As a first voyage draws nearer, Disney has unveiled more details about its upcoming fifth cruise liner, Disney Wish. The ship will house the first ever Disney attraction at sea, the AquaMouse, as well as six pools, fine dining, original theater productions, fireworks, a Marvel superhero academy for kids, an adults-only Star Wars lounge for adults and an Incredibles-themed obstacle course for families.
The Disney Wish cruise ship, which Disney is calling its “castle on the sea,” sets sail on its maiden voyage on July 14 after being delayed from June 9 due to the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Here’s everything to know about the Disney Wish.
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Disney Wish activities for kids, families and even babies
As expected from a Disney vacation, there are multiple options to help keep the kids entertained, whether young or young at heart. Here’s what’s new on Disney Wish:
- Hero Zone: An active play area, it’ll be a fully enclosed and air-conditioned sports arena. It’ll include events like the Incredi-Games, a family game show featuring obstacle courses inspired by The Incredibles, and Jack-Jack’s Incredible Diaper Dash, a crawling race for babies.
- Royal Picnic with Olaf: Families with kids between the ages of 3 and 12 can join Frozen characters Olaf, Anna, Elsa and Kristoff on a summertime picnic in Arendelle, complete with live performances of Let It Go, In Summer, Reindeers Are Better Than People and Fixer Upper. Kids will be given keepsakes like troll plush toys, a picnic blanket and an Arendelle mandolin.
- Marvel superhero academy: An onboard Avengers headquarters as part of the Oceaneer Club for kids.
- Fairytale Hall: This area will include Belle’s Library, Anna and Elsa’s summer house and Rapunzel’s art class.
- Imagineering classes: Where kids can learn how to design their own roller coaster.
Disney’s first onboard ride
The AquaMouse attraction will feature a new animated Mickey Mouse short called Scuba Scramble. A 760-foot water slide will take you all around the top deck and includes interactive water elements, audio, video, lighting, show scenes and special effects. Disney says you’ll be on an adventure to a mermaid lagoon.
Also on the top deck are the Toy Story Splash Zone, six pools, and casual dining in the Mickey and Friends district.
Shows and entertainment on the Disney cruise liner
Disney will have a wide range of entertainment offerings on its fifth cruise liner. Here’s what we know:
- The Walt Disney Theater: The main theater will showcase an Aladdin musical that includes a new song for Jasmine; an original production of The Little Mermaid including projections and puppetry; and an embarkation day show with Captain Minnie, Goofy, Tiana, Elsa, Merida, Moana, Hercules, Nemo, Crush, Squirt and more Disney and Pixar characters.
- Luna: Described by Disney as day-to-night entertainment, this area will resemble an “enchanted fairytale village” with decor based on Pixar short La Luna. It’ll be used to host Villains Game Night, a trivia night featuring Disney’s favorite villains; Disney Songbook, a karaoke-style event; and Disney Uncharted Adventure, an interactive experience using phones with augmented reality to battle a villain.
- A game show called Who’s Behind the Curtain.
- Disney Princess meet and greets.
- Fireworks at sea.
- Pirate deck party hosted by Captain Redd from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, with an appearance by Captain Jack Sparrow.
Fine dining, dessert bars, lounges and restaurants
Disney Wish is also leaning into Pixar movies, with a new candy store unveiled Feb. 17. Inside Out: Joyful Sweets will have Pixar-inspired desserts including 40 flavors of handmade gelato and ice cream, as well as whipped cream, fruit compotes, candy, macarons, cake pops, cupcakes themed after the five major emotions, truffles, cookies, brownies, chocolate Memory Orbs and other treats. The store will look like the emotion control center inside of Riley’s mind in the movie Inside Out, complete with statues of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger, and lighting fixtures that look like memory orbs.
The Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge is an adults-only area. Designed to look like a luxury spaceship, the lounge will serve space-themed drinks (we imagine those will be similar to the alcoholic drinks served at Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney World). It’ll feature views from the screen “windows” showing Star Wars locales like Tattooine, Batuu and Mustafar, much like on Disney World’s new Star Wars resort, the Galactic Starcruiser.
Disney Wish will have three new family restaurants:
- Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure, which’ll serve foods with a Nordic influence and include character performances while you eat. The restaurant invites you to attend the engagement celebration of Anna and Kristoff.
- Worlds of Marvel, an interactive dining experience where you’ll be served African foods to represent Wakanda, Eastern European cuisine as an homage to Sokovia and dining options from New York City, where the Avengers are headquartered. It’ll include an interactive show featuring Ant-Man and the Wasp, called Avengers: Quantum Encounter.
- 1923, which is themed out as a 1920s Hollywood experience representing Walt Disney’s heyday and serving a California fusion menu.
There’ll also be a food hall called Marceline Market, with 10 food stalls themed after movies including Tangled, Zootopia, Alice in Wonderland and Ratatouille; and Mickey and Friends Festival of Foods for quick bites.
The new Disney cruise liner will feature three adult-exclusive dining options inspired by Beauty and the Beast: The Rose lounge; Palo Steakhouse, with a theme inspired by Cogsworth; and Enchanté, with food created by chef Arnaud Lallement and decor inspired by Lumiere, the singing candelabra. Other adults-only spaces include the Key & Compass pub, Nightingale’s piano bar and The Bayou, a New Orleans Princess and the Frog-themed lounge.
Disney Wish Cruise: How to book, what’s the cost and what the rooms are like
Bookings are now open online, with the maiden voyage set for July 14, 2022. The first journey will be followed by a season of three- and four-night cruises to Disney’s new private island, Castaway Cay, Nassau and Bahamas, departing from Port Canaveral, Florida.
The cost of a three-night cruise on Disney Wish starts at $1,745 for two guests in an inside room. An ocean-view room is priced from $1,925 while a verandah room starts at $2,153 and a concierge room costs $4,313. Three-night Halloween cruises start at $2,074 and “Very Merrytime” holiday cruises start at $2,116.
A four-night cruise is priced from $2,235 for an inside room for two adults, $2,483 for an ocean-view room, $2,787 for a verandah room and $5,723 for a concierge room. Four-night Halloween cruises are priced from $2,718 and holiday cruises from $2,886.
The ship has capacity for 4,000 passengers, with the higher-priced options to feature storybook-inspired themes. Staterooms will be decorated after fairy tale characters like Cinderella and Ariel, with custom artwork displayed. If you really want to splash out, you can reserve a two-story royal suite, which includes a spiral staircase and stained glass artwork.
The most exclusive room on board the ship is the 1,966-square-foot Wish Tower Suite. The room is set in the forward funnel of the Disney Wish and is Moana themed, with two main bedrooms, a children’s room, four and a half bathrooms, a dining room, a wet bar and a library. The two-story suite is decorated with custom art, props and sculptures.