Our eleventh day onboard the Disney Dream once again started in the best way possible with an absolutely beautiful sunrise as we sailed across the Atlantic close to the island of Bermuda. After waking up early as per usual we walked up to the small outside deck between Palo and the Meridien Bar on Deck 12 aft just after 7:00am to sit back on the comfortable chairs and watch as the sun slowly started to appear over the horizon.

After sitting and watching the sunrise for nearly an hour, we heard the familiar sound of Margaritaville coming from Cabanas one deck below so we headed down there to get some breakfast before making our way back to our stateroom for a little while before we started the rest of our very long day onboard.

There was another Mickey and Friends group photo that morning at 10:00am and 11:15am – this time they were wearing their cruise outfits – so we walked down to the Lobby Atrium at 9:30am and the line was already back to the doors where you board the ship on embarkation day. Once again the line moved very quickly once the characters arrived as no hugs or autographs are allowed and you can only take one photo per group so you cannot switch people in and out.

Once we had our photo we decided to go and sit in Cove Cafe for a little while but made a quick stop to see Princess Jasmine who was out at Preludes at 10:15am. Whilst we were sat drinking our coffee, we checked the photos we had just taken and as we were not quite happy with them (there was someone standing in the background right behind the characters slightly ruining our picture), we decided to go back down to the Lobby Atrium and join the 11:15am line for the another opportunity. The line moved just as quick as before and we also noticed that many of the same people were also lining up again as it was another chance to get a great photo that you do not always see.

Anthony our Cruise Director made an announcement to let everyone onboard know that “Halloween was Coming!” so Hocus Pocus would be showing in the Buena Vista Theatre that afternoon and Jack-Jack’s Diaper Dash (which we have never watched) was about to start in the Lobby Atrium but as there were no crawling babies onboard the ship (the minimum age to sail on one of the Transatlantic cruises is twelve months) we were not sure how that was going to work.

We walked up to Deck 12 to listen to all of the horns once again and the sun was out and it was definitely starting to feel hot outside and it was so bright that I needed my sunglasses. After a few cooler days at sea it was definitely starting to feel like we were getting closer to Florida and the Bahamas.

We were not sure what we wanted to get for lunch so we decided to walk around Cabanas and look at the food on offer and saw that they had Sweet Potato Fries which we both love so we decided to get a plate of those (along with a few desserts) to share and enjoy along with a taco each from Ramone’s Cantina which we had not had for a few days. The Cantina was definitely the most popular deck food option at lunchtime and it was the only one of the windows that had its own queuing system – it will be interesting to see how busy it gets on a much shorter and busier cruise as this sailing was far from being at full capacity.

As it was such beautiful weather we decided to begin our afternoon onboard by playing a round of Goofy Golf which we had only ever done once before. It was great fun and we even spotted a small bird on the course who we think must have been there for a few days since we left the Azores. We also saw another ship in the distance on the horizon which was the second one that I had seen in a few days – one thing that I always remember on our previous Transatlantic crossing was not seeing any other signs of life (apart from one airplane contrail in the sky) outside of the bubble of our ship for the entire time we were at sea.

I had been looking forward to the next few hours for a couple of days as we had been given a tip off that the characters would start wearing their Halloween costumes on this afternoon which I could not wait to see. This cruise was never sold as a Halloween on the High Seas cruise (even though it fell over Halloween which was the following day) as the ship had been in Europe for the entire summer as well as in dry dock so we were not expecting anything so this really was the best surprise ever.

Minnie was the first character due out at 2:00pm on the Deck 4 balcony and we got there about twenty minutes early and there was only a few people already in line. As it was so hot and sunny out, the majority of the passengers onboard were out on the pool decks at this time as it was not advertised that Halloween was starting early. So our plan for the afternoon was to meet as many of the characters as we could when it was still quiet as we figured it would get a lot busier once the news spread around the ship and we also thought that the lines would be very long on Halloween itself.

Minnie’s new Halloween costume was simply beautiful (I loved that it was covered with bats and she even showed me the ones on her gloves as well as her shoes) and once we had met her, we quickly walked back around to join the same few people in line to meet Mickey at 2:30pm who was looking incredibly dapper in his Halloween finest.

When Disney released the details for these new Halloween costumes about six months before our cruise, it was the only time that I was gutted that we were not on an actual Halloween on the High Seas sailing as Donald’s new costume was simply the best as he was dressed as a spider so I really was over the moon and so happy that I would be seeing him that afternoon especially as I was not expecting any of this to happen.

All of the other people had run to Preludes to join the line to meet Chip and Dale at 3:00pm however as they were out in a much better location that evening, I walked down to the Deck 3 hallway and started the line to meet Spider Donald who was due out at 3:15pm. I was so excited to meet him and I even screamed a little bit when I turned around and saw him as he arrived a few minutes early – he was absolutely perfect and my favourite memory of the entire cruise!

Once we had met Donald, we quickly rejoined the same line so we were also one of the first to see Daisy who was meeting at the same place at 3:45pm.

We joined the back of the line to meet Goofy who was also meeting at 3:45pm by the staircase and was dressed as a skeleton (which was another new costume that I had never seen before) and then waited to meet Pluto who was dressed as a candy corn at 4:15pm.

