Last Thursday night's christening event in New York City for Disney Cruise Line's newest ship, the Fantasy, was nothing short of spectacular. As the ship's godmother, Mariah Carey presided over the bottle-breaking ceremony that featured a giant confetti-filled champagne bottle facsimile. Surprise guest Jerry Seinfeld performed some hilarious stand-up as part of a presentation in the posh Walt Disney Theater that also included a sampling of scenes from the ship's Broadway-caliber shows. Guests were treated to dinner in one of the Fantasy's three main dining rooms. (By the luck of the draw -- so to speak -- I was fortunate enough to score a seat in Animator's Palate and got to see my hand-drawn character spring to animated life alongside Pinocchio and other toons in a delightful and highly intriguing bit of wizardry designed by Disney's Imagineers.) The evening ended with self-guided tours of the ship and after-party carousing in the Europa quintet of nightclubs.
But the highlight of the evening for me was my brief meeting with Neil Patrick Harris. The actor/singer/dancer/is-there-anything-he-can't-do-and-do-incredibly-well-er hosted the evening's show with great aplomb and performed an uproarious and cheeky song and dance number to the tune of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." I stalked, er, happened upon Harris walking along one of the ship's decks after dinner and was able to chat with him for a few moments. He is well known among park geeks like me (and you?) as a major coaster and park fan. (A piece of trivia you can use to dazzle your friends and family - or possibly make them question your sanity and disturbing degree of geekiness -- during your next Disney California Adventure visit: That's NPH's voice that riders hear just before their train launches on the California Screamin' coaster.) We talked about parks and the Disney Fantasy, and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
The ship is headed down to Florida and is set to take its inaugural cruise in early April. Based in Port Canaveral, the Fantasy will sail to the Caribbean for seven-night cruises. Read more about the Disney Fantasy.
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Photo (top): Arthur and NPH. Martha Levine, 2012. Licensed to About.com.
Photo (above): Mariah Carey, Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs, Disney President and CEO Robert Iger, and M. Mouse christen the Disney Fantasy. Arthur Levine, 2012. Licensed to About.com.
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