Star Wars Day at sea was our 5th day on the Disney Fantasy. I am the only Star Wars Fan in my family; my hubby enjoys the movies but is not a Lucas geek like I am. My girls were able to see Episode VII a few weeks after the cruise and they actually enjoyed it. But while we were sailing, they didn’t have more than a cursory knowledge of all the characters. Nonetheless, we all had heightened anticipation when we began the day, looking forward to the fun atmosphere around the ship and the special programs that would be held that day.
Upon leaving our room the first thing I noticed was the movie soundtrack playing on the ship’s intercom! Usually we are treated to Disney classic tunes throughout the day on the intercom but today we were able to enjoy the impeccable musical genius of John Williams all day in the form of Star Wars movie soundtracks! Music geeks will appreciate the great quality music that serenades you all day as you wander the ship, getting involved with all that Star Wars Day at Sea has to offer. It was fun walking around and seeing all the cruisers who were totally in celebration mode. There were some cruisers in elaborate costumes and others just sported quirky Star Wars themed t- shirts.
We had breakfast in Cabanas and then headed straight to the pool deck where we planned to spend the day. Throughout the day we were treated to appearances by storm troopers and bounty hunters there which were totally fun.
The storm troopers were under orders to search the deck for rebels so they made their way into the crowd, interacting with kids and pausing for photo ops (brandishing their weapons of course). It was really cool. All day, on the massive pool deck Funnel Vision screen, episodes of Star Wars Rebels (a Disney XD channel show) and trailers from all the Star Wars films were playing, keeping everyone in the theme.
STORM TROOPERS QUESTIONING YOUNG COSTUMED CRUISERS ON THE POOL DECK AS PART OF THE FUN OF THE DAY
There were a variety of activities available for the whole family throughout the day. Starting early in the morning and occurring every hour was the Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple where the kids could learn the ways of the Jedi and even had a chance to battle Darth Vader himself! This activity was held in the huge Walt Disney Theater. For newbies there was offered a Star Wars 101 interactive course in the Buena Vista Theatre that promised to be a lot of fun. There was a guest speaker, Kilian Plunkett, who is the Art Director for Star Wars Rebels; he hosted an awesome seminar on the process of animation for the show! In all of the kids clubs the activities and games were on a Star Wars theme (designing rebel aircraft, Padawan crafts, and computer battle games). Throughout the day there were costume celebrations where cruisers were invited to congregate and admire all the impressive, innovative costumes onboard.
After spending much of the day on the pool deck we went back to our stateroom to rest a bit and get cleaned up. The kids were chomping at the bit to get back to the Oceaneer Club and Lab so we happily dropped them off around 5pm so they could have dinner with their friends.
Hubby and I had dinner plans at Palo that evening so we were looking forward to a few hours of grown up time J. Dinner at Palo was incredible, as always (separate post coming soon). After the meal we were pleasantly full and took a quick cat-nap so we would have energy to stay up for the Summon the Force show on the pool deck at 10:30pm. We stopped by the Oceaneer Club to grab the girls and then headed up to the pool deck around 10:15.
THE POOLS WERE ACTUALLY COVERED AND THIS IS THE CROWD WE FOUND ON THE DECK, AWAITING THE SUMMON THE FORCE SHOW
We were late to the party; the deck was PACKED and most of the spaces against the railing on the upper 12th deck overlooking the pool deck were taken. There was a kind older coupler who allowed us to squeeze close to the railing so the little ones could see.
The Summon the Force show was incredible. The Funnel vision screen flowed through an epic montage featuring scenes from all of the movies, following the them of the power of the Force. There were appearances from main characters like Chewy, Darth Vader, and the Sith Lord.
The show culminated in the most EPIC fireworks I’ve seen at sea to the booming soundtrack of Star Wars. Literally, there were chills running up and down my arms. It was the perfect ending to an awesome Star Wars Day at Sea.
Disney is offering limited sailings with the Star Wars Day at Sea in 2017. If you are interested in getting more info or booking one of these awesome sailings please do not hesitate to contact me! I’d love to help you and your family navigate the intricacies of planning your Disney cruise vacation (you can find more information here). If you just want to ask a million questions about Disney cruising I’d love to chat with you too! Email me or give me a buzz through contact info in this link.
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