Review of The Hidden Treasures of the Disney Cruise Line

D Lounge

• Script pages from Disney films such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland

• Sadly, carpet is now removed since last dry dock

Oceaneer Club Deck 5

• Lower ceiling and smaller portholes so that children feel bigger

Hallway on Deck 4 heading AFT going towards the nightclubs uses forced perspective and less detail to make the path seem longer to discourage children from walking down it

Midship elevators when above Deck 5 have painted images of Disney animated characters

Deck 5 atrium near BBB has Jolly Roger steering wheel which paired with the enchanted art allows you to steer Captain Hook’s pirate ship

Deck 3 midship near guest services has a Cinderella mural with Herb Ryman and John Hench as caricatures

Animators Palate

• An artist’s palette is the surface used to mix paint and the word palate refers to the ability to taste something

• Therefore, the reference is not only a tool used in art, but a tool used in tasting food

• On Magic and Wonder the restaurant starts black and white and magically transforms into full color during the meal. The waiter costumes do the same thing and is now called Drawn to Magic.

• On Dream and Fantasy, the show is more about the process of an animation studio including sketches, reels, paintbrushes, and film strips.

  • During the meal the screen turns to a window to the ocean and the Undersea Magic show starts with characters from Finding Nemo

• Turtle Talk with Crush: characters in the show are fully aware of the people at the tables and can interact with them. Crush is controlled onscreen in real time by a puppeteer who uses a keyboard to move him around. Cameras on both side of the screens allow the puppeteer to see what is going on in the dining room and when the puppeteer talks Crush mimics those movements.

• Second night dining at his restaurant on the Magic, Wonder and Fantasy give guest a place mat to draw on and then those characters become animations on the screen after the meal. I believe this is only on 7-night sailings.

Enchanted Garden

• Menu features flowers from Alice in Wonderland

• Restaurant inspired by gardens of Versailles in France

• During the meal the flowers above bloom open and are filled with color

• 7-foot-tall fountain with Mickey holding a bow and arrow like Cupid

Royal Palace

• Themed to Disney princesses from Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty

• Circular ballrooms like in Cinderella and wall sconces fashioned after Beauty and the Beast

• The room is filled with marble floors, luxurious royal carpets, chandelier made of glass slippers, royal crests on both walls and back of chairs

• Bread baskets in the shape of Cinderella enchanted coach

Cabanas

• Buffet style for breakfast and lunch and table service for dinner

• Largest restaurant on the ship

• Themed to have every day is a picnic on the beach with palm trees throughout the restaurant

• Name is referenced from the tent like structure often on a beach

• Entrance is striped canvas foyer like entering a beach cabana

• Finding Nemo characters are seen with seagulls above the signpost and Nigel outside the restaurant

  • Two huge seascape mosaic murals with 25 feet wide and 8 feet high with 194,500 tiles over 200 colors

• There are plaques done up to resemble sand that feature castles from the Disney theme parks directly across from them are the clocks with the actual time at those locations (sandcastles)

Meridian Bar

• Open 5 pm to midnight located in between two adult dining restaurants to serve as a waiting area

• There is also a smoking area outside

• Full of large windows on 3 sides to give an amazing view out the back of the ship

• Antique maps on the walls, nautical instruments through the bar, passport stamps on the wall, brown leather couches with luggage straps and a sextant design on the floor

• Gas lamps hang over the bar with welcome in different languages

Palo

• Homage to the Italian location the first two ships were built

• Murano blown glass chandelier known as pasta chandelier since it looks like spaghetti

• Palo is Italian for pole while most people say it is for the pole used to propel the craft, some say it is from the colorful poles where the gondolas are tied up

• It is thought up that as you make your way to your table it is like navigating a gondola through Venice and then docking at your table

• Italian paintings throughout the restaurant also have hidden Mickey’s

• You can see into the kitchen to watch your meals being prepared

Remy

• Adult experience with strictly enforced dress code requiring suit jacket or evening dress

• Entering the dining room, high above on a light fixture is a small statue of Remy in a chef’s hat holding a spoon made of Swarovski crystals worth $15000

• Remy’s outside is in the design of the chairs and hidden throughout the restaurant

• At Remy’s is a bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc (like in the movie) worth $25,000 and one bottle was sold on the Fantasy

• Both the ships have a vault and insurance for its most valuable wines

• Staff irons and presses each tablecloth every morning

• Small pedestals next to the tables is for hanging lady’s purses

• China dinnerware was produced by Bernardaud which Disney paid a premium to have on ship

