Halloween on the High Seas returns to Disney Cruise Line with more sailings than ever before and new one-of-a-kind experiences in September and October 2024. This post shares the news, plus quick thoughts from Sarah’s experience during DCL spook season event.
According to Disney Cruise Line, the 2024 Halloween on the High Seas will bring back more guest-favorite entertainment and activities, including trick-or-treating, spooky parties, elaborate décor and themed food and beverage items. During these limited-time voyages, each ship in the DCL fleet transforms into a ghoulish wonderland.
Halloween on the High Seas voyages will be offered aboard select Disney Cruise Line sailings aboard the Magic, Dream, Fantasy, and Wish ships. Departure dates occur from mid-September through October 2024, with a total of 35 different voyages (down 4 from last year).
Chart a course to tropical locales on a Bahamian or Western Caribbean voyage from Fort Lauderdale or discover dazzling destinations in the Eastern and Western Caribbean and The Bahamas on a sailing from Port Canaveral. Notably, there are no 2024 Halloween on the High Seas sailings out of anywhere except Florida.
Each Halloween on the High Seascruise will include stops at Disney’s new private island destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, or Castaway Cay. There’s even one 6-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral with 2 stops at Castaway Cay!
When it comes to details about Halloween on the High Seas, let’s start with the only new thing that’s been announced for 2024: new character costumes for Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck:
Mickey and Minnie are both dapper and spooky in their new, batty ensembles. Never to be outdone, Donald has put together a gentleman spider costume sure to impress Daisy Duck. All of his spidery legs are ready to boogie. While Mickey & Minnie have spooky-tacular new outfits, they’re new twists on what we’ve seen before. Donald’s is next-level.
Make sure to pack your own Halloween garb for Mickey’s Mouse-querade, a special party with Mickey and his pals dressed in their Halloween best. You’ll be able to get a spooky selfie in your scary suits during themed meet and greets with Disney characters!
Guests of all ages won’t want to miss this spooktacular event. The atrium in each Disney Cruise Line ship will come alive with ghoulish games, trick-or-treating, and dancing, plus the famous Disney characters in their Halloween costumes.
Up on deck, check out the campfire-style Haunted Stories of the Sea, featuring a spooky ghost story or two. Additionally, Halloween-themed movies will be shown on Funnel Vision by the family pool and in staterooms.
Another Halloween on the High Seas highlight is usually Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing and Scream. It’s “Season’s Screamings” during this interactive movie experience—with Jack Skellington and Sally greeting guests plus a special interactive Sing and Scream experience featuring the classic film, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. (However, I don’t see this on the 2024 list–could be an oversight or maybe it’s not returning.)
The character highlight of Halloween on the High Seas is the Sanderson Sisters meet & greet, featureing Minnie is dressed as Winifred Sanderson, Daisy as Sarah Sanderson, and Clarabelle as Mary Sanderson. Each Disney fur character embodies their respective counterpart from Hocus Pocus, melding their own personalities with the Sanderson Sisters. This meet & greet is fantastic.
Other fun family activities during Halloween on the High Seas include pumpkin-carving, a ghostly takeover of Disney Cruise Line ship announcements, and much more. Guests will also enjoy special Halloween-themed food and beverage items during rotational dining and elsewhere in DCL restaurants.
Finally, proving that Halloween isn’t just for kids, adults will have their fun and (not-so) frightful festivities. Adult-exclusive venues across the fleet will become a ghoulish setting for costume contests and a Villainous Takeover on the dance floor.
The Disney Wish, still the newest Disney Cruise Line ship as of Halloween 2024, will once again bring its unique twist on a Halloween on the High Seas hallmark. The centerpiece of every ship during Halloween sailings is the signature magical Pumpkin Tree towering over the atrium lobby, each with sprouting Jack-O-Lanterns and flickering lights.
Aboard the Disney Wish, guests will find the Pumpkin Tree in the “Cinderella”-inspired Grand Hall. Featuring lighter bark, graceful branches and a mystical face, this enchanted tree that grew perfect gourds with the help of a Wishing Star at night produced the perfect pumpkin that became the coach that carried Cinderella to the Prince’s Ball.
In terms of commentary, we actually have experience with Halloween on the High Seas. Well, half of us do, at least. A couple years ago, Sarah took a cruise aboard the Disney Wonder with her girlfriends during Halloween on the High Seas.
Sarah absolutely loved Halloween on the High Seas. She thought that the character costumes were adorable and unique, with the Sanderson Sisters being one of many highlights. The overall atmosphere of the ship was spooky thanks to quirky decorations, plenty of pumpkins, and the Halloween tree. Lots of little touches, like unique food and coffee enhanced the atmosphere even further, and gave a Halloween-infused atmosphere to the cruise.
We’ve previously done one of the Christmas sailings aboard Disney Cruise Line, and it was a bit underwhelming. (See our Very Merrytime Christmas Cruise Review.) Honestly, in reviewing all of Sarah’s photos and hearing what she had to say about Halloween on the High Seas, it sounds to me like Very Merrytime Christmas Cruise is the more ‘robust’ of the two events.
So rather than doing Halloween on the High Seas, we have a Very Merrytime Christmas Cruise booked for 2024. We’re eager to take Baby Bricker on her first cruise (although we know she’s still too young for us to fully appreciate the ‘DCL Difference’ for families) and we had to cancel our Lighthouse Point preview sailing in June, so that seemed like a good consolation prize.
Ultimately, Halloween on the High Seas sounds like a lot of fun, and we’re glad to see Disney Cruise Line bringing it back again. Maybe we’ll finally give it a go in 2025 when the Disney Treasure starts participating in Halloween on the High Seas. After all, what’s a better way to celebrate spook season than in the Haunted Mansion Parlor?!
Planning to set sail aboard one of the Disney Cruise Line ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your trip, plan entertainment and other activities, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise! If you want personalized recommendations for Disney Cruise Line itineraries, ships, and more, click here to get a cruise quote from a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They can find you all of the current discounts, and help you plan the details of your cruise!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these Disney Cruise Line’s Halloween on the High Seas? Any of the special offerings appeal to you? Impressed by the Sanderson Sisters costumes for Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Clarabelle Cow? Any other tips to add or recommendations for Halloween on the High Seas? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
