LOOKOUT CAY AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Bahamas -- I wish someone had warned me that the trek to reach Disney Cruise Line's new private destination was so long.
Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point on the island of Eleuthera had just opened and I was cruising on the Disney Magic with a mix of paying guests, media and trade to become among the first to experience it. The destination promised water play areas for kids, pristine beaches and an embrace of Bahamian culture, including food, parades and dance.
This cultural embrace sounded like a new type of private island experience for a cruise line's private port of call.
But it took some work to get there. This adventure required a half-mile walk on a pier under the blazing Bahamas sun, followed by waiting with a crowd to ride a 10-minute tram to reach the main area of the park.
I was traveling with a friend and her two young children. This pier walk was a struggle and we were not mentally prepared. After a while, other kids walking the pier around us cried as we made our way. My friend's youngest, a 5-year-old boy with autism, was miserable and needed to be carried, making his mom miserable, too. I clocked the walk at .55 miles from just outside the ship to the main gate.
We arrived at a crowded tram station and eventually squeezed into two open seats with the kids on our laps and waited for the 10-minute ride to reach the private destination we were all looking forward to.
Related:Conservation is a focal point at Disney's Lookout Cay
The new pier stretches a bit more than a half mile to reach the island of Eleuthera. Photo Credit: Andrea Zelinsky
My guests were wiped. But moods improved once the trolley began moving, streaming in some wind as the kids enjoyed the voices narrating our ride and what we would see at Lookout Cay, starring Sandy the sand crab and Lizzy the Lizard, making it one of my 7-year-old guests' favorite parts of the day.
We arrived at heart of Lookout Cay almost 40 minutes after leaving the ship. We quickly secured a free plastic red wagon for the kids and began to navigate the park, which lacked clear directional signage, although one employee told me they were working on that.
Having done a lot of moving in the hot sun, the family was ready to find a place to settle down. The youngest of the two children, who is big on animals, loved spotting fish as he swam on the beach. The oldest loved the waterslides on the Rush Out Gush Out water play area, telling me the slide was eight regular seconds (or "four Mississippi seconds") long and complete with a pretty blue color inside.
There was ample lawn chair access in much of the park, and just enough lounge chairs in the beach section, which were largely holding belongings while people swam or sat near the water.
First look at Disney's Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point
As my friend and her family cooled off in the water and made friends, I wandered to check out the entertainment, including the "Fun in the Sun Beach Bash," which was neither in the sun nor on the beach. It was under a shaded pavilion and a respite from the heat as Disney characters such as Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale danced and hosted kids' games like limbo, a pineapple ring toss and a game where kids passed several sponges soaked with water to their neighbor in hopes the last kiddo had enough water left in the sponge to squeeze into a bucket.
The main event was "Rush! A Junkanoo Celebration," which began with a parade playing the song "Apples and Bananas" and other children's songs. With several Disney characters decked out in colorful Bahamian outfits leading the way, the parade culminated with Junkanoo music and lively dances in elaborate Junkanoo costumes in the Goombay open-air cultural center, paying homage to the national Bahamian celebration.
En route to returning to my guests, I set out to order some mocktails and narrowly arrived before the 3:30 p.m. closing time, as the crew members manning the bars needed to return to the ship, which had an all-aboard time of 6 p.m.
My friend began to worry as that time neared. Her youngest had fallen asleep on her chest and she knew we had a tram ride plus a half-mile walk across the pier to get back to the ship, along with her beach bag and 7-year-old in tow. After the tram, she caught a ride with cabana guests on a small driving cart. A Disney Cruise Line spokeswoman later said carts will regularly be available at the end of the day to pick up people who could use a lift.
Once we returned to the ship and were greeted by air conditioning, the memories of our trying commutes faded. But my friend said she wouldn't walk the pier again. While a DCL spokeswoman told me a tram on the pier is not feasible, guests who do not believe they can make the walk from the boat to the mainland can request a ride from guest services the day of the Lookout Cay port call, just like they can at any other port. However, Disney wants the vast majority of guests to do the walk.
The kids had already blocked the sweaty commute from their brains and were latching onto the memories of the fun they had at the beach and the splash pad and making new friends.