Why do people hate on the Wish?

[LittleMerman]

I made a post a little bit ago called "What's your favorite ship and why?" asking people to rank the Disney ships they've been on. Almost everyone put the Wish at the very bottom. I'm curious why that is?

I've only taken one Disney Cruise and it was the Wish and we fell in love with it. I have no other ship to compare it to but it was beautiful, elegant, and had so many fun areas onboard. We loved almost all of the food, especially Enchanté, and the beautiful design elements with subtle Disney touches.

 

[HauntedPirate]

To summarize some thoughts from posts after our September 2022 cruise on the Wish:

Didn’t care for the layout. Inward-focused layout instead of outward on the other four ships. The main architect had never sailed on a cruise ship before and it shows.
Rooms feel more narrow.
Walkways feel more narrow.
Grand Hall feels smaller than on the Dream/Fantasy.
Things aren’t logical to me - Public restrooms should be in close to the same place on multiple decks and they aren’t. And there aren’t enough public restrooms, IMO.
Door automation often wasn’t working.
Elevators are terrible. Whoever decided “capacity: 20” for those should be fired immediately.
Apparently people said they “couldn’t find the bars” on the Dream and Fantasy, so now they are seemingly everywhere.
Too many dead ends.
Adult area is ridiculously small.
No walking track circling the ship on one deck.
Premium shopping on deck 3 while regular shopping is shoe-horned into a space on deck 5.
Didn’t care for the stage at Arendelle, sight lines are often blocked by posts, plus tables aren’t arranged so most guests can see it without turning.
The "brisket" at Mickey's Smokehouse isn't brisket.
And NO JIMMY BUFFETT PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND!

 

[jme]

A lot of the people who have sailed on other ships first, prefer the layout of the other ships over the Wish. Some to the point of refusing to ever go back on the Wish.

A lot of people who sailed on the Wish first, love the Wish and prefer them over the other ships.

So I think it mostly boils down to layout/design choices having polarizing differences. At the end of the day though, they each have their pros/cons, and they all share that same level of quality, balanced Disney decor, etc.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

My first cruise was on the Dream. I absolutely loved it. I have the Wish booked for next year and I can’t wait! I’m so excited to try out something totally different. I was thinking I’d like to do the Wonder or Magic after the Wish but it seems like them might phase out the two older ships once all the new ones set sail?

 

[cjkeating]

I was thinking I’d like to do the Wonder or Magic after the Wish but it seems like them might phase out the two older ships once all the new ones set sail?

It will certainly happen eventually. To be honest I am just sailing on the Magic (Panama) and Wonder (Hawaii TBC) as much as practical in the near future. I'd suggest you sail on at least one of the original ships whilst they are still around.

 

[joanna71985]

The layout, plus the tightness of the tables in the MDR

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

For us it’s 2 primary reasons, the first is that many of the spaces are in the middle of the ship, the main lounge, the spa, etc, that eliminates the views of the ocean which is one of the main reasons we love cruising, the second reason is it’s the largest ship yet most areas feels smaller, the dining rooms are cramped, the lounges are cramped, etc, the early ships are much smaller but feel larger and feel like there’s more space to spread out. The Wish devoted a lot more space to the atrium, shopping, and to concierge, as a result everything else feels smaller.

We enjoyed the Wish, it has a lot of pros also, but it’s our least favorite ship by a wide margin.

 

[Two Ears]

I made a post a little bit ago called "What's your favorite ship and why?" asking people to rank the Disney ships they've been on. Almost everyone put the Wish at the very bottom. I'm curious why that is?

I've only taken one Disney Cruise and it was the Wish and we fell in love with it. I have no other ship to compare it to but it was beautiful, elegant, and had so many fun areas onboard. We loved almost all of the food, especially Enchanté, and the beautiful design elements with subtle Disney touches.

Nostalgia and minor reasons like no walking track without stairs, slightly bigger adults areas, uncomfortable chairs in theatre.

People complain more about what they lose then celebrate what they have gained. And what you have gained with the wish is far better then what was lost.

make no mistake, rather than being worse the wish is in fact better then the older four ships. Your poll just proves the common mental faults shared by all us people with human brains.

 

[ChuckElias]

Nostalgia and minor reasons like no walking track without stairs, slightly bigger adults areas, uncomfortable chairs in theatre.

People complain more about what they lose then celebrate what they have gained. And what you have gained with the wish is far better then what was lost.

make no mistake, rather than being worse the wish is in fact better then the older four ships. Your poll just proves the common mental faults shared by all us people with human brains.

This feels to me like a very dismissive answer. I think a lot of people have shared a lot of reasons for preferring the older ships. And even if you consider them all to be "minor reasons", if you pile up enough minor things that you don't like, it adds up to not liking the ship as much.

I haven't seen officials statistics, but I would guess (just from what I've seen on a few websites) that more than 80% of repeat DCL cruisers prefer the older ships. I've seen very few posts saying, "I've been on the Dream and Magic a dozen times, but the Wish blows them away." It seems highly unlikely to me that all those people are victims of nostalgia. Long-time DCL cruisers do not like the Wish by a very wide margin. First-time DCL cruisers almost unanimously LOVE the Wish.

This tells me that there is a significant difference in the cruise experience between the Wish and the older ships. So it's not just nostalgia and a few minor complaints.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Nostalgia and minor reasons like no walking track without stairs, slightly bigger adults areas, uncomfortable chairs in theatre.

People complain more about what they lose then celebrate what they have gained. And what you have gained with the wish is far better then what was lost.

make no mistake, rather than being worse the wish is in fact better then the older four ships. Your poll just proves the common mental faults shared by all us people with human brains.

Newer does not automatically equal better, I think a parks comparison highlights this best.

