A New Disney Ship Is on the Horizon – In Japan!

A brand-new Disney cruise line ship is coming to Japan! Today, Disney announced an agreement with Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC) to operate a Disney-branded cruise business in Japan. As part of that agreement, a new Disney cruise ship will be built and operated out of Japan year-round.

The new Wish-class ship will be constructed at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. It’s expected to be approximately 140,000 gross tons and powered by liquefied natural gas, with about 1,250 staterooms. The as-yet-unnamed ship is expected to begin sailing in 2029.

Disney has announced that “Guests can expect many of the guest-favorite venues from the Wish, with modifications specially designed with Japanese guests in mind.” Curious what that might mean? There’s nothing official from Disney yet, but if you’ve ever been to Japan, the first thing that comes to mind is toilets (sounds weird, but Japanese toilets are a revelation!) A little research shows that indeed, it’s not uncommon to find toilets on Japanese cruise ships with heated seats and bidets.

Other common modifications to ships that have changed hands into the Japanese market include updates to kitchen equipment to support the preparation of traditional Japanese foods, and redesigned spa areas. Open deck areas are sometimes adapted to increase the size of overhangs and create larger shaded areas out of the direct sun, as most Japanese guests will take care to avoid extended sun exposure.

If you’ve been thinking that the name “Oriental Land Co.” sounds familiar, that’s because the OLC owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Resort through a similar relationship with Disney. We don’t know where the new Disney ship will be home ported yet, Land and Sea vacations that combine a Disney cruise with a visit to the Disney parks are popular at Disney World. Maybe they will be coming to Tokyo Disney Resort too!

Are you excited to hear about this newest Disney Cruise Line ship? Would you do a Land and Sea Disney vacation from Tokyo? Let us know in the comments!