The Princess Experience

We did a Disney Cruise last week.  I was thrilled to spend that time with my grands.  They live on the East Coast and I like to grab the time I can to visit.

When we arranged the sailing dates, my DIL told me that Zoey would be celebrating her 5th birthday on the ship and so would I.

Disney understands kids and families.  The whole ship is designed to make it easy for a family to vacation this way.  I expected it to be well run and finely maintained.  I expected great entertainment.  Disney, right?

What I never expected was the princess thing.

A couple of weeks before the cruise, I asked my DIL what Zoey wanted for her birthday.  She told me that Aurora was Zoey's favorite Disney princess and she wanted something Disney princess but especially Aurora.  After I tugged on my memories, I remembered that Aurora was Sleeping Beauty.  I could totally do that.  Then I started looking at gifts and stuff that I could buy and send.  Then it hit me.  I was going to be on a boat.  With a fully stocked Disney store.  I could totally take Zoey to get her own gift!  My DIL and I decided that it would be alright to purchase something there that they would have to get home.  Great.

The day we hit the ship, I checked out the store and sure enough, they had Aurora covered.  I bought the grand girl an Aurora dress and tiny tiara.  You can see that she loved it and so did Aurora.

Disney does the Princess Experience by having six princesses all come out into a grand foyer that is lined up with rope for crowd control.  Each princess has a photographer assigned and a handler.  It is such an elegant system.  The handler takes your room key to the photographer and anything you want autographed to the princess.  The princess spends time charming the kid and then gets everyone situated for the photo.  The 'parent paparazzi' are encouraged to stand to the photographer's right and they even help get the kid's attention so that you can take photos.  Everyone was so patient and kind to all of us trying to get our own pictures of the experience.

Princess Tiana taught Zoey to do 'princess hands' in her photos.  Cinderella taught her to swirl down to a sitting position so that her skirt would be pretty for the photos.  Each princess made a fuss over her book, signing their pages and admiring what a good reader she was.

While standing in line, moving through, I got to see the princesses and their entourages interacting with all kinds of kids.  From the desperately ill kids there from the Make A Wish foundation, to the shy kids who couldn't speak because they were so dumbfounded.  Each one of the princesses was graceful and careful with each child's delicate feelings.  Those ladies were AMAZING.

There was one little boy in a Prince Charming outfit.  Cinderella got him to pose with his hands just like the prince in the movie and then slipped her hand through his arm like he was escorting her.  It was adorable.

There were girls in every princesses' outfit.  The one in the mermaid tail who spun around to show Ariel her tail and then insisted on looking underneath her skirt to see Ariel's legs made me laugh and laugh.  Those character actors have to have a great deal of patience and tremendous ability to think on their feet... because imagine what the kids are telling them!!

I went because Zoey wanted to go.  I never expected to enjoy myself.  After seeing this--how well it was run and handled by all the staff, helpers and the princesses, I was so impressed.  It was truly and experience.

 I teared up a couple of times.  And I laughed like a crazy person when I realized that the little girl in line in front of us had every single princess dress and her parent's were doing a 'quick change' between princesses so they could get pics with their daughter dressed like every one.

I can't say that this would be great for kids of all ages.  I think most of the boys would be rolling their eyes and asking to go see Peter Pan or Captain Jack Sparrow.  What I can say is that if you, or someone you know, has a princess then you need to see that they get to have the Princess Experience.  It was really wonderful.  I'm glad I went.

--  Sandee Wagner

Excellent Vacation

Earlier last year, my DIL contacted me and told me she was planning her vacation for 2013.  She said, "We're going on the Disney Cruise, you're welcome to come with us."

I marked my calendar and began saving my pennies. What could be more fun?  A Disney cruise with the grandkids?  It was a no-brainer for me.

We all booked with the same travel agent who coordinated travel for three sets of grand parents and the kids with the grands.  We came from three different states.

We cruised out of Port Canaveral, FL on the Disney Dream.  It was phenomenal.  Disney sure knows how to do customer service and entertainment.  Other than it being a little pricey, I have NO complaints.  The highlight of the trip is the stop at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.

When a cruise ship hits a port like Nassau, there is a flood of people out into a port town that caters to tourists.  Generally, a lot of shopping and not much else of a draw.

Disney knew it would use the island for cruise ship stops and designed it to be natural but still offer nice amenities.

There was a short shuttle ride from the ship dock to the main beach area.  There were bicycles to ride if you wanted to do a scenic lookout of the whole island.

There is a nominal staff that maintains the island year round, and we chatted with some personnel from the ship who rotated onto the ship for a few days, but worked the island as their main task.  Pretty interesting, really.

Disney creates a more natural, less theme park area for family fun on Castaway Cay.  As a pasty white redhead, I don't generally enjoy whole days in the sun.  There were plenty of chairs, umbrellas and trees to provide shaded spots.

And, of course, the characters.  As the ship unloaded, Captain Hook and Smeed posed for pictures with the kids.

Further down the beach, both Goofy and Minnie Mouse showed their beach duds and took pictures with anyone who wanted to capture the moment.

One of the more interesting facts was that the stuff that was staged around the island as decor was all there when they took over.  They painted it up and placed it around strategically, but it was all there on the island.

I don't know what those big metal balls were originally but they made a great backdrop for photos.

There was also a plane fuselage and tons of stuff from wrecked ships.  Pretty cool, really.

Lunch was served and everyone went through a line and then sat in big covered picnic areas.  I truly enjoyed everything about the day.  Good food.  Plenty of shade.  And the kids had a blast!

-- Sandee Wagner