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We are now just days away from finding out a LOT more about the Disney Believe.

 The livestream event, which is being broadcast from Disney Wish, is scheduled to start at 4:30 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.

DCL has not sepcified exactly what we are going to learn but hopefully there will be news about the homeport, itineraries, new venues and entertainment.

Disney gave us a big new reveal at D23. But there are so many more details we are still waiting for.

We now know what the Grand Hall will look like, who is on the stern and who is on the bow. But there are still some enormous questions.

What happens with the rotational dining restaurants? What will the new Broadway-style show be?

What replaces — or perhaps reimagines — Haunted Mansion Parlor? And where do Snow White, Pixar, Frozen and The Little Mermaid fit?

I have some theories. Although the more I think about it, the less convinced I am that Disney will follow the exact formula we are expecting.

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What We Now Know About Disney Believe

Disney Believe is the ninth ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet and the fourth Wish-class ship, joining Disney Wish, Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny.

She is being built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany and is scheduled to debut in late 2027. Disney describes the theme of the ship as being about promise, possibility and what lies beyond the horizon.

At D23, Disney revealed that the Grand Hall will be inspired by Moana, with a bronze statue of Moana, Pua and Heihei as its centrepiece.

This feels absolutely perfect for a ship built around the idea of believing in yourself and looking beyond the horizon. Although, as usual, it isn’t difficult to fit existing Disney assets into the general themes that DCL announces for its ships these days.

We also know that Woody and Buzz Lightyear will appear on the stern, working together to write the Disney Believe’s name using enormous yellow crayons, while Tinker Bell will be the bow character, surrounded by silhouettes of characters from Peter Pan.

So we now have:

Grand Hall – Moana
Stern – Woody and Buzz
Bow – Tinker Bell

But there is still an awful lot we don’t know.

Disney has specifically talked about Encanto, Frozen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Moana and The Little Mermaid as stories that will help shape the new venues and entertainment aboard Disney Believe.

The teaser material has also shown characters from Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Monsters, Inc., Tangled and Peter Pan.

And I think we need to stop assuming that all of those clues fit neatly into the pattern we have seen on the other Wish-class ships.

They might not.

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What If We’re Looking at the Restaurants the Wrong Way?

My initial thought was that Moana would be the third rotational restaurant. It makes sense. The music is perfect for an entertainment dining experience, the Polynesian setting would be beautiful and the food possibilities are obvious.

But Moana now has the Grand Hall.

Does that rule out a Moana restaurant? Absolutely not. Disney could decide that Moana is the story that provides the overall thread for Disney Believe and use it in more than one major space.

But perhaps we are asking the wrong question.

We’ve become used to thinking that 1923 and Worlds of Marvel stay and the third restaurant changes. What if Disney Believe doesn’t do that?

What if Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure comes back?

And actually, I wouldn’t mind that at all – although I know that many would.

There is a lot that is good about Arendelle, but really, DCL got the design of that restaurant fundamentally wrong. Great idea to have the stage in the middle, but not so great that most people can’t see it.

Arendelle is one of the strongest dining experiences on the Disney Wish. Frozen is one of the stories Disney has specifically mentioned for Disney Believe, and there is no rule saying Disney has to create three completely new rotational restaurants.

But would they really bring back Arendelle? This would probably be a really unpopular move. The expectation is that this restaurant is going to be different, so maybe a safer bet is a Moana themed rotational dining experience.

Which brings me to the restaurant I really hope does change.

Worlds of Marvel.

Please Disney. We really don’t need Worlds of Marvel again.

It has already appeared on the Wish, Treasure and Destiny. By the time Believe launches, I think we will have seen enough of it.

One of the biggest challenges Disney is going to have as the fleet expands is giving people a reason to sail on all these different ships, and repeating the same restaurant for a fourth time isn’t going to help.

So perhaps the surprise isn’t that the Frozen restaurant changes at all.

Perhaps Marvel goes.

And if it does, suddenly there is room for something much more interesting.

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Could We Finally Get a Pixar Restaurant?

This is probably more wishful thinking than prediction, but I would absolutely love to see this.

Woody and Buzz are already confirmed for the stern, and the teasers have included Inside Out and Monsters, Inc. Disney is clearly not ignoring Pixar on this ship.

