Disney Wonder 4 night "MouseFest" Bahamas Cruise,
Dec 4-8, 2005 
by Tim Larison Travel Agent and CLIA Certified Master Cruise
Counselor (MCC) With Contributions by Travel Agent Anne Larison
Cast of Characters: Tim, Anne, Andrew (age
11), and Joshua (age 11) Larison
Overview
We sailed with a bunch of other Disney fans as part
of Mousefest 2005
on the Disney Wonder. This was truly a "wonderful" cruise because
in addition to all the regular benefits of a Disney sailing we also
enjoyed the special features of Mousefest.
This was our 5th Disney cruise and our 2nd Mousefest
cruise. This was not a port intensive cruise like our most recent
cruise to Alaska - we had been to the ports many times before. Instead
we enjoyed life onboard the ship with some new and different experiences
we had not encountered on our previous Disney cruises. Below I will
review our mousefest experience day by day. Anne will contribute
her comments on various parts of the trip preceded by the words
"Anne's Take:"
Day 1: Precruise Mousefest Megameet
We flew into Orlando from Denver, Colorado on Friday
night. This year we missed most of the Disney World activities for
Mousefest (we didn't want the boys to miss too much school) but
we were able to participate in the Megameet at the Dolphin Hotel
on Saturday.
The morning starting with me (Tim) attending a special
breakfast for Disney fan site webmasters and authors hosted by allearsnet
founder Deb Wills. This was a special treat for me as I got to once
again talk to some of the authors I met at last year's Mousefest
event (Deb, Dave Marx, and others) plus meet some new people (like
Bob Sehlinger of the popular Unofficial Guide Series).
The highlight of the breakfast for me was a chance
to meet the original model for Tinkerbell - Margaret Kerry. Margaret
told me interesting stories of how she became Tinkerbell and of
the opening days of Disneyland. This was the first time I had ever
talked to a person who actually knew Walt Disney personally; Margaret
had kind words for Walt.
Other Mousefest guests got a chance to meet Margaret
at the Megameet later in the day. We had a table at the Megameet
for the first time and we enjoyed meeting a number of people who
were subscribers on our Disney discussion lists, as well as many
new faces who were not familiar with our lists. After the Megameet
we dined with a friend at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney, and
retired early to rest up for our big day on Sunday.
Day 2: Board the Disney Wonder
On Sunday we drove our Thrifty Rent-a-car to the port
early, arriving around 10 am. This was the first time we had rented
a car to drive to the port and it worked out very well. The Thrifty
location in Port Canaveral was easy to find (about 3 miles from
the port) and we were quickly taken by a free shuttle to the gates
of the Disney Cruise terminal.
We arrived at the cruise terminal at 10:25 am and
we were allowed to enter - earlier than what we had experienced
on our past Disney cruises. As part of the Mousefest planning team
for the cruise I had special permission to board the ship early.
Anne, the boys, and other guests were given a number as they entered
the cruise terminal, and later Disney called their number when it
was their turn to board. This was a new procedure for Disney - previously
you had to wait in line to board the ship.
We liked this new system better - it allowed you to
explore the terminal and relax in the lounge without having to stand
in line. The numbers were given out in the order you arrived at
the terminal, and guests were called to board in groups (group 1,
group 2, etc).
Anne's Take: Disney has arranged
the area previously used for the line to board the ship as a waiting
area for guests with special needs. The area is roped off and
guests who use a wheelchair or have special needs and their families
have tables and chairs and even coloring activities for the kids.
The guests who meet these criteria are given a #1 group number
to be boarded before all others.
Once on the ship we enjoyed a wonderful opening buffet
at Parrot Cay. I especially like the peel-and-eat shrimp at this
buffet. Some guests were being directed to the Beach Blanket Buffet
on deck 9 instead of Parrot Cay - at first we were also told to
go to deck 9 but we insisted on eating at Parrot Cay and we were
allowed to. The food is the same at both buffets but we like the
Parrot Cay atmosphere much better.
