Our 6 Bold Predictions for Disney Cruise Line D23 Announcements Before Believe’s Big Reveal.

ByTom Bricker

Disney Cruise Line has announced a livestream reveal for the upcoming Believe ship, which sets sail in 2027. Curiously, this news will come after the blockbuster D23 Expo, which is expected to offer its own glimpse into the future of DCL and beyond. Here are details, plus our bold predictions for big D23 announcements in light of the livestream.

As basic background, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro announced the ninth ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet would be named the Disney Believe back in March during his first day on the job as part of the annual shareholder meeting. That also included a teaser trailer for the ship and vague info, which has led to rampant fan speculation about which characters and stories the ship will showcase.

Now, Disney Cruise Line has shared that October 7, 2026 will be the big reveal, with a showcase of what will be offered aboard the new Believe ship. This will likely include the rotational dining, Walt Disney Theatre stage shows, lounge themes, pools, staterooms, suites, and the Grand Hall, assorted entertainment, and more.

Disney Cruise Line has used similar livestream reveals ahead of previous ship debuts, which have essentially been a firehose of announcements about everything on the ship. This was especially the case with the Wish back in 2021, and the Treasure to a lesser extent.

With the Destiny and the Adventure, there was a bit more staggering, but it was nothing like the slow trickle of news that we often see for Walt Disney World and Disneyland announcements.

DCL fans are invited to tune in to the livestream reveal event of the Disney Believe at home, but the action will be happening live onboard the Disney Wish!

Guests sailing on the October 5-9, 2026 itinerary of the Disney Wish have been notified about some ‘magical extras’ they can expect during their cruise, in celebration of the Disney Believe Reveal, including:

  • A one-night only stage show celebrating the new experiences coming to the Disney Believe: This “Broadway Star Series” performance will feature Disney Legend Susan Egan and other Broadway stars bringing the spirit of the new ship to life through the iconic stories and music that have inspired its onboard spaces.
  • A commemorative gift: Each stateroom will receive a commemorative item to mark the special occasion.

The Disney Believe is expected to debut in late 2027. Although when booking dates have not yet been announced, our belief is that will happen around the time of this big reveal on October 7, 2026.

2026 D23 Expo DCL Predictions

Given that the Disney Believe reveal is after D23 Expo in mid-August, the big question is what Disney Cruise Line announcements will we get during the Parks (and Experiences) Panel at that event?

During the last D23 Expo, then-Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro (with a little help from musical group All-4-One) revealed that four ships will be joining Disney Cruise Line’s ever-growing roster. These new ships will arrive between 2027 and 2031. These four additional ships will bring the fleet to a total of 13.

Additionally, Disney revealed that the signature production aboard the Disney Destiny would be “Hercules,” and shared new concept art and details for the “Moana” stage show, most notably that Te Kā will appear onstage as a 15-foot-tall puppet.

It strikes us as unlikely that Disney will announce further fleet expansion.

We’re already out to 2031 on the new ships, so it stands to reason that DCL won’t add even more distant dates. There are likely two more D23 Expos after this one before the last of those ships comes online.

This is similar to our expectation with announcements for Walt Disney World and Disneyland–that it’ll mostly be backfill of details and smaller scale projects, especially since Villains Land and Pandora are looking like 2030 or later openings.

Accordingly, what’s most likely for Disney Cruise Line at D23 Expo is details about the Believe.

In our view, it would be savvy to pull out a couple of ‘sexy’ announcements and make them prior to the Believe reveal on October 7, 2026. The most logical options are the (anticipated) original stage show and Grand Hall theme, with a piece of concept art for each.

Another option would be the entertainment-driven rotational dining, assuming there’s a new one. A wildcard would be a cult classic that’ll really resonate with a subset of the audience but would fall flat with the general public. Something like one of the smaller-scale, secondary lounges being themed to Atlantis: The Lost Empire or space based on the Disney Afternoon. Maybe a theme park cross-over that would appeal to the Disneyland fans in the crowd at D23.

