Rampant Speculation: What If Disney Cruise Line Looked to Pixar's Biggest Hit for a Key Feature of the Disney Believe?

Disney Cruise Line is getting ready to enter the Wish Class once again with the fourth and newest in the class, the Disney Believe, which is slated to arrive late next year. While we have been promised to learn more about the magical new vessel in October, I feel like one key detail may already be staring us right in the face. 

What follows is rampant speculation (and a bit of wishful thinking) and is no way confirmed by any arm of the Walt Disney Company.

The Wish Class of ships features the Grand Hall. Each of these spaces is unique to each ship in the class and builds upon the atriums of the four ships that came before. The Magic and Wonder have these classic oceanliner feels, with accents and details that pay homage to the vessels of sailing past. Each has an art deco feel that was expanded upon by the time the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy arrived. With a similar art deco and art nouveau theme (respectively), those spaces grew larger and became the heart of the vessel, with grand staircases and entertainment that took place in the space. 

With the new Wish Class, that classic oceanliner idea went out to sea and in came a highly themed environment, bigger and better(?) than those ships that came before it. The idea of shows in the space was also built upon, with a literal stage now installed in this space - much to the lament of those who loved those mid-ship elevators. As we learned about that first ship in the class, the Disney Wish, we discovered that the ship would have a theme: Enchantment. As such, the Grand Hall would take on a look inspired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios classic, Cinderella. The princess herself would become the bronze atrium character (unique to each ship), and the chandelier (also unique to each ship), would actually be inspired be her iconic dress. Turned upside down, of course. The surrounding area would be filled with blues and shades almost reminiscent of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World, with lovely floral patterns across the carpeting through the space. Gold rails and accents would keep the look going, and many people who enter the ship feel as though the have entered a classic Disney Parks castle. 

After all, this is the first space guests see coming onboard a Disney Cruise Line ship, and the Grand Hall makes quite the grand entrance for those voyagers. 

With the next ship in the class, the Disney Treasure, we had a new theme: Adventure. Similarly, the Grand Hall took on a look inspired by one of the most adventurous films from Walt Disney Animation Studios - Aladdin. Feeling as though you stepped into a floating Agrabah, the space borrows many design elements - floral, textile, and otherwise - from sources reminiscent of those researched for the fictional kingdom in the film. The chandelier takes on a similar aesthetic, that of a giant lantern with smaller lanterns hanging from it. It’s quite stunning, but there was another ship to come. 

A common comment regarding the Wish Class is the amount of intellectual property (IP) that is injected into each ship. A cursory thought might be “well I don’t like Cinderella. I don’t think I’d like that ship.” While each ship in the class has an abundance of IP integration to ensure that it appeals to all - “you might not like Cinderella but you may love this Star Wars lounge!” - this perception may have been pushed to the limits with the new Disney Destiny. The third sister in the class takes on a theme of Heroes and Villains. While that is a fairly broad concept and can apply to, frankly, ANY story, the reveal that Spider-Man would be featured on the aft (again, a detail unique to each ship) and that the Grand Hall would be themed to Black Panther gave the immediate consensus to casual audiences that this is “The Marvel Ship.”

The Grand Hall on this ship is covered in golds and textures that scream Wakanda from the hit Marvel film. In the middle of the atrium, the first live-action character in the fleet, T’Challa as the Black Panther. Mosiacs and tapestries in the Grand Hall echo this and carry it over to its edges, blending it in with neighboring areas. A Wakanda tapestry might give way to a Loki tapestry as you get to the multi-use venue, Saga. Another direction and the tribal patterns segue from Wakanda and the Black Panther into the savanna and Simba as you get to Pride Lands: Feast of the Lion King. 

And of course, the stunning chandelier in this Grand Hall is actually inspired by the ancient meteorite made of Vibranium. Like the other chandeliers in this ship class, it comes to life and uses dynamic lighting to illuminate the area in different colors and show scenes that go along with the show on the stage, or just sporadically through the night - not to mention during the increasingly popular “Kiss Goodnight” moments onboard.

Enter the reveal for the fourth Wish Class ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet - the Disney Believe. 

Revealed earlier this year by newly minted CEO Josh D’Amaro during the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the ninth ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet will take on a theme in the same way that all the other ships in the Wish class have, but this one will feature the theme of “Promise and Possibilities.”

