FantaSea: Magic Festival
The Academy of Magical Art that operates from the famous Hollywood clubhouse - the Magic Castle and The Queen Mary brought us last week the FantaSea: Magic Festival. The weekend-long festival featured various member magicians from the Academy of Magical Art to perform their tricks up close and personal.
This magic and illusion event was great for the entire family. Most of the tricks were smaller in size and many involve just a table and a deck of cards. The magicians were not only good at what they do but also great storytellers that tied everything together to make a very entertaining day on board the Queen Mary.
We were impressed by Karl Koppertop and Jon Armstrong who were very charismatic and carried the show nicely. Our kids really enjoyed Funny Eddie who was a former Ringling Brother and Barnum and Bailey Circus clown! The magicians were very interactive with the audience and did an excellent job amazing the audience.
There were 3 rooms that feature magician performing at different times from 12pm-6pm:
Secret Circle Study – Victoria Room
Wizard Alley – Royal Wedding Chapel
Hocus Pocus Parlor – Britannia Salon
Other activities can be found on the Enchanted Corridor at the Promenade Deck like Magic Vendor, Food Concessions & Bars, Face Painting & Body Art, Caricaturist, Super Cool Creamery that can be purchased at an extra cost. There were other activities that were free like the Virtual Reality and the Nintendo Switch stations. My kids and I had lots of fun playing The Unspoken - Virtual Reality Oculus Rift with Touch where you put on VR headsets and battle each other. The 1-2 Switch Wizard Game was a game using the new Nintendo Switch that was targeted to younger children.
This is a yearly event at the Queen Mary and a very good one for the entire family. If you ever decide to attend this event, my only suggestion is to really get there at 12pm when they start, that way you can take full advantage of all the shows and activities at different times throughout the day. You can also experience additional shows at night with master illusionist in an unforgettable evening starring World Famous, award-winning, celebrity magicians or experience an unforgettable night of magic and mystery while you enjoy a tantalizing 4-course dinner aboard the legendary Queen Mary. All the Evening shows are more suitable for the adult audience. It's a great option for a date night. Overall, this is a great event to take the kids between 12-6pm, especially if your kids love magic. We will definitely be going back next year.
*We received complimentary tickets to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.
