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Cruise Ship Review: Disney Magic (Part 2)
Live Shows:
Unlike on our last cruise, we only saw one of the three Broadway-style shows. One was a repeat (Villains Tonight) and the show that was performed on our last night, Dreams, well we thought it was a show we had seen on our first Disney cruise (it turns out that it wasn't). While I was somewhat sad to discover this after we returned home, I wasn't overly crushed since I much preferred the activity we did instead during the time Dreams was taking place.
The show that we did see was Twice Charmed, a retelling and twist on the classic story of Cinderella. While all of your favorite characters were there (Cinderella, Prince Charming, the lovable Jack and Gus, the wicked stepmother and evil stepsisters Anastasia and Druzilla), there was also someone new, the evil Fairy Godfather. The music was Broadway worthy and the voices and talent of the actors and actresses performing was superior. While I would have been utterly happy with seeing a theatrical version of Cinderella, a retelling of it was a fun twist as well.
All shows take place in the Walt Disney Theater on deck 4 and are performed two times each evening, both corresponding with the two dinner seating times. Word of advice-unlike on the Disney Dream, the theater on the Magic ship is much smaller so it would be wise to arrive early enough to get seats together for your party. The performances are shown live on your stateroom television at the same time so keep this as an option if you're not up for attending in person.
Movies: In the Buena Vista Theatre, first run movies (those still in the theatres) are shown. Selection varies but all are ones owned by the Walt Disney Company. Although this had nothing to do with the Magic ship, I was somewhat disappointed that all the movies being shown in the Buena Vista were ones we had long seen. This had to do with the fact that unlike on our cruise in 2011, Disney hadn't made any new movies (or had any through its studio affiliates).
We ended up watching the 3D version of Frozen, which I enjoyed immensely since we had only seen it in 2D in the theatres back home. Also being shown were the 2D and sing-along version of it, Monster's University, Planes, and Saving Mr. Banks. We see a lot of movies in the theater so nothing was new for us, although if you're not a regular movie goer, I can see this being quite advantageous for you. Movies are shown throughout the day including late evening screenings.
Characters: There exist numerous opportunities to pose with your favorite Disney characters starting from mid-morning to mid-evening. Times and locations are always listed in the Personal Navigator, a daily newsletter about what's happening on the ship that day. Characters were around for 20 minutes, usually in the ship's atrium area. Although lines could get long, it's to be expected as character appearances are generally one of Disney's most popular attractions.
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| Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies! The actress who was “playing” Rapunzel was also a blast |
Okay, so here is my one major gripe with the Disney cruise ship. The character of Anna from Frozen, the extremely popular and latest Disney animated feature, was not on the ship. I would find out later that she does make appearences on its two newest ships, the Dream and Fantasy. Yes, I'm an adult and no, I won't be permanently scarred from this but I don't quite understand Disney's rationale behind this-you pimp the ever living h-e-double hockey sticks out of the movie in your ship's theatre, but you can't have a young woman don a strawberry blond wig and Norwegian-style winter attire so geeky fans like myself can pose for a photo opportunity? I get that the new ships will have certain things unique to them, but being so low as to not include a character?
Characters they did have-the princess brigade (Tiana, Belle, Cinderella, and Rapunzel), Stich, Mickey and the gang (in numerous costumes), Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and since Disney now owns Marvel, Captain America (D got a picture with him and was pleased as punch with this).
And for the grandfather who politely asked in all seriousness, was I going to be posing with the princesses? I know I've seen the Disney movies countless more times than the little ones who probably get ants in their pants after sitting for 10 minutes. I also know all the songs and “backgrounds” of the characters. Not to mention, I'm sure some of the people acting as the characters do prefer adults to pose with them once in a while.
Lounges: Neither D nor I slept the greatest on the cruise, so this, paired with the fact that we had the later dinner assignment (how I ever survived not eating dinner until 9:30 PM when I lived in Spain I will never know), well, we were pretty tired by the time 11 PM came. However, on our last night I saw that there would be a pianist in the Keys Lounge. Although this meant having to skip the final show, live piano seemed cool. Unfortunately, the pianist arrived late for whatever reason (she lives on a ship, pretty sure she didn't run into any traffic) but in the meantime we just sipped our cocktails in the very dark and chill lounge. When she finally did come, the pianist (Clara Oman) was fabulous. She started off with a medley of Disney songs and then ended up taking requests, which was terrific. I got to request a couple of selections including “God Help the Outcasts” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and “As Time Goes By.” Later that evening she was scheduled to play a Broadway set but we had too much going on.
Pirates in the Caribbean Deck Party: This was something I went to on my cruise on the Dream ship but skipped this time around since it started basically at the same time we were finishing dinner with our later seating assignment. There's pirate themed everything-music, dancing, the Disney characters attired in pirate gear, and no matter where you dine for dinner that night, everyone gets a pirate's bandanna they can wear. And of course the gift shop sells copious amounts of pirate themed merchandise…This is also the night where there's fireworks, which is a pretty cool thing since Disney is the only cruise ship to have fireworks at sea.
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| http://dclnews.com/galleries/2011/08/16/deck-parties/ |
There is a ton more going on than what I personally saw and did. But the above mentioned things were definitely the highlights for me. And maybe when I get around to taking a cruise that's longer than three nights, I'll be able to try more!
More in this series!
First travels of 2014
Disney Cruise Review-Magic (Part 1)
Restaurant Review: Disney Cruise Ship's Palo
Source: http://www.theredheadedtraveler.com/2014/03/cruise-ship-review-disney-magic-part-2.html