It had been a great afternoon and we had met all of the characters (with the exception of Chip and Dale) in just over two hours with minimal waits which was a great feeling as it meant that our Halloween day would be nowhere near as busy as it could have been as we already had all of the photos that we wanted to get.

After dropping our cameras back off in our stateroom we walked up to the Quiet Cove as some pool time, sunshine and fresh air was definitely needed and it was the perfect way to relax after a great day of meeting characters.

After floating around in the pool for nearly an hour, we made ourselves a cup of tea in preparation for the evening ahead and we also stopped at Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats to finally get my birthday cupcake that I had been meaning to buy since the beginning of the cruise!

After having a shower and getting dressed, we quickly ran up to Deck 13 forward as it was a beautiful sunset once again. Some of my favourite memories from our first Transatlantic cruise was watching all of the incredible sunrises and sunsets as we crossed the ocean so I was so happy that we could do the same again this time.

The only thing that we had to do before dinner was finally see Chip and Dale in their Candy Cauldron and Candy Apple Halloween outfits as they were out on the Deck 4 balcony at 7:45pm which is a much better photo location than Preludes which is where all of their other Halloween meet and greet times were scheduled. We knew this would be popular but it was definitely worth the wait.

After eleven days onboard it was finally the night for our Animation Magic dinner so after meeting Chip and Dale, we made our way to Animator’s Palate and immediately started drawing our characters before ordering our food.

I absolutely love the appetiser menu in Animator’s Palate on this night so I ordered a double portion of the Sesame Crusted Tuna Sashimi to start followed by the amazing Lobster Bisque. I was not feeling too hungry so I asked for another appetiser for my main course which was the Porcini Sacchetti but Jaqueline brought me out a bigger portion of it which I did not think I would be able to eat but it was so good (just like so many other dishes on this cruise, it was the best version I had ever had of it) and I ate the lot!

After finishing all of that pasta there was no way I could even think about dessert at that time so we just sat for a little while with our drinks whilst we watched as Sorcerer Mickey brought all of our drawings to life on the screens around us.

Despite this being our fourth cruise on the Disney Dream, this was the first time we had ever experienced this show on the ship as it is usually only on cruises of six nights or longer (with the exception of the sailings during the pandemic) and all of our previous times on the Dream had been five nights or less.

Another hidden detail that I spotted for the first time ever in Animator’s Palate on this night was all of the display shelves around the restaurant had completely changed. On our Turtle Talk with Crush evening, the shelves were all Pixar artefacts but on the Animation Magic night, magic happens and they are suddenly full of animation maquettes, pencils, different coloured paint pots and details of how to draw each of the characters.

Once we left Animator’s Palate I took the elevator straight up to Deck 12 to grab my spot ready for Mickey’s Color Spin Dance Party which was due to start at 10:00pm followed by the Happily Ever After fireworks immediately afterwards meaning for our second cruise in a row, we had two nights of fireworks.

There were a lot of people already waiting when we got there and one thing that we noticed throughout this entire cruise was that all the spaces on Deck 12 were taken very quickly whilst Deck 11 stayed almost completely empty until the last minute.

Mickey’s Color Spin is a fun and energetic retro nineties-themed dance party where Mickey and the Gang (along with the absolutely amazing dancers from the Walt Disney Theatre) spin the colour wheel and dance to upbeat pop versions of their favourite Disney songs.

Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Chip, Dale, Pluto and Goofy began the show by dancing to Be Our Guest before the colour wheel picked Minnie and Daisy who danced to Someday My Prince Will Come and True to Your Heart. Pluto was up next with Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride, I Just Can’t Wait to be King and I Wanna Be Like You.

Max appeared on the stage for Stand Out and I 2 I along with Goofy who also got chosen to dance to How Far I’ll Go and Go the Distance. Donald finally got picked for You’re Welcome and Zero to Hero before the colour wheel turned a villainous purple and picked Chip and Dale for Poor Unfortunate Souls and Be Prepared. The colour wheel then brought all of the colours together so Mickey lead everyone in We’re All in This Together.

I absolutely loved watching Mickey’s Color Spin Dance Party (despite someone trying to push in front of me the entire time) and it was an incredible show that will make you have the biggest smile on your face from start to finish and I cannot wait to see it again one day in the future.

The Happily Ever After fireworks started a few minutes later and I loved taking a sneaky glance behind me to see everyone on Deck 11 all looking up and enjoying the fireworks in the night sky.

We felt so lucky to have a second night of fireworks and it was a great way to finish an even better day onboard the ship. Once the crowds had cleared a few minutes later, we walked back down to our stateroom to sit and eat my birthday cupcake in bed before falling asleep not long afterwards and thankfully for the first time since we had left Ponta Delgada we had no time change that evening.

It had been such an amazing day onboard and we were ready to celebrate Halloween on the High Seas and the final day at sea of the cruise. Bring it on!

Support Me and Buy Me a Coffee
Follow Me on Instagram
Pin this Blog Post on Pinterest
Follow Me on Bloglovin’