We sailed the Disney Fantasy twice before we sailed the Wish, and by the time we boarded the Wish I had read so many comparisons online that I thought I knew exactly what to expect. I did not know exactly what to expect. The Wish is a different ship in ways that the articles do not fully capture.
We are a Fantasy family at heart, if that is a thing you can be. But the Wish is genuinely good, and I want to give both of them a fair review rather than the kind of comparison that picks a winner and dismisses the other.
Here is what I noticed across two Fantasy sailings and one Wish sailing, with a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old.
The Grand Hall vs the Atrium Lobby
The first thing you notice when you board the Disney Wish is the Grand Hall. It is a large, open, three-deck space with a cinderella staircase and an overall feeling of a fairy tale ballroom. It is genuinely beautiful. Gracie stopped walking when she saw it and asked if a princess lived there, which tells you everything about the effect it has on small children.
The Disney Fantasy’s atrium lobby is also lovely but more classic cruise ship in its scale and feel. It has the Donald Duck statue at the center and a warm, familiar Disney aesthetic. It is welcoming rather than dramatic.
The Grand Hall on the Wish is more dramatic. Whether that is better depends on what you want. For kids, the Wish’s Grand Hall is a wonder. For adults who find the scale a bit overwhelming after a long travel day, the Fantasy’s lobby feels more settled.
The AquaMouse vs the AquaDuck
The AquaDuck on the Fantasy is a water coaster that loops around the outside of the ship on an enclosed tube. You ride it in an inflatable raft-style vessel and there is a section that goes over the water in a transparent tube, which is the part Gracie found interesting and the part Alan rode seven times on our first sailing.
The AquaMouse on the Wish is different. It is a water dark ride, more of a themed story experience, with video screens inside the tube and a narrative featuring Mickey and Minnie. It is shorter than the AquaDuck but has more production value.
Alan preferred the AquaDuck for the raw fun of the ride. I preferred the AquaMouse because the line management is better and the experience is more interesting for kids who are old enough to follow the story. Rory was too young to care about the story and just wanted to get wet. Gracie liked the AquaMouse more.
Neither is dramatically better. They are just different.
The Oceaneer Club
Both ships have the Oceaneer Club, the main kids’ activity club for ages 3 to 12. The Club on the Wish is newer and the spaces are bigger and more elaborately themed. There is a Star Wars area, a Marvel area, and a Pixar area, alongside the classic Disney theming.
The Fantasy’s Oceaneer Club is also excellent and well-themed. It is smaller and has a more classic Disney feel.
My honest opinion: the Wish’s Club spaces are objectively more impressive. But both clubs are wonderful and both kids were equally happy in them. The difference matters more if your kids are older and would engage with the specific themed areas. For toddlers, the Wish’s Marvel area and the Fantasy’s Andy’s Room are both just fun rooms with stuff to do.
The Food
Rotational dining on the Wish features three restaurants: Arendelle, 1923, and World of Marvel. These are all themed more to specific IP than the Fantasy’s restaurants.
Arendelle is Frozen-themed with an Arendelle Aqua Seas dinner theater experience where the characters appear and interact with guests during the meal. This is very good for kids who love Frozen. Gracie was beside herself. The food at Arendelle is also legitimately good, with Scandinavian influences.
1923 is a nod to the early days of the Walt Disney Company, with a warmer, more refined feel. Good food and a nice break from heavy IP theming.
World of Marvel is exactly what it sounds like. Super hero-focused, interactive, with a kind of dinner-theater component. Rory ignored all of the Marvel theming and ate macaroni and cheese. The food is fine.
On the Fantasy, Animator’s Palate, Royal Court, and Enchanted Garden are all strong restaurants and feel a bit more balanced in their quality. Animator’s Palate is probably the best restaurant on either ship for the experience it offers, though Arendelle on the Wish is close.
The Shows
The Wish’s live entertainment has a larger production budget and the new main show takes advantage of the newer theater technology. The shows we saw on the Wish were very good.
The Fantasy’s live shows are also very good. This is an area where both ships deliver at a high level and the difference is not meaningful enough to choose a ship based on it.
Size and Ship Feel
The Wish is bigger than the Fantasy. More guests, more decks, more of everything. The hallways are wider. The spaces are bigger. This is neither good nor bad entirely.
With toddlers, I found the Fantasy slightly easier to navigate. I knew where things were faster, partly because we had sailed it twice, but also because the layout felt more intuitive to me. The Wish required more time to orient myself and I still occasionally went the wrong direction on day three.
The Itineraries
The Disney Fantasy typically does Bahamian itineraries out of Port Canaveral. The Wish also sails Bahamian itineraries but out of Port Canaveral as well. Both include Castaway Cay and Lighthouse Point on various itineraries, so the port difference is minimal.
If the ship you can get at the price point you can afford is one over the other, do not stress about it. Both itineraries will take you to the same private islands.
Which One Would I Sail Again?
I would sail either, honestly. But if I had to choose for the next trip, I would probably book the Fantasy. Not because it is better, but because it feels more familiar and I like knowing where everything is without having to think about it. With two toddlers, lowering the cognitive load of navigation has a real value.
Alan would choose the Wish. He was more impressed by it and liked the larger scale. He and I disagree on this and we are both fine with it. We are booking the Fantasy next because of schedule and price, and he has accepted that.
The Wish is the more modern, more impressive ship. The Fantasy is the more classic, more comfortable ship. They are different expressions of the same basic promise. Both of them delivered a vacation I am glad we took.
