Theme Park Scope

I have always believed I would be great at a scavenger hunt, and I have always been wrong.

Which is why I am delighted that Disney Cruise Line is letting me play along from my couch.

Disney has begun a three-day scavenger hunt aboard the Disney Wish, hosted for a group of content creators and media who are helping tell the story of the Disney Believe. The idea is that clues solved over the course of the week lead up to the ship’s official reveal on Wednesday, October 7, at 4:30 PM ET, which will stream on the Disney Parks YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok channels. That livestream will announce the Disney Believe’s homeport, itineraries, themed venues, and entertainment, so everything hinted at in the hunt is expected to pay off then. Here is a full recap of Day One.

Guests gathered in Luna for opening remarks, and the first special guest was Trent Hitchcock, the opening Cruise Director for the Disney Believe. He will oversee entertainment, youth spaces, and recreation onboard the new ship. His advice to the group was a good teaser for everyone following along: every task has a meaning, and every clue is intentional.

The first task was a group puzzle. The crowd split into three teams, each one working to decode a hidden challenge, and each looking for a single number. After a lot of shouting, the numbers 7, 2, and 3 appeared on stage. Trent explained what that meant: 723 is the Disney Believe’s hull number. When cruise ships are built, each one gets a hull number at the shipyard, and Walt Disney Imagineering likes to hide it in the design as a little nod to the ship’s beginning. At the Meyer Werft shipyard, the Disney Believe’s hull designation is 723. If you ever sail on it, I would start looking for that number immediately.

That number led to the first piece of news. Natacha Rafalski, president of Disney Signature Experiences, shared that the team recently celebrated the ship’s keel-laying ceremony, which we covered earlier this week. Disney offered one more detail in this retelling: the specially crafted coin featuring Tinker Bell was ceremonially welded to the ship’s keel block to bring good fortune to the ship and its future crew.

The next surprise was a big one for anyone who has been following our coverage of the new characters. Hugo and Beatrice, the pair introduced as the Disney Believe’s new storytellers, joined the group in person. Disney calls them a pair of Story Sea-kers, lively travelers and explorers who are known for searching for stories themselves, and they helped kick off the group’s own story hunt. When we first wrote about them, Disney had shared very little beyond a short description, so this is the first time we have seen them take part in an experience. We still do not know their full story or how they will appear on the ship, but the fact that they are guiding the hunt suggests they will be a big part of the Believe’s storytelling.

Next, the group had to find special portholes aboard the Disney Wish, each of which hid a word. Disney shared the clues in photos, and they are full of references that Disney fans should enjoy.

One porthole involved a puzzle about core emotions and matching emotions to their colors, with questions like which emotion is anxiety. If you are thinking Inside Out, you are on the right track.

Another involved a wishing well and naming Snow White’s trusted companions.

A third had Jiminy Cricket and a word scramble to find five dreamers.

The fourth had a clue about Ariel, and the answer was her hair color, which is red.

For that last one, the group received a fill-in-the-blank list of famous tunes from The Little Mermaid. Try it yourself: Under the blank, blank the girl, Part of your blank, and Poor unfortunate blanks. The answers are sea, kiss, world, and souls.

Completing the clues sent each team to Nightingale’s, the piano bar on the Wish, where the reward was not something Disney planned to share until Wednesday’s livestream: a first look at a brand-new food or beverage item coming to the Disney Believe. Disney’s post includes photos of the items but does not explain what they are, and it asks the obvious question, which is whether they hint at a venue, a show, or a character. The day ended with photos of a turndown note and Pascal from Tangled, which may be another clue.

Disney has been steadily dropping information about the Disney Believe, from the D23 reveal of the Grand Hall to the first gigablock float-out and the keel laying, and this hunt feels like the final warm-up before the full reveal. If the first day is any sign, expect a lot of references to Disney Animation’s Encanto, Frozen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Moana, and The Little Mermaid, which Disney has already said will inspire the ship’s venues and entertainment.

There are two more days to go, so we will keep an eye on the clues and the livestream. Check back with Theme Park Scope for everything Disney reveals about the Disney Believe.