The Disney Wish is the eponymous ship in Disney’s Wish class of ships. As such it represents a significant part of the future of Disney Cruise Line. While we already reviewed our 3-day Bahamas Cruise on the Disney Wish, I wanted to also take a chance to highlight some specifics that I loved. Here are my favorite parts of the Disney Wish!
About This Post + Related Posts
In this post, I’m going to highlight about a dozen things I liked about our time on the Disney Wish. I linked to the full cruise review above, and we have a host of other Disney Cruise Line content here.
Entertainment and Activities
I’ll start with Entertainment and Activities before switching to Dining and Drinks.
Disney Seas the Adventure
Let’s start with a show that might not always get its due, in my opinion…
I’m a critic, more than a creative, by nature (or nurture, maybe). It’s a rarity that something is so well-executed that I just don’t nitpick. Disney Seas The Adventure, an admittedly simple theatrical production, impressed me beyond the point of nitpicking.
What I loved about this show was that it was a short show in the feature theater with fab five characters. In other words, it’s a perfect show for getting your kid into a theater at the start of a cruise.
In three Disney cruises with Zoe, totaling 15 nights, we have watched two feature shows. We watched Seas the Adventure on the Disney Wish and we watched a matinee of Frozen, A Musical Spectacular on the Disney Fantasy.
Otherwise, we find the scheduling and length of the shows to just make no sense for our family (this shouldn’t be generalized too much, but I’m exhausted by the end of a rotational dining meal and I have no interest in asking Zoe to sit in a theater seat for the last hour-plus before bed).
But Seas the Adventure was perfect. Zoe got to watch the show and got a real kick out of it—not enough to want to return to the theater for longer shows the other nights, but it was nice to have the opportunity to see what it was all about.
Olaf’s Royal Picnic ($)
I’ve separately reviewed Olaf’s Royal Picnic, but here’s the quick version. Olaf’s Royal Picnic is an expensive, hourlong experience featuring finger foods and desserts, a show featuring Frozen characters and songs (with a greeting and photo at the end), and a swag bag of gifts.
There’s no getting around the price of Olaf’s—$220 per kid and $69 per adult. But once you’re past the “is it worth it” question, it’s undeniably a fun time.
Part of why I enjoyed it so much is undoubtedly that our actual dinner experience in the Frozen restaurant was quite poor, with a bad view of the show. I was quite happy to have already had a good Frozen experience in the restaurant.
Pirate Night
Most Disney Cruise Line sailings in the Caribbean and Bahamas have a Pirate Night. Since this was Zoe’s first cruise in this part of the world, it was our first Pirate Night as a family, and it delivered.
We did some pirate-themed crafts before dinner and then the Mickey’s Pirates in the Caribbean show. We’d purchased Zoe some pirate-themed pajamas to wear in the evening, and yes—I even rushed down to deck 5 to buy a plastic sword just before the show.
Character Greetings
I honestly can’t say I’ve ever had a truly bad experience with character greetings on a Disney Cruise ship. I know it’s possible (I’ve seen people arrive way early and still not make it into lines for the most popular greetings), but we’ve had good luck and strategy for the most part.
What set the Disney Wish apart in this regard was that Zoe was into the characters and the three floors of the atrium had such a consistent churn of characters that we never felt like we waited too long in line and we basically always were able to get back-to-back greetings when we wanted.
I’d also note we lucked into the Royal Princess Gathering on this itinerary, which certainly helped our attitude as to greetings.
Activities Honorable Mention: Hero Zone
To an extent, Hero Zone really encapsulates the Disney Wish in my mind. I see what they were going for, it works well, but I just know it could be so much better.
Hero Zone spends two pretty big floors on foosball, basketball, bags, air hockey, and table tennis. These are fun activities, but the scale of the room just boggles the mind.
Disney addresses this with Incredigames, an inflatable obstacle course that brings a lot of life to the space. It’s the sort of thing that makes you think “wow, a permanent feature like this would be quite cool.”
Dining and Drinks
As someone who doesn’t drink much and has specific feelings about Disney Cruise Line dining, I was surprised to find so much to say about dining and drinks on the Disney Wish.
Of course, this is partly just a function of where theming goes. Zoe loved the pools, for example, but the pools are just big bowls of water. I think the splash pads could be better, but otherwise there isn’t much to say about the area of the ship that took up most of our time.
Besides the kids clubs, which would be featured in a “least favorite” post if I ever wrote one, Disney put the bulk of the theme into restaurants and bars. As such, there is plenty to talk about. But first…functionality…
Deck 11 Quick Service
I’m a sucker for quick service food, and while I still wish Disney would just give these spots 15-hour days, the Disney Wish gets points in my book for having an efficiently arranged, relatively deep quick service lineup.
With small walkup windows for pizza, Mexican, BBQ, and grill specialties, plus the all-purpose indoor Marceline Market, you shouldn’t have a problem finding enough lunch variety for the three or four-night itineraries.
I also particularly loved that Disney added a more refined area (pictured above) to the quick service restaurant, complete with a bar. This is the sort of area that—again—makes me beg for them to find a way to open the restaurant for dinner.
World of Marvel (Rotational Dining)
Rotational dining is anathema to me, but I have to give a shoutout to one good experience—World of Marvel.
Look, this is a restaurant that doesn’t really hide the ball on the gimmick. You’re thrown into a Marvel storyline (mostly via video screens along the walls) and the kids press a button on your table to save the world. It’s shameless, and for that, I love it.
