ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney Cruise Line gave a glimpse of what passengers can expect to see on stage from its two new Broadway-style productions coming to Disney Wish when it debuts at Port Canaveral this summer.
Renderings and details from “Disney The Little Mermaid” and “Disney Seas the Adventure” were posted to the Disney Parks Blog along with the latest in a video series outlining the approach the line plans to take with its stage shows on what will be the fifth ship in the fleet.
The two new shows join a return of the production “Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular,” which was born from a version that played for years at Disneyland and made its at-sea debut on Disney Fantasy in 2012. The three will be the marquee offerings at the three-deck, 1,274-seat Walt Disney Theatre when the ship begins sailing on July 14 on three- and four-night Bahamas itineraries.
“Our Walt Disney Theatre is really inspired by the incredibly enchanted world of ‘Fantasia,’ and all of those beautiful shapes and colors are evocative of a fantasy forest environment,” said creative director Claire Weiss with Walt Disney Imagineering.
Similar to new productions based on “Tangled,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Frozen” among the line’s other vessels, the cruise line is relying on technology to juggle limitations on space while at sea.
“We’ve made the theater prime for special effects and projection mapping and things that can really enhance the Disney stories that we perform so well,” Weiss said.
The version of “The Little Mermaid” looks to set itself apart somewhat from the 1989 animated classic, although it will feature the scenes and songs from the film such as “Under the Sea.”
Similar to the puppetry wizardry in play for its other stage shows, characters Sebastian and Flounder will feature big along with main protagonist Ariel and villain Ursula the sea witch, who coincidentally plays a major role outside the theater in the new Disney interactive game Disney Uncharted Adventure.
“I’m really excited by some of the bold new choices we’re making with ‘The Little Mermaid.,’” said Shelby Jiggetts-Tivony, vice president of creative and advanced development with Disney Live Entertainment. “It’s our opportunity to create a story of this young woman and how she fulfills her wish to become part of our world.”
Renderings show at least a version of Ariel that isn’t the iconic red-headed girl seen in the film, but a dark-skinned, dark-haired “young woman.”
The Disney blog also says the film’s story will branch off in places such as including an inner monologue during the production’s version of “Kiss the Girl” to “play an important and meaningful role in the song.” Ursula’s version of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is described as more soulful, and will feature a “jaw-dropping moment as she truly becomes larger than life.”
The adaptation is described as featuring a cast of contemporary storytellers using a reimagined script and score.
“‘The Little Mermaid’ is a timeless story, one that transcends generations,” said Jiggetts-Tivony. “Our hope is that this new stage adaptation aboard the Disney Wish continues that incredible legacy, not by simply re-enacting the elements that make the original film so powerful, but by reinterpreting it in a way that resonates with the audience sitting in the theater each night.”
For the second original production, Goofy gets to lead the stage after Captain Minnie Mouse hands over sailing duties to the talking canine.
“Disney Seas the Adventure” will see him partner with Disney and Pixar characters to “discover his own inner captain” through song. That includes a version of “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog,” “Go with the Flow” from the Animal Kingdom show “Finding Nemo – The Musical” and a trio of Disney princesses singing “Let it Go,” from “Frozen,” “How Far I’ll Go” from “Brave” and and “Touch the Sky” from “Moana.”
Even Hercules will get his due with a version of “Go the Distance.”
The show finale brings something new to the cruise line as characters will lead the audience out of the theater and into the Grand Hall atrium. The show is slated to be performed on the first night at sea.
The theatrical offerings on the ship aren’t limited to the Walt Disney Theatre, though, as performances will spill over to top-deck productions such as the “Pirate’s Rockin’ Parlay Party” on a select night during sailings, as well as in the “Frozen” and Marvel-themed entertainment planned for the ship’s new dining spaces.
Disney Wish will arrive to Port Canaveral in June when it will sail with cast and media trips ahead of the mid-July debut.
It’s been under construction at the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenberg, Germany since 2020. It was originally to have been delivered to the cruise line in December 2021 and have begun sailing this past January. Delays blamed partly on COVID-19 had pushed that debut several times, but the line expects the ship to soon make the trip from the shipyard to begin sea trials.
It’s the first new vessel for the line in a decade, and the first of three in the new Triton class of vessels, similar in size to Dream and Fantasy coming in at 144,000 gross tons with 1,254 staterooms,
The next two ships, which have yet to be named, are due in 2024 and 2025.
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