Sit down and grab your Dole Whip. Disney Cruise Line just dropped an announcement that is going to live in our heads rent-free for the next two years.
Meet the Disney Believe — the fourth ship in Disney’s jaw-dropping Wish class, and arguably the most emotionally devastating one yet (in the best possible way). We’re talking Encanto. We’re talking Frozen. We’re talking Moana, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White all on one ship. If you just felt your heart do something, same.
Disney says the Believe is built around the idea of dreaming big and going after it — characters throughout Disney history who believed in something impossible and did it anyway. Which, honestly? Is also the story of anyone who has ever tried to book a Wish-class cruise on opening day.
🌊 JUST ANNOUNCED! 💙
Introducing the Disney Believe ⚓✨ The next chapter in the Disney Wish class, inspired by promise, possibility, and what lies beyond the horizon 🚢🌅 pic.twitter.com/d9q4swnmS1— Disney Cruise Line (@DisneyCruise) March 18, 2026
THE FRANCHISE LINEUP IS EVERYTHING
Let’s talk about what’s actually confirmed, because the list is sending us.
Disney says guests aboard the Believe will move through the “mystical worlds of Encanto and Frozen, to the wishing wells of Snow White, to the depths of the sea with Moana and The Little Mermaid.” That is five iconic Disney Animation franchises on a single ship, and every single one of them slaps.
This is a deliberate pivot from some of the fleet’s more Marvel- and Star Wars-heavy positioning, and we are here for it. Not everyone’s Disney identity lives in the MCU. Some of us grew up rewinding The Little Mermaid until the VHS tape gave up, and Disney is clearly coming for our wallets in the most loving way possible.
The theming is expected to shape everything — the dining venues, the décor, the character interactions, the entertainment. That’s how the Wish class works, and it works beautifully. The late 2027 debut gives families about two years to plan, stalk the booking calendar, and emotionally prepare.
BUT FIRST — LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT JUST HAPPENED WITH THE DISNEY ADVENTURE
THE MATTRESS SITUATION. A guest on the inaugural sailing posted that their bed was not, in fact, a bed — just couch cushions under a cover and a thin pad. On Disney’s largest ship ever. On the first paying sailing. We truly cannot. Disney, we love you, but what happened?
THE SHOW THAT VANISHED. “Captain Jack Sparrow and The Siren Queen” — a Pirates of the Caribbean stage show that had been announced back in October 2024 as a headline entertainment offering — was quietly postponed indefinitely. No public announcement. No guest notification. Disney confirmed it to someone who asked directly, but if you had booked this sailing because of that show? You would have had no idea until you were already on the ship.
THE BOOKING CHAOS. Character meet-and-greet slots and merchandise access opened and disappeared almost instantly, locking out guests — including the press and content creators Disney had personally invited to cover the sailing. There were lines at Guest Services. There were promises of standby shopping on the final night that never happened. It was, to put it gently, a lot.
The Disney Adventure is a genuinely exciting ship — it has a roller coaster at sea, people, an actual roller coaster — and we fully expect Disney to iron these things out fast. But if you’re eyeing a sailing in the near term, it’s worth watching a few more voyages play out before you commit.
THE $50 FIREWORKS EXPERIENCE IS ACTUALLY A GOOD DEAL (WE CHECKED)
One more thing worth flagging from the Adventure: Disney is running a paid fireworks experience called The Lion King: Celebration in the Sky for $50 per person. That gets you reserved seating, drinks, desserts, and a collectible pin.
We did the math. Magic Kingdom dessert parties run $99 to $134 per person. The Contemporary Resort’s Celebration at the Top is $169 per person. Fifty dollars for a premium fireworks package on a Disney ship is, genuinely, reasonable. Mark your calendars, that sentence has never been written before.
SO WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO WITH ALL OF THIS?
Here’s the honest breakdown:
The Disney Believe is a future worth getting excited about right now. Wish-class ships book fast and they book hard. When itineraries and home ports drop — which Disney says is coming in the months ahead — you’ll want to move quickly. Start your planning now, get your travel agent on speed dial, and maybe pre-grieve your bank account.
The Disney Adventure is a ship in its growing pains era. It has incredible bones and some very real opening-week issues. Give it a few sailings to find its footing before you book, especially if specific entertainment or experiences are a big part of why you’d go.
We’ll be watching every single announcement for the Believe as they come. Obviously. That’s literally what we do.
