Solara wakes up on embarkation night: the Disney Destiny's pumpkin tree gets her own show
Disney Cruise Line has detailed The Tale of the Enchanted Pumpkin Tree, the original Grand Hall show that brings Solara, the Disney Destiny's Halloween tree, to life on embarkation night. Guests pick Delight or Fright, Solara settles it with a confetti finale, and she is open for photos for the rest of the voyage.
Solara, the Disney Destiny's Enchanted Pumpkin Tree, does not simply stand in the Grand Hall: she is woken up. Disney Cruise Line has detailed The Tale of the Enchanted Pumpkin Tree, an original show that brings her to life on the first night of Halloween on the High Seas sailings aboard the Disney Destiny.
Key Details
- Show: The Tale of the Enchanted Pumpkin Tree, an original show
- When: The evening of embarkation day
- Where: The Grand Hall aboard the Disney Destiny
- Sailings: Select 3, 4 and 5 night Halloween on the High Seas cruises from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
What happens at the embarkation night show
Two storytellers disagree about how to celebrate Halloween, and the audience settles it with a chant before Solara wakes.
- Zayah and Gamble. The hosts are the Destiny-Seekers, two storytellers in the ship's lore who collect tall tales of magical trees from around the world.
- Pick a side. Guests choose Delight or Fright and join a chant for their side of Halloween.
- Confetti finale. Solara shows that both sides can celebrate together, then showers the room with orange and green confetti pumpkins.
- Photos afterward. Once she has been awakened, guests can take photos with Solara for the rest of the voyage.
Philip Kelley, show director for Disney Live Entertainment, helped bring Solara to life. For him the payoff is the reveal, because her carvings stay hidden until the show.
"I love watching the guests' first reactions to seeing her on embark day, getting excited to see what she'll look like fully lit. Her carvings are a secret until the show. She truly is a new Halloween character people want to 'meet'," Kelley said.
How Disney designed Solara for a ship of heroes and villains
Solara's look grew out of the Destiny's heroes and villains theme, split into a lighter and a darker side of Halloween.
- Two pumpkin sets. She holds her arms wide to display two sets of 13 carved pumpkins, one for Delight and one for Fright.
- Two personalities. Gamble prefers the sillier side of Halloween, while Zayah leans toward the mysterious side.
- Name origin. Solara's name is inspired by "Sol," the Latin word for sun.
- Pumpkins and jewels. Along with her 26 pumpkins, Solara carries 31 ember jewels.
- Story first. Disney Live Entertainment wrote her story into Zayah and Gamble's world before designing how she would look.
The show team kept experimenting once the tree was aboard, Kelley said, working her sound and lighting into a space that spans three decks.
"Every new show is an exploration of learning and creating new things, which is so exciting," Kelley said. "We got to play with her design trying various lighting effects, some worked and some didn't. Once we got her into the space we had great discoveries with moving her sound around the three decks as well as incorporating all the amazing lighting of the Grand Hall."
Solara is a Destiny exclusive, with sister trees on the Wish and Treasure
Each of these ships has its own named pumpkin tree, and Solara appears only aboard the Disney Destiny.
- Boo on the Wish. The Disney Wish's Enchanted Pumpkin Tree is named Boo.
- Ginger on the Treasure. The Disney Treasure's tree is named Ginger.
- Kept distinct. Disney Live Entertainment set out to keep Solara unique within the fleet's grove of Halloween trees.
- More Halloween aboard. Destiny Halloween sailings also include trick-or-treating and Mickey's Mouse-Querade Party.
Our take. To see Solara's reveal rather than just the finished tree, be in the Grand Hall on the evening of embarkation day. Her carvings stay hidden until that show, and she is available for photos for the rest of the cruise.