The Disney Destiny is Disney Cruise Line’s 7th ship sailing year-round from Port Everglades with a heroes and villains theme. This is the third Wish Class ship, following the Disney Wish and Disney Treasure. Meaning if you’ve sailed on either of these ships, the Destiny will feel familiar in a lot of ways like the ship’s layout and amenities, just with a different theme. However, the theming of the ship makes a tremendous difference and has a lot of families eagerly booking this new Disney Cruise experience.
There are so many unique details to the Destiny like Spider-Man featured on the stern of the ship, The Black Panther as The Grand Hall icon, Pride Lands: Feast of The Lion King – the first Lion King experience at sea, plus Disney Parks fans will love both The Haunted Mansion Parlor and Cask & Cannon, inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean. With so many new experiences, you might be wondering if the Disney Destiny is the right experience for your family. Here are some highlights of sailing on the Destiny, from the perspective of a parent.
Wide-Range of Disney Stories and Experiences
The Destiny might be most the ambitious collection of Disney stories – Hercules, Frozen, The Princess and the Frog, Sleeping Beauty, The Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, The Incredibles, 101 Dalmations, The Lion King, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean… and that’s just scratching the surface. Thanks to the heroes and villains theme of finding your “Destiny”, this opens up the possibility of almost every Disney story ever made.
This variety of stories really lends itself to families of all kinds – maybe your older kids gravitate towards Marvel stories like Thor and The Black Panther, while younger children appreciate being able to see Frozen live at sea, and millennial parents are beyond-thrilled to see Hercules live and an emotional Lion King dinner experience. The Disney Destiny goes all in on these stories, with character interactions throughout the ship, magical moments in The Grand Hall, and vibrant, themed spaces.
Villains are the Star of the Show… And They’re Fun
While Captain Mickey and Captain Minnie are still the main characters of the Disney Destiny, there are a LOT of villains making appearances throughout each sailing. The best part of all, the villains are more of an experience than just a meet and greet. As a parent, I love this concept because it means my three-year old can enjoy some of these encounters without waiting in a long line and being able to still participate even if he’s too scared to actually interact with the villains. If you are brave enough to brush shoulders with the villains, these interactions are more immersive allowing for candid moments with characters we don’t see as often in the Disney Parks.
Here are some of the villain encounters you should look for on the Disney Destiny –
- Under Her Spell: A Maleficent Encounter – located in Saga – pledge your allegiance to Maleficent with a photo meet and greet following
- Sleeping Beauty: A Mostly Accurate Tale – located in The Grand Hall – Zayah and Gamble tell the story of Sleeping Beauty only to have Maleficent interrupt with her own version of the classic tale
- Legend of Loki – located in The Grand Hall – Zayah and Gamble tell the story of Odin and Asgard with Loki making an appearance to set the record straight and interacting with guests at the end
- Treble Making with Cruella – located in De Vil’s (adults only) – help Cruella make her own version of the infamous “Cruells De Vil” song
- Cruella’s Wretched Runway – located in The Grand Hall – Cruella and her designers host a fashion show with guest participation modeling fashions such as heroes, villains, and of course Cruella-inspired looks
- Parlor Tricks with Dr. Facilier – located in the Shutters Studio – Dr. Facilier hosts an intimate gathering with his famous parlor tricks – this experience is very limited so be sure to get there super early
Perfect Itineraries
The majority of the Disney Destiny itineraries are 4 and 5-night sailings to The Bahamas including Disney’s Castaway Cay and/ or Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. This is a great length of cruise to be able to enjoy all of the onboard fun, visit at least one of the Disney island destinations, and have enough time to relax and unwind. With so much entertainment onboard plus experiences like the Aqua Mouse and Oceaneer Club, it would be almost impossible to fit it all in on a 3-night itinerary.
Fort Lauderdale is an Easy Cruise Port
The Destiny is the first Disney ship to have its maiden voyage from its home port of Port Everglades. In fact, Port Everglades became Disney Cruise Line’s second home port in 2023 and offers the same seamless and distinctively-Disney experience guest have become accustomed to at Port Canaveral. The best thing about sailing from Fort Lauderdale is how easy it is to get from the airport to surrounding hotels and the port. Everything is within a few miles of each other. When you depart on the Disney Destiny, you can literally see planes taking off from the airport and hotels like the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort. You’re “destined” for a perfectly relaxing Disney Cruise Line vacation.
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