Disney Believe Fan Reaction: Is It Just Wish 2.0?

This week Disney gave their newest ship, Disney Believe, a extravagant unveiling that only Disney could do, complete with a livestream and the kind of buildup that usually means something big is coming. Then people read the details, and the comments in the Disney Cruise Line Reddit came in faster than Buzz Lighyear soaring over Tomorrowland with a jetpack.

The thread I’ve been reading started with one person asking if they were the only one feeling a little let down. They definitely were not the only one.

“Didn’t They Already Do This?”

That’s the gist of most of the complaints. The Haunted Mansion Parlor is headed for a third ship. There’s another Inside Out sweets shop, another Worlds of Marvel, another 1923, and a Moana cafe that swaps in a different character, which Disney apparently considers new. If you do the math on the overlapping venues, you’ll see that the Wish class ships now share about two thirds of their places to eat.

The second Frozen restaurant got torched. Several people said the one on Wish isn’t well liked in the first place and can’t touch Plaza de Coco on Treasure, so naturally the plan is to build another. The top comment listed what they’d rather have: Hercules, Encanto, Luca, Brave. Other people wanted Mulan or Raya, a Lady and the Tramp Italian place, anything from Peter Pan or Pinocchio. The most popular idea of all was an Enchanted Tiki Room bar in place of the Haunted Mansion space. As long as the birds didn’t sing the “Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Room” song, I’d be the first one through the door.

As for why Disney keeps doing this, people were split. Some say it’s money. One commenter pointed out that Frozen 3 is supposed to hit theaters a few weeks before the ship sails, which would explain the Frozen push. Others weren’t buying the savings argument, since restaurants are a small part of a billion dollar ship and every space still has to be built for that specific vessel. A few guessed Disney just wanted the thing out the door quickly. Somebody also pointed out that Wish class ships are built in a modular way, so there’s only so much room to change things, and that Believe is the last of the class before a smaller one comes along.

The rollout itself didn’t win anyone over either. The presentation ran about 30 minutes, which more than one person called underwhelming, and the influencer scavenger hunt got a lot of eye rolls, as should anything with “influencer” attached to it. One commenter figured it was there because nobody would get excited about the ship on its own. That’s harsh, but I understand where it came from.

Hey, Not Everybody Hated It!

A good chunk of those commenting in the thread were actually excited. The new Encanto stage show, the interactive Zootopia mystery show, the Ariel piano bar, the Moana coffee bar, and a cafe called Big Hero Sips all got praise, and a few people said the new atrium looks great in the artwork. But we all know concept art that Disney puts out often times rarely matches reality once the bean counters start poking around.

The parents were the happiest group by far. One said Believe checks every box for a daughter who loves Snow White, Frozen, Encanto, and Tangled, and another pointed out that plenty of families only get one Disney cruise, so a Frozen dinner show is a big deal to them. A few of the grumpiest commenters even admitted they’d book it anyway. With Disney theoretically being able to sell a bag of trash taken straight from a theme park garbage can for $199 to obsessed fans, we all know the ship is going to be full regardless.

Let’s Talk About the Wish Class

This is the same story our Wish class review data has been telling. In our updated guide, Every Disney Cruise Line Ship Ranked Best to Worst, we pulled member review scores from Cruise Critic and Cruiseline.com for August 2025 through August 2026, and the Wish class ships came out at the bottom of the fleet.

Disney Wish ranked lowest among ships with enough reviews to count, at a combined 3.84. What stands out is how differently the two sites see it. Cruise Critic, where the more experienced cruisers tend to hang out, gave Wish a 3.3 from 94 reviews, and Cruiseline.com gave it a 4.4 from 90. Disney Treasure scored 3.88 combined, but it only has 20 reviews on Cruise Critic so I wouldn’t lean on that number too hard. The four older ships, Dream, Fantasy, Magic, and Wonder, scored between 4.0 and 4.3 on Cruise Critic. Disney Destiny doesn’t have enough reviews yet to say anything.

When we went through the reviews, the complaints kept repeating. Experienced cruisers talked about less space for adults only, 3 to 5 night sailings that feel chaotic, a layout that’s hard to figure out, food that doesn’t justify the fare, and having to jump through reservation hoops for things that used to be simple. Wish isn’t a bad ship, and first time families still tend to love it. But if you’ve sailed the older ships and you’re paying today’s prices, it’s easy to see why some people feel like they’re getting less.

Believe still has time to surprise us before it sails, and a few commenters said itineraries could be what decides it for them. For now, though, most of the reaction sounds a lot like a review of a ship that hasn’t sailed yet.