The weather was great this day (70's and sunny) which
allowed Andrew and Josh to go swimming. We had packed their swimming
suits in our carryon bags - this allowed the boys to enjoy the pools
while we waited for the rest of our luggage to be delivered.
Anne's Take: The Mickey pool,
with the slide, was not crowded on the first day during the afternoon
after we boarded the ship as not everyone has access to their
luggage and if they didn't carry on their swim suits must wait
for their bags to be delivered. Other days of the cruise the Mickey
pool was extremely crowded. For older kids the Goofy pool is a
good alternative. It was more crowded on the at sea day but never
as packed as the Mickey pool.
Our stateroom was a category 11 inside room on deck
7 (stateroom 7537). Though this is the smallest type of stateroom
on the ship we still had more room than the staterooms we had on
our other sailings this year (Holland America in March, Celebrity
in August).
Disney promotes the fact that their staterooms are
among the largest at sea, even in the inexpensive categories like
ours, and we found that to be true. At 4 pm we attended the safety
drill on deck 4. This was uncomfortable as the setting sun was right
in our eyes and the day was hot! Thankfully the drill didn't last
too long and we soon were at the sailaway party on deck 5.
The sailaway party was fun (and crowded) with a rock
band entertaining the guests and many dancing while we left the
port. After taking some pictures, I went to my favorite place for
sailaway, deck 4 - a nice quiet spot. I saw some dolphins swimming
next to the ship from this deck as we left Port Canaveral.
Anne's Take:
The sailaway party is exciting and if you want to be right in
the action the best location is on deck 9. You can dance and play
right along with the band and crew. Otherwise, deck 10 is a nice
alternative. Although it is crowded as well you can look down
at all the activities from the walkway above and you are just
a few steps away from the ship railing as you watch the ship sail
away from port.
Our dining rotation for the cruise was Parrot Cay
the first night, followed by Tritons, Tritons, and Animators Palette.
This was a change from last year with the same restaurant on the
2nd and 3rd nights. The change was made because of Pirate night
on the 3rd night.
Some of my clients on the cruise found it difficult
to make reservations for the adult's only restaurant Palo on the
2nd or 3rd nights before the cruise, but they were able to secure
Palo reservations onboard. If Palo appears booked for your cruise
Disney does keep some spots in reserve for booking onboard, but
it is wise to board early to get these reservations.
Another change was the staggered dining times for
different dining rotation restaurants. 5:45 pm for one, 6 pm for
another, and 6:15 pm for Parrot Cay where we ate. I heard about
the 3 dining times for the early seating, and 3 separate times for
the late seating (8, 8:15, 8:30) but didn't know that everyone at
the same restaurant and seating had the same dining time.
After dinner I spent some time in the Cove Cafe on
deck 9 checking my email. I bought the unlimited internet package
($40 for the whole cruise) which is a very good deal. I have sailed
on a number of different cruise lines and Disney is one of the only
ones that offers an unlimited internet package. New this year was
also a way to access the internet from your laptop in certain wireless
"hotspots". I still preferred using the ship's internet terminals
as I was able to get an unlimited minutes plan using the ship's
computers, but this plan was not available if you used your laptop
(instead you could buy a number of minutes in advance if you used
your laptop).
I liked the Cove Cafe as a good quiet getaway spot
for adults (kids not allowed). In addition to a few internet terminals
this lounge also had a Cappuccino Bar, a large screen TV, and comfy
couches. This was also an excellent meeting spot for the Mousefest
cruise planning team I was a part of in the late evening.
Day 3: Nassau
Today my family decided to stay on the ship. We have
been to Nassau 5 times before. This turned out to be a good decision!
Our 11 year old boys loved having the family pool almost to themselves
in the morning as many of the other guests were off on shore excursions.
We also spent the morning playing ping pong and foosball on deck
9 - the addition of foosball tables was new that we didn't see on
the Wonder last year.
Our lunch at the Beach Blanket Buffet was surprisingly
good! I usually prefer lunch at Tritons over the buffet, but we
thought the quality of the buffet was excellent. The kids liked
the separate "kids" buffet line and they loaded up on pizza and
other goodies. Anne and I liked the sliced turkey, selection of
salads, and the desserts.
