Fantasy Come True

Disney’s Cruise Ship Fantasy was quite literally a fantasy come true. From dinner to the pool, every inch of the ship was magical. Between the months of September and November, the ship is turned into a Halloween experience but even without the spooky decorations; the Fantasy makes Disney a reality.

Fantasy+Come+True

Mackenzie Visnansky, Columnist

Disney vacations, while pricey, are great for families that are looking for fun. Disney Cruise Line (DCL) is a great way to keep that fun family vacation tradition going. From the entertainment to the dining experiences, DCL is full of new fun and memories waiting to get made.

Entertainment

The Fantasy is chock full of entertainment opportunities. A day won’t go by without a new activity to discover. Although there is no way you can do everything in one cruise, you can do quite a lot. One of my absolute favorite destinations was the Aquaduck; based on the iconic Disney character Donald Duck, this huge water slide contains 756 feet of pure exhilaration. From almost every point on the slide you can get a beautiful bird’s eye view of not only the pools but of the ocean as well. Another great thing to do on the ship is to see the live productions. Though not every show is an actual Disney movie, every show does include Disney music. There seem to be parties every night on the Fantasy. From kid-only parties to adult-only parties, you’ll never be left out on the fun.

Dining with Disney

Disney has an unique dining program because the restaurants change every night. Though you have the same waiters, you are able to enjoy a new theme every night. There are three main dinner restaurants: Animator’s Palette (an entire room meant to remind you of Disney’s best Pixar movies), Enchanted Garden (a restaurant themed to take you to a garden in France), and, finally, the Royal Court (a restaurant that is set to show you different Disney princesses and their stories). If it’s not dinner time, you have two main choices. My personal favorite was Cabanas, which is a tribute to Pixar’s “Finding Nemo.” Cabanas held many Nemo murals and sand art, but I couldn’t seem to forget the iconic seagulls staring at your food.  The other option is Flo’s Cafe, which is a tribute to Pixar’s “Cars.” Lunch or dinner, Disney’s got you covered.

Youth Activities

The Fantasy gives kids an abundant amount of activity options. From the Oceaneers Lab to the Aqualab, you will never be out of options. The Oceaneers Lab and Club are Disney-themed rooms where children can interact with characters, monkey around on movie-themed playgrounds, and play on unique Disney computer games. As much as I loved the Oceaneers Club, The Edge was created more for my age range (teens and tweens). The Edge has a wide selection of video games as well as Disney themed games, activities, among other options. The pools are centered in the middle of everything so that you could see the giant TV that was perpetually playing a Disney movie. Moving on to the Aqualab, which ties in with the Aquaduck, this activity area was created so that Huey, Duey, and Luey could mess around with the Aquaduck without Uncle Donald knowing. Disney’s youth activities alone will make you never want to leave.

Small Touches

Disney did a great job of adding small little things to make your trip extra magical. For example, all children were called princes or princesses. They also made all stateroom doors magnetic and encouraged you to decorate it! While other things may have been a little more basic, such as self checkout, character sightings, chocolates on the pillows, and much more, Disney still went above and beyond to make these things even more special. All the Disney characters were dressed to occasion and were ready to interact with you. As cell phones don’t work on a boat, Disney created an app to communicate with people on the boat that didn’t need a wi-fi signal. Disney had their own private island, Castaway Cay, which had a waterslide into the ocean, restaurants, bathrooms, beautiful fish, and so much more. Disney did a very good job of adding little magical touches to make your experience that much better.

Halloween on The High Seas

Disney Cruise Line (DCL) decorated and turned The Fantasy into a Halloween themed ship. From the pumpkin decals on the walls to the costumed Disney characters, everything was perfect for a family Halloween. Everybody was encouraged to dress up during a few special occasion nights, and there was even a character costume/dance party. “Pirate” night had special Disney pirate show. After that, there were fireworks at sea. Disney did a wonderful job of adding in Halloween touches to make everything more festive.

Disney Cruise Line, in general, does a great job of making people feel at home on the open sea. From the small things to the biggest things of all, Disney does their best to do a little something for everyone. In my opinion, a Disney Cruise has been the best vacation my family has ever done.