Pirate cruise

[Ratpack]

Can someone give me the in's and out's of this event? We may be going down this summer and I am sure DD and friend would love it, plus it gives us adults some touring time alone.

 

[fairy god aunt]

I would also like to hear more about this. We are a little nervous about leaving the kids alone on a boat.

 

[kimlooman]

I just had to reply about the kids pirate cruise at the Grand Floridian. You must make reservations 120 days in advance as they only offer this activity on M and Th from 10-12. You show up at the marina at 9:45 AM and the cast members are great! They put a pirate bandana on each child with a name sticker on them and a life jacket. Then they all board a pontoon and go out looking for treasure. Our son had just turned 5 when he participated on this in Sept. 2002 and seemed very comfortable leaving Mom and Dad for this fun adventure. The cast makes the kids feel very comfortable and that they are going to have a fun time. I think that the smaller kids maybe 3 or 4 may have more difficulty leaving Mom and Dad for this boat and the older ones 9 or 10 may think this is too immature for them. So probably 5 and 6 ish are good ages depending on your child. We walked around the grounds as the boat took off and we could hear the little pirates having a grand time way out in the lake. They came back with a lunch and a treasure bag full of little goodies. We had a quiet brunch at the Grand Floridian and did some shopping while the cruise was out and we still say it was the best $25 we spent at Disney the whole week. Our son loved the trip and wants to do it again this coming December 2003. Good luck if you decide to have your child go, we think it is a great opportunity and very age appropriate and extremely well planned by the Disney Cast Members.

 

[InstImpres]

Sorry to be the voice of doom...

We were very disappointed with our 2 missed attempts. I thought I had made the perfect family plan. Kids on pirate cruise, myself and 2 sister-in-laws to Grand Floridian Spa and Dads for coffee and R and R.

Our first cruise was cancelled due to weather. I was also a little annoyed that we weren't called at our resort, as we rushed over there and had the kids all pumped up. We were told we could not cancel the spa last minute, 100% penalty. Result - Dads on the lose with kids for 90 minutes, oops not such a happy crowd as moms went to the spa

Waited four days, and tried again. Cancelled again.

It sounds like great fun but for my family it was very time consuming and disappointing in they never did get to do it. I was also a little surprised in how Disney handled it. There is no back-up plan and nothing done to compensate you. I would think they could offer in order something or a special treat (be it stickers or whatever) to the dissappointed children walking away.

Sorry, that's just MHO