We considered other options for our combined 10th anniversary-slash-Becky's birthday trip, we really did. Cities we've loved like NYC or Vegas, or maybe someplace new and exciting! But we wanted, nay deserved, a proper large holiday, and would've felt guilty about abandoning our daughter for that long. Given those criteria, Disney was the only viable option. Almost certainly...
All Star Movies
We chose another cruise/parks combo like last August, this time starting on the boat. That meant a safety-first buffer day at this value resort, a new one for us. The three All Stars (there's also Music and Sport) are the cheapest Disney-owned hotels, with basically the same layout as our beloved Pop Century but minus the game-changing Skyliner.
The case for these value resorts is obvious. Yes, the facilities are cheap and basic, but the bold, sledgehammer theming is great for kids and leaves you in no doubt that you're in the Disney bubble. The comparative subtlety of moderates and deluxes isn't always to their advantage. We might be biased, but from strolling around the three All Stars, Music has the best theming by far. There's a New Orleans-inspired jazz section which is reminiscent of French Quarter, plus Rock'n'Roll and Broadway areas which all look great lit up at night. Movies is the cheesiest, with uninspired themes like the Love Bug, Mighty Ducks and Fantasia 2000 (who's even seen that?).
1900 Park Fare
You generally know what you're getting with Disney character breakfasts - standard buffet fare of Mickey waffles, sausage, bacon, egg, litres of maple syrup etc. Breakfast of Champions, right? In our quest for novelty, we tried this place in the luxurious Grand Floridian. 1900 PF was one of the last restaurants to reopen post-Covid, and has overhauled its character offering in the process. Gone are Pooh and Tigger, Alice and the Mad Hatter, out the door go Cinderella's stepmother and the Ugly Sisters (PC gone mad, I tell ya). Cindy remains, but she's now joined by Tiana, Mirabel and, um... Aladdin. What do these characters have in common? Apparently they're all motivated by the power of wishes!
It's a very tenuous theme, which nobody's tried very hard to develop. You each get little wish cards at your table and there's a cheesily cute 'wishing ceremony' during the meal where you all get to sing and wave your cards about to guarantee your wishes will come true, most definitely. The original plan may well have been to tie this all into 2023's Wish movie but, well, we all know how that turned out.
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| Pic courtesy of the wonderful Disney Food Blog, 'cos I didn't take any |
Anyways, what we ultimately care about is the food, and 1900 has a solid buffet with unique options like strawberry soup and beef and potato hash that you can't get everywhere else. Likewise, the characters aren't ones you'll meet at other meals (you can meet Cindy at Royal Table in MK, but only if you're shelling out stupid money) and the performers are giving their all. The Aladdin guy's voice was really good! Add to this a nice airy space and a chilled, unchaotic vibe.
8/10. Would eat again.
Double Double Dip Dip
Back to the Disney Fantasy we went. They must have known we were celebrating, because this cruise had a super-rare itinerary - not one but TWO stops at Castaway Cay, Disney's private Bahamain island, plus a day at Lookout Cay, Disney's second, brand new~! private Bahamain island.
The double-dip meant that this voyage was top-heavy with veteran cruisers on the highest DCL membership tiers - pearl, platinum and suchlike, plus concierge-level guests who laugh in the face of outrageous prices. This made it impossible to snag reservations for Palo brunch or any other popular activities. It did mean that the Facebook group (every cruise has a dedicated FB group, do keep up) was very active and helpful, and even spawned a shipboard WhatsApp channel. The latter, what with its many tales of seasickness and sleepless nights thanks to choppier-than-normal waters, was often something of a there but for the grace of God affair.
It being October, we also celebrated Halloween on the High Seas. This featured a massive Pumpkin Tree in the atrium, complete with a first-night lighting ceremony with kid-appropriate levels of spookiness. Wednesday was not only Becky's birthday but also Halloween night, which offered a trick-or-treating candy gauntlet and a typically high-energy dance party deck show. The regular fur characters did their daily meets in their special costumes, the highlight being Daisy, Minnie and Clarabelle Cow (if you're asking 'who?' then you're not a Proper Disney Fan) dressed as the witchy Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus. We queued for an hour to get a roughly 30-second photo window with those guys, passing the time by chatting to another British family who'd literally been on EVERY SINGLE cruise itinerary, including the two-week transatlantic and transpacific crossings. I was very jealous, not least because they were so bloody nice.
Where the aforementioned message groups really scored was with room-to-room gifting. Pixie dusting and Fish Extenders are established things, but Halloween takes them to the next level. Charlotte was delighted to dole out UK chocolates and sweeties and to receive random bits of plastic Stitch toot (mostly the latter part). Anyways, hanging out in the atrium that evening taking in everybody's wackily elaborate costumes while a lady violinist in evening dress played My Way was rather lovely, and very Disney.
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| The original Disco Duck |
There were trick or treat trails and other activities at the resorts too on the 31st, for folks who weren't willing to fork out circa $250 per person for Mickey's Not-So-Cheap Party. The Pop Century trail had massive lines, so we didn't bother getting much more candy. Unlike some people, whose FB pics of party candy hauls must be seen to be believed. Bleurgh.
Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, on the island of Elutheria
When one private island just isn't enough... This time, Disney don't own the whole island - Lookout Cay is a small peninsula on Elutheria, hence the unwieldy name. It makes sense in light of DCL's fleet expansion - the forthcoming Wish class Treasure and Destiny, plus the 4 (FOUR) new ones from the bombshell announcement at this year's D23 expo, some of which will definitely be serving DCL's core Caribbean routes. While Castaway Cay is a manicured, Disneyfied paradise, a glorified waterpark if you will, Lookout Cay feels like an actual Bahamain isle. The beaches are wilder. The sea has proper waves. Demonstrations and nature trails emphasise the local culture, flora and fauna. They've succeeded in making it feel familiar yet different. There's also a massive kids' splash zone which is a big improvement on CC.
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| The Bridge of Doom |
The only downside? They couldn't or wouldn't find the cash to make a deepwater harbour. On CC you stroll straight off the ship and onto the island. Here, everyone must troop along a near-1km concrete land bridge like you're evacuating a war zone, just to get to the tram stop that then takes you where the action is. As you can guess, this is a massive ballache at the end of a long day. Now imagine this in August... Oh, and the food on offer was lukewarm, but at least they're trying to showcase some different dishes besides BBQ MEAT.
T-shirt watch
A lot of Princess Eras Tour tees. The gag is, instead of Taylor Swift tour dates, on the back is a list of Disney Princess movies with their release years... Okay, you probably just want to see a link. Many husbands, and some brothers, were wearing 'Princess Security' tees. I dunno lads, maybe this is a bit... cringe? (not to mention creepy). This tee was my favourite, albeit in a slightly smug, I understand your Roy Lichtenstein reference way.
There was obviously a preponderance of Halloween gear too. SO many families on the ship had matching HOTHS tees, making us feel we hadn't tried hard enough. I declined to purchase a WDW Halloween tee in 2023 - I mean, how many times would I wear the blasted thing? Having seen 2024's much worse, garish orange designs, I'm now devastated I skipped last year's. So it goes. There were more costumes worn on the cool, air-conditioned Fantasy too, obviously way more preferable than lugging around your full Buzz Lightyear onesie in the 80-degree Florida heat.
The hot new merch items are shoulder plushes. Smaller than normal plushies, impractical and totally unnecessary, we saw hundreds of the damn things - especially the Remy ones in Epcot. As if we didn't have enough proof of Disney's ruthless cash-generating cynicism. Charlotte will almost certainly end up demanding one.
New stuff in the parks:
Magic Kingdom
The only surprising thing about Disney closing down Splash Mountain is that the beloved flume ride lasted so long. To be fair, the Imagineers sensibly avoided any mention of its memory-holed parent film - 1946's Song of the South - and the problematic Uncle Remus character, focusing on the animated Brer Rabbit and his menagerie of chums instead. Still, come the 2020s, with social justice activism gleefully targeting guilt by association, Splash's time was up.
It's been rebranded as Tiana's Bayou Adventure - a welcome ride presence in the parks for the underrated Princess and the Frog, which underperfomed at the cinema because some fools in the late noughties turned their noses up at the hand-drawn animation. Splash's barren exterior has been adorned with tons of lush greenery and the animatronics and songs have been updated, while the ride mechanism remains exactly the same.
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| Pictures don't do this justice - it's lovely |
People have complained, because people always do. Waah, they wail, there's not enough story, as if Splash was akin to War and Peace. Really, they're unhappy about that dreaded double-edged sword: change. While every attraction in the parks will have its fans (even Navi River Journey), nobody in the theme park game can afford to rest on their laurels - especially with Universal's Epic Universe park opening next year. Some older stuff will always fall by the wayside.
Disney duly announced a flurry of new developments at this year's D23. MK is getting new Cars and Villains lands, the former replacing the Rivers of America area that includes the iconic riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island. The worry here is that the park will look far more artificial without the water and trees. That said, have we actually been on the riverboat or Tom Sawyer island? Um... no.
You can see Disney's problem.
A quick shout out to Pecos Bill's, whose menu has recently been improved with the likes of Mexican flatbreads, tamales and nacho bowls. Pecos might get subsumed by a Tiana-based creole restaurant in time, which would be a shame as MK needs more diverse food options. Like Skipper Canteen, which we returned to after a bit of a gap and found to be as spicy and inventive as before, at least in theme park terms. (Tip: the chicken main turns out dry around 50% of the time, so go for the yummy duck dish instead.)
Epcot
2019's D23 promised so much for Orlando's second park. A Guardians of the Galaxy coaster! A luxurious three-storey festival pavilion! A full Spaceship Earth overhaul! The Play pavilion (sounding like a more exciting version of the old Innoventions buildings)! Even a Mary Poppins attraction in the UK pavilion!
