A Spooky Season Wish Come True: Halloween on the High Seas on the Disney Wish!

As a Cruise Specialist with David’s Vacation Club Rentals, I recently had the chance to sail on the Disney Wish for the first time, and as luck would have it, the cruise I was on just so happened to be a Halloween on the High Seas itinerary. I LOVE Halloween and all things spooky, so I was absolutely thrilled!

Disney Cruise Line guests sailing through September and October have the chance to experience seasonal and not-so-scary Halloween-themed activities, treats, and décor, and the Disney Wish is joining in on the fun! If you’re interested in all the Halloween hijinks the Wish has to offer, this is the blog for you, as today, I’d like to share some of my favorite Halloween on the High Seas experiences!

Let’s start with the seasonal features conjured up in the Grand Hall of the Disney Wish. As soon as you walk onboard, you’ll quickly spot the gorgeous seasonal garlands adorning the balconies, which feature fiery pops of orange that beautifully compliment the biggest piece of Halloween décor – the Pumpkin Tree! 

While the Pumpkin Tree is the centerpiece of each ship in the Disney fleet, the Wish’s Pumpkin Tree has a unique look and story, which are designed to match the enchanting Cinderella theme of the Grand Lobby. The first thing that many guests will notice in comparison to the design of the trees of Disney’s other ships is that the bark and branches of the Pumpkin Tree on the Wish are much lighter in color. The pumpkins themselves also look slightly different, with the appearance of seemingly being made of glass. The look blends perfectly with the elegant and whimsical design of the ship yet still has the sense of supernatural and mysticism about it to match the Halloween theme.

Additionally, rather than the usual Jack-O-Lantern-style face carved into the trunk that’s found on the four other ships, the Pumpkin Tree on the Disney Wish has a softer, more human-style face. Being Disney, of course, the design of the face on the Pumpkin Tree is all a part of a larger story to be told. The legend is that the enchanted Pumpkin Tree found on the Wish is named Boo, and the Wishing Star helped her grow the gourds hanging from her branches, with one, in particular, being extra special. That extra-special pumpkin’s destiny was to be transformed by the Fairy Godmother into the stunning coach that Cinderella took to the ball!

The story of Boo the Pumpkin Tree is brought to life during a special tree lighting show in the Grand Hall, where two Cast Members fill guests in on the magical tale, and Boo and the beautiful pumpkins she has grown light up the space much to the delight of their audience. The tree’s pumpkins glow with images of the characters of Cinderella and are an enchanting sight to see! Personally, I thought the Pumpkin Tree lighting show was very cute and well-done, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the unique story of its origins.

Another Halloween on the High Seas offering that is new this year is a special meet and greet with some wonderfully witchy characters! It’s all a bunch of Hocus Pocus as guests can enjoy a photo opportunity with Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Clarabelle Cow in their Sanderson Sisters costumes. I am a HUGE fan of Hocus Pocus, so this was my personal favorite of all the Halloween activities! When we first made our way into the Grand Hall for the meet and greet, we did find that there was already a long line of excited guests waiting, but the Cast Members ran the event very efficiently, so wait times were minimal, and the experience was very smooth and successful! Based on the number of cruisers who turned up for the meet and greet, I’m very hopeful that this spellbinding character experience will be offered again in the future. 

After we were bewitched by the Sanderson Sisters, it was time for some trick-or-treating! On the Wish, the trick-or-treating took place in the Hero Zone, and Cast Members shared handfuls of candy from cauldrons brimming with sweet treats! Trick-or-treat bags were provided as we walked in, and children of all ages were welcome to dress up in costumes and join in the festivities. The Cast Members even had special spooktacular shirts for the evening!

Speaking of costumes, the biggest Halloween-themed event of our sailing was Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party! Guests of all ages are encouraged to dress up and join some of their favorite characters to dance the night away at a deck party celebrating all things spooky! The show itself was light-hearted and fun, and the performance was super cute. All the children around us seemed to be having a fantastic time, and there were a ton of amazing guest costumes to see as well. 

During the evening of Mickey’s Mouse-querade Party, the eerie tones of the Haunted Mansion and Descendants soundtracks, the scores of scary movies such as Halloween, and the beloved up-tempo bop Boo to You played in the hallways and public areas of the ship. I found it made for a similar atmosphere to that of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and kept the night’s theme going in between events. Throughout the sailing, there were also Halloween-themed movies showing on the Funnel Vision screen on the pool deck, and specialty merchandise such as shirts and tote bags were also available onboard.

To me, the Halloween on the High Seas events, decorations, and activities added even more magic to our sailing. I loved that there was so much enthusiasm from both our fellow guests and the Cast Members, and it made all the Halloween-themed elements of the cruise even more enjoyable! I truly had a frightful amount of fun and can’t wait to sail again soon!

~Stacy