New Documentary Brings The Disney Wish to Life on Disney+ Today!

It’s hard to believe, but the Disney Wish is approaching its first anniversary out at sea. The Disney Wish is Disney’s biggest cruise ship yet, and a major departure from previous ships in the fleet. The Disney Wish was built and debuted in the middle of unprecedented times. But what does it take to to create a ship of this size and complexity? National Geographic had unprecedented access to the process, which allowed for an all-new documentary, Making the Wish: Disney’s Newest Cruise Ship. 

If you’re afraid that this will come across as a giant commercial, it doesn’t.

Making the Wish

Making the Wish: Disney’s Newest Cruise Ship is a National Geographic documentary special featuring the work of over 15,000 skilled individuals – construction workers, engineers, designers, architects, animators, and more – that made Disney’s castle on the sea a reality. And given the circumstances of the time, it wasn’t easy! Get an insider’s look from concept to completion in Making the Wish, which made its Disney+ premiere, Friday, February 17.

Here’s a sneak peek:

About ‘Making the Wish’

Directed by longtime NatGeo filmmaker, Chad Cohen, a lean film crew traveled to rural Papenburg, Germany, to document an inside look at the construction of this massive storytelling cruise ship. With a year left on the clock until the ship’s maiden voyage, this documentary covers the race to the finish of the Disney Wish.

After several conversations with Disney about the filming, Cohen finally received the call to start working at the Meyer/Werft shipyard with only a few weeks’ notice to capture one of the biggest moments of the show: the placing of the ship’s bridge. While they prepared a crew to travel across the world, there was one small problem… Cohen had never been on a cruise, let alone a Disney cruise! Disney quickly arranged for Cohen to voyage on the Disney Fantasy to get a feel of the overall experience. Then, it was off to the shipyard!

The National Geographic filming crew came online when a lot of the steel structures were already put in place. Cohen was worried they had already missed the action. But there was a lot to cover over the next year! The crew followed the lead creative executives as they filled the ship’s spaces, and pointed the camera anywhere they could. Cohen says they started “tracking the construction, design, implementation of all the spaces on board for a little over a year before the transatlantic crossing to Port Canaveral.”

What to Expect from ‘Making the Wish’

Here’s just a snippet of what you can expect from this 66-minute special:

• A rare behind-the-scenes look at Marvel Studios’ filming for the Worlds of Marvel dinner show, with Walt Disney Imagineering and actor Anthony Mackie in action.  
• This is the first film that covers a ship’s sea trials – a very professional, top-notch testing period to make sure the ship is sea-ready. It’s really fascinating to see it all go down!
• The Wish is made up of 100 block pieces – seeing it get pieced together, block by block, are some of the most exciting moments. Large sections of the ship are assembled on the ground level of the shipyard, then lifted into place. The massive bridge block weighs as much as 800 cars!

• From custom carpets, textiles, and fixtures, you won’t believe the amount of time and work spent on finding the perfect finishing touch for each space onboard. Plus, over 1,000 pieces of art were selected for the ship, pulled straight from the Disney Animation Library.

• Stateroom assembly – between the plumbing, millwork, electrical, installing cabinetry, storage, and finishing touches in each cabin, there are about 12 hours of work in each one.
• The final countdown – leading up to the final moments through June and July 2022 before the maiden voyage. Work continued 24 hours a day, day and night, to get the ship done in time. The pressure was on!

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Watch the Wish Come to Life!

This doc works well as a post-show after experiencing the Wish, or for those with an upcoming sailing that want to familiarize themselves before getting on board! While the special covers a lot of exciting footage, it does have a relatively short runtime of 66 minutes, which feels like an abbreviation of a longer documentary series. As a huge Disney Cruise Line fan, I honestly would be happy to watch a mini-series covering the entire concept to completion process, with even more interviews, explanations, and behind-the-scenes moments. More NatGeo x Disney, please!

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