• Private chef’s table dining rooms is called Gusteau’s representing his kitchen with handmade carpet

  • The chairs and drapes in the room are an exact match to the movie

  • The ceiling looks like wood but made of plastic because of fire hazard

• Over 900 bottles are in the wine vault

• Ham slicer is named Jessica and, on the Fantasy, named Olga

• Remy’s kitchen is also used to bake goods for Vanellope’s Sweets

• Palo and Remy use Frette dining linens

The District

• Deck 4 AFT nighttime adult entertainment with 5 interconnected venues

• Hallways are lined with life-sized black silhouettes of the paparazzi which used to have camera that flashed but people thought they were taking photos, so it was turned off

• Pixie dust in the carpets leads to restrooms and other lounges

• 10:45 pm hosts an hour-long buffet to help absorb all the drinks

• Cove Café at the same time is supposed to have a free antipasto platter

Pink

• Cocktail lounge themed as if you are inside a bottle of effervescent pink champagne

• Bubbles inset into the wall go from tiny on the floor to larger near the ceiling like champagne bubbles bubbling up

• Pink elephant from Dumbo can be seen appearing in random locations

• Some chairs are in the shape of elephant ears

• Behind the bar is a lighting fixture that represents the bubbles rushing to the mouth of the bottle and exploding after the cork pops.

• Taittinger created two champagnes exclusively for sale on the Dream, a Brut with the Dream ship on the label dedicated to the Dream’s inaugural year and Prestige Roe Champagne with Pink’s mascot pink elephant. Each bottle is $700 or purchased by the glass in a hand washed glass.

• A wine tasting held in Pink during the afternoon for $25 can taste 4 different champagnes sign up at guest services

Pub 687

• It is bad luck to call a vessel by its official name before its launch, so the Dream was called 687 because it was that 687th ship built at the shipyard

• First block of the Dream weighted 380 tons with 80 blocks for the entire ship

• Keel laying was august 26, 2009 by Donald Duck and Tom Forberg

• According to old sea tales, if the ship was damaged, the keel coin could be retrieved to pay for repairs. If the ship sunk, then the coin would guarantee that the spirit of the ship would live on while the wood rotted away. Sailors who died at sea would have payment for Charon to ferry them across the River Styx into the underworld.

Skyline

• Concept in a penthouse apartment overlooking a city

• 7 windows behind the bar that rotate every 15 minutes to give you a panoramic view of New York, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Hong Kong

• In Paris you can see Mickey Mouse waving in some of the windows

• The windows also transform from day to night therefore look out for a sunset

• The travel poster on the wall opposite the bar is enchanted art

• The menus are meant to light up since it is a darker lounge

• Looking from over on the right-hand side the coals in the digital fireplace resemble Cinderella Castle

Evolution

• Themed from the transformation of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis

• The ceiling is in the shape of wings multi-colored

• The lightings on the ceiling resemble butterflies in flight

O’Gills

• On Magic and Fantasy

• The guides claim it is from the Disney film Darby O’Gill and the little people but there was no scene in the movie about a leprechaun being rescued by a fish

• When the Magic was launched in 1998 this was called Off Beat but in 2003 renamed Diversions and today is named after the one on the Fantasy

• Dark woods and brass accents are reminiscent of the friendly neighborhood pub in Ireland

• Offers a red lager draft made especially for the pub as well as private label Irish cream and Irish whisky

• There is an official song for the pub called The Ballad of O’Gills

• You can see it written both ways O’Gill’s Pub or O’Gills Pub

Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats

• Exclusively on the Disney Dream based on Wreck-It Ralph and one of the games Sugar Rush

• In 2015 the Dream had a dry dock when this was added replacing the former Arr-cade on the starboard side, Aft area near Cabanas on Deck 11

  • Hence the entrance both on the pool deck and from inside Cabanas

• Inside the shop is a mural of the starting line, sculpture of Vanellope’s go kart and King Candy

• 20 different flavors of gelato, 16 flavors of ice cream and more than 28 different toppings and whip cream made daily

• 6 sundaes with 2 served in the souvenir cup

• Ralph’s Family Challenge 8 scoops of ice cream ad 8 toppings

• Each day the sundaes are on the leaderboard and move up or down based on what is ordered

• See if you can see or hear Sour Bill from beneath a pile of gumballs in a large glass globe on top of the red gasoline pump, he has over 30 different sayings