Today's Orlando Sentinel had a very interesting article that should be of interest to visitors to Epcot. If fact the information was sort of a revelation to me, as I've lived here 20 years and have never heard of these "secret" boat trips to view the Magic Kingdom fireworks or Epcot's IllumiNationss. Here is the complete link to the article <http://tinyurl.com/2yvthq>.

If you are reading this several months later and the link has expired, here is how you find out all the details, according to the Sentinel: These outings could be considered hidden gems. They're tucked away on the company Web site (disney world.com) under "more magic" and "specialty cruises."

The major disadvantage seems to be that you need a group of ten to make it work.

The disboards.com has an ongoing thread of how to book the illuminations cruise and how find one to share. It currently has 1,552 replies and 178,433 views of the thread.

Happy planning!

These cruises are very popular and very expensive. We have done one, and it was wonderful! I'm now thinking of booking one for our Christmas trip. One word of caution: they do book very, very quickly. Make sure you know the date you can call to reserve a cruise, or check out disboards.com for the possiblity of sharing a cruise.

Oh, you do NOT need to have 10 people to book a cruise. Ten is the max number of people allowed on the pontoons. If you are sharing with other people or groups, then adding up to 10 people is a way to save a little money.

Thank you VERY much for posting this! I think it would be great for my mom's birthday!

Oops, hit reply too soon.

It sounds as though it's $275 for a boat, and it can hold up to 10 people. So if we had 5 people, it would be $275 - and you do not have to pay park admission (although you also can't go in the parks on land). Actually, that is not that bad!