We don’t know much about the ship yet, outside of the fact that’s in the Wish Class - which are nearly identical to each other in terms of deck plans, concepts, and layouts - though the spaces vary throughout. For example, where the musical dining show based on Frozen exists on the Disney Wish, you have a musical dining show based on Coco in the same space on the Disney Treasure. 

What we DO have are the reels that tease the new ship that were released when the new ship name was announced, and another when they announced what date the big reveal of everything on the ship will feature. These reels are nothing more than just a stylized description of the theme of the boat while showcasing a bevy of characters and stories, some a bit more prominent than others. 

I have already written about where I think some of all this IP will end up on the ship, but I have been dwelling on an idea that I think could be - or maybe I’m just manifesting at this point even though its all already in the works, and that is the Grand Hall of the ship itself. At this point, with this class, the idea of theming a Grand Hall to a single IP is nothing new. Aladdin, Cinderella, Black Panther… two Walt Disney Animation Studios and a Marvel film. Now, some fans are eagerly anticipating a Star Wars themed Grand Hall - with the idea of Promise and Possibilities tying to “The Force.” I am not one of those fans. 

Instead, I look past Lucasfilm to a different studio owned by Disney for where our Grand Hall might originate - Pixar Animation Studios. 

Both of the teasing reels prominently feature characters from the Inside Out films. The original announcement video features a moment pulled right from Inside Out 2, and the date reveal teaser shows off Joy immediately - the first thing you see, so to speak. 

Let’s stick with Inside Out 2 for a moment. 

In Inside Out 2, we follow the emotions - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger - as Riley get’s a bit older. In doing so, we learn more about what makes Riley, well, Riley as she starts puberty and we get introduced to all kinds of new characters and emotions - like Anxiety, Ennui, Envy, and Embarrassment. But we also get to see more of the world-building of the story, as it introduces us to new concepts like Riley’s “Sense of Self.” Located in the middle of Headquarters, this floating structure actually develops and changes colors based on memories recalled or added to it. 

Just looking at it, one can easily picture this hanging and changing colors in a Grand Hall aboard the ship right? But wait. There’s more. 

What feeds the sense of self, forming it, helping it develop, are strands of memories that form like glowing vines that pulsate gently in various colors as a small stream of memories flows nearby. At several points in the film, we see the characters go down beneath headquarters into this space, and those scenes are simply beautiful. What is this space called? 

The Belief System. You know, almost like the name of the ship.

It also helps that Inside Out 2 was a box office phenomenon when it was released, taking in $1.69 billion worldwide, and currently sits in the #11 spot of the biggest movies ever. As of the time of this writing, Inside Out 2 is also the highest-grossing Pixar film ever.  For comparison, Marvel’s Black Panther, the inspiration of the Disney Destiny’s Grand Hall, took in $1.34 billion globally. 

This isn’t just a matter of box office, it’s known and timeless stories. By the logic of big box office, it stands to reason that folks know and understand what stories and IP they’re about to walk into since they’ve already proven to be incredibly popular.

Inside Out originally debuted in 2015, its sequel in 2024, and has spawned off a short film (Riley’s First Date) and a series (Dream Productions). While its presence at Disney Parks may be largely limited to characters in meet and greets and parades, there is also a small attraction (Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind) at Disney California Adventure. 

Disney Cruise Line fans will also be quick to point out that the Wish Class has Inside Out representation already. In the form of Joyful Sweets on the Disney Wish. Sure one can assume that they would just be bringing that candy shop over to the Disney Believe…but that would be the first time this type of location was cloned on a different ship. On the Disney Treasure, this space is home to a Zootopia-themed sweet shop, and an Incredibles-themed spot on the Disney Destiny. 

As for the bronze statue in the Atrium? Joy. The first thing you see when entering the ship are these statues, and in the announcement tease the first thing you see is Joy, so that’s where my mind is. Though, I wouldn’t be surprised if she is joined by Sadness, or any other combination of the emotions. 

While, again, this is purely rampant speculation on my part, it is a nice thought and would be fun if it came to fruition. Or I could be way off, and Inside Out is just relegated to one of the stateroom themes. 

We’ll find out for sure in October.