Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1999 - 18

Cruising Entertainme
DI
Disney Magic, Disney's new 85,000 ton cruise ship is one of
the latest vacation offerings that Disney has prepared for their
guests. Imagine, if you will, the following scene from the production of Disney Dreams in the Walt Disney Theatre.
Tinkerbell has na.rrowly avoided being captured as the lights
in the theatre fade to a qUick blackout. Almost simultaneously
a large screen \~deo projection of Disney Magic appears with
an image of the ship cruising across the moonlit ocean at
night-for all practical purposes it could be a live image of
the ship. As the video scene widens, we see the familiar trail of
pLxie-dust-it's Tinkerbell flying through the night spreading
her familiar trail of light to the bow of the ship. As she touches
the ship the pLxie-dust spreads as a wave of shimmering light,
progressing along the length of the ship. When the light
reaches midship (the approximate location of the Walt Disney
Theatre) points of light advance as a wave of light moving
across the ceiling from the stage to the rear of the house (through
fibre optics). What I have just desclibed is a typical Disney moment that delivers ma.ximum impact to the audience. Once again,
the lmagineers at Disney-alias, The Mouse-have come
through \\~th a vacation experience that satisfies the expectations of the public and rivals everything else that the Disney
folks bring to an entertainment experience.
Disney has been in the cruise business for years under
various licensing agreements with ship companies. Disney
Magic is the inaugural ship of the newly formed Disney Cruise
Line and represents the first floating entertainment package
totally controlled by Disney. From the minute you and the kids
land at the Orlando airport, you can be in the white-gloved
care of Mickey and friends. A Disney motor coach will take
you to a Disney hotel and after three or four days of frolicking
in the parks, another Disney motor coach takes you to Cape
Canaveral where Disney Magic is berthed. From there begins
the cruise portion of your vacation. Disney Cruise Line guests
come from a variety of backgrounds. Young couples, honeymooners, singles, and retirees frequently sail in addition to the
kids and vacationing families that one would expect on a Disney cruise. In reality, the mix of guests may vary considerably
16

TZ>&T

from cruise to cruise. Once onboard there is enough entertainment provided-for all ages and tastes-that it's not unusual for guests to stay on board the ship, even when local
entertainment can be found in port-of-calls like Nassau, Ballamas, or Disney's plivate island, Castaway Cay. What is significantly different \\~th a Disney cruise lies in the role that
onboard entertainment plays in a guest's vacation. Monica
Gonzalez, one of the lmagineers who supervised Disney
Magic's construction, noted that an exceptional amount of the
ship's real estate is allocated to entertainment functions. Disney executives committed to proViding ma.ximum onboard entertainment early in the project lea~ng the Imagineering
design teanl free to build what senior technician Francis
Sheilds calls "the floating part of Disney World."

THE SHOWS MUST GO ON
Taking a cruise onboard Disney Magic is intended to be the final leg of a complete Disney vacation package. After several
days of rushing through the parks, guests are treated to a more
relaxed atmosphere-but the entertainment never stops.
Three theatrical productions which run in rep, three performances a night, are central to the "ship's experience." Mall

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1999