Ground Control to Major Mom

Today’s post will be about AquaDuck, a 765-foot water slide that will only be found on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy (when the Fantasy is commissioned later this month).  They’re the only cruise ships in the world with complete water slides on board.  I had to wait until my waterproof camera pictures were developed to do this one and I’m so excited about it!  AquaDuck starts inside the rear funnel and travels from the stern of the ship towards the bow, then goes under the bow funnel (behind the Funnel Vision screen) and then continues back toward the stern of the ship again, depositing you right at the bottom of the stairs so you can hop right back in line!

The view of AquaDuck from the docks in Nassau.

Guests get to enjoy a great view of the pool deck while riding.

If you’ve been to a water park, then there’s little more to be said about the ride.  It’s a standard inner tube-type of ride.  It’s a lot of fun!  I like how Disney (again) puts the kids first by allowing VERY young children to ride with a grownup.  I don’t think there’s a minimum size to ride, I saw kids as young as three years old riding with adults. My sons were allowed to ride alone, they are both taller than 44″.

I want to share some other fun things that make AquaDuck really cool for a Disney Geek like me.

There’s an adorable comic strip to read while waiting for AquaDuck — strangely, though, you have to read it from right to left. This was taken with a waterproof film camera and the viewfinder was tough to navigate.

The rest of the comic. Which shows Donald overdoing things on the ride and smashing into the fore funnel. Ha ha!

And there’s Donald in the funnel! Yikes!

I was also fascinated with the conveyor machine that transports the rafts back up to the top of the ride. You can see it behind the kids in this picture:

There’s a conveyor that brought the rafts from the end of the ride straight up to the top. I also liked that my boys are old enough and tall enough (over 48″) to ride it together without an adult on board.

I took a waterproof camera with me to get some pictures of the ride itself, such as the trip through the forward funnel, but the ride was so exciting I forgot I had the camera with me till the very end. I got this picture below, but then found out that due to safety concerns, no cameras are allowed on the ride.

WHEE! It was a wild ride down to the base of the attraction, where that cast member to the right asked me to not take cameras on the ride in the future. Oops!

I took many cute pictures of the boys playing at the beach at Castaway Cay. Disney shipboard professional photographers wandered the island taking pictures also. Because we were in the water, I didn’t have a Key to the World card with which the photographer could associate the picture. “That’s okay”, he says. How can that be?

Here’s what the professional photographer captured just a few minutes later.  Thanks to biometrics, this otherwise “unassociated” picture found its way into our stateroom account folio.

Some of you might say, “Wow that’s really cool!” and some of you might say, “Wow, that’s really creepy!”

It’s no secret that cruise lines offer comprehensive portraiture services on board.  And it’s also no secret that on a cruise your party will be pulled aside all over the place to grab pictures for your purchase later. There’s an area on all the Disney Cruise Line ships called “Shutters” where hard-copy portfolios of all of your pictures are available as soon as 2 hours after they’re taken.  Photography is prohibited in Shutters, so I couldn’t share how cool this place is: touch your Key to the World card to one of the touchpads throughout the shop and a screen will tell you where your stateroom account’s folio is.

In our case, we were assigned “Donald Yellow 5”. Which meant the Donald bookcase, the folio marked #5 in the row of yellow folders.  The area looks like an elegant library. This video shows the bookcases starting at about 0:30.

We weren’t shy about the photo opportunities. I think Dave was getting rather sick of it, but I like that there is no obligation to purchase. And you never know when you might have a winner in there. (Especially when I’m usually the one BEHIND the camera and it was nice to be in front of it every once in a while.) We had over 50 prints in our folio by the end of our four-night cruise; only about 10 of them were worth keeping.  Jacob blinks a lot, and Dave’s glasses produced a lot of glares.

I just this week got the copyright release for these pictures and will scan in nice copies.  In the meantime, you can view slightly better versions of the professional pictures here.

So there we were enjoying the beach on Castaway Cay. We had rented inner tubes for the boys to float around in. At one point a photographer was wading around along the water/sand line, photographing guests. It was nice in that he didn’t photograph children without the parents’ permission, and my son posed like a champ.

But I didn’t have my Key to the World card with which I could associate the picture. “That’s okay,” said the nice young photographer. And he snapped a couple pictures and moved on to the next family.

Lo and behold, that evening when we checked our folio our two water pictures were in the folio!!!  You can see the one we bought in the lower right corner of the picture above.

How could that be? Easy. Disney biometrics.

Bio…what? Bio as in life, metrics as in mathematics. In this case, Disney employs facial recognition technology to compare pictures of “unknown” guests to other photos that have already been taken during the cruise. So if you had a picture taken already during the cruise, and it was already associated with a stateroom account via a Key to the World card, the software can find the unassociated picture’s home: your folio.

For those who didn’t have any pictures and didn’t have anything to associate, a wall on one side of Shutters displayed all the “unknown” faces.

