D23 Announcements

[TestingH2O]

The Coco tease also has me excited. I would love to have an MDR with Mexican food.

 

[CamColt]

There were 3 threads about this new announcement today. I have combined them into this one, so some comments may seem a bit disjointed.

 

[ILovePixieDust]

I'm dying to know itineraries. please God keep the wish on the 3 and 4 day sailing schedule and let treasure be on 7 night itineraries

This is what I am crossing my fingers for! 7 night (minimum) itineraries!

 

[tvguy]

I definitely expect some Moana theming but I think Disney will be careful to avoid anything that could be seen as cultural appropriation (I’m talking Tiki Room / Poly hotel style theming) since it will be sailing in the part of the world impacted by that. Any cultural nods will be closer to the Aulani “authentic” feel rather than anything too cartoony. Or they may just avoid it altogether (apart from Moana, which is not bordering on that risky territory).

Wow. I was kind of thinking Tiki Room would be cool. Not sure how talking birds can be seen as cultural appropriation.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Excited for all the DCL news. Ecstatic for HEA. Equally Ecstatic for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, San Fransokyo and Avengers Campus Expansion.

International Parks stuff looked really good. I’ve only ever been to the domestic parks (my first DLR trip I just got back from actually).

Really smart to not mention what is replacing Dinoland. Will be a little confused if it is Moana given the EPCOT expansion (though Journey to Water looks great!)

If the expansion happens with Encanto and Coco and the villains I’ll be ecstatic.

Really sad knowing May Poppins will never happen now (or at least for a while)

Tomorrowland in DLR needs some love imho.
Happy you are getting your parade back.



Where was the fantasmic update


But all in all I mixed. Lots of good things and some just ok. Nothing horrible imho.


In terms of competition with Epic Universe. Universal needs more mix of rides. I love Universal as well, but it is too screen based. And we have no idea what got changed as well. It will make the theme park and entertainment industries wake up and pay attention. But again who knows what changed or what will be recieved as what (I will say Super Nintendo World in USH looked amazing from what we could see but that’s still one land.

I said this elsewhere but I miss 2017 when we were United in Leisure. Pandora with TSL and G E on the horizon. Volcano Bay. Various BG updates. I miss that. The pandemic ruined so much

 

[Lilsia]

The Coco tease also has me excited. I would love to have an MDR with Mexican food.

That would be so hard to do. Many would think that authentic Mexican would be "too adventurous", and the American version is not good. Cheese is in everything and there are too many that are lactose intolerant to have an all "Americanized Mexican" menu.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Hawaiian cruise in March! Yeah, that’s when the whales are there! We hope to book it, this October 3!

 

[brentm77]

That would be so hard to do. Many would think that authentic Mexican would be "too adventurous", and the American version is not good. Cheese is in everything and there are too many that are lactose intolerant to have an all "Americanized Mexican" menu.

I respectfully disagree. If they went authentic, people would love it. Who doesn't like quality authentic Mexican food? I think most Americans and Canadians (a huge portion of DCL guests) are more adventurous than DCL gives them credit for. At WDW, some of the more "adventurous" restaurants are the hardest reservations to get. The average city in both countries has lots of international options now, and the people I know love to try new things. I don't think the average American just eats hamburgers and Taco Bell these days. I think the idea that we have simple pallets is outdated. The first thing an American or Canadian wants to do in a foreign country is try the local cuisine.

Even if they went American style, there are plenty of options that don't involve boat loads of cheese, unless you are doing it like those 1990's style places that are falling out of style. There is an upscale Mexican place near us that does plenty of Americanized versions of dishes that aren't loaded with cheese in a style that would fit the MDR's perfectly. Really flavorful stuff, plated well, but appealing to the average person. You can't even get into the place because it's so popular, and I live in a pretty homogenized American city.

Even if they use cheese in many dishes, they could have options without it. But the majority of people can handle cheese, even if a handful need to take some a pill first. People love cheese. Done right, the American versions can be pretty good. But the quality varies a lot.

I think a Mexican restaurant is exactly what DCL needs to liven things up. It's truly one of the best cuisines in the world and is glaringly missing form the ships.

