By far, our favorite Pixar Day at Sea activity was “Pixar Storytellers at Sea.” During each sailing, a special Pixar guest presents a seminar about their career. For our inaugural sailing, Bob Peterson, Pixar animator, writer, director, and voice actor shared stories. I love hearing creative folks talk about the inspiration for their work, and Bob Peterson held everyone in rapt attention, particularly as he demonstrated voices from famous Pixar characters such as Roz (“Monsters, Inc.”), Mr. Ray (“Finding Nemo”), and Dug (the dog from “Up”). Peterson was incredibly passionate, authentic, and honest about his career, and I appreciated that the Disney Cruise Line team offered a Pixar activity particularly aimed at the adults. A special guest from Pixar Studios is scheduled to attend every Pixar Day at Sea cruise.
The Inaugural Pixar Day at Sea ended with two parties on deck: Pixar Pals Celebration (7:30 – 8 p.m.) and An Incredible Deck Party: Celebrate the Supers! (10:15 – 10:45 p.m.). Personally, I loved the Pixar Pals Celebration. This show offered a chance to see all the Pixar friends who appeared throughout the day in one high-energy dance party – and Dug, the dog from “Up!” stole the show with his overly-enthusiastic tail-wagging.
The Incredibles deck party also had its moments, particularly the first appearance of Violet and Dash on screen and an adorable Jack-Jack puppet. However, the show relied a little too heavily on a video projected on the huge funnel-vision screen that caused the crowd energy to wane. That being said, the energy picked up again for the concluding fireworks show set to Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack to “The Incredibles.”