Thursday, April 3, 2025

Disney Cruise Line Classic Ships Part 1 of 2 – The Disney Magic

Disney Cruise Line Classic Ships – The Disney Magic


Many people love the Classic-Class of Disney Ships. They are the original ships of the fleet, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. They are the smallest ships of the fleet and many guests feel they are more intimate and less crowded. These two ships are near identical twins.


Interesting facts: Magic was the 5th largest Passenger Ship at sea when built. She was built at 2 different shipyards and the 2 halves floated out and welded together.


Disney Classic-Class Stats:

Built: 1998

Gross Tonnage: 83,000 GT

Length 964 feet / Beam 106 Feet / Draft 25.26 Feet

Number of Passenger Cabins: 875

Passenger Capacity: 2,400

Cruising Speed: 23 Knots

 

As of 2025 Magic and Wonder are DCL’s wondering ships. They can and have sailed out of Florida, Texas, Louisiana, California, Canada (Alaskan Cruises) and even Australia. In the past Disney Magic was doing European/Mediterranean cruises as well. In 2026 both Magic and Wonder will be doing Alaskan Cruises out of Vancouver, Canada for the summer months. They do not stick to one home port year-round.

 

Exploring Disney Magic:

Restaurants:

Lumiere’s is themed on the movie Beauty and the Beast. The food is French/American. This is a beautifully themed restaurant but like many “nice” restaurants on land. There is no show.

 

Animator’s Palate is themed like an Animator’s Workshop. The food is Asian, Pacific Islands and Californian Cuisine. The fun starts the moment you enter the restaurant for dinner. There are 4 different possible shows in Animator’s Palate. For the Classic-Class ships it is more likely you will get one of 3 shows.

The normal show for the Classic-Class starts out with the “picture frames” on the wall showing pencil sketches of various Disney Characters being drawn in black and white. As the meal progresses the pictures are colored in and by the end of the meal they are fully animated.

The 2nd possible show comes from The Dream-Class ships. You will be given a placemat and markers to draw you own character. If you follow directions your character will join classic Disney Characters in classic cartoons shown on the screens around the dining room.

The 3rd show is Pirate Night! The show is much like the normal show, except the characters drawn are all pirate themed! From Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean and even Treasure Planet the characters bring the Pirate fun to dinner.

The 4th show is usually on the Dream-Class ships and is like Turtle Talk from Disney Parks. Crush goes around the dining room to every table saying hi and chatting. The Moon Fish from the movies join the fun adding a fun game to the meal.

My suggestion is to request Animator’s Palate as many times as you can for your cruise and make a request for Animator’s for Pirate Night as well. On a 7-Night cruise you can get 3 shows! For a 4 night cruise request it twice with Pirate Night being one. You will get Lumiere’s  and Rapunzel’s once and Animator’s twice.

 

Rapunzel’s Royal Table is themed after the movie Tangled. The Thugs from the Snuggly Duckling are there to entertain and play live music as you enjoy your meal. Rapunzel, Flinn Ryder and the Thugs come around to visit the tables!

 

Shows:

The 3 Broadway-Style shows are Tangled: The Musical, Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story and Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic.

 

Tangled: The Musical is based on the movie Tangled.

Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story is truly a twist on the Cinderella Story. It is a look at what might have happened to the evil stepsisters and mother after Cinderella marries the Prince.

Disney Dreams - An Enchanted Classic is a romp through the most beloved Disney Stories as a young girl looks for help figuring out her feelings of growing up.

 

All Disney Ships have the Sail a Wave/Sail Away deck party and Pirates Night. Some sailings have a Frozen themed Deck Party if they are not doing Pirate Night.

 

Disney Magic has The AquaDunk. This is a floor drop plummet water slide that goes over the side of the ship from the funnel and splashes down on the pool deck below.

 

There is a fun lounge called the Soul Cat Lounge. It is a jazz Style lounge based on the move Soul. It has a stage so check the Navigator App for the schedule of entertainment there.


If you love Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel/Tangled, or Cinderella this ship is a special treat for you.


Disney Magic is Accessibility friendly. If you wish to see the live stage show you can sit in the back of the theater or go to Deck 3 to the lounge on the port side and ask for accessible access to the front row of the theater. They will walk you through a back stage area to access the front. For accessible entrance to Lumiere's use the entrance on the port side hall instead of the Atrium Lobby Entrance.

 

Watch for the Disney Wonder post coming soon. Keep watching for posts on the Dream and Wish class of ships coming in the future.

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