The Dream is Disney's first new cruise ship in more than a decade. It's scheduled to debut on Jan. 26, 2011, the 128,000-ton Dream will be about 40% larger than the current Disney ships and will hold up to 4,000 passengers. But it was designed around the same basic principles as the earlier vessels, says Greg Dauberger, one of the top Disney designers on the project."It's designed around Disney hallmarks of storytelling, creativity and innovation," Dauberger says in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, and "it's purpose built for family cruise vacations."
Like the 11-year-old Disney Magic, the Dream will echo early 20th century ships with a sleek bow and circular portholes, and it's over-riding design elements are Art Deco, says Dauberger. But a number of interior spaces will have a contemporary look.
The 2,500-passenger Disney Dream, currently under construction at a shipyard in Germany, will feature a miniature golf course themed around Goofy, a water play area for kids that has Nemo as its inspiration, an adults-only decktop pool area with a swim-up bar plus a high-speed flume ride that will wrap around the top of the vessel -- a cruise industry first.
Disney says Goofy's Golf, as the nine-hole miniature golf course is to be called, is part of an interactive sports deck that also will have two digital sports simulators and two mini-sized sports courts where small children can play soccer and basketball. There also will be a full-court basketball area that can be transformed into a mini soccer pitch or volleyball court. The sports deck also will have table tennis and foosball tables, and it will be ringed by a walking track.
The Nemo-themed water play (illustration above) will feature a small water slide, water jets and other water features. It'll also be enclosed with glass. Disney says the adult-only area will be called Quiet Cove. Its pool, notable, will be fresh water (as all three pools atop the Dream will be). Disney says the ship also will have a Mickey Mouse-shaped pool for small children (something already found on the line's two existing ships) and another family-focused pool called the Donald Pool.Disney Cruise Line is upping the ante in the battle for family cruisers today by announcing plans for a high-speed flume ride. The 765-foot-long attraction, to be called AquaDuck, is like nothing ever before seen on a cruise ship. It will wind around a good portion of the top deck of the 1,250-cabin vessel. Billed as a "water coaster," the flume ride will employ the same Master Blaster technology used at Disney theme parks to shoot riders upward and forward as they careen through a series of twists, turns and drops while riding an inflatable raft through a clear acrylic tube.
The AquaDuck will rise four stories off the top deck of the ship and be intense enough that Disney plans a height limit for riders. Among the highlights of the ride: A slide through a loop that swings out over the side of the ship that will give riders an unobstructed view of the ocean surface 150 feet below. Riders later will be whooshed through the forward funnel of the ship and travel through one of the ship's indoor children's areas before reemerging outside for a 335-foot-long stretch of "river rapids." There will be no charge to ride the AquaDuck.
i cant seem to understand why anyone would ever want to be on a ship with 4000 people... must be real fun when it is time to dock at a port and unload. This is way over the top and seems to me like a large floating cash register for tourists all for the Disney Pockets.. Way way too big..
ReplyDeleteAfter having gone on several Disney cruises, the size of the Disney Dream and capacity should not deter anyone from it.
ReplyDeleteGranted, we have sailed on smaller cruises; however, no matter the number of people, you never feel crowded or congested on board. There are so many activites for children (of all ages), and adults that you never realize how many people are actually sailing at any given time.
Personally, I can't wait to sail on the new ship!