You’ve seen this before. Facebook has “Tag Recommendations“, iPhoto has the “Faces” feature, and Picasa Web Albums has the “People” feature.

I had talked about this Castaway Cay photo association with some fellow cruise guests and they pointed out that it seemed rather creepy to them. We all hoped that none of the biometric information is saved once the cruise is over.

What do you think? Biometric face recognition: cool or creepy?

The “Midship Detective Agency” on the Disney Dream lets the kids interact with the Enchanted Art on the ship to solve a mystery.

One of the unique features of the Disney Dream is their 22 pieces of “Enchanted Art” scattered among all of the artwork on their fourteen decks. In a Harry Potter-esque manner, random pictures on the wall will come to life! This is fun for the kids and adults alike!

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I know most of you knew that we took a Disney cruise about 2 weeks ago.  And perhaps you were wondering why I wasn’t writing about it?  It’s because I had promised GeekMom.com several posts about our trip and I wanted to get those posts out there first.  It’s easy enough now to translate the text over to my own blog, which I’m going to do now.  I’ve drafted 7 posts about the cruise, and they aren’t the normal “Here’s how our cruise was” type of posts.  Enjoy!

Santa brought the family a 4-night Disney cruise vacation this year! The trip happened to coincide with Timmy’s birthday. In a very uncharacteristic move, Dave and I agreed to take the boys out of school for a solid week and drove out to Port Canaveral, Florida, the homeport to the Disney Dream, Disney Cruise Line’s most-recently christened* ship.

Learn more about Disney Cruise Lines through their website.  Check out Wikipedia for the Disney Dream‘s amazing statistics. Or better yet, how about the Disney Dream by the Numbers?

Our sons unwrapped big boxes with these certificates inside on Christmas morning.

I don’t plan to discuss too much about the cruise itself. Anyone can write about taking a cruise, right? We stopped in Nassau, Bahamas and on Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. Our sons got to experience snorkeling for the first time. I’ve cruised with Carnival in the past, but that didn’t hold a candle to last week’s trip! My family was geeking-out at some of the amazing little subtleties that make the Disney Cruise Line experience second-to-none!

1.) Hidden Mickeys everywhere!

Need I say more?

It goes without saying that the “Hidden Mickeys” are everywhere. This one isn’t quite so hidden, though.

2.) Characters everywhere!

Obviously there are Disney characters on a Disney cruise, right? After having experienced many hours in line over the years waiting to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pooh Bear, Rafiki, Buzz Lightyear and Mr. Frederickson at Walt Disney World, it was a breath of fresh air to not have to wait long for characters at all. My sons filled up their autograph book on a family trip to Disneyworld in 2009, so they were rather lassiez-faire about the characters this time around.  In fact, we only waited in line for ONE character: Jack Sparrow! Most of the others we encountered almost by chance throughout the cruise ship.

When your very first elevator ride to your stateroom is with Donald Duck, the bar has been set pretty high.

3.) The Key to the World

Like other cruise lines, many things are tied in to the key card. Disney calls their card the “Key to the World“, whether you’re on the cruise or staying at a Disney resort on land.  If you are combining a cruise with a Walt Disney World vacation, the same card will have your resort key, park tickets and Disney Dining Plan information loaded onto it.

On the Disney Dream, we used the key card to enter our stateroom, turn on the lights, enter/exit the ship at ports of call, tie into a photography account when the onboard photographers take snapshots, drop off/pick up your children from the Oceaneer’s Club, and charge beverages and souvenirs.

The Disney Dream is so new that instead of swiping the key card in many places, we instead had a touch pad. Similar to MasterCard PayPass touch pads. To enter/exit our staterooms, the kids didn’t even have to remove the keycards from their lanyards. Just touch the card to the pad. We used similar touch pads for entering/exiting the ship.

The little black keypad above the door handle is a touch pad for the key card. The kids didn’t have to pull their cards out of their lanyard pockets to open/close the door!

Another thing the key card is used for is to control the electricity in your stateroom.  I found this a great energy-conservation tool.  There was a slot near the front door for the key card.  A card needed to be in the slot before lights or the television could be turned on.  I discovered that it didn’t matter what card was used for the switch — I’m guessing it was a manual connection switch in the slot somewhere.  I saw a stateroom host using a Sleep Inn keycard while cleaning a nearby stateroom, ha ha!

Using key cards to control room electricity is not new technology, I know.  It’s been commonplace in hotels in Europe and Asia for years.

4.) RFID Bands for the Kids’ Clubs

From MouseTalesTravel.com

Each child ages 3-10 who wants to participate in the Oceaneer Club or Oceaneer Lab kids’ clubs on the Disney Dream are outfitted with waterproof wristbands. Called “Mickey Bands”.  These two kids’ clubs together (they’re connected) offer over 10,000 square feet of playspace, covering everything from playground space to arts and crafts to interactive play. You may fit the children for the wristbands in the cruise terminal before boarding, at the registration temporary office as soon as your board, or any time during the cruise at the Kids’ Club check-in/check-out area (which I don’t recommend because there’s often a line of parents that you tend to hold up while the attendant is printing and fitting the wristband).

