Major disappointment - pirates and pals wishes voyage

[disneyfam31]

We are just coming back from a week at Disney including a few days at universal. We decided to book the Pirates & Pals wishes voyage experience. It's a nighttime experience at the contemporary resort.

It starts with a "dessert" room along with meet and greet with pirates, Captain Hook and smee. That portion took place in a convention room of the hotel and sadly, the decor was very, very limited. They had a simple backdrop for pictures wth smee and Captain Hook. the food was also not what I had expected (think packaged popcorn from Costco, a Costco cake, cotton candy, packaged ice cream bars in a freezer).

Going out to the boat while it was raining wasn't great however, watching wishes from this viewpoint on a boat was very cool and probably the only great thing I can say about the encounter.

Finally, when we returned and met Peter Pan, they had us meet him and take pictures under a stairwell before entering the contemporary. It was an awful area and I was disappointed they didn't take us back inside. Everything was rushed.

The fireworks show was great from the boat BUT everything else was NOT Disney standard. We feel we paid waaaaay too much for this experience and definitely would not recommend it to anyone.

It may be worthwhile to note, I heard great things about this from others. So I am not sure if our experience was a one off.

 

[momtosam]

We did this two years ago and loved it. I agree that the food was nothing spectacular, but we had a great, entertaining captain who did lots of corny jokes and trivia games with the kids for prizes. We stopped on the lake to watch the water pageant before seeing Wishes. Excellent interaction with Peter Pan upon return. We all received pirate bandanas to keep and had a great Hook/Smee picture taken.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Sorry you didn't like the experience. We did it about 2 years ago and I thought they did a fantastic job. Activities prior to the actual party, a gigantic dessert buffet (way too many choices to enjoy it all), Capt. Hook and Smee, a great boat captain with games and giveaways, fireworks were fantastic, etc. Peter Pan always meets outside. Perhaps they took you under stairwell because it was raining? Please note, they use a CR meeting space which can be in high demand for other functions, so their ability to decorate the space any more than they do is probably quite limited. That space isn't dedicated just for Pirates and Pals. IMHO, given the other paid choices for fireworks viewing (Ferrytale Wishes, Wishes dessert party, private pontoon), I think P&P is the most unique and the biggest bang for your buck. Again, sorry you didn't enjoy it.

 

[djc9699]

We do the Pirate and Pals every trip and absolutely love it. To be fair our last trip was to Disneyland and we had to cancel last years trip so we haven't been in three years. Maybe it has changed, but we are going again this year. This and the Hoop Dee Do are what my kids want to repeat every year. We usually meet Peter outside on the walk back to the Contemporary and have never felt rushed. It is a great interaction.

 

[disneyfam31]

Maybe it was just an off night. The kids enjoyed meeting the characters and they were all very friendly / into character. I don't mean to sound so negative, but this was the only paid event over the course of our trip I felt was overpriced for the value.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wow, we've done it twice! The captain's interaction with guests of all ages was wonderful. Sorry your experience was not good.

 

[Monkeyfeet]

We will be doing it for the first time in September. In regards to the food, I am expecting what you mentioned. It states this on their page, "your crew will be presented with a spread of seafaring party snacks like popcorn and ice cream novelties. A variety of refreshing hot and cold beverages—such as lemonade and Pirate Punch—is also available to quench even the most parched privateer’s thirst before hitting the high seas."

 

[disneyfam31]

It seems our experience was unfortunately, not normal.

All of our other Disney experiences and character meals were fantastic.

 

[Cramden]

We did it in October 2014 and loved it. Cost was only $59 per adult back then and we felt it was easily worth it. Not sure what they're charging now though. Sorry it was a miss for you and the family.

 

[PSULion]

Sorry you didn't enjoy it. Just wanted to say for those considering it... We just went in February, and it was definitely a highlight of our trip! My two boys (7 and 4) still talk about how much they loved it all the time.

 

[Raeven]

Though it doesn't appear to be the norm (at least from all the reviews I've seen before or after) we were disappointed with the cruise as well. We're two adults who did the cruise, and I did a lot of review reading to make sure it wasn't just for the kids which all the reviews assured me it wasn't, and I'd have to disagree. Like you said we didn't find there to be a good variety of snacks (especially because one of us has a food allergy). We did enjoy the pictures with Smee and Captain Hook though. We also didn't have a very good view of Wishes from our side of the boat and couldn't hear the music well (or at all) sometimes.The Peter Pan meet and greet was alright but I do agree that inside might've been better. All in all it wasn't terrible, but I just don't think it was worth the extra time or money. I do however think it might be worth it if someone has children that are really into pirates or have done just about everything there is to do and are looking for a new experience.

 

[ChattaAlley]

With something like this it appears that the kids love it. They do not understand the value of a $$. So to them it was all good. But to adults who pay for this you see that what you get vs. what you pay is not equal. Most of the reviewers above have not been in several years so its fair to say that this experience value has gone down. Just like with most things they know they will get your money then they start slacking. Thank you for the review. Saved me some money.

 

[bostonminnie]

My husband and son did it last week and loved it. They knew going in that they would just be served snacks. My son keeps asking to do it again and my husband said he definitely wants to do it again next trip. They thought the interactions with the characters were great, and they had a wonderful view of the fireworks.

