Disney Dream: Details revealed about Disney Cruise Line’s new ship

Click here to see more pictures of Disney's Dream cruise ship

From Sentinel Staff Writers Dewayne Bevil and Jason Garcia

A cry of “Man overboard” will have a new, less dire connotation aboard the Disney Dream.

AquaDuck — the first water coaster aboard a cruise ship — will send passengers sailing 13 feet over the edge, 150 feet above the water’s surface, rafting a clear, acrylic tube before returning above the top deck of the Disney Cruise Line ship.

“This isn’t a passive experience — from top to bottom,” said Greg Dauberger, director of design and production for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Click Here To See Photos of the Disney Dream

The ride was among the Dream details revealed Thursday afternoon in New York. Scheduled to debut in January 2011, the ship will sail from Port Canaveral with three-, four- and five-night cruises to Nassau, Bahamas, and Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island.

By using the Dream on shorter routes out of Canaveral, Disney Cruise Line is banking on its largest and most lavishly outfitted ship to help lure more first-time cruisers. Repeat clients could then return for even longer voyages aboard the company’s two existing ships, one of which will continue to sail week-long itineraries out of the Brevard County seaport.

Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz said the shorter Bahamian cruises historically have served as “a way of bringing people into the cruise franchise.”

“People follow the evolution of the cruise line and maybe look at it as you’ve got to go on the three-night, then you’ve got to go on a four-night and then you’ve got to on the seven-night,” Holz said.

While AquaDuck will be a very visible amenity aboard the Dream, another creative touch will be available primarily to those in interior staterooms, accommodations that lack an ocean view. Those areas — about 12 percent of the rooms — will be equipped with a “Virtual Porthole,” a round screen with a live feed from high-definition cameras attached to the Dream. Those guests will see the water and passing scenery.

The Virtual Porthole also can present animated extras.

“You may see Steamboat Willie going by,” said Joe Lanzisero, Imagineering senior vice president for creative.

Characters under consideration include Nigel, the sea gull from Finding Nemo, and Mary Poppins floating along. Images will vary from room to room.

“We’re having a lot of fun developing this overlay,” Dauberger said.

Customization and personalization will carry through the Dream’s Enchanted Art, exhibits that appear to be standard artwork — an animation cell, a painting, a photograph. In reality, they are monitors hidden, behind glass, that can be activated into a “transforming art” sequence.

It’s a fantasy that Disney wants to look real.

“The illusion has to be there,” Dauberger said. “You have to believe it’s a piece of art.”

The 19 pieces, scattered throughout common areas of the Dream, will react to individual passengers’ Key to the World cards. A piece of Enchanted Art might perform one way for a child but another way — or maybe not at all — for a parent, Dauberger said.

Additional encounters will be found in the youth-activities area, which will feature interactions similar to Epcot’s Turtle Talk with Crush, where kids converse in real time with the Finding Nemo character. Lanzisero expects this to be a personalized and “deeper experience” than in the theme park because there are fewer people and they can spend more time with the characters.

“Crush will remember you” from day to day, Lanzisero said.

Some restaurants and lounges also will feature evolving atmospheres. The “glass” ceiling of the Enchanted Garden area will change to reflect the time of day — bright for breakfast, dark for dinner. A large-format video display in the Skyline bar will portray cityscapes of New York, Paris, Hong Kong and other cities in daily transition.

“You’re going to get something out of the ordinary,” Lanzisero said. “You’re going to be surprised.”

Other coming attractions aboard the 4,000-passenger Dream:

A club for “tweens” — passengers in the 11- to 13-year-old range — called Edge, located in the forward funnel will allow views onto the pool decks. Plus, AquaDuck riders will be seen zipping through the funnel.

Vibe, a 9,000-square-foot club for teens only, will feature a private deck with water jets and wading pools outdoors and video games, WiFi and a dance floor inside.

The Royal Palace restaurant will incorporate design touches from Disney films, such as the circular floor and fluted columns from the ballroom scene in Cinderella and wall sconces seen in Beauty and the Beast. Expect marble floors, regal tones and imagery, including portraits of Snow White, Belle, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

Areas exclusive to adults include Pink, a champagne bar, as well as Evolution, a nightclub with a butterfly-inspired motif, and a redesigned version of Palo, the signature restaurant of the Disney Cruise Line.

Disney will begin accepting bookings for the Dream on Nov. 9. The company will add a fourth ship to its fleet, the Disney Fantasy, in 2012.

Jay Rasulo, chairman of the Walt Disney Co.’s parks-and-resorts division, said the cruise business holds substantial growth potential for Disney.

“We think that the family cruise market is one that we have just skimmed the surface of,” Rasulo said.

Dewayne Bevil can be reached at 407-420-5477 or dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Jason Garcia can be reached at jrgarcia@orlandosentinel.com.