To me the Magic and Wonder are the Disneyland of the Disney parks, the oldest and the smallest but also the most charming and cohesive and since they’re smaller they are easier to navigate.

To me the Dream and Fantasy are the MK of the Disney parks, a larger and grander version of the original but they also lost a little of the charm in the process and because they’re larger getting around them gets a bit more difficult.

To me the Wish is the Disneyland Paris of the Disney parks, the most beautiful Disney park and a lovely place to be but you’re going to struggle to find many people who rank it above DL and/or MK.

You could argue that DLP is prettier, has a better PoTC, a better SM, a better BTM, is in a better city, etc, and I’d agree… but those individual positives still aren’t enough to overcome the overall greatness that is DL and/or MK.

I love all 3 of these parks, and would happily go visit all of them again, but if you asked me to rank them DL and MK may swap back and forth into first place based on my mood but DLP comes in 3rd every single time, the same is true of the ships. Thats not a dis on DLP or the Wish, more a testament to just how great the originals are.

 

[donaldtoo]

I made a post a little bit ago called "What's your favorite ship and why?" asking people to rank the Disney ships they've been on. Almost everyone put the Wish at the very bottom. I'm curious why that is?

I've only taken one Disney Cruise and it was the Wish and we fell in love with it. I have no other ship to compare it to but it was beautiful, elegant, and had so many fun areas onboard. We loved almost all of the food, especially Enchanté, and the beautiful design elements with subtle Disney touches.

‘Cause when we were on it, I made a wish and it didn’t come true.


OK, zero of that is true, but I couldn’t resist.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Newer does not automatically equal better, I think a parks comparison highlights this best.

To me the Magic and Wonder are the Disneyland of the Disney parks, the oldest and the smallest but also the most charming and cohesive and since they’re smaller they are easier to navigate.

To me the Dream and Fantasy are the MK of the Disney parks, a larger and grander version of the original but they also lost a little of the charm in the process and because they’re larger getting around them gets a bit more difficult.

To me the Wish is the Disneyland Paris of the Disney parks, the most beautiful Disney park and a lovely place to be but you’re going to struggle to find many people who rank it above DL and/or MK.

You could argue that DLP is prettier, has a better PoTC, a better SM, a better BTM, is in a better city, etc, and I’d agree… but those individual positives still aren’t enough to overcome the overall greatness that is DL and/or MK.

I love all 3 of these parks, and would happily go visit all of them again, but if you asked me to rank them DL and MK may swap back and forth into first place based on my mood but DLP comes in 3rd every single time, the same is true of the ships. Thats not a dis on DLP or the Wish, more a testament to just how great the originals are.

I'd rather fly to Paris and visit DLP than sail on the Wish. Or visit WDW at this point.

 

[joanna71985]

Nostalgia and minor reasons like no walking track without stairs, slightly bigger adults areas, uncomfortable chairs in theatre.

People complain more about what they lose then celebrate what they have gained. And what you have gained with the wish is far better then what was lost.

make no mistake, rather than being worse the wish is in fact better then the older four ships. Your poll just proves the common mental faults shared by all us people with human brains.

I'd rather be on any of the 1st 4 ships than the Wish (and I don't think it's because of minor reasons)

 

[cjkeating]

To me the Wish is the Disneyland Paris of the Disney parks, the most beautiful Disney park and a lovely place to be but you’re going to struggle to find many people who rank it above DL and/or MK.

You could argue that DLP is prettier, has a better PoTC, a better SM, a better BTM, is in a better city, etc, and I’d agree… but those individual positives still aren’t enough to overcome the overall greatness that is DL and/or MK.

I liked where your analogy was going until you used DLP as your third exmaple. I was expecting you to use Shanghai as the bigger, bolder, more modern park with some standout rides but overall feels too big (versus too small on the Wish) and ultimately souless. But I do get where you were going for.

Here's hoping the next smaller clash of ships is more of a refined current day Hong Hong Disneyland minus their problematic Tomorrowland.

 

[ParadoxPortals]

Time to pull out the damning Bright Sun Travels review!


Sure, a lot of this is just repeating existing thoughts on this thread, but I think seeing it with video footage really nails home just how poorly-conceived a lot of this ship's design is, especially when you consider the historical context of Disney Cruise Line and the Wish's creation BST includes in his review.

 

[vikescaper]

I watched BST’s Wish review prior to going on the Wish, and I was worried about what we were getting into. As I have said in other threads, we had a great time and really enjoyed the ship. That said, I can see where the criticisms come from. The adults area is small and could have been thought out better. I found deck 14 forward to be wasted space and I think Disney should turn that space into another adults only area. We would have loved a running/walking track as we like to stay active while on vacation but we found other ways to get our exercise in (for me, it was taking the stairs to get ice cream….). I can see why the elevators are an issue, as we encountered waits after the shows got out, but we like taking the stairs so we can get that all important exercise in! The lounges are small and there were a couple times we were crammed in for trivia. I do wonder what the Wish and the rest of the Wish class will look like after they enter 10 years of service as they don’t have the timelessness that the first four ships have. That said, I would happily board the Wish once again!

 

[ChuckElias]

Time to pull out the damning Bright Sun Travels review!

Thanks for sharing this. I'd never seen it, and it's really good.

 

[jaklgreen]

I don't hate it. I like the food offerings. BUT, what I enjoy doing is sitting in the adult area, on the more comfortable loungers and reading/relaxing. The WISH has THE worst adult area of all the ships. Most of the seats are in the sun with very little shade plus the smoking area is much too close and it stinks. I am one of those that gets an allergic reactions to cigarette and other scents so it pretty much made the adult area unusable for me and I am the primary target for adult areas.