Following in the footsteps of last Expo’s Hercules announcement, one specific prediction is that we get more millennial nostalgia-bait. Disney has been leaning into The Emperor’s New Groove more, so that’s the obvious choice. Have Chief Flight Attendant Patrick Warburton come out on stage to do a bit with host Neil Patrick Harris, and then have him announce a production of The Emperor’s New Groove to thunderous applause.

Another option along these lines would be announcing a production related to A Goofy Movie with a live musical performance or DCL celebrating Halloween year-round with Hocus Pocus. All announcements that would be catnip for millennials, and hit harder with the live audience at D23 Expo than they would via a livestream.

Alternatively, they might opt to reveal the flagship lounge (if there’s a new one in place of Haunted Mansion Parlor) at D23 Expo if that’ll play well with the Anaheim audience. Our expectation is that there are essentially 4-5 big announcements for the Disney Believe in total, and that 2-3 come at D23 Expo and the remainder occur at the October reveal, along with the rest of the specifics. That spreads out the news a bit better, allowing the announcements to have a bit more breathing room.

The other inevitable announcements for Disney Cruise Line are new home port agreements, like the recent one for San Diego, but for Texas and/or New York.

While there’s an outside chance of that at Expo, we’re skeptical. The localities are big on touting economic impact of those partnerships, and that just doesn’t seem fitting for a splashy D23 announcement.

One more possibility is the new ship(s) coming to Japan. But that’s an OLC thing and they’ll want to dictate the timing for their actual target audience, which oddly enough, is not Americans. That news is more likely at the 2027 D23 Expo Asia, or via an OLC press release some random morning.

A bigger swing would be Disney Cruise Line getting another new private island, but that strikes me as premature.

In other words, unless there’s a major surprise, we’re likely to get back-to-back reveals of the Believe in August at D23 Expo and again in October during the livestream. Personally, I think this is the correct move, as opposed to the firehose approach that makes the exciting stuff more likely to get lost in the shuffle.

Then there’s one final option that requires a big imagination. Neil Patrick Harris announces at D23 that the ~2028 ship is the Disney Imagination, with Figment as the stern character, a statue of him and Dreamfinder in the Grand Hall, and an ImageWorks themed kids club complete with a reprise of the Rainbow Corridor.

Less Bold Believe Predictions

The big question ahead of the reveal is which intellectual properties (IPs) will be featured. In all likelihood, the ship will follow the established DCL formula, with a healthy mix of original and cloned offerings from previous Wish-class ships.

One such offering is likely to be Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure, which is one of the highlights of the Wish. I wouldn’t mind seeing this recycled. One of the lowlights is the Little Mermaid stage show, which should only be cloned if it’s being reimagined with a new creative direction on both ships.

In our view, a smart move would be cloning some entertainment from the Disney Adventure as opposed to the Wish-class, since most Americans aren’t going to set sail from Singapore. The Duffy stuff from that ship would be another pitch-perfect D23 Expo announcement!

For the Grand Hall theme, Moana makes a lot of sense both in terms of its appeal and aquatic quality. Although I wouldn’t necessarily rule out Disney flipping the script and opting for Frozen. Either one would be good picks.

Given the gap between this and the Destiny, and nothing here designed in the shadow of COVID, we anticipate more originality here. That’s clearly the direction that Disney has been going lately, and the announcements at the last D23 Expo for the parks reflect that. On top of that, DCL will be increasingly reliant on repeat cruisers with the fleet expansion, so variety is important.

Otherwise, it doesn’t really seem like it’s worth speculating about the Disney Believe. This is a really open-ended theme. It’s hard to think of any movie that doesn’t satisfy the “promise and possibilities” premise or contain a character who believed in themselves. Disney movies aren’t exactly known for characters who give up on themselves, and that’s the end of the story.

Believe Background

The Disney Believe is the fourth installment in Disney Cruise Line’s Triton class.

The Disney Believe will join the enchantment-themed Disney Wish, adventure-themed Disney Treasure, and heroes and villains-themed Disney Destiny. According to Disney Cruise Line, the Believe has its own unique story to tell: one of promise and possibilities.

