I took my kids on a Disney cruise ship. They’ll never forget it

There’s a theory about the function of memory, the way particularly vivid, important moments can shape the person you become.

These intense recollections are called “core memories”, and they often reflect the milestones in your life: the first birthday party you’re properly aware of; your first kiss; graduating from high school; getting married; having a child. And maybe, just maybe, going on a family holiday.

Disney Wonder in Sydney Harbour.

This theory sounds scientifically plausible. Though, it wasn’t devised by a psychologist or a neurologist, and it wasn’t published in a peer-reviewed journal. It was the brainchild of a Hollywood screenwriter, first coined in the animated film Inside Out.

“Each core memory came from a super-important moment in Riley’s life,” the narrator says at the beginning of the movie, “like when she first scored a goal. That was amazing! And each core memory powers a different aspect of Riley’s personality.”

That’s probably why so many of us are here today, at this cruise terminal, lining up with our kids, preparing to board the Disney Wonder. We’re here to create core memories. We’re here to give our children something amazing to look back on, an experience that will help shape the well-rounded human beings they will hopefully become once they move past the tantrum and food-throwing stage.

Ben Groundwater and family, plus Mickey Mouse, on board the Disney Wonder.

The Disney Wonder is one of eight Disney cruise ships – an all-singing, all-dancing Disney affair at sea – and the only Disney ship to visit Australian waters. All your favourite characters are on board, plus all your kids’ favourite characters (Mickey Mouse means very little to a modern-day four-year-old, but Frozen’s Elsa and Anna make them lose their minds).

There’s a neat bit of symmetry here too, because the movie Inside Out was produced by Pixar Animation Studios for – you guessed it – Walt Disney Pictures. If you didn’t know better, you might suspect that the whole concept of core memories had been created by Disney to encourage parents like us to spend large amounts of money on amazing holidays involving, well, Disney, to create core memories.

But of course, there’s no room for such cynicism when your entrance to the ship is being announced over the loudspeaker (“Welcome… the Groundwater family!”) and your kids are high-fiving Mickey Mouse and staring around the gilded central atrium of a giant cruise vessel in genuine wonder.

Disney knows how to deliver a good time. The company has been doing this since 1955, when Disneyland opened in Los Angeles. It does it now across six theme parks on three continents, not to mention on those eight cruise ships and on countless animated and live-action films and TV series.

So it’s no surprise to discover that plenty of Australians are here to experience Disney in their own backyard, taking a four-night journey from Sydney to Hobart and back again. On board the Wonder there are stage shows, character meet-and-greets, cinemas showing Disney films, deck parties, fireworks that are launched from the actual ship, drawing classes, trivia nights, three pools to swim in, five restaurants to eat in, and the likes of Goofy and Donald Duck appearing at random, just wandering through your shuffleboard game.

The stalwart – Captain Minnie Mouse greets the guests.

Does this stuff work? Do these experiences really stick? It does, and they do, as I’m reminded as my kids sprint around the ship trying to experience every single nook and cranny and adventure all at the same time. Because I have core memories of my own, and some involve Disney.

We were on a family holiday in Orlando when I was six, the same age my eldest son is now. We spent a day at Disney World, and I can remember so much about it, particularly the rides: Big Thunder Railroad (“Please keep your arms and legs inside the train at all times”), Space Mountain, It’s a Small World.

I can also remember queuing up for one of those rides, so excited, so impatient, and … my arm got stuck in a railing. Jammed solid.

So solid, in fact, that my parents had to call maintenance to unbolt the railing to set me free. The park authorities apologised profusely; it was only years later we realised they were probably worried about a lawsuit.

That incident went down in Groundwater family lore, an anecdote for gatherings and parties for decades to come. And I have never forgotten the entire experience. This stuff sticks. It makes memories.

So here we are right now giving our kids the chance to imprint their own memories, with what really is the full Disney experience. You have no choice on the Wonder but total immersion: you’re on a cruise ship and you can’t get off.

Everyone seems happy about that though, particularly the hardcore Disney fans getting around in their branded apparel and Mickey Mouse ears (some don’t even seem to have children). They’re probably the same guests who have decorated the doors to their staterooms with Disney-themed paraphernalia, and who exchange gifts with other passengers via bags they leave hanging outside their rooms.