Anne's Take: Having the Kid's
Side and the "Adult's Side" offerings at the buffet
is ideal! Our kids are not too picky but know what they like and
don't like. They were able to find all their favorites including
jello squares, carrot sticks and corndogs. They didn't slow down
the adult side trying to find things they like among the many
things they won't try.
We saw "Herbie Fully Loaded" in the theatre in the
afternoon - there must have been only 10 people in the whole place.
We all enjoyed the movie.
For the mousefest events, the highlight of the day
was a "meet the authors" gathering at Studio Sea. Dave Marx from
Passporter Guides, Deb Wills from allearsnet, and Steve Barrett
from Hidden Mickeys told how they got started writing their books
and answered questions from the audience. Their stories were very
interesting and they were very gracious to give out books as door
prizes at the end (12 books in all).
Tonight dinner at Tritons was excellent - this is
my favorite dining rotation restaurant both for the food quality
and the atmosphere. Much of the dining room was empty as many chose
tonight to eat at Palo or eat in Nassau (we didn't leave Nassau
until 1:45 am)
Anne's Take: The beef tenderloin
at Tritons is some of the best I've had. The nice thing about
Disney is that they are flexible with the menu. Our boys like
iceberg lettuce with ranch dressing and even though it wasn't
on the menu the staff brought it for them on more than one night.
They will also bring food early upon request. Our tablemates wanted
their daughter to eat her entree right away so that they could
take her up to the kid's club. This was not problem for the wait
staff, who brought her pizza earlier than usual.
Day 4: Castaway Cay
While we have been to Castaway Cay many times before,
we never grow tired of Disney's Private Island. We had sunny skies
and a cool breeze in the morning with temperatures warming up in
the afternoon. Given the temperature change I am glad I took my
Castaway Cay bike ride in the morning where things were cooler.
This was the first time I had rented a bike at CC ($6 per hour)
- it took me about 45 minutes to ride the whole bike course (from
the family beach to the adult beach Serenity Bay).
There were strategically placed water stations along
the way and I saw parts of the island on the bike path I had not
seen before. Bike riding is a good alternative at CC for those like
me who aren't into water sports. Anne and the boys relaxed on the
beach, with the boys building sand castles and renting a "floatie"
to play with in the water. The water temperatures were cool, but
that didn't stop our boys from hours of play in the morning.
For lunch we ate at Cookies Barbeque near the family
beach. The food quality was excellent - I especially enjoyed the
ribs and the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for dessert.
I wish Disney would serve that chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
at Scoops on the ship!
After lunch I played ping pong and basketball with
the boys at the Grouper Pavilion. When we arrived we were the only
ones at the pavilion and we had about 20 minutes of play time on
anything we wanted to do. Soon, though, this area became much more
crowded as the kids club arrived around 1 pm.
Anne and the boys participated in a fun scavenger
hunt on Castaway Cay as part of the Mousefest activities later in
the afternoon. New at the Island was a "feed the stingrays"
excursion. We didn't do this excursion but one of my clients did
and reported that it was a highlight of the cruise for her. We'd
like to try that next time we are on Castaway Cay.
I went back to the ship early and saw the excellent
"The Greatest Game Ever Played" movie in the cinema at
3 pm - this movie about the US Open and an underdog American golfer
winning the title was the best movie I saw on the cruise.
Back on the ship we had a fun "Pirates Night"
where guests came in pirate or tropical outfits. Waiters put pirate
bandanas on those who wanted it, and guests danced around the dining
room with the wait staff in a pirate march. It was a good themed
dinner - I had a pasta, shrimp, and scallops dish which was excellent.
After dinner outside on deck 9 was a Pirates Night
show - complete with rock music, characters, dancing, and fireworks!
The fireworks were quite impressive (shot to the starboard side
of the ship). There was also a late night Caribbean buffet - we
were so stuffed from dinner we passed on this.
A visit to Castaway Cay is the highlight of any Disney
cruise for us, and this visit was no exception. We had a wonderful
time on the Island and with the pirate night festivities afterwards.