It seemed simple enough for the kids to tap their wrists to the gate to enter and exit. Very secure! You provide a password through the Disney website that approved adults can use to check out the kids from the secure areas.

NOTE: As a safety measure, the kids club policies changed significantly starting in January 2012. Whereas previously parents could freely participate with their children at any time, now the kids’ clubs offer “Open House” and “Secured” areas. If you desire your child to be at the kids’ clubs without parents present, they have to go to the “Secured” area and no other parents are allowed in. Only DCL child care employees. If the family desires to do the kids’ club activities together they can take advantage of “Open House” periods in 2-4 hour blocks throughout the cruise.

Another hidden feature of the RFID bands — the geeky part — is that in the kids’ club spaces, the wristband is transmitting what rooms you child travels to. This helps the counselors maintain their ratios and helps the parents quickly find their children when it’s pick-up time.

5.) The Automatic Hand Washing Machine!

It’s an automatic hand-washing machine! Before the kids entered the Oceaneer’s Club or Oceaneer’s Lab, their forearms were dunked into this machine for 30 seconds. Washed and rinsed!

Also in the kids’ club areas were these most-awesome machines. Automatic hand-washers! The kids simply stick their arms inside and the machine automatically starts. Water spirals around your hands and forearms, then soapy water, then another cycle of fresh water. All in about 25 seconds. Take out your arms and dry them off!

6.) The Amazing Cast

Unlike other cruise lines, families aboard Disney Cruise Line trips are assigned the same service team for dinner dining and stateroom care throughout the entire cruise.  This has both benefits and drawbacks.

Of course, a benefit is that you get to know several of the cast members.  This is great for the kids.  We had very friendly servers and the stateroom host was a sweetheart.  At the end of the cruise, you are presenting gratuities to the servers and stateroom host themselves, instead of their pooling the money.  Our boys learned quite a bit about Bulgaria from our assistant server, Dimi.  Dimi was relatively new and was practicing his Mickey-Mouse ears-shaped ketchup every night.

One of the drawbacks is that I could imagine if someone received substandard service (which wouldn’t be tolerated for long by Disney Cruse Lines, I’d imagine), you’re left with that server for the duration.  I didn’t see this, so let’s just hope this is purely hypothetical.

Meet Drenka from Peru and Dimi from Bulgaria, our dinnertime servers during our entire cruise.

If you’re celebrating while on board, stand back! Disney gives you several opportunities to tell them whether you’re getting married (there were several weddings during our cruise), celebrating an anniversary or birthday, or on a honeymoon. Since our youngest son was celebrating his 7th birthday during the cruise, they gave him a button to wear. Cast members left and right would say “Happy Birthday” to our son as we were walking throughout the ship and on Castaway Cay.

My youngest son was allowed to wear a “Happy Birthday” button during the cruise. Cast members were wishing him “Happy Birthday” constantly. Here, Jack Sparrow is wishing him Happy Birthday. Look at that face!  You can’t beat it!

7.) Disney Movies Galore at the Buena Vista Theater

Are there any Disney films in theaters while you’re sailing?  If so, you have several opportunities to see them during the cruise for no additional charge.

I was thrilled to see Beauty and the Beast 3D being offered but I didn’t get to see any movies during the cruise.  It’s tough debating what items to cut from the packed schedule.

Warhorse and The Muppets were also showing.  Other movies offered included The Help, Cars 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

8.) A Cruise Ship Tradition: Turn-Down Service, Disney Style

Anyone who’s been on a cruise vacation knows that the stateroom host makes up your room in the morning, and then during dinner he/she comes in and performs a “turn-down service”.  For our particular stateroom, this meant pulling the bunk bed down from the ceiling, laying out chocolates and leaving the kids a cool towel origami animal to enjoy.

Good night!

The bottom bunk is the couch with the back flipped down. The top bunk came down from the ceiling!

Stars and constellations of Peter Pan, Wendy and the other Darling children graced the kids’ top bunk.

How adorable is this? Sleepy Dwarf chocolates every night on our beds!

This is typical for most cruise lines: towel origami. But this is definitely the first time we had a monkey hanging from our ceiling!

Stay tuned for additional posts about our family trip aboard the Disney Dream. Coming soon, the Midship Detective Agency (and other biometrics), the Animator’s Palette, AquaDuck! and the stunning Disney art on the ship.

*The Disney Fantasy is currently undergoing sea trials in Europe and is scheduled for her first voyage in March 2012. Follow her upcoming journey across the Atlantic for her 28 February christening in Manhattan on Twitter.