“Don’t miss the chance to watch the dazzling Luminous The Symphony of Us fireworks spectacular right from the water. It’s an incredible finale to the day’s festivities!”
This is from the official Disney World website and the My Disney Experience app, where you can now book this experience 60 days prior to your visit to Disney World. However, a year ago I had to call the Disney Recreation phone line at 407-WDW-PLAY in order to make this reservation. I did this exactly 60 days out from the beginning of our trip and called right when the phone lines opened at 7:00 a.m. (Eastern). I had read somewhere that they only rent 5 boats out each night for this Epcot Fireworks cruise so I knew this reservation would not be an easy one to get.
But thankfully I was able to book this experience for the last night of our weeklong trip together at Disney World, which was actually my first choice. The cost for this is currently between $449 – $499 plus tax (which varies by date) and is paid in full at time of booking. Our trip was the week after Easter so consequently I paid $499 plus tax for a total of $531.44 (not including the tip we gave our captain). For this price you can have up to 10 guests on the boat, which amounts to about $50 per person. There is a 24-hour cancellation policy for this so if you cancel within 24 hours or don’t show up for your reservation then you forfeit the entire pre-paid amount.
At the time I made this reservation I was given a confirmation number but received no email confirmation and the reservation did not appear in my plans on the MDE app and couldn’t be added. I was told this at the time but even so the lack of documentation made me really nervous. And my uneasiness continued until I checked in on the night of the cruise and they quickly found my name on their list. However, with you now being able to book this experience online or on the app, I suspect that your reservation is listed in your plans along with your dining reservations. If so, that is a definite improvement.
On the night of the cruise, I was told to check in by 7:45 p.m. (one hour and 15 minutes before the start of the Epcot fireworks show) at the Bayside Marina office located near the boat dock/lighthouse at the Yacht Club.
Since we were staying at the Swan, this was just a short walk away. We were introduced to our boat captain. While chatting with him he told us that while the provided beverages were non-alcoholic, we were welcome to bring our own boozy drinks on to the boat but no glass bottles. With that in mind, half of our group of 10 walked over to Hurricane Hanna’s, the waterside/pool bar at the Yacht & Beach Club Resort to purchase some cocktails. By the way, you could also bring your own food but we didn’t.
NOTE: Provided on the boat (and included in the price of the cruise) was a cooler containing various kinds of soda (Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite) and bottles of water. There was also a basket of packaged snacks. Most of these were chips but there were some Mickey rice krispie treats (which I think cost around $5 or $6), which was my snack of choice. At the end of our cruise, we were able to take all the leftover drinks and snacks with us.
At about 8:00 our group boarded the pontoon boat, which was decorated with a “Happy Birthday” banner in honor of Melissa’s birthday (Bryan’s sister). At the time that I made our reservation I was asked if we would be celebrating a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc.). If so then our boat would don a celebratory banner free of charge.
The boats then took turns leaving the dock and for the next 45 minutes we were cruising around Crescent Lake, going down to Hollywood Studios before making our way back to Epcot. By 8:45 our boat had docked near the International Gateway, below the bridge that lies between the United Kingdom and France in World Showcase.
While we were waiting for the show to start we were able to get a group photo (including our friendly boat captain, who gave bunny ears to Emma) courtesy of the captain of the boat parked next to us.
And in case you were wondering, I think there were 5 boats parked side-by-side under the bridge for the show.
Now for the most important question, “How was the view of the show?” Well, here is the photographic evidence…
After the show ended at about 9:20, the boats took turns leaving the area and returning to the Bayside Marina dock. Our boat got to leave first because one of our passengers had badly needed to go to the bathroom for much of the time we were cruising. As you may have guessed, there are no bathrooms (toilets) on these boats and the boat captains are not allowed to make any bathroom stops or allow any passengers to get off the boat when docked at Epcot.
But thankfully, by about 9:30 we had returned to the marina without any embarrassing accidents. So 9 out of the 10 us really enjoyed this experience. It provided a memorable finale for our trip! As for person #10 of our group, his advice would probably be to make sure you go to the bathroom before boarding the boat for this 1 1/2 hour cruise.
Taste of Disney 