So what if the replacement for Worlds of Marvel is a Pixar restaurant?

Not necessarily a Toy Story restaurant or an Inside Out restaurant. I am thinking something broader.

Something that takes us back to the feeling of Animator’s Palate.

Animator’s Palate remains one of the things I love about the older Disney ships because it isn’t simply a restaurant based on one IP.

It celebrates Disney animation itself, and the room actually feels as though it belongs on a Disney ship rather than being a restaurant that could theoretically exist in a theme park.

I’d love to see Disney revisit that idea for a new generation, but this time with Pixar.

Imagine a restaurant celebrating Pixar movies and the process of bringing those worlds to life. Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Up, Ratatouille, Inside Out, WALL-E — there is so much to work with.

The room could transform throughout dinner, perhaps moving through different Pixar worlds rather than telling one fixed story.

It could have that same sense of progression that made Animator’s Palate so special, but using technology that simply wasn’t available when the original restaurant was created.

Would Disney do it? I don’t know.

But Arendelle ( or even a Moana restaurant) + 1923 + a new Pixar restaurant would be a much more interesting line-up to me than seeing Worlds of Marvel yet again.

And if Disney still wants Moana as an entertainment dining experience, that remains very possible too. There are a lot more combinations here than I initially thought.

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My Safest Prediction: Encanto Will Be the New Stage Show

This is probably the prediction I feel most confident about.

Encanto seems made for the Walt Disney Theatre.

It already has an ensemble cast, huge musical numbers, family conflict, comedy, emotion and a score by Lin-Manuel Miranda. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” alone could be an enormous theatre moment, and then you have “The Family Madrigal”, “Surface Pressure”, “What Else Can I Do?” and “Waiting on a Miracle.”

That last song seems particularly appropriate for a ship called Disney Believe.

And just imagine what Disney could do with Casita on stage. Moving staircases, magical doors, Isabela’s flowers spreading across the set, Luisa’s huge set pieces and the house itself cracking apart and eventually rebuilding.

I originally thought Encanto might be the obvious choice for the new restaurant. Now I think it would be a shame not to give it the full Walt Disney Theatre treatment.

So Encanto is my safe bet for the new show.

The bigger question is what happens with the other theatre production.

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I Don’t Think We’re Getting Two New Shows

I would love to be wrong about this.

But I really can’t see Disney creating two completely new Broadway-style productions for Disney Believe.

Encanto seems likely to be the big new one, and then I suspect we will get a returning show alongside it.

That could be Frozen, The Little Mermaid or perhaps Moana.

Frozen is perhaps the least obvious because this show is already on Disney Wonder and Disney Fantasy.

The Little Mermaid is another possibility, particularly because Disney has specifically mentioned the movie in connection with Believe.

Moana could also work, although now that she has the Grand Hall and potentially another presence elsewhere on the ship, I wonder whether Disney will want something different in the theatre.

Personally, though, I would love Disney to do something else entirely.

I’d really like to see a proper Disney variety show again.

Something more like The Golden Mickeys.

One of the things I loved about that show was that it wasn’t tied to one film. It celebrated Disney as a whole and gave you music and characters from all over the Disney catalogue.

With all these new ships becoming increasingly IP-specific, I think there is room for a show that simply celebrates Disney.

Imagine a modern Golden Mickeys-style production using the technology available in the Walt Disney Theatre now. Classic Disney, Pixar, newer animation, perhaps even some park music — something that feels like it could only exist on a Disney cruise.

Would I love it? Yes.

Do I think it’s going to happen?

Probably not.

Encanto plus one or two repeated productions feels much more likely.

Where Will Frozen Fit In?

Frozen has featured in all the teasers so there has to be some significant space for Anna, Elsa and friends.

I have already suggested that maybe Arendelle could be back, but I think this would be a highly unpopular move. Frozen as another stage show is also unlikely.

Possibly The Tower Suite or The Royal Suites.

However, I have to say that I have very little interest in what themes the Royal Suites and The Tower Suites are.

I am not likely to ever stay in these spaces and these really are for such a small section of Disney cruise fans.

They are a “nice to see” from what will be the endless streams of influencers being shown round for the previews. But really they aren’t very interesting to the majority of guests.

Now what would be interesting is a Frozen themed bar. You could even have an ice bar.

However, much as I would love this, I doubt it will happen.

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Nightmare Before Christmas – The New Haunted Mansion Parlor?

This is still one of my favourite predictions.

I don’t think Disney Believe should simply get another Haunted Mansion Parlor identical to the one on Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny.

But what if Disney takes that same highly immersive concept and gives us a Nightmare Before Christmas variation?

This could be brilliant.

Imagine walking into Halloween Town with Jack Skellington, Sally, Zero and Oogie Boogie appearing around the room. Potion bottles behind the bar, wonderfully strange cocktails and effects happening around you in the same way they do in Haunted Mansion Parlor.

Perhaps the room could even shift between Halloween Town and Christmas Town.

The Nightmare Before Christmas has already been teased in connection with Believe, but Disney hasn’t told us where it fits. A highly themed lounge feels like the obvious answer to me, and it would give Believe something with the same fan appeal as Haunted Mansion Parlor without simply copying it.

Let’s hope this one happens.

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A Snow White Lounge Could be Fabulous

Then we have Snow White.

Disney has specifically identified Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as one of the stories influencing Disney Believe, but the Grand Hall is now taken and I don’t think Snow White is the obvious choice for either the main restaurant or new theatre show.

So I’m still going with a bar or lounge, perhaps in the space occupied by DeVills or Nightingales on the other Wish-class ships.

And I wouldn’t make it overly sweet.

Give us the Evil Queen.

The Magic Mirror, the poisoned apple, the Queen’s laboratory and some wonderfully dramatic cocktails.

A Snow White-inspired lounge could actually be one of the most sophisticated adult spaces on the ship if Disney leans into the darker side of the story.

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I Think Disney Believe Will Have Much More Pixar

The Woody and Buzz stern reveal has made me much more confident about this.

Disney Cruise Line has Pixar characters, of course, and we have had Pixar Day at Sea, but I’ve always felt Pixar deserves a much bigger presence on the ships.

Maybe the restaurant idea happens. Maybe it doesn’t.

But I think Pixar could appear elsewhere too.

The staterooms are an obvious possibility. Toy Story, Inside Out, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Up, Ratatouille and WALL-E could all work beautifully with the more subtle room theming Disney uses on the Wish-class ships.

And if we don’t get a Pixar restaurant, perhaps we get a Pixar bar.

An Inside Out lounge could be visually incredible with glowing memory orbs and references to Headquarters. Or give me Harryhausen’s from Monsters, Inc., which is already a restaurant in the movie and would translate brilliantly into an unusual bar or lounge.

Woody and Buzz being on the stern might simply be one Pixar element.

But I have a feeling there is more to come.

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What I’ll Be Watching For on October 7

The October 7 reveal should answer a lot of these questions, but I’ve definitely changed my mind about some of my predictions.

I’m no longer convinced that we should be looking for a simple replacement for the Arendelle/Plaza de Coco/Pride Lands restaurant.

Perhaps Arendelle stays and Worlds of Marvel finally goes.

The best result would be that we get a new dinner show for the Arendelle space, possibly Moana and something entirely new for Worlds of Marvel.

Then 1923 would be the only restaurant that remains consistent on the Wish Class.

Maybe we get a Pixar restaurant that brings back some of that Animator’s Palate magic. Or perhaps Moana does become the big new entertainment dining experience after all.

Encanto still feels like the safest prediction for the new Walt Disney Theatre show, probably alongside a returning Frozen, Little Mermaid or Moana production.

Then I’m hoping for Nightmare Before Christmas in the Haunted Mansion Parlor-style space, a Snow White/Evil Queen lounge, and considerably more Pixar throughout the ship.

There are a lot of possibilities.

And actually, that’s what makes Disney Believe so interesting right now.

We know exactly what the physical ship will be. It’s another Wish-class ship, so the spaces themselves aren’t the mystery.

The question is what Disney is going to put inside them.

And more than anything, I hope Disney doesn’t play it too safe.

Give us some surprises.

Give us something that feels more like Animator’s Palate.

Give us more Pixar.

Give us an Encanto show.

Give us Nightmare Before Christmas.

And please, Disney…

give us a break from Worlds of Marvel.

October 7 can’t come soon enough.