|
Disney Cruise Line and Disney’s Beach Resorts News Disney’s Vero Beach Resort (Florida) Disney’s Hilton Head Resort (South Carolina) Disney’s Aulani Resort (Hawaii)
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ---- (10/21/2024) Spike Coaster Still Part of Disney Adventure and More! (9/21/2024) The Disney Treasure Pulled Out To Begin Sea Trials (8/11/2024) Disney Cruise Line Confirms Another Four More Ships Are Being Added (7/4/2024) Disney Dream Adding New Items During Fall Refurbishment
Disney Cruise & Resort News -
General News - (8/11/2024) The Disney Cruise Line has confirmed that they have plans to add four more cruise ships to their fleet. There are currently 5 active ships in the fleet (Magic, Wonder, Dream, Fantasy and Wish), with four more already under construction to launch in the next few years. This would be the Disney Treasure (Dec. 2024), Disney Adventure in Singapore (2025) and Disney Destiny (late 2025), along with a fourth Wish class ship (formerly Triton class) said to be ordered by Disney’s Japanese partners, Oriental Land Company, which they hope to launch in Japan by 2028. Now on top of these 9 ships, Disney has just confirms plans to add four more, which will likely form a new design class. Look for this new class of ship to begin launching in phases between 2027 and 2031, which will see the Disney fleet grow to a total of 13 vessels. (7/4/2024) The Disney Dream is currently sailing around Europe for the summer, but following the completion of a 7-day cruise in early September, the Dream will go off-line for about 6 weeks for some refurbishment work, where some new changes will be taking place ahead of the planned nearly-two week trans-atlantic relocation cruise on Oct. 20th from the UK to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Oceaneer Club for younger guests will add the Marvel WEB Workshop, where they can test out new super-suit prototypes and undergo some training simulations under the guidance of a few visiting Avengers. For the tweens the Edge club will be moved to Deck 5 and add new features such as an outdoor deck, a ball pit, new games and a lounge/dance floor area. The funnel area formerly used by the Edge club will be fully transformed into an exclusive “Dream Tower Suite” room, themed around Sorcerer Mickey and Fantasia. Elsewhere look for renovations to the Dream’s spa area, a Hercules / Mt. Olympus inspired concierge lounge, and on Deck 11 look for a new Taco / Burrito quick service food location to be added. (Hey, who doesn’t love Tacos?) (11/22/2023) The Disney Cruise Line has now completed a second dedicated cruise terminal for their ships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With ever more ships to arrive in the fleet over the next few years, it was important to add a second dedicated terminal in addition to the original terminal in Port Canaveral. Follow the link to the Disney blog to catch a sneak peek at the inside of the new terminal. (11/13/2023) Disney has released a better time-table as to when the next ships will be launched for the Disney Cruise Line. The Maiden Voyage for the Disney Treasure is already set to take place on December 23, 2024. The Disney Adventure will launch in Singapore sometime during the 2025 Fiscal Year, and the yet-to-be-named third Wish class ship (formerly Triton class) will launch sometime during 2026 Fiscal Year. Meanwhile the new Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point private port-of-call will be ready for guests starting in June 2024.