Day 5: At Sea Day
We had a relaxing day at sea today. On the 4 night
cruise there isn't a whole lot of ocean to cover to get back to
Florida on this last day, so the ship seemed almost to be at a standstill
at times in the afternoon. In the evening the seas were much rougher
as the ship was rocking over 13 foot waves.
Every community that is part of Mousefest has a "meet"
or an event that they host sometime during the festivities. Today
was our turn - as moderators of the mousetalk and cruisetalk email
lists we hosted a Disney team trivia meet in Cadillac Lounge. We
divided the teams in groups of 4 or 5, and then asked a variety
of questions on Disney World, Disneyland, Disney movies, and Disney
television shows (20 in all). The winning team scored 14 out of
20 correct - an excellent score considering Passporter author Dave
Marx also played along and got 13 correct. Anne and I enjoyed hosting
this event - the winners each got to choose a pin from our collection.
Outside of Mousefest there was a whole bunch of activities
to choose from on this "at sea" day - from family ginger bread
house building to galley tours to a meeting with the captain. We
missed most of these due to our trivia event.
In the late afternoon we attended the mousefest cruise
farewell party, where prizes were given for the Castaway Cay scavenger
hunt the day before, a stateroom door decorating contest, and a
variety of door prizes. Disney did a great job in providing us a
buffet of appetizers, plus all the "bahama mamas" we could drink.
We finished our day at sea with a wonderful dinner at Palo in a
private room with the other members of the Mousefest planning team
and with our celebrity hosts.
I decided to eat lighter at Palo and ordered the gnocchi
(it was excellent) and I did splurge to have the signature "chocolate
souffle" dessert. Palo is our favorite cruise ship restaurant
and it didn't disappoint this trip.
Anne's Take: I had the salmon
for the entree which was excellent. Palo has an awesome filet
but I had eaten beef the previous 2 nights at Triton. For an appetizer
I had the mushroom risotto. Like everything else it was amazing.
Everyone in our group was overwhelmed with the quality and quantity
of food provided. The chef at Palo even made a sugar-free chocolate
souffle for one member of our group who is diabetic.
Day 6: Disembarkation
We said goodbye to our Mousefest friends and the Disney
Wonder on Thursday. We were scheduled to eat in Animator's Palette
at 6:30 am as part of the "early" dining rotation, but
instead we slept in and ate breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet
at 7:30 am.
After breakfast we were off the ship in no time. We
waited a few minutes for the Thrifty rent-a-car shuttle to pick
us up, and then drove to Disney World for a few days of family fun
after the cruise.
Disney has one of the best disembarkation procedures
of any cruise line I have sailed on. It was very easy to get off
the ship, claim our luggage, and go through customs. I much prefer
Disney's way compared to some other cruise lines where you have
to wait for your number to be called to exit the ship.
There were many other features of the cruise I didn't
touch on - such as the shows and the kids club. We didn't attend
any of the shows this time (Hercules, Golden Mickeys, and Disney
Dreams were presented) because we had seen them on past cruises
- all of these shows are excellent if you have a chance to attend
(Golden Mickeys our favorite). We registered Andrew and Josh for
the kids club but this was the first time they didn't attend any
kids club activities. We were having so much fun as a family that
the need didn't arise for the kids to attend the club.
Summary
I tell my clients that the Mousefest cruise is
one of the best Disney cruises of the year because in addition
to getting a great rate (among the least expensive Disney 4 night
cruises) you also get a bunch of free extras included as part
of Mousefest. The Disney guidebook authors (Deb Wills from AllEarsNet,
Dave and Jennifer Marx from Passporter Guides, and Steve Barrett
from Hidden Mickeys) were all very friendly and open to share
their Disney knowledge with the other guests.
In addition we got the chance to sail with a bunch
of very nice people - the mousefest cruisers who were as big of
Disney fans as us!
Anne's Take: Even though
our family has sailed on Disney several times, each experience
is unique and good as or better than the last. From the minute
we boarded to the trip home we felt showered in Disney magic.
The Mousefest is an added benefit that makes sharing the cruise
experience even more unique. We can't wait to go again!
