Designing the Disney Treasure | Maiden voyage commemorative retrospective
Discover the making of the Disney Treasure cruise ship from the people who created it.
The Disney Treasure’s maiden voyage casts off today, Dec. 21, 2024. Over the last 16 months, our Attractions Magazine team has conducted and attended interviews with the artists who made the dream of the Disney Treasure a reality, from Imagineers to Pixar filmmakers to cultural consultants. We’re excited to share their stories in this special long-form article.
The Disney Treasure
Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company:
For more than 100 years, Disney stories have filled the world with joy and wonder, capturing the hearts and imaginations of generations across every continent. Since the launch of the Disney Cruise Line in 1998, our ships have become brand ambassadors that bring our world-class storytelling and the immersive nature of our theme parks to new audiences in new places all over the world.
As our first guests set sail on the Disney Treasure … they’ll discover experiences inspired by the Haunted Mansion, “Coco,” “The Avengers,” “Moana,” and so many more stories they love. This incredible new ship is a shining example of everything our fans love about Disney.
We also know that the heart of everything we do are the dedicated cast members and employees who create the magic that brings joy to millions of people around the globe. That’s why, in keeping with maritime tradition, we’re proud to honor our more than 200,000 employees as the official godparents of the Disney Treasure. This is our way of paying tribute to the dreamers and doers who continue to tell our stories in the most compelling and innovative ways.
Launching a new cruise ship is no easy feat, and it’s a true testament to Josh D’Amaro and his team and all of their hard work.
Josh D’Amaro, chairperson of Disney Experiences:
This is an unprecedented era of growth for Disney Experiences, including Disney Cruise Line. We are more than doubling our fleet to 13 ships by 2031.
With the Disney Treasure, we continue to deliver an unparalleled family vacation at sea through the magic of Disney storytelling. The memories that our guests create onboard this stunning ship — they will last a lifetime. So, on behalf of our entire team, I am honored to introduce you to the Disney Treasure.
Pam Rawlins, executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering:
The Disney Treasure is the sister ship to the Wish, and the [deck] plans are the same. We’re just bringing new adventures and new spaces to the Disney Treasure.
Carlos Jimenez, manager of production resources at Disney Signature Experiences:
It’s like a treasure map. It’s going to take you to your next adventure. We’ve got adventures from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, “Star Wars” — you name it, this ship comes to life with all of that. We also bring in some great, iconic attractions you’ve been known to love from our Disney parks.
The Grand Hall
Jen from Disney Cruise Line:
It’s stunning. This is the emotional heart of the ship. This is where all the stories start, from every spoke in the Grand Hall. They lead you to new stories of adventure because Disney Treasure is all about stories of adventure. In fact, the design itself is adventurous. It’s inspired by Asia, Africa, and a little town we call Agrabah. You might’ve heard of it. It’s from the Walt Disney animated film “Aladdin.”
If you’ve been on a Disney cruise, you know that each atrium has a statue that really defines the space. Of course, this one is defined by our beautiful Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, and the magic carpet.
Katrina Alvarez Palaci, principal interior designer at Walt Disney Imagineering:
We like to call the Treasure our palace of the sea. What’s a palace without a fountain? In the center of the Grand Hall, we have a [symbolic] fountain. What’s really cool about this fountain is it starts on Deck 5. From Deck 5, we have a small fountain that comes down to that floor and then culminates here on Deck 3. That’s a really fun detail that we worked on for the Grand Hall.
Another cool detail is our chandelier. We like to connect all our stories together, so you’ll see six smaller pendants around the chandelier. They pay homage to our six Disney Cruise Line ships. You’ll see small details. They reference our statues that are in our atriums.
Benjamin Schrader, show director at Disney Live Entertainment:
The entire ship is here for storytelling. We tell stories in so many of the ways that you’re used to, [such as] The Walt Disney Theater with our three signature musicals, including our newest one, Disney’s “The Tale of Moana,” but we don’t want to stop there. We also want to really bring to life this spirit of adventure in all parts of our ship.
You’ll notice there is a stage in the Grand Hall. We would be remiss to not use this stage in our storytelling. When you come on the ship … you’ll take in all of this Grand Hall and the spirit of adventure and intrigue and romance.
Soon after, you’re going to meet two new characters that we are introducing to you: Coriander and Sage. These two new characters have come onboard with us. They’re unpacking their steamer trucks, and in their steamer trucks are elements to tell myriad of different kinds of stories. Some of the stories are for everyone, which you’ll see here in the Grand Hall.
Some of the stories are just for the older kids of us in the Sarabi [venue], where maybe they’ll tell all five “Indiana Jones” adventures in one show, playing every single character. But in this Grand Hall, from time to time, you’ll see them tell some of our favorite storytellers. They’re storytellers to the core. We’re going back to the foundation of what it means to tell theatrical stories at Disney.