Dec. 23, 2024 - Disney Treasure (2nd Disney Triton Class Ship) - (9/21/2024) The Disney Treasure has been floated out into open water for the first time this week, towed by tug boats down the river to the sea harbor from the Meyer Werft shipyard, to begin the vessels ‘sea trials’ testing before it is sent across the Atlantic to Florida for the Treasure’s first public cruise slated to take place in December. (6/30/2024) Disney has unveiled a new themed lounge coming to the Disney Treasure, which will be themed to the classic Disney animated film, The Aristocats, and will be named the Scat Cat Lounge, with the feel of an old-timey jazz music club. (3/2/2024) A key feature about coming to the new Disney Treasure cruise ship that has many fans very excited in the unique Haunted Mansion Parlor themed lounge area. In addition to the lounge offering a variety of uniquely themed and ‘creepy cocktails’ to taste while you relax and take in the new gothic decor, it seems that the lounge will also honor famed Disney Imagineering legend, Rolly Crump. A new themed bust sculpture of “Brother Roland” created in Crump’s image, complete with a candle-wax style melting face. This last bit is an homage to an unmade walk-through attraction Crump proposed to go in next to the Haunted Mansion at DIsneyland that would have been called the “Museum of the Weird”. The haunted parlor itself will come with its very own mythos, as it is said to be haunted by a ghostly ship Captain who had previously served as the Captain of a world-fairing ocean liner. The Haunted Mansion Parlor is just one of three themed lounges announced so far on the new Disney Treasure that will tie into famous Disney attraction themes! The vessel will also feature a “Skipper Society” themed lounge that ties into the mythos of the Jungle Cruise attraction and Jungle Skipper Canteen in the Magic Kingdom park. There will also be the “Periscope Pub”, another lounge area themed to Captain Nemo’s voyages with the former 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction.
(12/15/2023) The Disney Parks Blog has announced that the new Disney Treasure is now structurally complete ahead of the vessels launch into active service later in 2024. The latest milestone reached was the completion of the last block of the ship being installed, thus marking the completion of the ship’s structure. From here on it crews will be focused on finishing up all the various sections, systems and interior decor on the vessel. Things can always change of course, but the maiden voyage for the Disney Treasure is currently slated to take place in December 2024. (10/26/2023) The new Disney Treasure is getting something really unique… a full scale Haunted Mansion themed lounge area. Check out the concept video released by the Disney Cruise Line below while I try to figure out what it is going to take to see this “Haunted Mansion Parlor” for myself. WOW, and you can read up on more details about this at the Disney Parks Blog.
(9/10/2023) Details about the new Disney Treasure were unveiled this week, which is expected to launch with guests from Port Canaveral, Florida in December 2024. The sixth vessel in the Disney Cruise Line fleet will portray a theme about Adventure and feature areas themed to Disney films like Aladdin, Coco and Zootopia. The adventure starts with a new “theatrical dining experience” called Plaza de Coco which will feature tables surrounding a central stage. Two different performances will take place here on different nights, one featuring Miguel and his family on a colorful music journey while the other will see Miguel take his great-great-grandparents to Santa Cecilia for a Dia de los Muertos celebration. Passengers will enjoy Jumbeaux’s Sweets, an ice cream parlor from Zootopia that will feature 20 flavors of gelato, 16 flavors of ice cream, and other sorbets and sweet treats. The Treasure will also feature “Skipper Society”, a themed lounge area inspired by Disney’s Jungle Cruise attraction and Periscope Pub, another lounge inspired by Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction. Meanwhile the Treasure’s Grand Hall will be given theming inspired by the city of Agrabah from Aladdin, and look for two walk-up cafes nearby: Heihei Cafe (themed to Moana) and Jade Cricket Cafe (themed to Mulan). Meanwhile the vessel’s AquaMouse water coaster will feature a new cartoon theme called Curse of the Golden Egg. Other adventures included on the Treasure will be performances of Beauty and the Beast in the Walt Disney Theater, the Pirate’s Rockin’ Parlay Party after dark on the upper decks, and fun dining at Worlds of Marvel, 1923 and more. The first bookings on the Disney Treasure will open on September 20, 2023.
(4/16/2023) Last Fall the Disney Cruise Line confirmed the name of their next vessel to launch will be the Disney Treasure. Following the launch of the Disney Wish in 2022, the Treasure will be the second of three ‘Triton-Class’ ships to be launched by the Disney Cruise Line. No itineraries have been confirmed yet, but the Disney Treasure is expected to launch sometime in 2024. Unlike the brighter and more fairy tale look of the Wish, the Treasure is said to have taken different internal design inspirations from adventures in far-away lands like Asia and Africa… and the city of Agrabah from Aladdin. You will find a statue in the Grand Hall attached to the staircase features Aladdin and Jasmine on the Flying Carpet.