 

[WDW Crawl]

Treasure could be cool. Hoping for a better ship than the Wish. My favorite announcement was how Lighthouse Point features Joe Rohde living on the the island and how he will personally help you build sandcastles on one of the excursions.

 

[Lilsia]

I respectfully disagree. If they went authentic, people would love it. Who doesn't like quality authentic Mexican food? I think most Americans and Canadians (a huge portion of DCL guests) are more adventurous than DCL gives them credit for. At WDW, some of the more "adventurous" restaurants are the hardest reservations to get. The average city in both countries has lots of international options now, and the people I know love to try new things. I don't think the average American just eats hamburgers and Taco Bell these days. I think the idea that we have simple pallets is outdated. The first thing an American or Canadian wants to do in a foreign country is try the local cuisine.

Even if they went American style, there are plenty of options that don't involve boat loads of cheese, unless you are doing it like those 1990's style places that are falling out of style. There is an upscale Mexican place near us that does plenty of Americanized versions of dishes that aren't loaded with cheese in a style that would fit the MDR's perfectly. Really flavorful stuff, plated well, but appealing to the average person. You can't even get into the place because it's so popular, and I live in a pretty homogenized American city.

Even if they use cheese in many dishes, they could have options without it. But the majority of people can handle cheese, even if a handful need to take some a pill first. People love cheese. Done right, the American versions can be pretty good. But the quality varies a lot.

I think a Mexican restaurant is exactly what DCL needs to liven things up. It's truly one of the best cuisines in the world and is glaringly missing form the ships.

People already think that the menus that they have now are "adventurous". I belong to a couple of cruise groups and the amount of people who say that they don't see anything on the menu that they will eat is shocking. It's chicken with green beans and people think that is "fancy". They would have to do a Coco themed restaurant for it to work. But as you said, almost everyplace in the Country has Mexican food so I can't see it being a big draw. What they are lacking is a good Asian place.

 

[Kwami]

Treasure could be cool. Hoping for a better ship than the Wish. My favorite announcement was how Lighthouse Point features Joe Rohde living on the the island and how he will personally help you build sandcastles on one of the excursions.

Doesn't he work for Virgin Galactic now or something?

 

[Kwami]

People already think that the menus that they have now are "adventurous". I belong to a couple of cruise groups and the amount of people who say that they don't see anything on the menu that they will eat is shocking. It's chicken with green beans and people think that is "fancy". They would have to do a Coco themed restaurant for it to work. But as you said, almost everyplace in the Country has Mexican food so I can't see it being a big draw. What they are lacking is a good Asian place.

I don't know if the current menus are "adventurous". I think that many people are scared away from them because Disney goes out of their way to make everything sound fancy and people aren't used to that. Besides, what's adventurous for one person might be just normal for another. I don't care for pretty much anything that they serve at Remy, for instance, but that doesn't mean that I'm not willing to eat plenty of other "adventurous" foods.

 

[brentm77]

People already think that the menus that they have now are "adventurous". I belong to a couple of cruise groups and the amount of people who say that they don't see anything on the menu that they will eat is shocking. It's chicken with green beans and people think that is "fancy". They would have to do a Coco themed restaurant for it to work. But as you said, almost everyplace in the Country has Mexican food so I can't see it being a big draw. What they are lacking is a good Asian place.

Can I take Mexican and Asian?

 

[Starwave]

Looking at the released artist renderings for the Disney Treasure, there are some interesting details beyond the obvious new design elements and colors:

• Translucent tube after AquaMouse lift hill: This could be a noticeable improvement over the opaque tube on the early parts of the ride on the Disney Wish. That being said, I'm fairly certain that the early Disney Wish artist renderings also had translucent tubes that turned out to be opaque in the final product. My theory is that a translucent tube immediately after the lift hill would let in too much daylight and take away from the effects of the lift hill.
  
  
• LEDs embedded in stairs: This seems similar to the "wishing star" LED effect in the columns and roof of the Disney Wish, but embedded into the stairs on the Disney Wish.
  
  
• "1923" restaurant returning?: The display cases behind the first floor of the grand hall seem similar to the ones outside 1923 on the Disney Wish and would indicate this favorite restaurant is likely returning.
• No more "curved floors" on the upper grand hall decks: The Disney Wish introduced several curves that are unique to this Disney ship, including the "bump" on the side of the ship, the curved upper deck 12 above the family pools, and the curved floors on deck 4 and 5 above the grand hall. Interestingly, the Disney Treasure grand hall seems to eliminate these curves in favor of a single overhang that matches the location of the audio-visual booth on the Disney Wish.
  