While I wish they’d put a little more effort into the interactive element, the important thing is that all the kids at our table really loved it. The restaurant itself is well-themed, and the storyline kept me engaged enough that I probably even smiled once or twice.
The Bayou (Bar)
If you’re looking for a slightly more famous bar to be on this list, scroll a bit below to the “honorable mention” in this section.
My adoration for The Bayou is pretty straightforward. First, it has beignets. Second, it’s beautiful. Third, it’s lively.
The Bayou sits openly a few steps away from the ship’s Grand Hall. The layout of the bars on the Wish isn’t the best, in general, but I enjoy that there’s a place to sit that’s both spacious and well-trafficked. I like lobby bar vibes—seeing everyone excited to be on this adventure while I’m relaxing and sipping my beverage.
The Bayou has a small stage that hosts musical acts throughout the cruise, which only adds to the atmosphere. It’s beautifully themed, an especially nice touch for a space that could have been written off as purely functional next to the more pointedly thematic Nightingale’s and Hyperspace Lounge.
Also, beignets.
Enchanted Sword / Wishing Star Cafe
My adoration for these two uninteresting atrium cafes is mostly pragmatic. Enchanted Sword and Wishing Star Cafes are solutions to manufactured problems, but they’re solutions nonetheless.
These two bar-cafes sit just off the atrium on decks 4 and 5, offering both bar and cafe options, including cold brew and latte art. These solve two problems.
The first pertains to Nightingale’s. Nightingale’s is the refined bar with a “romantic” atmosphere that has somehow been stuck directly adjacent to the Grand Hall, specifically a few steps from the slide to enter the kids’ clubs.
It’s altogether a puzzling location for a romantic bar to begin with, but another problem is that the bar could become too much of a “lobby” bar if people don’t realize The Bayou is just a few steps away.
(This whole setup is one of those things about the Wish that you just can’t help but keep going on about. Our seats in Nightingale’s abutted French doors that could be used to open the space to the Grand Hall. But no one seemed to know if these doors were meant to be used or not. The tables were clearly an obstacle, but people would just open the door and squeeze between the tables to go order a drink. It was so bizarre.)
Nightingale’s on the Disney Wish (not pictured, kids going down slides behind me)
Enchanted Sword and Wishing Star Cafe alleviate this issue…somewhat. You have to know they’re there, on higher floors, but they’ll usually be less crowded and much more approachable if you’re just looking for a casual drink.
The other issue is the cold brew / specialty coffee issue. While specialty coffee is generally available in locations outside of Cove Cafe on the other Disney ships, Cove Cafe is historically the most notable option. This is problematic because Cove Cafe is also in the adult-only section of the ship. I’ve spent plenty of time in Cove Cafe on the other ships, and you’ll inevitably see parents bringing kids in there to grab their specialty (I don’t object).
Cove Cafe on the Disney Wish is way hidden in the back of the adult-only area, so having two spots to grab specialty coffee right off the Grand Hall is a big win for coffee drinkers.
The Rose (Plus Palo and Enchanté)
The Rose is the bar outside the entrances to Palo and Enchanté. I haven’t eaten in Palo or Enchanté and don’t really plan to. But, as part of our time on the Disney Wish, I visited The Rose and found it absolutely stunning.
So, why am I including Palo and Enchanté here if I haven’t eaten at them? While I struggle a lot with the layout of the Wish overall, I think this part of the ship does a great job of remaining somewhat hidden, in keeping with its “exclusive” vibe.
Getting to The Rose (and through it, the two restaurants) is easy enough—take the aft elevators to Deck 11 and pass through the patterned door. But, owing to the layout of the ship, not many people are going to have a reason to be passing by here (though to be fair, it is near Vibe and Hero Zone).
This is in contrast to, say, Nightingale’s, another elegantly themed bar that is not only right off the atrium, but immediately adjacent to the slide many parents are using to drop their kids off at the Oceaneer Club. (Note: I wrote this entry and the above months apart—just goes to show how much some quirks about the Wish stick with you.)
Points for beauty, and points for using some of the ships organizational quirks to your advantage.
Dining and Drinking Honorable Mention: Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge
There’s plenty to like about Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge, but it doesn’t offer much new. The problem is that the main gimmick—the changing screen window behind the bar is present in a different form (Skyline Bar) on other Disney ships, and also at Disney’s Hotel New York Art of Marvel in Paris. There are smoke bubble drinks…but those are available at other bars on the ship, too.
If you’re uninitiated, these things might not bother you and you might just love the bar. But among the initiated, these reused effects are just enough to pull you out of the experience.
Bonus: The Fairytale Fresh Laundry Room
I don’t think there’s any functional upgrade to Disney Cruise Line ships that I appreciated quite like the Fairytale Fresh Laundry room. Granted, we were only on a 3-day cruise. But there was…an incident…and laundry was a necessity.
I’ve stressed over the smaller laundry rooms in the other ships before. If one is full, you’ll have to trek to another deck or maybe across the ship to another. That one’s closed for maintenance, so you go to another, which only has one opening, and so on. On one Disney Fantasy cruise, I just paid for valet laundry service instead of dealing with the machines.
Having one huge laundry room is an excellent use of space, in my opinion. I’m very much looking forward to our 7-night trip on the Disney Treasure—another Wish class ship—when I’ll really get to make use of the easy laundry access.