(9/22/22) Disney Cruise Line has begun to release a few details about their newest Cruise Ship to join the fleet in 2024… including the name: Disney Treasure. In addition to the name reveal they’ve also shown off a peek at the “Grand Hall” of the new vessel.
June 2024 - Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point - (6/10/2024) Disney Cruise Line has confirmed that the first guests have finally set foot ashore at their newest private beach resort, Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. You can catch some images and an insider’s review of the experience over at the Disney Park Blog. (5/4/2024) Disney has posted a quick update about the kind of entertainment offerings that Disney Cruise Line guests will find upon visiting the new Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point private beach port. (11/7/2023) The Disney Cruise Line has released new details about their new Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point port this week. This includes new concept art, a new restaurant on the island, shopping areas and an adults-only space called Serenity Bay. (9/11/2023) According to the latest updates from the Disney Cruise Line the new private beach resort under construction at Lighthouse Point now has an official name, “Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point”. The current construction timeline claims that the first guests who will get to set foot at the new resort will be from a 3-Night cruise on the Disney Magic departing on June 6, 2024 from Fort Lauderdale.
(3/10/2023) Disney Cruise Line has confirmed that their new Lighthouse Point private beach port of call in the Bahamas will be ready for guests by Summer 2024. As previously shown on Screamscape, during a non-Disney cruise I took last summer, we stopped for the day at Princess Cays private beach area, and I quickly noticed that Disney’s Lighthouse Point was already under construction on the southern tip of the same island. Disney has posted a series of new concept art images of Lighthouse Point, which will feature a number of themed building structures that will house dining and other amenities while on the island. There will be a water fortress style play structure for the kids to enjoy, a Little Mermaid inspired splash-pad, an exclusive adult-only beach area, cabanas and more. Also, in a major change, while guests to the island visiting Princess Cays have to tender from the ship to shore, Disney’s Lighthouse Point will make use of a large sea-dock for the cruise ships to use, allowing for quick and easy ship-to-shore access. (6/13/22) While taking a cruise on the Carnival Liberty last week, we stopped for a day at the Princess Cays private beach destination. While sailing in, I couldn't help but notice a rather large construction project taking place a few miles away along the southern shore of the island. This appeared to involve a very large crane on shore, another floating unit out in the ocean and a series of very visible pilings extending from the shore out into the ocean to the floating unit. Visually it looked like they were trying to create a long pier structure, possibly one big enough to dock a cruise ship. This stuck out to me at the time because to visit Princess Cays you have to travel by Tender Boat from the ship to the shore, as opposed to our other port-of-call in Nassau where the ship parked at a dock. Then I remember the pre-COVID announced plans from Disney Cruise Line to build a second “private” destination called Lighthouse Point, and this matched up exactly as the location. I managed to get one picture of the construction taking place from where our ship was positioned by Princess Cays and based the early layout plans Disney had released, this does appear to be work to build a very extended access pier out from the shoreline to a larger “ship berth” structure positioned in the deeper water. While much of the actual beach resort features will be buit on the south and eastern side of the southern tip of the island, it is interesting that Disney will be docking their ships within easy viewing from Princess Cays. So while each “Beach Resort” will of course be exclusive to each cruise line company, the illusion of having the island all to yourself will be lost. Of course, illusion is also the key word here, as both resorts are part of the Eleuthera / Harbor Island destination in the Bahamas that has two international airports for guests who wish to fly in to visit the rest of the island that you are not allowed to see while visiting by cruise ship. (2/5/20) The Disney Cruise Line has posted a new website and video to show off their plans for “Lighthouse Point”, another exclusive Bahama island stop (Eleuthera) for the Disney Cruise Line. Lighthouse Point will serve as a complement to Castaway Cay as the Disney Cruise Line fleet expands in the coming years. WDI’s Joe Rohde can be seen in the video below as the creative force overseeing this project as he explains a bit more about their plans for the site.
