“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” Those are the first words you see as you enter California’s Disneyland Park, but they may as well be scrawled across the bow of Disney’s newest cruise ship as well. The newly launched Disney Treasure is the sixth ship in the growing Disney Cruise Line fleet, and the first to fully embrace the idea of delivering true theme park magic at sea.
For the first time, Walt Disney Imagineering to the theme parks for inspiration in its ship design, and the result is something that feels altogether new. Aboard the Disney Treasure, guests can immerse themselves in elevated interpretations of iconic Disney Parks attractions like the Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
“Coming from Imagineering, the division that created the attractions, we wanted to be authentic to those attractions,” Walt Disney Imagineer Jason Roberts told the media onboard the Treasure’s preview sailing earlier this month. “We wanted guests to feel like the attraction is right there, and you’re a part of it.”
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Haunted Mansion Parlor – Sampling Spirits with Spirits
Undoubtedly, the Disney Treasure spot where everyone is dying to get in is the Haunted Mansion Parlor, a bar inspired by the cult-favorite Haunted Mansion park attraction. Imagineer Danny Handke, creative director for the Haunted Mansion Parlor, started his two-decade Disney career working at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. He says the heart of any good theme park attraction is story, and Haunted Mansion Parlor extends the Haunted Mansion’s narrative to sea.
Handke explained the Haunted Mansion Parlor once belonged to a ship captain who entered “regions beyond” after picking up his stranded bride-to-be. As guests sip their ghostly spirits, they are entertained by show segments where legendary characters from worldwide Haunted Mansion park attractions come out to socialize. Fans will recognize Madame Leota, Hitchhiking Ghosts, and the Ghost Host himself.
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To create the Haunted Mansion Parlor, Handke dug through the archives to look at the original attraction designs created by legendary Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump. The centerpiece of the Haunted Mansion is a fish tank with “ghost fish” swimming throughout. The fish tank was an original Rolly Crump design created for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion that did not ultimately make it into the attraction. A bust with a “melting face” to the left of the Parlor’s fireplace is none other than Rolly Crump himself.
Sitting in the Haunted Mansion Parlor, it’s easy to forget you’re on a cruise ship and are transported back into a Disney park.
Skipper Society Serves Specialty Drinks and Bad Dad Jokes
Just off the atrium is the Jungle Cruise-themed lounge, Skipper Society. Similar to the Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Skipper Society offers cocktails and snacks beneath a tangle of jungle foliage and canvas canopies reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise’s steamer ships.
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Disney Imagineers Megan Moore and Karyn Poore pointed out some of their favorite plants, including the hibiscus and low-biscus, as well as the sly tributes to the pun-tastic skippers who lead Jungle Cruise tours across the world’s rivers. Fun fact: The skipper photos throughout the space are project team members from Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Cruise Line.
As guests sit in camp-style furnishings, listening to 1940s big band music like Doris Day’s “Sentimental Journey,” it’s easy to imagine being in Adventureland, waving goodbye to all those people standing on the dock. You are never going to see them again anyway…
Periscope Pub Serves Up a Whale of a Tale
Disney Treasure’s Periscope Pub is a bar inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the classic Magic Kingdom Fantasyland attraction open from 1971 to 1994. The defunct submarine ride still garners a passionate fan base even after its closure 30 years ago. The highlight of this venue is its Jules Verne Steampunk submarine-styled interior and “glass” ceiling made up of video screens to simulate the effect of being deep below a watery world with fish, sharks, and more swimming past.
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Periscope Pub offers cocktails, mead, wine, and craft beer including three uncharted beers guests cannot find anywhere else. The nautical-themed bar also has some of the coolest beer tap handles I’ve ever seen.
AquaMouse Attraction at Sea
Those looking for an actual Disney park ride—not just a bar inspired by an attraction—can don their swimsuits and head to the top deck for AquaMouse: Curse of the Golden Egg. This water coaster propels two-person rafts through 760 feet of winding tubes high above the water below.
AquaMouse debuted on the Disney Wish, but onboard the Disney Treasure, AquaMouse introduces a new storyline following Mickey and Minnie on an adventure through a mysterious temple looking for treasure. AquaMouse also includes the original Mickey Mouse shorts featured on the Disney Wish.
The short ride is cute, offers a few splashes, and kids who enjoy the current Mickey Mouse shorts will enjoy seeing the characters on screen.
Disney Parks Entertainment and Shows
Of course, a hallmark of the Disney theme park experience is not just its rides like Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise, but also a world filled with characters and live entertainment. There are Disney characters throughout the Disney Treasure often popping up in outfits you might not expect. Hang out in the Grand Hall between the early and late dinner seatings and you’re bound to see a gathering of characters.
Enjoy a character meal at the parks? Plaza de Coco is a theater-in-the-round dining experience themed to the Pixar film Coco. The story follows Miguel three years after the events in the movie and invites families to join a festive dinner with traditional Mexican food and live entertainment.
Show Director Juan Cantu said he was “honored to tell the cultural story of Dia de Los Muertos and show how music has healed Miguel’s family after the death of Mama Coco.” The dinner show was an immersive, moving experience that brought back memories of my own childhood visits to Southern California.
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Finally, the performance of “Disney The Tale of Moana” in the Walt Disney Theatre onboard the Disney Treasure blew me away. This show is hands-down the best live stage production currently playing on a Disney ship. With a predominantly Asian American and Pacific Islander cast, the set design, music, and choreography all pay homage to traditional Polynesian culture.
A native of Oahu, Kaena Kekoa plays Moana and was excited to perform in a show that honored the islands’ cultural heritage. Although she had never been on a cruise ship before, Kekoa enjoys “telling the story of the ocean on the ocean.” Kaena Kekoa also shares the stage with towering puppets, the largest ever created for a Disney Cruise Line show, by master Broadway puppet designer Michael Curry.
It’s visually stunning when Moana meets and is dwarfed by the towering, fiery Te Kā and restores the heart of Te Fiti. The massive Te Kā puppet is transformed into the gentle island goddess Te Fiti herself in a showstopper moment of stage magic.
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Of course a visit to a Disney park isn’t complete without fireworks. Don’t worry, Disney Treasure has you covered there, too. On one night during the sailing, fireworks are launched following the Pirate’s Rockin’ Parlay Party.
The Disney Treasure takes the best parts of the Disney theme park experience and packages them together for a cruise adventure. So, “To all who come to this happy place (or better yet, to all who sail on this happy ship)… welcome.” The Disney Treasure is truly a Disney theme park at sea.
