Disney Wonder's 14-Day Dry Dock Packed In More Than 100 Projects and 12 Miles of New Carpet

By entgrove · October 1, 2026

Disney Cruise Line finished more than 100 projects on the Disney Wonder in a 14-day dry dock, laying over 12 miles of new carpet and applying a new hull coating with nearly 1,000 crew and cast members on the job. The line also recapped recent work on the Disney Fantasy and Disney Magic, including Ramone's Cantina, the Fantasia-inspired Fantasy Tower Suite and a refreshed Edge tween club on all three ships.

Disney Cruise Line finished more than 100 projects aboard the Disney Wonder in a 14-day dry dock, laying over 12 miles of new carpet and recoating the hull before the ship returned to service a few weeks ago. The line has now published a behind-the-scenes look at how its dry docks work, using the Wonder and recent work on the Disney Fantasy and Disney Magic to show what changes when a ship comes out of the water.

The Disney Wonder dry dock in numbers

Disney's shipyard figures describe a heavy refit for one of the oldest ships in its fleet.

• An original ship. The Wonder is one of the line's two original ships.
• Launch year. The Wonder entered service in 1999, a year after its sister ship, the Disney Magic.
• Ship's age. That makes the Wonder more than 25 years old.
• Why refits matter. Refits like this one are how a ship of that age keeps up with the newer members of the fleet.

Disney shared four figures from the Wonder's time in the shipyard, from the carpet to the hull coating, and all of the work fit inside two weeks.

What a dry dock is and how often it happens

Disney uses each dry dock for both required maintenance and changes guests will notice once they are back on board.

• Out of the water. The ship is taken out of the water so crews can renovate it, update it and carry out routine inspections.
• About every five years. Disney says each of its ships typically goes through a dry dock about every five years.
• Planned years ahead. The projects are planned years in advance and then carried out on a tight clock.
• Many teams at once. Shipboard teams, technical experts, Walt Disney Imagineers, the company's creative designers, and skilled craftsmen work on the ship at the same time, around the clock.
• Who does what. Marine and technical teams coordinate the operational projects, designers and Imagineers oversee the guest spaces, and crew members get the ship ready to welcome guests back.

Walt Disney Imagineering described how it approaches the guest spaces each time a ship comes in.

"Every dry dock is an opportunity to reinvigorate spaces with new magic by responding to how guests use areas of the ships. We also carefully consider blending those needs and bringing new, unique storytelling to life on ships," said Alexis Cummins, creative director, Walt Disney Imagineering.

New on the Disney Fantasy, and a new Edge on three ships

The Wonder's refit follows recent work on its sister ships, with new spaces on the Fantasy and a refreshed tween club.

• Ramone's Cantina. The Fantasy added this new quick-service dining location, inspired by Cars.
• Spa updates. The Fantasy's Senses Spa & Salon received updates.
• Fantasy Tower Suite. The Fantasy also added this new suite, inspired by Fantasia.
• A refreshed Edge. The Fantasy, the Magic and the Wonder each have a refreshed Edge, the onboard club for tweens ages 11 to 14.
• Flexible new layout. The space has a new color scheme and modular elements that can be reconfigured for a range of activities.

The work guests will never see

Not every dry dock project is visible from a deck chair, and some of the work went into the hulls and the crew areas.

• Magic hull coating. The Magic, like the Wonder, received an advanced hull coating.
• New bulbous bow. The Fantasy was fitted with a new bulbous bow, the rounded projection at the front of the hull just below the waterline.
• Performance and environment. Disney says these changes improve the ships' performance and help reduce their environmental impact.
• Crew dining space. A reimagined crew dining location was built to support the crew members who look after guests every day of a sailing.

Disney links the hull and bow work to the line's wider environmental goals, and it counted the crew areas as part of the same dry dock program.

Why Disney keeps rebuilding its older ships

Disney says every change, on older ships as well as new ones, starts with making the guest experience better.

• Not just new ships. Tracy Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Cruise Line Operations, said the line does not limit new ideas to new ships.
• Ongoing fleet reviews. Wilson said every vessel in the fleet is evaluated and updated on an ongoing basis.
• Guest ratings. Disney ties that approach to its guest satisfaction scores, saying nearly 90 percent of Disney Cruise Line guests rate their experience as "excellent."
• For repeat cruisers. Wilson's message to repeat cruisers is that they should find something new on board alongside the experiences they already know.

Wilson framed the starting point for each enhancement as a single question.

"At Disney Cruise Line, every enhancement we make begins with a single question: How can we make the guest experience better?" Wilson said. "These investments are designed to build upon the experiences our guests already know and love while adding thoughtful, new touches that make vacations even more memorable."

A five-year cycle decides which version of a ship guests sail

Because refits come roughly every five years, guests sailing soon after one get the newest version of a ship.

• Wonder just refreshed. The Wonder is fresh out of the yard now, with its new carpet already in place.
• Weeks without sailings. A ship in dry dock is not carrying guests, so those weeks do not appear as sailings.
• Next refit unannounced. Disney's feature did not say which ship is next in line for a refit.

Ramone's Cantina, the updated Senses Spa & Salon and the Fantasy Tower Suite are already on the Fantasy, and the refreshed Edge is on the Magic, the Wonder and the Fantasy.

Our take. For guests who would rather sail just after a ship's refresh than just before it, the next dry dock date is the one to watch, and until Disney names it, the Wonder, back in service for a few weeks, is the freshest of the three ships.