(3/14/19) According to this article the Disney Cruise Line has completed the purchase of a second destination in the Bahamas for the growing cruise line. Disney has purchased a piece of property known as “The Lighthouse Point” on the island of Eleuthera, with the Bahamas government entering into a deal for future development of the property. According to Disney, the development of the 700-acre property will be somewhere between $250 and $400 million, with a side deal for Disney to donate the 190-acre southernmost tip of the island back to the government as a national park. Currently the Disney Cruise Line vessels stop at the private Castaway Cay island location.
2025 - Disney Adventure to Launch from Singapore - (10/21/2024) Disney has revealed more details about the new Disney Adventure cruise ship that will bring the Disney Cruise Line to the Asian marketplace, starting with voyages from Singapore in December 2025. Readers who have been following this story know that the Disney Adventure was originally under construction for the Genting company during the pandemic and was known as the Global Dream. Facing dire financial issues during the pandemic, Genting wasn’t able to finish paying for the ship, so the Disney Cruise Line was able to pick up the ship that was said to be around 80% complete at a fraction of the cost, and then piled more into the vessel to have it redesigned to their specifications. Perhaps the most well known feature of the Global Dream that was promoted ahead of the time was that it would feature a powered roller coaster to run a round the top deck of the ship. Much like the Carnival Cruise Line’s “Bolt” coasters on the Mardi Gras and Jubilee, the Global Dream would employee the exact same ride system from Maurer Rides for their vessel. Once Disney purchased the ship however, the rumor was that the coaster attraction was going to be scrapped before it could be installed, and all of the initial concept art of the ship, renamed as the “Disney Adventure” failed to show any sign of the coaster along the top deck. Until now… the latest announcements from the Disney Cruise Line now clearly promote the 820 foot long powered coaster ride experience as the “Ironcycle Test Run”. Other Disney themed attractions have also been added such as the Ant-Man inspired “Pym Quantum Racers” and a Guardians of the Galaxy themed spinning flat ride to be called the Groot Galaxy Spin. Oh, for those keeping track, the 820 foot long Ironcycle Test Run coaster will be the longest coaster at sea, surpassing the two Carnival Cruise Line ‘Bolt’ attractions length of 721.8 feet. Check out the link above and images below showing off many of the new features announced for the Disney Adventure.
(6/29/2024) Disney Cruise Lines has finally shared some details about what guests can expect to find aboard their most unique vessel, the DIsney Adventure, when it sets sail from Singapore starting next year. As well documented on Screamscape, the Disney Adventure started out as a vessel designed and built for Genting’s cruise line, to be called the Global Dream. The massive ship was even going to feature a roller coaster across the top decks, similar to The Bolt coaster that premiered on Carnival’s Mardi Gras. While the vessel was under construction the pandemic hit and Genting found themselves unable to pay to finish the mostly complete Global Dream, giving Disney the rare opportunity to swoop in and pick-up the nearly complete vessel at a discount price, while it was still in a state when they would be able to make some sweeping changes to the design and layout of the vessel in order to transform it into the Disney Adventure. The first batch of announcements regarding what guests will see aboard the Adventure mention that the ship will be divided into seven themed areas:
Disney Imagination Garden - An enchanted valley inspired by 100-years of Disney stories that will also be used as a gathering and performance space on an open-air stage. Disney Discovery Reef - Travel down to the ocean floor to explore the worlds of The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Lilo’s & Stitch and Luca, featuring both shopping and dining adventures. San Fransokyo Street - Inspired by the imaginary world of Big Hero 6, featuring entertainment, interactive games, shops and more. Wayfinder Bay - Come to a poolside retreat at “the line where the sky meets the sea”. Town Square - A forest themed area filled with shops, cafes, restaurants, entertainment and lounge spaces, inspired by the worlds of Tangled, Cinderella, Frozen, Snow White and The Princess and the Frog. Marvel Landing - featuring Marvel Avengers level adventure and thrilling attractions, and a mystery “all-new experience” await. Toy Story Place - Where the smaller kids can meet and hang out with all of Andy’s toys in a fun filled and interactive water play zone that also has fun themed food options nearby.