 

[PSULion]

With something like this it appears that the kids love it. They do not understand the value of a $$. So to them it was all good. But to adults who pay for this you see that what you get vs. what you pay is not equal. Most of the reviewers above have not been in several years so its fair to say that this experience value has gone down. Just like with most things they know they will get your money then they start slacking. Thank you for the review. Saved me some money.

I respectfully disagree. As I said above, we just went in February. Three adults and 2 kids. We ALL loved it. We liked the snacks... We all had cake and ice cream treats in the room, and then grabbed the packaged popcorn and cotton candy that was easy to put in our bag and enjoy on the boat. We also are still enjoying the gold coins we grabbed and brought home. Both captains were hilarious. The kids loved parading down to the boat and we all enjoyed the silly sing along on board. Awesome view of the fireworks, and in all our visits, the first time I've actually heard the whole narration of Wishes. The kids won some prizes with trivia on the way back in, and each kid who hadn't answered a question got a prize as they disembarked.

Peter Pan was waiting on the dock, and walked up to the meeting spot with us. He was great. Talking about pirates, "borrowing" the kids prizes to play with, and trying to steal my cotton candy. We took our pictures with him and were not rushed at all.

It's certainly not cheap, but for us the memories are priceless. My kids ask all the time when we can do it again. There are certainly those of us adults that think it's worth the money (and we budget and scrimp to be able to afford Disney at all).

ETA: we actually went on the recommendation of THREE different families we know, who had all attended separately over the previous 6-12 months. So there are a bunch of us that think it's worth it!

 

[ChattaAlley]

I respectfully disagree. As I said above, we just went in February. Three adults and 2 kids. We ALL loved it. We liked the snacks... We all had cake and ice cream treats in the room, and then grabbed the packaged popcorn and cotton candy that was easy to put in our bag and enjoy on the boat. We also are still enjoying the gold coins we grabbed and brought home. Both captains were hilarious. The kids loved parading down to the boat and we all enjoyed the silly sing along on board. Awesome view of the fireworks, and in all our visits, the first time I've actually heard the whole narration of Wishes. The kids won some prizes with trivia on the way back in, and each kid who hadn't answered a question got a prize as they disembarked.

Peter Pan was waiting on the dock, and walked up to the meeting spot with us. He was great. Talking about pirates, "borrowing" the kids prizes to play with, and trying to steal my cotton candy. We took our pictures with him and were not rushed at all.

It's certainly not cheap, but for us the memories are priceless. My kids ask all the time when we can do it again. There are certainly those of us adults that think it's worth the money (and we budget and scrimp to be able to afford Disney at all).

Glad "your" experience was a good one.

 

[MommaOfTwoMice]

We took the voyage last summer for 4th of July! We had a great time (myself, DH, DD7, DS6). The price we paid was well worth being able to watch 4th of July fireworks outside of the park. Great memories. OP, sorry you didn't enjoy this as much as you had hoped

 

[AngiTN]

We did this and also loved it. Had a great time and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Honestly, the Wishes viewing and the food is not even our favorite part. Ours was the time with Hook and Smee, they were awesome and Patch(es). They are a hoot! They make the voyage quite honestly. And we went when it was really cold, CR gave us all blankets for the boat. The brought Peter Pan inside

 

[lovethattink]

We went last year. I read every review I could find online. We had a great time! But I was aware of what the snacks were ahead of time and also read the tip to grab a few for the boat ride! My son was the Smee flag carrier so that made it all the more fun for us! Our view of fireworks was terrible. We were on the "wrong" side of the boat. Our Patch was hilarious! And we met a family on the boat that we still stay in touch with!

 

[AngiTN]

With something like this it appears that the kids love it. They do not understand the value of a $$. So to them it was all good. But to adults who pay for this you see that what you get vs. what you pay is not equal. Most of the reviewers above have not been in several years so its fair to say that this experience value has gone down. Just like with most things they know they will get your money then they start slacking. Thank you for the review. Saved me some money.

Glad "your" experience was a good one.

I think you may want to re-read the reviews here. Several are not from years ago.
And even then, the review of what is offered is exactly what we had. I'm pretty sure the offerings haven't changed at all. Most of the offerings are made to be portable, which we appreciated.
We are also adults who loved it. I think maybe the adults love it more because they totally get many of the jokes.
What may vary is the quality of the Patch(es) on a given night. That would have a significant impact on the experience.

Also, we had about as bad a location on the boat for fireworks viewing as you could get. Opposite side from MK. But the way the boat captain positions the boat everyone has a great view. It's not as good a view as you get in the park, obviously. But I liked it better than the Dessert Party in the park. That I won't do again. P&P, we will.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Over the years, we have done many extra cost things at WDW, some every trip, now 35+. Some have been awful, some were okay, some were great. This, for us, was one of the great ones up there with some of the best.

My daughter and her two boys, 4 1/2 and 6 at the time, and I had a wonderful, fun evening. The meet and greet, the snacks, the bandanas, Patch, the close-up viewing of the Electrical Water Pageant, the view and sound of Wishes, the PP meet and greet, all made for a fabulous evening.

I have recommended it here on the dis many times. Well priced, great evening and value.

Sorry your experience was off, 31.