There’s magic on board: most of it created by Disney, some by its fans.

Disney’s musical heritage on show on the Disney Wonder.

This cruise stops in Hobart for eight hours, which is something of a culture shock, bizarrely, given we’ve spent the past two nights in an American theme park eating gumbo and listening to Deep South jazz and gospel at the Princess and the Frog-themed restaurant.

We have time to wander Constitution Dock and buy a few snacks from Farm Gate Market before the kids ask what’s happening on the ship and we make our way back.

Honestly, the destination of this cruise doesn’t really matter, as great as Hobart is. It’s the journey that counts, the time on board to go to the shows and get the happy snaps, to play on the waterslide and have fun in the kids’ clubs.

Those clubs are open from 9.30am until midnight, so while you might not be able to escape the Disney-sphere, you can certainly take a break from childcare. That’s no hardship on the children either, given ours wake up each morning and ask immediately when they’re allowed to go to kids’ club. They also refuse to be collected one afternoon because: “We’re about to meet Spider-Man!”

We’re told later by staff: “It’s not a daycare, it’s an entertainment facility.” And that certainly seems true, going by the stories of character drop-ins, treasure hunts, arts and crafts, and other activities we hear about from our excited offspring.

There’s entertainment at night, too, large-scale productions featuring pirates and fireworks and jaw-dropping acrobatics performed by Avengers characters – but these shows don’t start until 10.30pm, by which time our kids have been asleep for hours, and not even the promise of Iron Man leaping off the chimney stack of a moving vessel will budge them.

And so we make our merry way across Bass Strait, movies playing on the big screen in front of one of the swimming pools, child-free adults luxuriating in the child-free recreation zone, tweens playing table tennis and shooting hoops in the sports area, hardcore Disney fans getting their kids professionally made up at the onboard beauty parlour so they can have photos taken with Belle and Ariel.

This really is a slice of Americana brought to Australian shores. It feels like stepping into another country, with that American hospitality, those iconic cultural touchstones, not to mention dishes like grits, shrimp, and mac and cheese turning up on the restaurant menus. There’s a by-the-slice pizza joint; a stand slinging hamburgers.

A veranda stateroom on board.

For kids like mine who have never been to the US, this is an unexpected chance to experience another country.

Though you have to take the good with the bad on this floating America: tipping is expected, the coffee is terrible, and onboard charges are in US dollars, which is particularly painful right now.

Not that the kids have any concerns. They’re literally vibrating with excitement from the second they wake up each morning to the moment we finally persuade them to go to sleep at the end of each day. There’s so much to experience, so much to take in.

Core memories, surely, are a given.

THE DETAILS

CRUISE
The Disney Wonder returns for a summer season in Australia and New Zealand in 2025-26. The four-night Disney Magic at Sea cruise departs and finishes in Sydney, via Hobart, with fares next season from $6170 for a family of four, including meals and entertainment. See disneycruise.com

The writer travelled as a guest of Disney Cruise Line.

Five adult-friendly activities on the Disney Wonder

Where do you go when your children are at the kids’ club?

Palo Restaurant
Though meals at most restaurants on board the Wonder are included, adults can up the ante with a visit to Palo, a northern Italian, a la carte eatery atop the ship’s stern. The cuisine here is a step above the Wonder’s standard, with a solid wine list to match.

Senses Spa & Salon
Treat yourself while the kids are in someone else’s care with a package at Senses, the Wonder’s onboard spa. There are aromatherapy steam rooms, a sauna, private villas with their own treatment rooms and verandas, plus massages, facials and acupuncture.

Cadillac Lounge
Order an adults’ drink – we’re thinking a martini – and settle back at this bar lounge to chat with friends or listen to live music. The 1950s-styled Cadillac Lounge also hosts wine and whisky-tasting events, which are available to book via the ship’s app.

Quiet Cove/Cove Cafe
Fancy a dip without all the screaming? Quiet Cove is an adults-only area on the upper deck with a pool, two hot tubs, a casual bar, and Cove Cafe, which sells pastries, snacks, and without doubt the best coffee on board (though it costs extra).

Buena Vista Theatre
This onboard cinema isn’t an adults-only facility, but it’s still a great place to relax in (relative) quiet. The 278-seat theatre shows new and classic Disney films throughout the day and night – and there’s a popcorn stand just outside.