Plaza de Coco
The Disney Treasure contains three full-service restaurants as part of its rotational dining. Two of them (1923 and Worlds of Marvel) are duplicated from the Disney Wish. The other, Plaza de Coco, is new for the Disney Treasure.
Danny Handke, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
We were first brainstorming the Wish-class ships [2022’s Disney Wish, 2024’s Disney Treasure, and 2025’s Disney Destiny] and what kind of live entertainment restaurants we wanted to do across the three different ships. … When we thought “Treasure,” the idea of family as treasure … that works so well for the story of “Coco.”
We partnered with Pixar very early in the process. We worked with the filmmakers. We worked with the art directors to make the space as authentic as possible, including using some of Pixar’s cultural consultants.
We’re very proud of the interior design. You actually get to walk through the Rivera compound … You go through the cobbler shop, then you go through the Héctor memorial to the ofrenda room and then you’ll be entering the mariachi plaza from there.
Carlos Jimenez, manager of production resources at Disney Signature Experiences:
At the heart of Mexican culture is food, family, and music — and, of course, fun. … Family is everything, and we want to make sure we’re telling that amazing story in this restaurant.
Daniel Cowan, senior manager of dining standards and service excellence at Disney Cruise Line:
Rotational dining is a very unique concept to Disney Cruise Line where our guests rotate to a different dining room every single night and your dedicated service team follow you and your family. They get to know your likes, your preferences, and really build a great connection through the cruise.
On the Disney Treasure, there are two nights, two distinct experiences, in each dining room. That is going to be fantastic for the guests.
Juan Cantu, show director at Disney Live Entertainment:
Because this is a seven-night cruise, you’re going to come to eat at Plaza de Coco twice during your cruise. On the first night, it’s all about familia. Even the lighting in here is different. It just feels like you’re in the plaza. You’re in Mexico. The lights are amber. We’re focused on family, and we want our families — our guests — to spend time with their loved ones right there at the table.
Mario Trujillo, cultural consultant:
It was such an honor to be invited to be part of this project as the culture consultant to really focus and hone in on the authenticity of the musicals that we’re bringing on board, the performers, and respecting the culture of the musicians, the mariachi, as many of you have probably seen throughout restaurants and performances. It was such a critical part to find authentic musicians that played the instruments.
Juan Cantu, show director at Disney Live Entertainment:
Night 1 really just focuses on family. Because our story starts three years after the film, we wanted to let that sink in for our guests. It really is about seeing Miguel, meeting Abuelita Elena a few years later, where she’s allowed music into her life. Remember, she’s the one who broke his guitarra. I knew what that felt like. My parents never broke my guitar, but I certainly felt the way that Miguel felt in that moment [as I was] wanting to be an actor and a singer. We’re seeing how generational trauma has been healed through music, and that’s really, really powerful. I think everyone can identify with ways that their families heal through different means, but music can be a very powerful way to do that. I’m glad that we celebrate that. It’s a simple night on Night 1.
Grace Huertas, culinary standards manager at Disney Cruise Line:
My favorite on the menu is the spicy chocolate tart. It was important for us to incorporate chocolate in the menu because the history of chocolate started in Mexico with the Mayans and the Aztecs. We made sure that we got authentic Mexican chocolate. We imported it in. We have some chilis in there just to give it a little kick — not too much, just so that everybody can enjoy it.
Juan Cantu, show director at Disney Live Entertainment:
Night 2, we’re going to turn the dial up on our theatricality and actually celebrate Dia de Muertos. Of course, we will have Mamá Imelda and Héctor show up through a magical strum of Miguel’s guitar and really just celebrate that together. You’ll be eating the foods of Mexico, hearing the sounds, celebrating with the lovely characters from “Coco,” and authentic Mexican culture.
Mario Trujillo, cultural consultant:
There are so may different emotions I believe you’ll feel — all great emotions. Dia de Muertos is not a somber occasion. It’s a celebration of life. It’s a celebration of the future. It’s a celebration of the past, of those we loved. When it’s deeply rooted in culture and tradition, I think that’s the magic.
Anthony Gonzalez, voice of Miguel in “Coco” (2017):
It definitely feels like a dream. It’s almost as if I was in the “Coco” world itself. It’s so special to see and celebrate the amazing culture and tradition and music and food.
Lee Unkrich, director of “Coco” (2017):
It’s really magical. I spent six years making “Coco.” During that time, I went on a lot of trips down to Mexico, to different parts of Mexico, and spent a lot of time with very beautiful families all over Mexico. A lot of the look of the movie, the design, very specific details, came directly from families who I spent time with, who we were embedded with.