The Disney Believe will be filled with stories of characters who believe in themselves, in their dreams, and in the promise and possibility of a better tomorrow. To that end, DCL revealed that the Disney Believe will bring to life the magical worlds of “Encanto” and “Frozen,” the wishing wells of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and the depths of the sea with “Moana” and “The Little Mermaid.”

Here’s the reveal for the Disney Believe logo/name:

The previous teaser hints at other IPs that could appear on board the Disney Believe.

Based on that: Tangled, Inside Out, Iron Man, Monsters Inc, Zootopia, Fantasia, Star Wars, Toy Story, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

I wouldn’t necessarily put much stock into that being accurate. Some of those seem like givens. There will presumably be something Star Wars, and Zootopia is too big to ignore on the next ship. It’s getting something major. I hope Nightmare Before Christmas doesn’t get a themed space, but an entertainment offering might make sense. Maybe DCL will do Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas, really leaning into the Halloween (or holidays) year-round angle!

DCL Expansion Plans

The Disney Believe is just the latest ship that’s part of DCL’s aggressive expansion plans. This is the fourth and final ship that’s part of the Wish-class for the Walt Disney Company (a meaningful distinction), and is expected in late 2027.

Following the Disney Believe, another ship is coming to Asia with the new Disney cruise ship announced for Oriental Land Company, which is the fifth Wish-class that will set sail in 2028/2029 out of Japan. There are rumors of another OLC ship after that, too.

Construction officially began on the Disney Believe during a steel-cutting ceremony in August 2025 at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. The event featured Disney and Meyer Werft representatives, including Captain Mickey Mouse, who initiated the symbolic cutting of the first piece of steel.

All ships in the Wish-class are powered by liquefied natural gas and, at approximately 144,000 gross tons, are slightly larger than the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.

As with its sister ships, the Disney Believe should measure 1,119 feet in length, and accommodate up to 4,000 passengers in 1,254 staterooms with a crew of around 1,555. It’s structurally the same ship, which regrettably means no material changes in layout, either. Just different themes and concepts in the same spaces.

There are elements of the Wish-class ships that I really like, especially aboard the Disney Treasure. That’s my favorite ship of the current trio, and of the entire fleet. That’s in large part because it draws so much inspiration from the parks and is fairly focused in its execution of storytelling and theme.

I was also excited for the Heroes vs. Villains duality of the Disney Destiny, and a decent amount of this is present on the actual ship. At the same time, it doesn’t fully follow through on that compelling concept, outside of the Marvel characters in the atrium.

The upside to all of them is their entertainment programming, which surpasses the legacy ships. The downside is the layout, which has been discussed/derided at length already. Beyond that, I’m concerned with the four new ships having a ‘sameness’ problem, especially the Wish and Believe.

Ultimately, the Disney Believe sounds more like the Disney Wish than even the Disney Destiny or especially the Disney Treasure. I hope to be wrong about this and the ship has a tighter focus, but my first thought with the reveal is that it’s going to be a grabbag of whichever IPs they feel like incorporating.

I also hope that the extra time between the Destiny and Believe gives Imagineering and other teams more time to learn lessons from guest feedback on the other Triton class ships and apply them to the Believe. I may not love everything about the current class ships, but the Treasure is fantastic and even the Destiny is very good.

It’s also fair to say that Disney has learned lessons as it has gained more experience in the cruise industry, allowing the company to iterate on past designs and make technical and functional improvements in the process. If that trend continues with the Disney Believe, plus the 4 ships in the next class and Disney Cruise Line maintains its exceptional guest and soft services, the bar will be raised even higher.

Planning to set sail aboard one of the DCL ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your voyage, plus plan entertainment, activities & excursions, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise! For personalized planning & recommendations, click here to get a cruise quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a fee free Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They can find you all of the current discounts, and help you plan the details of your cruise!

Your Thoughts

Thoughts on the Disney Believe? Predictions for the lounges, stage shows, rotational dining, or anything else? What Disney Cruise Line news do you expect at the 2026 D23 Expo? Agree or disagree with our predictions? Any other thoughts or ideas about this? If you have questions or thoughts, please share them below and we’ll try to respond!

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