The Disney Wish will debut two new musical theater productions on its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral this summer. With "Disney Seas the Adventure" and "Disney The Little Mermaid," the Disney Cruise Line is looking to put a new twist on established formulas to reward passengers who choose to spend part of their cruise evenings in the Walt Disney Theatre.
For its media preview Christening Cruise, the Disney Wish presented "sneak peek" previews of both productions. A line of tech monitors spanning the middle of the theater sent a clear visual message that the shows remained in development during this cruise, but the spirited performances that followed showed that even in abbreviated form, the Disney Cruise Line stage continues to overflow with entertainment.
"Disney Seas the Adventure" will play on the first night of each cruise, but we watched our preview on the second evening. This show follows a well-established Disney theme park template of offering a selection of greatest hits from Disney animated films, tied together by a Disney character's quest for some form of self-improvement.
Our hero this time - in a delightful and welcomed development - is Goofy. Disney's go-to character for comic relief too rarely gets an opportunity for his own hero's quest, so Goofy fans should love what the DCL entertainment team has done for the big guy in this production.
We first see Goofy mopping the deck at the feet of Captain Minnie, who is steering the Disney Wish out of port. The good friends share a few words, which reveal Goofy's childhood wish to be a sea captain. Minnie - showing the maturity that Disney wisely has allowed her in recent years - chooses to make herself busy elsewhere so that Goofy can have the moment with the wheel that he long has "wished" for.
Blessings are so often balanced by curses, and since this is a Disney production, something must go terribly wrong. So of course Goofy is gonna goof this up. Sure enough - in a bit of cheek from the scriptwriter, our first Disney shout-out calls on Crush from "Finding Nemo" to urge Goofy to "Go with the Flow."
Yep. Goofy gets the helm of the ship and next thing you know, we're underwater.
Our next hits come from "Frozen 2," "The Princess and the Frog," and "Hercules," showing that Disney Wish is willing to dive a bit deeper into Disney's abundant song catalogue. Eventually, Captain Minnie returns to bring home the message - follow your dreams, and you, too, can become the captain of your adventure.
Yeah, it's all a bit tidy and simplistic. As the rest of the Niles family pointed out after the show, only Tiana actually does the work to make her dreams come true. (And the Tiana's Place scene was our unanimous favorite in the show.) For almost everyone else in the Disney repertoire, though, it's a wish and some luck and some pixie dust. That ain't no business plan.
But where do business plans start? So often, with a wish. Or a dream.
So for the first night of the cruise - for the first night of this family adventure - why not just start with, well, the start? Consider "Disney Seas the Adventure" the appetizer for the buffet of entertainment that awaits you upon the Disney Wish. It's no grand narrative, nor is it meant to be. It's fun trip down memory lane for the Disney fans who book a trip on the Wish that also reminds them that there can be many adventures yet to come.
Such as the ones they might have on the Wish.
Coming next: My thoughts on the "Disney The Little Mermaid" preview. Disney requested no photos or video be recorded during either production, so that's why I have none to share with you here.
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