No further details were released at this time, including the planned 3 and 4 night itineraries, but they do promise that the Disney Adventure will offer special experiences created just for the Southeast Asia market.
(9/9/2023) The Disney Cruise Line has confirmed that their newest vessel will be named ‘Disney Adventure” and set-sail from Singapore and travel throughout Southeast Asia. Other than the official name of the vessel, nothing more was revealed about what experiences will be offered inside. The Disney Adventure is currently finishing construction in the MV Werften shipyard in Germany and is expected to be ready to sail sometime in 2025. As we’ve previously mentioned on Screamscape, the vessel was originally commissioned as the “Global Dream” by another cruise and was 75% complete when the original company was unable to provide the remainder of the financing needed to complete it due to the pandemic. On the verge of being scrapped, Disney was able to purchase the vessel as-is for just $42 million, along with a contract to fund and redesign the vessel to fit the Disney Cruise Line standards at an estimated cost of $900+ million. This would include dramatic changes to the size of the passenger rooms, as the original configuration was meant to accommodate 9,000 passengers, while the revised plan for the Disney Adventure was said to have lowered this down to just 6,000 passengers. (12/18/2022) TheDisneyBlog has posted an interesting update to the story about how Disney Cruise Line has purchased the unfinished Global Dream vessel at a heavy discount. The Global Dream was on the verge of being scrapped, despite being 75% complete, as the original owner found themselves unable to complete the funding for the ship’s build due to the impact of the pandemic on their business earnings. According to the update, Disney Cruise Lines was able to negotiate the purchase of the mostly completed vessel for a meager $42 million, far less than what Disney would spend on a major E-Ticket attraction at their theme parks. Of course Disney will also have to fully fund the completion of the vessel, which will include adjustments and modifications to make it fit the Disney Cruise Line standards. The expected cost to complete the former Global Dream as a Disney Cruise Line vessel is expected to be somewhere north of $900 million. The planned reworking of the ship will likely include bigger/better guest accomidations, as the previous press releases for Global Dream stated it would be able to accommodate 9,000 passengers, but Disney’s announcement has lowered this number to just 6,000 passengers. Screamscape had also previously reported on the Global Dream back in 2019, as it was announced to feature their own version of the powered Maurer’s Spike Coaster system across the top deck in similar fashion to Carnival’s Mardi Gras, Celebration and upcoming Jubilee vessels where it is marketed as BOLT - The Sea Coaster. So far Disney has not announced what features will be present on the vessel once they re-brand it as a Disney Cruise Line ship, but when it was announced as the “Global Dream” it featured a virtual amusement park across the top decks. So far the only artwork of the vessel from the Disney Cruise Line look applied definitely does not show a roller coaster sitting across the top deck, but it also doesn’t show any kind of AquaDuck or AquaMouse waterslide either, which has been the trend for Disney branded vessels. So it looks like Disney may be keeping some secrets close to the vest for the time being regarding what additional “play” features may be on the vessel when they are ready to launch it into the international cruise market in 2025.
(11/18/22) As rumored, Disney Cruise Lines has confirmed that they have completed their plan to acquire the cruise ship formerly known as the Global Dream. The Global Dream, already well under way at a ship-yard in Germany, will be redesigned and re-branded to fit as a new Disney Cruise Line vessel. Don’t look for this new ship to sail the usual routes that the other Disney Cruise Line ships do, instead this new vessel will be based to operate outside of the United States area.
2025 - Disney Destiny (3rd Disney Triton Class Ship) - (3/20/2024) Disney Cruise Line has announced the name of their next ship, slated to set sail in 2025. This last of the three Triton Class vessels will be named the “Disney Destiny” and will have a central theme of Disney Heroes and Villains. The designers say that they are inspired by the duality concept of light and darkness and how they can bring that out in the latest design.
|