Tuesday, January 5, 2016

We find the "Ferrytale" Wishes Cruise Delightful


When I first saw the announcement for the Ferrytale Wishes Fireworks Cruise I was excited.  The maiden voyage was launching right before our trip, and there was a cruise available on the night of our anniversary. I made a reservation for the cruise, and cancelled our anniversary dinner reservation at The Hollywood Brown Derby.


The first few blog posts/reviews that rolled in after the initial Ferrytale cruises were not  positive. I started to get nervous.  Had I made a terrible mistake? Would we regret cancelling dinner at The Brown Derby? Would we end up spending several miserable hours trapped in the middle of a body of water on a ferry? 

I'm happy to say that we found the Ferrytale Wishes Cruise delightful.

Delight #1- Sweet Souvenirs 


At the check in we were handed a copy of the dessert menu and a cute map of the Seven Seas Lagoon. We also received an exclusive Ferrytale Wishes pin.  


A pin that could not be purchased. You can only obtain it by taking the cruise.  None of the reviews mentioned the pin. We thought it was pretty cool and we aren't even pin collectors.

Along with the pin, we received some initial information about our evening, then we were invited to hang out in the pop-up cocktail area. 


A couple of cast members floated around brandishing trays with glowing champagne flutes. The flutes were filled with sparkling apple cider. We decided to have a little anniversary toast. Champagne flutes=fun, but glowing champagne flutes= super fun.


Next a couple of cast members came around passing out light up necklaces. The necklaces actually  had settings so you could keep the lights still, have them flashing, or have them move slowly.  I was pretty much beside myself with joy at this point and we hadn't even boarded the boat,


though the boarding time came soon enough.


As we boarded the boat, we were handed special Ferrytale Cruise dessert plates.  They even had a little holder for the glow flutes.



Along with your plate, you could also pick up a glass of wine if you so desired.

There was a photographer going around during the cruise snapping photos.  We didn't have photopass, but I was excited to find out later that the digital copies of the pictures appeared to be part of the cruise.  I was happy to have a nice photo of us together on our anniversary. 




Delight #2- Delectable Desserts

The Cruise included an all- you- can- eat dessert buffet. I'm more of a savory eater, but I'm not going to pass up tables covered with desserts.  The tables were scattered around each level so everyone wasn't on top of each other trying to get to the goods.


All of the desserts were themed around the Seven Seas Lagoon. The cutest by far was Cinderella's Sugar Slipper with Orange Financier. Though you couldn't really eat the slipper,the little cake had a wonderful citrus flavor without being overly sweet. I also tried the Polynesian De-Constructed Pinapple Upside-Down Cake and The Grand Key Lime Tart. Both desserts were good, but the star of the night was the Contemporary Spiced Flourless Chocolate Cake. It had a texture somewhere between a cake and a mousse. It tasted like the best Mexican, cinnamon hot chocolate I've ever had.  If I wasn't so overloaded with sugar, I would have had another.  


I appreciated that the buffet included a cheese and meat tray. It acted as a nice palate cleanser between plates of sugared treats.

Just when we thought that we couldn't stuff anymore into our faces, a cast member approached bearing icy treats.  Since I'm normally a Mickey Bar girl, I thought I would give an ice cream sandwich a try.


There were also unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Delight #3- Sparkly Sights

We munched on desserts as the ferry glided around Seven Seas Lagoon. We got so close to the Grand Floridian, people on their balconies waved to us, and we waved back. Usually we end up watching the Electrical Water Pageant from a restaurant window, but this time we were close, really close. We were practically on top of the pageant.  It was super neat and my new favorite way to see the light pageant.



Of course the main reason, besides the desserts, to go on the cruise, is the fireworks. The ferry stopped and played the music for Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.  A lot of the blogs/reviews I read complained that they thought the ferry was too far away from the fireworks, but we saw the fireworks in the park the night before, and enjoyed seeing them from a different vantage point.



It was certainly more relaxing and peaceful watching the fireworks while floating on the calm water, a slight breeze blowing off of the lagoon. It was a little bit of romantic magic.

Delight #4- Thoughtful Transportation

After docking back at the transportation hub we were handed bags to carry all of our cruise swag. We were told that if we were staying at a Disney resort there was no need to head back to a park to catch a bus.  Buses were waiting right there at the ferry dock to take us back to our resorts.  It was an impressive touch.

Maybe we are just easily amused, or easily impressed, but we absolutely enjoyed the Ferrytale Wishes Cruise. It was fun, relaxing, and the drinks and desserts were yummy.It ended up being the perfect activity for our special anniversary evening. 

Extra Information
- Most of the people staked out spots on the seats. We claimed a spot on the life jacket container and it was perfect. Not only was it perhaps the best place for viewing the pageant and fireworks, the container acted as a handy table.
-Though there were kids on the cruise, they even had a special black light scavenger hunt for kids and adventurous adults, the cruise definitely had a more adult vibe, which being adults without kids, was appreciated. 

1 comment:

  1. Happy anniversary. Never heard of this. Sounds so much fun. Thank you for this post.

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