By extension, this space, Plaza de Coco, reflects that. I look around this room and I see little details that I know are from very specific research trips that we went on to Mexico. In the same way that “Coco” was an opportunity for us to bring to the world a beautiful culture that maybe a lot of people didn’t know about, or didn’t understand completely, now with Plaza de Coco, there’s an opportunity for guests from all over the world to be able to learn a bit more about Mexican culture and certainly just being enveloped in the beauty of it.
The thing that I love is the beautiful ofrenda you see out front. [During the making of the movie], we spent a lot of time creating the Rivera family’s ofrenda in their home and we based it, again, upon elements of the most beautiful ofrendas that we saw in rural Mexico. We would be with families that were very, very poor, yet they give over whole rooms in their homes to these beautiful ofrendas.
We wanted to capture that beauty, and it was crazy for me to walk in and see that ofrenda that the Disney team put together because it looks so much like the one in the film, but I’ve only ever experienced that ofrenda digitally. It’s always just been in the computer while making the film. It was really amazing for me to be able to walk up to it and touch it and just see the actual framed photos and everything. It was very surreal.
Anthony Gonzalez, voice of Miguel in “Coco” (2017):
It represents the love that Miguel has for all his family and represents the love that we have for our ancestors. To see Miguel’s family there and Mama Coco in the middle — it was a very special moment to see that in real life.
Jay Abruzzese, creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
You can’t help but walk into this space and feel that hush; you sort of get emotional, and you see the photos. You see the marigolds. Every part of it, every little element — the more you look at it, the more beautiful it is and the more emotional reaction you have to it. … I’ve been with The Walt Disney Company for 25 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever been on a project as powerful as this one.
Juan Cantu, show director at Disney Live Entertainment:
Both of my parents are Mexican immigrants and have passed, so what I love about this and what’s been the most special is that I get to honor them by doing my work. It just doesn’t get better than that. … I celebrate them every night when I see the show. There’s a beautiful moment where you will be invited to remember a loved one. … That’s the beauty of this. This whole experience. They were part of me going to Mexico to hold auditions for our actors. And then every creative decision along the way, I felt them whispering in my ear — and not just them. All of our ancestors we feel present in this space when we perform this show. It’s a very heartfelt, meaningful experience.
… I never really had the chance to tell a Mexican story when I was pursuing my career. But then all these years later, the fact that my life led to this moment of being part of the creation of this story that we’re presenting here on this stage — taking all the beautiful work that Lee created in the film and then continuing it, but then reaching deep into my family history and making sure that we were representing that in an accurate and authentic way — is the most important work I’ll probably ever do in my career.
The Haunted Mansion Parlor
Darren McBurney, cruise director of the Disney Treasure:
On the Disney Treasure, for the very first time — we’ve never done it on a ship before — we’re going to take the idea of some of those [theme park] attractions that you like and turn them into special locations. Of course, the coolest one is … The Haunted Mansion Parlor.
Nicholas Snyder, senior concept designer at Walt Disney Imagineering:
It started with the idea of, “Hey we finally get to get out of our Doom Buggies. We get to open one of the corridor doors. What’s inside?” … Of course, we’re all huge Haunted Mansion fans: all of Imagineering, all of the fanbase. We looked at all of the Haunted Mansions around the world: Phantom Manor and the Haunted Mansion in our three locations. We wanted to take all of those iconic pieces that you always see when you’re in the attraction and try to figure out, “How can we bring that to Disney Cruise Line and bring that nautical twist?”
Danny Handke, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
It’s a story of a jolly sea captain. He’s our version of the aging man that you see in the Haunted Mansion attraction at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The sea captain found a bride washed ashore and saved her life. They were soon to be wed, and all the mysterious happenings started happening around her. She has this creepy music box that’s key to this story of the whole space. You can discover that story as you sit through here, but let’s say their engagement was short-lived. You might even hear the souls of her victims coming from that very music box.
Nicholas Snyder, senior concept designer at Walt Disney Imagineering:
We, of course, partnered with a lot of our different partners across Imagineering, including Kim Irvine [director of concept design at Walt Disney Imagineering]. … Little twists and bends … makes it very specific to Disney Cruise Line, but still harnesses that very classic, nostalgic Haunted Mansion onboard of what we’re calling an original, first-class parlor that you would’ve seen on original cruise liners back in the early 1900s.
Danny Handke, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
When you come inside the lounge, it’s going to go through that classic structure of the attraction, where you attend the funeral for our captain character, the captain ghost. We’re attending his funeral. You hear that funeral music. You hear the Ghost Host. Then the funeral goes into limbo. All the ghosts are trying to materialize, but we can’t see them yet, so we have to go through the seance led by Madame Leota. After the seance, then we go to the swinging wake. The whole space comes alive with special effects, ghosts, illusions, and it becomes a real swinging party while you drink your spirits as part of the experience.
Daniel Joseph, executive of illusions and effects development at Walt Disney Imagineering:
With the Doom Buggy, as you go through the Mansion, just like a movie camera, you’re aimed to see things just from a specific perspective, which as an illusion inventor and as an illusion designer is what we want because if you see something off-axis just a little bit, you might see something that we don’t want you to see.