Then Covid happened and much of the above got shelved. When the construction walls finally came down and the park fully reopened, the online reaction was a mix of anger and derision - exemplified by the new festival space. Now known as Communicore Hall, it resembles a grey, one-storey, school canteen. Not good.
And yet. Guardians: Cosmic Rewind is a GOAT-level ride, the accompanying rock songs an inspired touch and incentivising repeat visits. Journey into Water, inspired by Moana (catchy title eh?) is, despite Disney's obsession with tying everything to existing IP, a throwback to the original educational spirit of Epcot - an interactive walking trail that's both fun and educational for the kids. And actually, the middle section of Future World (I refuse to use the new zone names) has become a lovely, relaxed spot. Go in the evenings, sit and watch the light patterns dancing over Spaceship Earth (aka the Epcot Ball) in time to the music, and chill.
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| Epcot Ball in all its glory |
Also, a couple of new shows: first, a family-friendly daytime Encanto singalong which feels like a stopgap until some proper attractions based on the megahit movie arrive in Animal Kingdom. Second, and least, is Luminous - an extremely vanilla nighttime fireworks show with C-list songs, which could've been farted out by a lazy AI. Plus, its message of hey we're all the same underneath feels somewhat over-optimistic in a country that's just re-elected Donald fucking Trump. You're much better off sitting and watching the lit-up ball.
Still, at least they got rid of those horrendous Harmonious barges eh?
Hollywood Studios
Nothing new to see here. Move along.
Oh, except... Have you ever wanted to ride the conveyor belt of doors from the dazzling climactic sequence of Monsters Inc (2001)? Me too. God knows why it's taken Disney so long to get around to building a rollercoaster version. And there's no actual launch date yet. And they're almost certainly going to knock down the beloved Muppet Vision 3D to make room for it. Sob. To be fair, Disney has never seemed to know what to do with the Muppets, so no surprises there. That mockumentary series was... something.
Change or die, and all that. In this case, fingers crossed for awesomeness.
Animal Kingdom
Again, nothing new here yet, but barring catastrophe AK should be hosting the first phase of Disney's new development plans sometime in *checks notes* 2027. This will see the demolition of Dinoland USA to make room for a new Tropical Americas land, featuring a flagship Encanto Casita attraction and the creaky old Dinosaur ride getting rethemed to Indiana Jones (presumably apeing the Disneyland version). For old times' sake, we went on Dinosaur for the first time in years, and our bones are still juddering. It's so past it, while Chester and Hester's 'fun'fair is a concrete eyesore that never had it to begin with.
Bring on the bulldozers.
Conclusions
Overall, the Fantasy cruise more than lived up to our high expectations. The food was mostly excellent, especially at dinner - the only bad dishes we had were when we deviated from our server's recommendations. Palo dinner on our anniversary night was again exceptional, and our English server was delighted to be able to talk in her normal Hull accent that US diners often find incomprehensible. Charlotte spent tons of time in the kids' club as ever. All was right with the world, except the first Castaway morning when Charlotte was replaced by a grumpy, sleep-deprived arsehole.
The parks represented a slight comedown in the sense that all those miles of walking are bloody tiring, although visitors who opt for less of a cram in everything humanly possible touring strategy may disagree. We lucked out with the weather (only got caught in one rain shower) and the crowd levels, which were surprisingly low. Too many people getting priced out? Surely not! We certainly had no need to essay Disney's latest money-grabbing time-saving option, Lightning Lane Single and Multi-Passes, which I can't be bothered to moan about. The longest line was, of course, for Gideon's.
Regular readers (both of you) may be asking: doesn't this shit get repetitive? It's true that the shipboard stage shows don't change. The usual troupe of characters are always out there meeting guests in ultra-regimented fashion. The park attractions remain reliably the same. To the uninitiated, this will sound like hell. For true believers, it's a warm comfy bath (even when you're hearing the Addams Family theme for the 20th time that day).
There's still loadsa stuff we've not done on the ships. On Halloween day, which flew by despite us not disembarking, we were wondering how come. To which the answer always is, doing stupid shit like queuing over an hour for the sodding Sanderson sisters. That and having a 7-year-old whose wants and needs only sometimes intersect with our own.
Plus, there are always new wrinkles in the parks. We watched MK's Happily Ever After night-time show from Fantasyland, ie behind the castle where you can't see the projections. The fireworks felt like they were coming at us from all directions, creating a fully immersive experience. It was - yes - magical.
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In Disney, Christmas starts in November
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One final story re that Disney magic. I called DCL's customer services to book a surprise birthday treat package for Becky, and the lady on the other end of the line was so cheerful and kind that it made my day. Contrast this with, for example, Octopus Energy's surly, mumbling customer service drones, who sounded like my calls enquiring about smart meters were inconveniencing them. And they've supposedly won awards! Disney is simply on another level, which is why we have just the three future visits booked.
Before you judge us, just remember that English family from the Sandersons queue who'd done over 30 cruises. In the great scheme of things, we are NOTHING.
See you for the Wish blog in February.
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