Curious what others noticed in the artist renderings?

 

[WDW Crawl]

I do wonder if the 3 character groupings in the port holes are hints at the restaurant themes on the Treasure

 

[o&smom]

Looking at the released artist renderings for the Disney Treasure, there are some interesting details beyond the obvious new design elements and colors:

• Translucent tube after AquaMouse lift hill: This could be a noticeable improvement over the opaque tube on the early parts of the ride on the Disney Wish. That being said, I'm fairly certain that the early Disney Wish artist renderings also had translucent tubes that turned out to be opaque in the final product. My theory is that a translucent tube immediately after the lift hill would let in too much daylight and take away from the effects of the lift hill.
  View attachment 701552
  
• LEDs embedded in stairs: This seems similar to the "wishing star" LED effect in the columns and roof of the Disney Wish, but embedded into the stairs on the Disney Wish.
  View attachment 701553
  
• "1923" restaurant returning?: The display cases behind the first floor of the grand hall seem similar to the ones outside 1923 on the Disney Wish and would indicate this favorite restaurant is likely returning.
• No more "curved floors" on the upper grand hall decks: The Disney Wish introduced several curves that are unique to this Disney ship, including the "bump" on the side of the ship, the curved upper deck 12 above the family pools, and the curved floors on deck 4 and 5 above the grand hall. Interestingly, the Disney Treasure grand hall seems to eliminate these curves in favor of a single overhang that matches the location of the audio-visual booth on the Disney Wish.
  View attachment 701554

Curious what others noticed in the artist renderings?

If I am remembering correctly, the original artwork for the Wish had the translucent tube. Many were disappointed that it is opaque.

 

[TestingH2O]

That would be so hard to do. Many would think that authentic Mexican would be "too adventurous", and the American version is not good. Cheese is in everything and there are too many that are lactose intolerant to have an all "Americanized Mexican" menu.

I’ve read that Mexican food is the second most popular international cuisine in the states. Only Italian is more popular. If DCL’s goal is for food to appeal to lots of people, then the second most popular style of cuisine seems like a good choice to me.

People already think that the menus that they have now are "adventurous". I belong to a couple of cruise groups and the amount of people who say that they don't see anything on the menu that they will eat is shocking. It's chicken with green beans and people think that is "fancy". They would have to do a Coco themed restaurant for it to work. But as you said, almost everyplace in the Country has Mexican food so I can't see it being a big draw. What they are lacking is a good Asian place.

Ironically they say they already have an Asian MDR. DCL characterizes the menu at Animator’s Palate as Asian. While I would love an authentic Mexican restaurant, I’m sure it would end up like Animator’s where the Asian influence ends at the ginger-teriyaki filet and wasabi mashed potatoes.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I'm excited for the new island and overall adventure theme of the Treasure! The darker lobby looks very cool. I just hope the MDRs are different... none of them thrill me on the Wish (haven't sailed yet but still).

 

[holula]

I’ve read that Mexican food is the second most popular international cuisine in the states. Only Italian is more popular. If DCL’s goal is for food to appeal to lots of people, then the second most popular style of cuisine seems like a good choice to me.

Ironically they say they already have an Asian MDR. DCL characterizes the menu at Animator’s Palate as Asian. While I would love an authentic Mexican restaurant, I’m sure it would end up like Animator’s where the Asian influence ends at the ginger-teriyaki filet and wasabi mashed potatoes.

I just. What? I never would say AP was Asian at all

 

[SnappySerape]

I know this is speculation but I thought I'd toss this out there anyway. The Disney Wish was named at 2019 D23 and it was to set sail in 2022 (originally June 9 but delayed). Itineraries were announced in April of 2021 along with "Once Upon a Disney Wish" with bookings opening at the end of May 2021. Since the Treasure is due to set sail in 2024, what do you think the odds are of voyages being announced early spring vs a June/July announcement? I wonder if they'll do a similar long video for the Treasure where they'll reveal more detail. They did announce the hull character at D23 2019 but not this year.