Our Disney Cruise was, as advertised, magical. Your stateroom host will wow you with the perfection at which they carefully and artfully clean your room each day and turn your beds down each night (how do they make those towel animals so perfectly?). On a three night cruise you’ll be stunned at how quickly your servers recognize and adapt to your tastes, by the end of the four days Tony felt like a family member…heck he was even encouraging me to try things after I was stuffed, felt just like being at my in-laws! But then you’ve all heard all about this, what sets Disney apart, what always sets them apart is the entertainment.
While seeing your favorite characters on the ship and on the shore and waiting in far shorter lines than you will in the parks is amazing, what I wasn’t prepared for was the level of entertainment we’d see each night in the shows. We weren’t prepared to the point that we wandered into our first show kind of on a whim, I think my youngest smelled popcorn and the next thing I knew we were sitting down to watch the first of three shows, that altered the rest of our trip as all four of us agreed we wanted to watch all three shows, “The Golden Mickeys”, “Beauty and The Beast”, and “Believe”.
It’s taken me a full week to fully appreciate not only what I saw but what I experienced. The stage shows were terrific, but the unique setting makes them even more incredible. To start, each night the cruise director stood on stage and gave a recap of what took place that day and what to expect for the following day and each night he encouraged the audience to react to what they were seeing, audibly! Normally stage shows don’t encourage this, at least the ones I’ve been to, timing and cadence help keep the actors on pace and help with remembering lines and placement. But beyond that we were on a ship that was moving, rocking back and forth gently, while they were performing complicated dance routines. And last but not least, Saturday a huge percentage of the crowd was dressed in full pirate costumes, how do you keep your composure when you look out in the crowd and see that?!? Beyond that each of these performers had parts in each show!
Disney Dream’s Shows: The Golden Mickey’s, Beauty and the Beast, and Believe
THE GOLDEN MICKEYS
With that let’s talk about the shows themselves, the first night was my youngest daughter’s favorite The Golden Mickeys! A stage manager is thrust into host duties as the cruise director is busy elsewhere. With some encouragement from Bob Iger she leads you through an award show that acts as a variety show to showcase some of your favorite cartoons and movies come to life! From heroines to villains this show races you through the decades of Disney with terrific song and dance routines and culminates with a surprise from the mouse that started it all! On the first night we found ourselves trying to get a feel for the ship, get something to eat and get our luggage sorted, we were not planning on going to this show, I feel very lucky that we did, that first night can be a little chaotic as you get your bearings but try to plan for this!
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Our whole family dressed as pirates showed up early to get the perfect seats for the show we heard so much about. It didn’t disappoint! From incredible stage design and lighting to beautiful singing and dancing and brilliant puppetry (yes I’m serious) it will change the way you look at what’s possible with a stage show. Slightly altering the story but not enough to be a distraction you’re transported from the Bahamas to a small town in France where you learn about Belle and her father and their encounter with the Beast and Gaston! It takes a very special group to tell a story that the entire audience is so familiar with and have them on the edge of their seat! The design and execution of Gaston chasing the Beast is incredible on a small stage, and the Beast’s transformation is really magical!
Believe
As a father of two daughters Dream makes you appreciate your time with your daughters especially at Disney that much more. I first saw this show when we only had our oldest and she was 2 and a half, now she’s 10 going on 18 and the idea of understanding and appreciating the magic of each stage of your kids lives struck a particular note with me. You watch as a father wrapped up in his work doesn’t’ have time for his daughter on her birthday. As a scientist her desire to interject magic seems like a waste of time. Enter THE GENIE OF THE LAMP, or watering can in this case. The Genie uses his magical powers to grant the father’s third wish, helping him believe in magic! The Genie, among others, provides comic relief, and in the end all is right in the world as the father learns to use magic, through his daughter to correct his mistakes!
I will tell you that as we planned this trip, which we did for over a year, I never imagined a situation where we’d go to all three of these shows, but in looking forward to our next cruise I know the shows will be where I start and I’ll build our days around them. I keep thinking back at what an incredible feat it is putting on three shows at sea, in three nights, without missing a beat. Disney is magic.
(Written by: Hubby)