gazebo. It will be listed in the Navigator. The wind was really bad causing massive waves which meant we got a late start into the port. All excursions were cancelled and we really didn't have time to go see characters on the island.
No visit to Castaway Cay is complete with out a picture with Olaf in front of the Post Office. It was closed the day we were there so you couldn't mail from the island. If you do send a postcard from Castaway Cay, remember they only take cash!
The last day of the cruise the kids can participate in Friendship Rocks. Mickey and Minnie come out on stage but face the audience, not the kids. Every child that participates receives a T-shirt.
The last night of the cruise there was a goodbye "show". Basically the characters march through and then position themselves throughout decks 3 and 4 for your last chance at photos and autographs. On other sailings they do this twice but for ours it only happened once at 10pm. It was packed! We got there early and had a great spot, but then got pushed back by the people that showed up at the last minute. If you plan to attend, deck 4 might be a better choice to watch. If you are already up against the railing, you can't be moved from that spot. We took this as a chance to get those last few autographs and pictures. All of the characters were dressed in nautical themed clothing. We didn't wait more than 10 minutes for any of them. The only one we were hoping to see was Pluto, but he was not part of the Till We Meet Again show/party.
Till We Meet Again on the last night is a great chance to meet any characters that you missed throughout the week. They were all dressed like sailors.
I think next time we won't bother with the autograph books. Because of the book, we were trying to see every character and that took up time. We've done Disney World enough times that our kids have books filled with autographs. We would definitely see characters, just not try to hit all of them. Some of the characters show up in the kids camps too! My daughter got to play with Donald, Pluto and Stitch all at different activities planned for them. Her favorite was Donald's Surprise Birthday Party. She said they were running around getting things ready to surprise him! Look for my Disney Cruise post on the Children's Programing for more information, or send me an e-mail!
To plan your next magical getaway, contact me today!
Jennifer
412-716-5065
jenniehenn@gmail.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment