Disney Adventure Cruise Ship – What We Know So Far

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It has just been revealed that the new Disney Cruise Ship that DCL acquired will be named Disney Adventure.

The announcement was made by Thomas Mazloum on 9th December 2022 at D23. During his presentation, he said that this ship would be Disney Cruise Line’s “biggest adventure yet.”

We really don’t know very much yet about Disney Adventure, other than she will sail out of Singapore beginning in 2025.

However, it is a lot of fun to speculate on what this new, and most likely very different Disney Cruise ship will be like.

When the acquisition was originally announced, and after getting over the initial surprise that Disney Cruise Line had acquired an already 75% built cruise ship, I decided I wanted to do more research and start the process of really thinking about what the new ship might offer.

I have researched the original design and will discuss how Disney Cruise Line might put its own very individual Imagineering stamp on what is already a ship design that has many things already decided.

This article uses original concept art from the Global Dream.

It will be exciting to see how much things change when the Disney concept art starts to be released, probably sometime early in 2024.

For official information about Disney Adventure

The Challenge of Disney Adventure

This is the first time that Disney Cruise Line has been designing two ships at the same time.

There has been a lot of news recently about Disney Treasure, and details have been released about many aspects of her design.

Related Article: Disney Treasure – What We Know So Far

Most likely Disney Adventure will be very different from Disney Treasure and indeed, any of the existing Disney Cruise Ships.

It really has to be, as this was a ship that was already at a very advanced design stage.

However, the ship was acquired by DCL at a stage where interior design choices could still be made, and this is what will make the Treasure so recognizable as a Disney Ship.

It isn’t clear what exterior and other design features can be changed from the original. However, once you start looking in detail at the original Global Dream vision for the ship, you can see how this can be adapted to make this a unique, but still very distinctly Disney ship.

We can already see this from the very recognizable exterior design.

Whilst we can get some idea of the space, the design will most likely be very very different.

We really don’t know to what extent the build was complete or which design decisions can be changed.

All we know is that the ship was three-quarters of the way to being finished when DCL purchased the ship.

Disney Cruise Line reportedly paid the spectacularly low price of 40 Million Euros for the ship.

The original cost investment is said to have been around the $1 billion mark.

Whilst DCL appears to have secured a bargain, the investment doesn’t end there.

The costs of finishing the ship and making it part of the Disney fleet will be considerable.

Remember that everything here is unofficial and speculation, but it is so much fun to try and work out what this exciting new ship will be like.

The Disney Imagineers are going to have a wonderful time putting their own individual design into the ship.

And I really can’t wait to see it.

Join the Disney Adventure Cruise Group!

What Will The Ship Exterior Look Like?

This one is probably one of the easiest to answer – as to the overall look of the exterior, this is the only concept art that Disney has released so far.

This is what the original Global Dream ship was to look like:

As you can see, the original design looked, well, it looked like a very large cruise ship with no other particular branding features.

MV Wertfen Concept Art

Then along comes Disney.

Obviously, it still looks enormous, because it really is, but now it has the distinctive Disney Cruise Ship exterior features.

I think it will be difficult to appreciate just how much bigger Disney Adventure is than the other ships in the DCL fleet until we actually see her for the first time.

How Many Funnels?

This took me a while to see but is now glaringly obvious.

Look closely at the original Global Dream concept art. You can see one funnel, which effectively is one but this is split into two.

The original Disney Adventure concept art had three funnels, instead of the two which every other Disney cruise ship has.

However, look at the new concept art released in September 2023.

A funnel has disappeared.

You can see though that the split funnel, just as it was on the original design of Global Dream is now a feature on Disney Adventure.

This is very different to the other Disney Cruise ships.

But you can see how it will make a lot of sense as it will allow a very different design on the pool deck.

The forward funnels are not mechanically necessary and are for aesthetics. But just as on the other Disney Cruise ships the funnel will have a practical use.

On Disney Wish and the new Disney Treasure the forward funnel is the Tower Suite. With the funnel being split does this mean that there will be two Tower Suites on Disney Adventure?

Just How Big Will The New Ship Really Be?

One of the most surprising things about the new ship is just how very very large it is.

In the past, DCL has not been known as a big ship cruise line.

But now, they will be operating one of the largest cruise ships in the world.

You can see from the chart below, the sizes of each of the current Disney cruise ships

Ship name	Launch	Gross Tonnage	Length (feet)	Beam	Decks	Capacity
Disney Adventure	2025	208,000	1,122	152	19	6,000?
Disney Treasure	2024	144,000	1,119	135	14	4,000
Disney Wish	2022	144,000	1,119	135	14	4,000
Disney Fantasy	2012	129,960	1,114	137	14	4,000
Disney Dream	2011	129,960	1,114	137	14	4,000
Disney Wonder	1999	84,130	964	106	11	2,713
Disney Magic	1998	83,969	964	106	11	2,713

As you can see from the comparison chart, the new ship is a whole lot larger than the other Disney ships.

In fact, Disney Adventure is huge.

I don’t think that we will be able to appreciate just how big she is until we catch our first sight of her.

The only ships that will be larger, once she sails sometime in 2025, are the new Royal Caribbean Oasis Class ships.

RCCL Oasis Class ships will still hold the title of largest passenger ships, even when the new Disney Adventure cruise ship is launched.

Wonder of the Seas is 235,600 gross tonnes, 1,118 feet wide, and has the capacity for 5,734 passengers at double occupancy and 7,084 at maximum capacity.

So the new Disney ship will not win the prize for being the largest ship at sea – but it will certainly be pretty close.

Where Will the New Disney Cruise Ship Sail?

It was announced on March 29, 2023, that the new Disney Cruise ship will have her homeport in Singapore for at least 5 years beginning in 2025.

The Asian cruise market is one of the most rapidly expanding market sectors.

So it makes a lot of sense that Disney wants to expand into this area.

Of course, we already know how incredibly popular Disney Australia and New Zealand cruises are.

They were mostly sold out almost as soon as they were released.

There has not been any announcement about the Disney Cruise ship itineraries from Singapore and it may well be not until 2024 until these are made known.

One thing does seem to be certain.

A cruise ship of this size is not designed for tender boats. This cuts down the number of possibilities for ports to visit.

What Will the Disney Adventure Staterooms Be Like?

We can see from the concept art that aside from the obvious missing Disney design touches, the layout is similar to the existing Disney ships.

This design shown below looks as though it will be relatively easy just to add the Disney design touches and it will be a beautiful stateroom that will very much fit in with the aesthetic of the existing DCL ships, particularly Disney Wish and Treasure.

It is always in the attention to detail that Disney ships excel. No doubt there will be many design touches that make the staterooms stand out and have that distinctively Disney magic.

It will be interesting to see if the new interior design has the differently themed staterooms as Disney Wish does.

This does seem to have been a popular feature so it is highly likely we will see this on the new Disney Adventure ship as well.

Interestingly the ship design already incorporated a stateroom design feature which is an important part of Disney’s stateroom design.

The split bathroom.

This bathroom arrangement is a rare feature on cruise ships, but it is a great one, so it’s good that this will be on the new ship as well.

The existing stateroom design also has a thick curtain to separate the living and sleeping space.

This is another idea that seems to have been inspired by Disney design as surprisingly not many staterooms have this on other cruise lines.

It seems like such an obvious feature to include, but I can’t think of any other cruise line that does.

Another design feature that may be incorporated is the convertible sofa bed.

Unlike other Disney ships, the original design was for a double convertible sofa, rather than the usual single with a bunk above.

It looks like a good idea, but may not fit in with the design concept for Disney, although it would be great for older kids and even other adults staying in the stateroom.

It isn’t known if the bed will be and Queen be which is able to be split into two twins.

This is a feature that you find on many other cruise lines, but none of the other ships in the Disney fleet have this facility.

Another feature that most likely will be retained from the original design is the control panel technology.

This allows you to set different mood lighting.

There is even a light in the ceiling that can be used as a wake-up call alarm. It progressively increases light so that you wake up naturally.

Nothing is yet known about how many inside, outside, balcony, and concierge staterooms there will be.

My guess is that there will be a high proportion of concierge staterooms and suites on Disney Adventure.

One of the original concept art drawings seems to suggest that there will be a balcony stateroom type which will be unique in the Disney Cruise fleet. A stateroom that will have a balcony but that will look over an internal space.

Restaurants on the New Disney Ship

There really aren’t any clues in the concept design for Global Dream about what the restaurants on Disney Adventure will be.

Here is the original art which shows the area for a buffet.

One thing is certain.

There will be a buffet!

Will it be called Marceline Market as it is on the Disney Wish and Disney Treasure, and most likely will be for the third Triton Class ship?

That is a possibility.

I think that whilst this new ship will be very different from the others, there will be a sense of continuity as well, and having familiar names, even though the spaces may be very different, will go some way to achieving that fleet-wide “branding”.

It is likely that Disney Adventure will follow the pattern of all the other Disney Ships of having three rotational dining restaurants.

Obviously, they are going to have to be a lot larger to serve the increased number of guests.

But is unlikely that there will be more than three. Not only do you have to think about the logistics and expense of having additional restaurants, but also it wouldn’t work well if there are ever any plans to have three or four-night cruises, and you have four or five restaurants.

Part of the genius of the rotational restaurant idea is that each guest can experience each main dining restaurant at least once.

If you had more restaurants it might be that guests had to skip one or two.

This really wouldn’t be a great guest experience. Imagine the disappointment if you boarded the ship and found that your favorite restaurant wasn’t even on your rotation.

I would be surprised if this part of the tried and tested Disney Cruise Line dining formula was changed at all.

Themes for the restaurants on Disney Adventure?

Likely a stylish nostalgia restaurant, a Princess movie-themed restaurant, and perhaps even a second movie franchise-themed restaurant.

Possibly a repeat of the theme of the Marvel restaurant which is on the Wish and Treasure – let’s just hope if that happens the concept is refined and improved.

A Star Wars restaurant?

I am going to bet on a no on that one. I am sure many will disagree with me, but Star Wars probably just isn’t popular enough for a ship that is going to be sailing in Asia.

What is a very sure bet is that there will be at least two additional high-end restaurants which will have an additional charge. Probably more.

All the Disney ships have Palo, so maybe one will follow the tradition for continuity. Enchante seems unlikely and I would bet on a totally different concept for the ultra-fine dining restaurant on Disney Adventure.

I think it is likely that there will be more than two extra charge restaurants, and that the capacity will be proportionately higher than on the other ships.

I would expect to see more of a variety of specialty restaurants and smaller extra-charge dining venues. We are seeing this on Disney Treasure with Heihei Cafe and The Jade Cricket Cafe.

Join the Disney Adventure Cruise Group!

A Theme Park at Sea?

The Disney Dream introduced the first water coaster at sea.

The AquaDuck was also incorporated into the Disney Fantasy design.

The Disney Wish aimed to do something different and improve on this with the AquaMouse. Disney Treasure will also have the AquaMouse but with a different story.

However, the AquaMouse is still really essentially the same design, and some would say not as good as the AquaDuck.

The new Disney ship is likely to be very different indeed.

Disney Adventure will have a roller coaster at sea.

Such a thing is not unique. The Carnival Mardi Gras has the world’s first.

But a roller coaster at sea is still not a very common attraction on a cruise ship.

Dream Cruises was working with the same designer as the Mardi Gras coaster to develop the attraction for the ship.

It seems likely that Disney will continue the same company.

It was reported that the track is 984 feet long and has a top speed of 37 miles per hour.

Not an incredibly fast roller coaster, but this is over the ocean so the thrill level may come from the scenery too!

It will certainly be a very different experience than the AquaDuck.

The ride vehicles can accommodate two people and riders will be able to control the speed of the ride with an integrated throttle.

The acceleration system was set to allow 1G over most of the track.

The Global Dream concept also included an “activity park”.

The original design was supposed to incorporate a trampoline, a bungee trampoline, a board surf simulator and a mini go-kart track for the younger ones.

It is likely that Disney will put more of its personal spin on the design of this area.

It’s difficult to change a roller coaster design on the top of the ship, but you can certainly move or indeed cancel the order for a trampoline.

Right now, to me, the design of this area looks very like a Royal Caribbean ship.

However, I imagine the finished concept will look very different from this – there are so many Disney design elements that can be incorporated here.

The view below seems to be from a very large private deck – perhaps the Walt Disney Suite?

You can see an area here that looks like a huge auditorium will staged seating.

Perhaps the new concept for Funnel Vision? Although without the funnel!

There is another area that shows a large lawned area that reminds me of the Celebrity Solstice Class ships.

It also shows the roller coaster track – might be a great place to people-watch!

You can see also how the funnel is split into two halves.

The pool deck will also have multiple water slides. This almost looks like it could be an adult-only area, but then it seems that the water slide exits to here so that isn’t going to work as a no kids allowed space.

Maybe the jacuzzis could be converted into a small pool for the kids?

Or maybe we can leave them just the way they are as you can never have too many jacuzzis on a ship – particularly one with 6,000 guests?

The pool deck on Disney Wish was a change from the other ships as there were more pools which are smaller.

It seems that Disney Treasure will follow this design too.

What we can see from the Disney Adventure design is that it is likely that there will be many pools and hot tubs on board.

Will Disney Adventure Have Escalators?

Anyone who has sailed on Disney Wish knows the importance of getting the elevators right.

At least now they have sorted out the buttons on the elevators on the Wish so that you actually have to press them rather than them being triggered by any slight movement!

But what if you had something very very different for a cruise ship?

Escalators.

The original design of the ship had eight sets of escalators on the ship.

This is probably something that a 75% finished ship has to keep.

No doubt there will have to be many elevators as well, but it will certainly be interesting to see if there will be escalators on a Disney ship!

Bars on the Ship

Perhaps there will be a Star Wars Bar.

Maybe it will even sell that $5,000 drink …

Below is the original design for one of the bars. Might want to rethink the slogan!

The space below could very easily be changed into a Disney theme of some kind.

The concept art below reminds me of the Ooh La La on Disney Fantasy.

With more of a Disney’s Animal Kingdom vibe!

Maybe an animatronic zebra. Just kidding.

There are so many ideas for themes for bars.

Open up the Disney movie vault, or base some ideas on Disney theme park attractions, and the possibilities are many.

Will the Ship Have a Casino?

None of the other Disney ships have a casino and my first reaction is a very definite no it won’t.

But my second reaction is a maybe?

It would certainly be a money maker – and the original ship was designed to have a casino as a significant part with a large space dedicated to it.

However, it just isn’t Disney.

Related: Is there Gambling on Disney Cruises?

Perhaps now that Disney is now back in the safer hands of Bob Iger I am right to go with my first reaction. The core values will hopefully be adhered to and the casino space will be dedicated to something much more family-focused.

Join the Disney Adventure Cruise Group!

What Shows Will She Have?

We already know that there is a large theater and a movie theater on board.

Obviously, a huge part of the Disney Cruise experience is the amazing entertainment and stage shows.

It will be interesting to see if they have all new shows on the ship.

That seems doubtful though.

Disney is already developing one new show for Disney Treasure. Then it will most likely develop another original show for the as yet un-named new Disney Triton Class ship.

If they had three original shows for Disney Adventure that would mean developing five new shows for 2025.

That is very unlikely.

Perhaps they will have at least one show that is exclusive to that ship, but I would guess that there will be an existing show as well.

Production and development costs are high for Disney, so they will likely stick with what they know and use at least one show they already have.

Expectations are always incredibly high for Disney entertainment. Of course, this is as it should be, as they are so far and beyond other cruise lines with their Broadway-quality shows.

However, if you look at other cruise lines they also repeat shows across the fleet, and it is rare that there is a show that is exclusive to just one ship.

But people always seem to be disappointed when a new Disney ship is launched and they don’t have all new shows.

Will they have Pirate Night?

That is something that is a core part of the Disney Cruise experience, but will it be on the new ship? I think it is highly likely it will.

Kids Clubs on Disney Adventure

As with all the Disney ships, there will be some amazing kids’ clubs.

There is a very successful formula for getting the kid’s spaces right – and it is likely that the new ship will follow the pattern of splitting them into the usual age categories.

This area below was in the original ship design. Will this be a place for younger kids to play with adult supervision?

This shows that there are balcony staterooms with an interior view. This is very like the design of some of the Royal Caribbean Cruise ships.

This would be a first for Disney Cruise Lines.

Adult Spaces – What Will They Be Like?

Disney Cruise Line always dedicates a lot of space for adults only.

I know that Disney is always seen as a cruise line for families, and it certainly is that, but it is also very good at getting things right in the provision of space and things to do for the grown-ups.

The ship will have a space dedicated to those over 18.

It will probably follow the tried and tested format of being in one dedicated part of the ship and include a pool (hopefully more than one), jacuzzis, a large pool deck space, possibly with pay-to-use cabanas, and a spa.

There will be many bars on the ship. It will be interesting to see if they are kept in a dedicated space, like on most of the ships, or spread out more, as on the Disney Wish.

Likely they will be all over the ship as this is probably how it was originally designed. Themed bars are a fair bet, but it’s not a slam dunk that there will be a Star Wars-themed one.

Expect that a large area of the ship will be devoted to shopping malls.

What Will the Spa Be Like?

It is likely that a very large space will be devoted to the spa on the new ship.

I would guess that a large part of the space will be dedicated to The Rainforest.

This is a relaxation room on all of the Disney ships which has a separate charge.

It is very successful on the other ships as spaces usually fill up, so no doubt the concept will be expanded upon in this ship.

Shopping on Disney Adventure

Nothing is yet known about what shops Disney Adventure will feature.

However, we do know that the original Global Dream would have had 18,000 square feet of retail space. That’s a lot.

I think we can expect the usual Disney store areas, but there will be a lot of high-end stores as well.

Technology on the New Disney Ship

It seems as though this will be a bit step forward on Disney Adventure.

The original design incorporated new technology which seems a safe bet that Disney will have on the ship.

This includes being able to open your door with an app on your phone.

Perhaps they will have a Magic Band type system which means you will be able to charge everything with this as well and use it for virtual lines.

This kind of technology is already on Princess Cruise Line ships with the Medalion.

That is very convenient to unlock your door automatically when you approach, as well as charging everything by tapping the medallion on the console.

Within the Princess app, there is a food and beverage ordering system which is great, most of the time ( sometimes it really doesn’t work).

There is so much scope for how this could make life on board just a little bit better.

It would be good if this technology can extend to virtual lines for popular attractions and activities. It would be nice not to have to stand in line for the roller coaster for 2 hours with your fellow guests out on the sun deck!

More than anything, more than any fancy thing that opens my door or gives lighting effects in my stateroom, what I really really hope for is that the internet connection is going to be amazing. And reasonably priced.

What Will Concierge be Like on the New Disney Ship?

Magical.

And large.

Over the years Disney Cruise Line has shown an increased commitment to dedicating more space on the ships which is exclusive to Concierge passengers.

The whole Disney Concierge concept really started pretty low-key with Disney Magic and Wonder.

The Classic Disney ships always had concierge staterooms but they were few, and there was no dedicated space for passengers.

A Concierge Lounge was subsequently added to the Magic and Wonder with the number of staterooms currently at 34.

When the Dream and Fantasy were built the design incorporated more Concierge staterooms with 40 in total.

The concept was also taken a step further with a completely dedicated closed-off space for the staterooms, a lounge, and an outdoor deck area.

The Disney Wish took the Concierge concept up a notch or two. Disney dedicated 79 staterooms to Concierge passengers on the Wish and now Disney Treasure, including the Royal Suites and the unique Tower Suite which is located in the funnel.

It is highly likely that the new Disney ship will have even more space dedicated to Concierge.

It seems likely that Concierge will be more like the “ship within a ship” concept seen on many Norwegian Cruise Line ships. This is now becoming a more common concept with Princess Cruise Line introducing this on the Sun Princess.

The original concept art for the Global Dream shows an area called “The Palace” which is dedicated to Concierge passengers only.

You can see from this concept art that the design was meant to be a large exclusive inside and outside space.

The Concierge Suites were said to be an average of 40 square meters which is equivalent to 430 square feet.

It was intended that at least some of these staterooms would be suites with two bedrooms.

It isn’t clear how many staterooms, or the different types of staterooms within this section, the original design incorporated.

The outside Concierge space is likely to be much larger than on any other Disney Cruise Ship.

Below you can see the original concept.

It will be interesting to see how Disney adds their individual styling to it, but I would imagine a lot of this will remain the same.

The space shown below also seemed to be shown as part of the Concierge area on the ship.

I have to admit I really don’t see the concept of those chairs!

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Final Thoughts

Disney Adventure will have a unique place in the Disney Cruise Line family.

Her acquisition was unique as she was not a Disney concept from start to finish.

But Disney Cruise Line will put their very own special design features on this new ship, from the big right down to the small details that make them so unique.

It will be fascinating over the coming months to see all of the details revealed, and then to experience a cruise onboard Disney Adventure.