My Thoughts on Lighthouse Point at Lookout Cay

Lighthouse Point at Lookout Cay

I finally got to see the newest private island for Disney Cruise Line. I had very high hopes for this private island due to how good Castaway Cay is. I tried to avoid videos and any spoilers on social media. Here are my raw feelings on the newest private island for Disney Cruise line.

 The one thing that I couldn’t help but see because it was on every social media to ever exist was the dock length to get to the island. I would like to agree with everyone on social media. This is a long skinny stretch of uncovered concrete that has limited theming. My girlfriend, who is all about Universal had some things to say about this which I liked to mess with her about how Epic Universe has no shade anywhere. Unfortunately, I would agree with her that this walk isn’t great, and I can understand why people would not like it. Especially during the summertime as this walkway is uncovered and you are just teased with crystal clear water on both sides of you. There are a few speakers along the way playing music but this walkway is pretty bare. I think Coco Kay has a walk to its island but there is shade, there are photographers taking pictures, there is a huge water park and hot air balloon to look upon, so it doesn’t feel as long. For this to be uncovered with limited theming seems to be a miss by Disney standards. They have the knowledge of queues and how we can play tricks on our brain by adding stimulation to make the wait time feel easier. They don’t even try. It is a 10-minute walk that I can understand why some people have issues with it. Especially because this is a FAMILY cruise line that makes the parents pull a wagon for half a mile just to get to the trams just to get to the island.

The walk doesn’t even get you to the activities. It gets the cabana people to their cabanas but not the regular crowd. They have to board a train for travel a little over 5 minutes to get to the beach. Disney has recreated the hassle of traveling to the Magic Kingdom in the Caribbean. I thought this was a perfect comparison because after the walk, there is a tram ride, and then a smaller walk to finally get to the beach.

Once at the beach… During my trip at least. The beach was closed for the first five hours of being docked there, leaving two hours to swim in red flags. With the beach being closed, there was a splash pad, food, stores, and the nature trails. Due to this, the splash pad was INSANE. There was only one little area for the kiddos and it was slammed packed.

Walking around the private island, on top of the walkways it felt like I was at Volcano Bay with no water slides. Even some of the architecture reminded me of the Volcano Bay buildings.

When the beach did open, I swam a little bit and immediately fell over a huge rock in the water where I sliced my hand on, so this was not my favorite swimming on a private island. Followed closely by Virgin’s private island experience where I got stung by a jellyfish. There are no fun snorkel areas like at Castaway Cay, but I am willing to brush that off due to the recency of this island opening. Right now, it feels like Castaway Cay is Disneyland, and Lookout Cay is opening day California Adventure. I couldn’t imagine how this island would be from a different ship’s capacity. Luckily for us, we were on the Magic instead of the Wish.

The food was a typical type for a private island. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ice cream and others. There was jambalaya at one of the stands which is a nice option to have. The plantain chips I had were practically inedible.

There was a fun Junkanoo Celebration that goes through the island that of course had Mickey and Minnie in costume leading this. It was high energy and fun to watch them go through a portion of the island.

After we ate, swam a little, and mostly sat on the beach. I loved sitting in a beach chair right by where the tide was hitting. The day was coming to a close and we had another tram ride, and another half mile walk back to the boat. I wasn’t looking forward to this walk.

Overall, this private island experience was very low on my list of cruise line private islands. It felt more like an attractionless water park than a full private island experience. Closing the beach for the regular guests but keeping it open for the cabana guests is a tough pill to swallow but I can understand the guest safety aspect. It was a small inconvenience more than anything. The half-mile bridge to the tram station is not great, it is uncovered and unthemed. The tram ride is several minutes long and mandatory, you can’t even see your ship from the beach, which is also one of my favorite views and elevate a private island. The food was mediocre, and the activities were light. This is close to the bottom if not the bottom of the private island pool I am sad to say.