Private boat for viewing fireworks?

[luna99]

I keep hearing about these private boat rides you can charter where you and your guests get to watch either wishes or illuminations.

I'm curious if anyone has ever done it and how nice it was... also what time it would be and how long the ride is...

I've found a few websites that offer it, but none of them mention the time the boat ride starts or the fireworks go off.

if anyone has a good site for me as well, that would be extremely helpful.
thanks!!

 

[Master Yoda]

http://allearsnet.com/btp/illum.htm

Illuminations starts at 9:00 PM and I believe the cruise starts around 8:00 PM

 

[Hakunamatata]

My wife and I did Illuminations cruise on our honeymoone. They parked under the bridge between England and France. It was hard to see alot. They could not go out further due to safety regulations.

It was part of our honeymoone package. I would not consider doing it again.

 

[luna99]

My wife and I did Illuminations cruise on our honeymoone. They parked under the bridge between England and France. It was hard to see alot. They could not go out further due to safety regulations.

It was part of our honeymoone package. I would not consider doing it again.

oh wow, :lookaroun thanks and sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it. Thanks as well to Master Yoda for the site!

 

[Rob562]

I keep hearing about these private boat rides you can charter where you and your guests get to watch either wishes or illuminations.

I'm curious if anyone has ever done it and how nice it was... also what time it would be and how long the ride is...

I've found a few websites that offer it, but none of them mention the time the boat ride starts or the fireworks go off.

if anyone has a good site for me as well, that would be extremely helpful.
thanks!!

I've done the Cruise as part of a group of 10, and it was a blast. But, that was before they significantly raised the price of the cruise.

When we did it, it came out to around $18 each. For a group of 10 with tax and tip, it's now like $27-30 per person. The cruise now comes with snacks and soda, but you cannot bring your own food and drinks on-board. (You can order additional food from the Yacht Club Private Dining, but that gets expensive) When we did it, there was no problem with us bringing a grocery store-bought cake, soda and bottles of beer (we were all over 21) with us.

-Rob

 

[kennygman]

For illuminations you get a better view from standing ON the bridge, than from the boat. Better yet sit in a chair next to the fish shop. Or have dinner in the UK and view from the deck.

Personally, I'd rather be as close to the action as possible. Wishes is best from the hub in front of the castle to me. Just preference though.

 

[SweetMagic]

I've done the cruise to see Wishes. It was about 45 - 50 mins long. We were "parked" out in Seven Seas Lagoon, in front of the train station, and did not get one of the boats with piped in sound, so it was rather disappointing. The fireworks are very far away, and lose alot without the music. We were told that the larger boats did have the ability to pipe in the music, but we had a smaller party.

I used to book this excursion as a cast member, and do recall a variety of add-ons being available as stated in another post. You can add on food or beverages or make your cruise a celebration by adding a cake. These items can get pricey though.

For the amount of money they charge for the cruises, I would not really bother. That money could be put toward a much nicer evening at maybe Narcoossees or the California Grill where you could have a nice meal and see the fireworks with music imho....

To answer your question about time though, the Illuminations cruise does indeed go out around 8-830pm as the show time is always 9pm. Wishes cruises leave approximately 30-40 minutes prior to fireworks times, so you'd have to check a park calendar for the specific time on the night you wanted to go. They will advise you of all of those types of particulars when you call to book. You can call 407-WDW-PLAY just for questions too, without making the booking.

Booking the Illuminations cruise is harder to do because there are fewer boats, so you'd have to call way ahead of time for that one. The Wishes cruise is a little easier to get. You would have to wait until about a week before you go though, to call back to verify the fireworks time for sure.

Hope that helps some, and of course it's just my opinion that it's not worth the money. Everyone has their own tastes and to some it may be well worth it! We sure got alot of calls to book it...I know that!

Katie

 

[CatLady]

the Illuminations cruise does indeed go out around 8-830pm as the show time is always 9pm.

IllumiNations is sometimes at other times. In years past, they have been later from Thanksgiving through the end of the year (9:30, I think.)

One of the best things about the cruises is particularly crowded times in the park. It's especially great on New Year's Eve to not have to deal with the crowds when the fireworks are over!

 

[SweetMagic]

IllumiNations is sometimes at other times. In years past, they have been later from Thanksgiving through the end of the year (9:30, I think.)

One of the best things about the cruises is particularly crowded times in the park. It's especially great on New Year's Eve to not have to deal with the crowds when the fireworks are over!

Probably should have said "usually" instead of "always"! I'd forgotten that it changed after Thanksgiving, thanks.

The time that the cruise leaves will always correspond with the time of the show though, so checking the park calendar is a must :animwink:

 

[Disney5Mom]

Our family did the Wishes Cruise a few years ago and loved it. Some of our group don't like crowds and late nights but really enjoyed seeing the fireworks this way. It is cool on the water so dress warmly. We did not have the music but wished we did. The price has gone up a lot but we are considering going again.

 

[Tara Stone]

We did the Illuminations cruise...it was included in our package...we enjoyed it, though I don't believe we had a better view than people standing in prime viewing spots. We brought snacks on the boat...only to find that the boat driver provides snacks and drinks ( chips, cookies etc and soft drinks). we boarded about 30-45minutes prior to the fireworks and cruised around. I think a lot of this depends on how entertaining you captain is...ours was pretty good- she had a lot of good and interesting trivia. I'm not sure of the price since it was in our package but I thought I saw it listed around $130. Don't quote me for sure though! Next time we would like to try the cruise for wishes! NOTE one bonus I think of watching them like this is when your leaving after the fireworks you aren't caught in that mess of people rushing out of the park....we went back to the Yacht & Beach club (where we boarded) and hoped in a cab back to the GF. That was nice!