One of the challenges and calls to action when we were brainstorming this Parlor about five years ago was doing things that you can see from different angles and doing some things that you can see in the round, which is really, really, really hard. In those brainstorms, I remember we came up with a bunch of different, fun gags and looked at some things that hadn’t made it into original Haunted Mansions and put them through that lens.
They have to be funny. They’re creepy and funny because we have happy haunts. The Haunted Mansion is a spooky place, but a happy place. What of those things can we do in here that would play to that and work as the close-up magic? Everything in the Haunted Mansion you go by relatively quickly and you see at a distance and you see at the perspective that we want you to see it in.
Danny Handke, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
Brother Roland [a bust on display in The Haunted Mansion Parlor] is based on Rolly Crump, our legendary Walt Disney Imagineer. In the 1960s, he developed a Museum of the Weird, which was one of the ideas for the Haunted Mansion. The Museum of the Weird never saw the light of day. When we started doing our research to design The Haunted Mansion Parlor, we took a lot of inspiration from Rolly’s original designs, especially the ghost fish aquarium. You might see some of Rolly’s designs in our carpet, as well. A lot of inspiration taken from him to create this whole atmosphere.
Daniel Joseph, executive of illusions and effects development at Walt Disney Imagineering:
The ghost fish aquarium was something that Rolly Crump devised with his Museum of the Weird concept, which was first debuted in the 1965 Disneyland Tencennial special, where Julie Reihm [Disneyland’s first ambassador] takes Walt around the WED Model Shop. They look at a bunch of really cool things and they meet Rolly, and Rolly has all these weird things that he’s come up with: these little maquettes and models and things. One of the things was the ghost fish aquarium.
Photo courtesy of Disney
I think for a bunch of us, we’re Mansion fans for sure, but we’re also Imagineering history fans who got to work on this project. [The ghost aquarium] had to happen because we’re doing a nautical bent on the Haunted Mansion story. What better to celebrate that than a ghost fish aquarium? And also to celebrate one of our favorite Imagineers of the past, Rolly, and give him a moment to finally have that come to life — or come to the afterlife, if you will.
The really cool thing is the way we did the illusion is when you sit on one side of the room, you can look through it and see other guests on the other side of the room, just like a regular aquarium — because for all intents and purposes, it is a regular aquarium — but there’s the magic part of these skeleton ghost fish that appear and do funny, happy-haunt things in there all day long. That, to me, is a prime example of leaning into the difficulty of being able to see something in the round because you can see that from every angle.
Danny Handke, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
We’ve created a brand-new music loop with our composer, Shruti Kumar. She created a 40-minute experience weaving in all those classic themes that bring this whole experience to life with new arrangements that give this big, emotional arc to the whole experience. You’ll hear all those classic sound effects, classic voices, and some new things, as well.
Daniel Joseph, executive of illusions and effects development at Walt Disney Imagineering:
The notion of the haunted, real-looking portrait that does things magically was first debuted at the 1969 version of Haunted Mansion at Disneyland with the portrait corridor as you walk down in the queue to get to your Doom Buggy.
We wanted to do a new-generation version of that and something that would hold up to very close scrutiny, something you could literally put your eye right up near and look at and not figure out how it works.
This is a very, very fun, new kind of illusion technique with all the realism of a real painting and the texture and the magic of going to a museum and seeing a real textured painting and seeing brushstrokes, but then seeing these do things that paintings don’t normally do. That nautical bent is what we leaned into with the paintings, as well. They’re all based on the original Marc Davis concepts for our attraction, our land-based attraction, but just like the other things, take on that nautical bent and also expand the story a little bit.
Danny Handke, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering:
There are a couple of really good “spirits.” One is non-alcoholic called the Sympathetic Libations. Then we also have a mocktail called the Ghoulish Delight that will be perfect for families. We also have some really exciting margaritas: a black margarita that has a message in invisible ink, so if you shine a light on it, you’ll see a hidden message.
Daniel Joseph, executive of illusions and effects development at Walt Disney Imagineering:
With the original Imagineers, there was a treasure trove of stuff that hit the cutting-room floor that they worked on for 10 years. The Mansion started development in the very early ‘60s and finally opened a decade later. We were not on the same timeline, but the same idea — lot of different things that hopefully will just go on the shelf and we can use maybe elsewhere.
Special Disney Treasure offer for Attractions Magazine readers
Our travel agency partner, Mouse Fan Travel, is excited to share two Disney Cruise Line offers with Attractions Magazine readers. Passengers who book their cruise through Mouse Fan Travel can enjoy 50% off your booking deposit. Mouse Fan Travel also has a special Disney Cruise Line deal for Disney+ subscribers.
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