Preparing for the Disney Wish

Preparing for the Disney Wish

My first cruise of 2026 was a last-minute booking on the Disney Wish out of Port Canaveral. Booked one month prior to the sailing date, I couldn’t believe there was availability on this three-night sailing. The last cruises I went on in 2025 were on the Liberty of the Seas and the Disney Magic. Two great cruises but on the older side. This will be a jump back into the 2020’s cruise ship style, and on a Disney cruise! I am taking my beautiful fiancé with me, and she is a complete Disney fan. She isn’t captivated by the theme parks, and most of the Disney movies. She was on board the Disney Magic, but for that cruise, the Disney touches are slightly more minimal. It is still full of character meet and greets, some smaller Disney touches, and Disney shows but most of the details on the ship really sends you back to old school cruising.

The Disney Wish is from the Disney Company in the 2020’s and it is ALL about intellectual property. The Worlds of Marvel dining room is one of the largest offenders of this. It SLAMS you with the Disney IP and really wasn’t a good experience the last time I went. It will be fun to see her opinions on how this cruise will be.

It will be going to Nassau and Castaway Cay. This will be my third time to Castaway Cay and it has impressed me every time I have gone. Nassau will be a nice sea day. A great way to explore more of the ship and relax on the top deck.

This will be my first VERANDAH category stateroom on Disney Cruise Line. I have stayed in an interior, and an Oceanview (deck view). Both were fine, but I am excited to see the differences and have the opportunity to see us sail away from the different ports. As we are typically interior cabin people. We never really go into the room for anything but sleep, we like having the cheapest rate on cruises, and luckily, we don’t get seasick. We love no lighting, the slow rock to sleep, and of course, the cheaper price. Do we stay in the room longer? Or still use it strictly for sleep and enjoy the pool decks.

The food is something I am ready to try again. The last sailing, I was disappointed. There weren’t too many great options, and the dinner at Worlds of Marvel might have been the worst dinner experience of my cruising career. It was the perfect meal for the iPad kids though. Bright lights, huge TVs just on a constant cycle of movie clips, and a small storyline that runs through your dinner. Way too much. The food did not make up for it. The Arendelle dining experience was cute, and a better show than the Tangled show on the Disney Magic. The real winner in the food, is 1923. The one that is closest to a typical dinner and the perfect amount of nerdy memorabilia scattered around the room for me to explore. One of the best parts of the dining room experience on Disney Cruise Line is how good the service is. Our server on the last Disney Wish sailing was impeccable, she knew the menu incredibly well. All of her recommendations were the best things we had, incredibly friendly and my water glass never ran empty. Great service. The buffet on the Disney Wish wasn’t anything special. The eggs on the breakfast buffet was surprisingly better than the typical breakfast buffet eggs. I am excited for the churro mickey waffles, and maybe I will get down to the dining room for food off the breakfast menu. The quick service locations on the pool deck are a few others I am excited to try. I did not get a chance to try the Donald’s Cantina last time, but most of the others were great. The Barbecue was a great alternative to the buffet. The rotating ice cream flavors were fun, and the ice cream was tasty, It wasn’t as WATERY as other cruise line ice creams.

I need a new paragraph for Goofy’s Grill. This is when my nostalgia completely overpowered my taste buds, and I was at peak Disney Cruise enjoyment. An order of chicken tenders every single night, right before 10 PM and watch the Funnelvision movie on a typically empty pool deck. It was a peaceful wind down time, after busy days of jumping from activity to activity. When I was growing up, I would get chicken tenders at every restaurant I would go to. To watch a classic movie while eating some of these tenders was peak enjoyment every time. It played on my nostalgic strings very hard. I have had the same night routine on every Disney cruise line night time, and I am excited to keep that streak alive. On the Disney Magic, the Disney movies they chose weren’t classics, but the last time I was on the Wish, I was able to watch Hercules one night and it was PEAK ENJOYMENT. Go the Distance with Disney theme park chicken tenders…

The theater shows were very good the last time I went. The one show I can’t miss is Aladdin. This was one of the best shows on any ship that I have been on. I have seen some great shows on cruises. I do want to try and get a better seat for the Little Mermaid show as last time, we got a side view which let us see in backstage areas.

The lounges are heavily themed with the Star Wars lounge being one that I am most excited to go to. The last time I went on this cruise, I looked around and left. This cruise I will order a drink and hang out a bit in it. These types of places are popping up more frequently in the Disney parks and on the Disney cruises. Trader Sam’s at the Polynesian is the blueprint for these heavily themed bars so it will be fun to see the differences.

The two movie theaters will be playing some Disney movie that will be in theaters. I have checked release dates and I am guessing that Avatar: Fire and Ash will be one of the movies being shown and Zootopia 2. Maybe Fire and Ash will be too much for the Disney cruise but it was the last movie released by the “Disney” company and has tie ins to the parks. Zootopia 2 is practically a guarantee. On the last Wish cruise in June, Lilo and Stitch live action and Thunderbolts were the featured films in the two theaters.  Both with releases in May. Zootopia 2 is released in late November, has tie ins to the parks. Avatar Fire and Ash was released in late December and has tie ins to the parks. BRAND SYNERGY.

The adult areas on the Disney Magic was laughably empty. This extended from the adult only pool deck, to “sadness avenue” on deck 3. The bars in these adult-only venues were empty, even when there was a show there. The Disney Wish was a bit more full in the adult only sections. It will be fun to see how they adult section on the pool deck is.  

The AquaMouse is a baby version of an aqua coaster attached to a small section of dark ride. I went on this once last time, at the very end of the cruise, and it was very fun. I will have to get a few more rides on it. Even in January…

Overall, I am very excited for another cruise on the Disney Wish. It is a strong cruise ship with plenty of activities and plenty of food. I get to have my nostalgia pumped up to the max in the first 30 days of the new year. I can’t wait!