If you’ve ever visited a Disney park, resort or cruised with DCL you probably already know Mickey Mouse and friends love to celebrate holidays and special occasions. From decor, costumes to themed events and parties – Disney goes all out to celebrate holidays and special occasions.
The Disney Fantasy is the fourth ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. With 14 towering decks, the ship has the capacity to accommodate 4,000 passengers. Aboard this majestic sailing vessel, state-of-the-art technology meets early 20th-century design recalling the golden age of cruising in the 1930s. For assistance with your Disney Cruise, please call (800) 951-3532. Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM Eastern time; Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern time. Guests under 18 years of age must have parent or guardian permission to call. Congratulations on your upcoming cruise on the Disney Dream! Disney ships have just about everything to offer.except Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Therefore, you're going to want to make sure you visit one before you board. Yet, with the ship being on a cashless system.
Halloween is no exception. Families cruising with during the months of September and October are in for a treat. All four Disney ships are celebrating Halloween this year with special events and activities for cruise guests. We will be on our second Halloween on the High Seas cruise this coming October!
So if your family cruising around the Bahamas or the Caribbean, you might want to take note of the following travel tips before you set sail.
1. Halloween on the High Seas Celebration Dates
Special Halloween-themed parties, activities and events vary according to each cruise ship. Here are the celebration dates for 2019 & 2020:
- Disney Dream Sail Dates: September 9 – October 28, 2019
- Disney Fantasy Sail Dates: September 7 – October 27, 2019
- Disney Magic Sail Dates: September 25 – October 27, 2019
- Disney Wonder Sail Dates: October 4 – October 27, 2019
- Disney Fantasy Sail Dates: September 7 – October 30, 2020
- Disney Magic Sail Dates: October 12 – October 27, 2020
- Disney Wonder Sail Dates: September 23 – October 28, 2020
Cruisers sailing during these dates will receive a Halloween on the High Seas booklet in the mail.
Halloween celebration experiences include:
- Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party – Halloween party with games, trick-or-treating, dancing and meeting Disney characters in their Halloween attire
- Mask and Pumpkin Carving Crafts – Halloween-themed activities at the youth clubs
- Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing and Scream – An interactive movie experience followed by a character meet with Jack and Sally
- Haunted Stories of the Sea – Spooky Storytime in the atrium
- Halloween Isn’t Just For Kids – An adults-only dance party that includes a costume party
2. Ensure Your Spot at Special Halloween Events and Activities
In addition to the events listed above, Select activities (character breakfasts and character meets) have limited spots/seats and require guests to get tickets and add their name to an attendance list.
On embarkation day, make sure you read the Personal Navigator (the daily schedule of events) about events that require tickets and where to go to get them.
I’d recommend having one adult in your group head to the designated sign up spot (usually one of the lounges) for these tickets as soon as you get on board. Line ups to register for these free events and activities are quite long (about 30-45 minutes) and spots get filled quickly.
Guests are not allowed to choose the time of these Halloween themed events – each running multiple times throughout the cruise – and will be assigned the next available time slot.
3. Pack Your Halloween Costumes
There is a Halloween themed night where guests can wear their costumes to dinner. If you’d like to participate, make sure you pack your costumes.
On our Halloween on the High Seas cruise last year, about 75% of the diners in the restaurant were dressed up in Halloween attire.
Parents, you can join in the Halloween fun too! There’s an adult-only party and costume contest scheduled for each Halloween on the High Seas cruise.
https://assistantomg.netlify.app/google-casino-slot-machine.html. If you don’t have space in your suitcase for costumes, don’t worry. The gift shops will have some available for purchase – but don’t be surprised when you see Disney Store like prices.
4. Younger Children May Need Noise Reducing Headphones
The music and Dracula like voices over the P.A. system and story-time may be scary for younger children. Bring noise reducing headphones if you can or find other activities on the ship to do during these Halloween activity times.
Little Miss and Little Mister weren’t fans of these voices and songs. Luckily we had our BANZ Kids Hearing Protection Headphones on hand to minimize the scary sounds.
They are great for fireworks and parades at the Disney World theme parks as well if you happen to be visiting before or after your cruise.
5. Arrive Early for Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party
Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party in the atrium (Deck 3) is the most popular event of each Halloween on the High Seas cruise. Arrive early for a good spot or head up to Decks 4 or 5 if you want to avoid the crowd and noise – we hung out on Deck 5 during the night party.
6. Trick-or-Treating Tips for Young Cruisers with Nut Allergies
Parents with children with nut allergies should be aware that some of the candy handing out during Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party may contain nuts (or have traces of nuts). Out of all the candy Little Mister collected, he was only able to enjoy 2 or 3 of them.
We packed a few snacks for him as well as an emergency kit in anticipation of this.
Parents can also purchase nut-free candy in the gift shops on board – they’re just a bit more expensive than those from the grocery store as everything is Disney branded on the ships.
7. Pack for Pirates in the Caribbean Night
If you’re looking to kill two birds with one stone, then pack a pirate costume to double as your Halloween costume and Pirate Night costume.
Each of the Disney cruise ships will be porting at Disney’s private island in the Bahamas – Castaway Cay – and will have a Pirates in the Caribbean dinner and deck parties that night.
You can read more about it in our Disney Cruise Line Dining Tips blog post.
Last year, my family cruised around the Bahamas on the Disney Wonder. We booked this cruise during our first family cruise on the Disney Dream because of the pre-booking savings. I’d highly recommend you do this if you are sailing with DCL and want to cruise with them again in the near future.
This is the first time we’ve traveled to Disney – or in this case, with Disney – during Halloween. It was fun to see the ship all decked out with Halloween decor and the themed activities were pretty great too.
We didn’t know this was going to happen when we pre-booked this cruise so it was a nice surprise when we received our cruise booklet in the mail.
On embarkation day in Port Canaveral, we were greeted by a massive tree with pumpkins hanging from the branches and Halloween decor adorning the rails by the atrium’s elevator entrance.
Every day there was at least one Halloween related activity – from stories told by the tree after dinner, sing along and movie time in the theaters and by the pool, crafts in the kids’ clubs (Little Miss and Little Mister were afraid to go on their own so they came home empty handed), and the big event that many families were looking forward to – Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party.
The night prior to the Mouse-querade Party, our stateroom host left some trick-or-treat bags on our bed. We took them to the main lobby (Deck 3) and tried to navigate our way through the crowd. You’d think most kids would be asleep by 10PM but no, people go crazy for Halloween! The same party was held at 4:30PM which we also happened to go to.
Disney Cruise Dream Map
The characters were dressed in their costumes and dancing – Goofy’s “Walk Like an Egyptian” and “Thriller” dance was hilarious, crew members were dumping handfuls of candy into the kids’ treat bags and everyone was lining up to play games or take photos with their favourite characters.
Disney Dream Cruise Rooms
It boggles my mind how they were able to pack all of this stuff in their suitcases while we struggled with one Princess Elsa and Spiderman costume. 😉 We refuse to pay for extra suitcases so we try to be strategic about what we pack for a Disney cruise.
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It was nice to celebrate Halloween in addition to Pirate Night (all sailings with a stop in Castaway Cay have this themed night with a pirate show and fireworks) and I’d highly recommend it to families planning a vacation in early autumn.
Disney Dream Cruise Schedule
Have you ever celebrated Halloween at or with Disney? We’d love to hear what your family thought about it.