WDW Wednesday: Faces of a Disney Cruise

I’m going to turn Walt Disney World Wednesday into a Disney Cruise Line edition this week because I’ll be setting sail on another cruise this coming Sunday.  I’ll be taking the Goog, my parents, Sister, and B-i-L with me on the cruise, but I’ll be scheduling some posts next week so that my readers can feel like they are cruising through the Bahamas with me too!!

When you spend 7 nights and 8 days on a boat, certain people tend to stand out.  On our first cruise in August 2006, there was a mother, along with her daughter, that we ate dinner with every night who had another daughter that worked on the cruise line as a performer in the stage shows…and a “friend” of the characters. We found this out during a character breakfast, when Chip came around to our table and was being really friendly and interacting with us more than all the other characters had.  After Chip left the table, the daughter explained how they “knew” Chip.  Every day after that, we kept an eye out for extremely friendly characters.  One morning, while I was walking to get breakfast, I saw Wendy (from Peter Pan) with no line so I went to have my picture made with her, and she too was very friendly.

On my last cruise in December of 2008, there was a gal, probably in her mid-twenties, that wore wigs and a different prom gown EVERY night to dinner.

We met her friend one afternoon when we were hanging out around the pool, and her friend told us all about this girl.  She apparently had a very wealthy father that paid for her and a couple friends to go on this cruise.  She wouldn’t leave her stateroom unless she was in full makeup, because she had a crush on one of the guys working on the cruise ship.  She also had brought 2 trunks of clothes, which contained all her wigs and gowns.

You would think based on this picture that it was formal night on the cruise, right? Well you would be wrong. This wasn't even semi-formal night. Maybe I should plan on taking my prom dress with me on this trip.

My all-time favorite people were on that December cruise.  There was a Japanese couple that, not that I have much room to talk, were complete Disney freaks. Every day, they were dressed in matching Disney outfits.  And everyday, they were in the front of every line to meet every single character available.  They must have just spent all the rest of their trip planning which characters would be at which locations. We started referring to this couple  as “the Shutterbugs.”

 This was the one time the Shutterbugs weren't at the front of the line. The girl is sporting a Minnie red polka dot shirt and the guy has a red headband. 

On the “Pirates IN the Caribbean” night, the guy dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow, and while he was waiting in line to meet Pirate Mickey Mouse, somebody came up to the Goog and I and asked us if we were in line for Jack Sparrow. His costume was THAT authentic. The Shutterbugs each had a super-fancy professional camera with a Mickey Mouse camera strap. So whenever they would meet a character, they had a whole routine.  The guy would have his picture taken with the character, then the girl would have hers done, then they would have a cast member take both of their picture. They’d also pose JUST LIKE the character.  They also were always the first people at all the deck parties, right there, in front of the stage.  Even though they probably had to show up an hour early just to get those prime-o spots! To the Goog and I, they were sort of like Disney characters themselves!!

In all honesty, the Shutterbugs were my heroes. I bet they had so many great pictures of the ship and all the characters!  I’m hoping that Sister and I will be the token people on our upcoming cruise.  Maybe I can convince Sister to wear matching outfits and we can be known throughout the ship as the “jazz hands sisters”!!