Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - Cruise the Disney Wonder in Alaska with Host Jay

Episode Date: August 9, 2026

Hello travelers! This week, join Host Jay on the high seas aboard another of the Disney Cruise Line ships, the Disney Wonder! You'll start in Vancouver then sail north through Alaska as you enjoy the music of Frozen Ever After before an excursion to the Dawes Glacier. Then board a train to hear the clickity clacks of the scenic White Pass Railroad from Skagway, Alaska into Yukon, Canada. When you return, you'll tour the ship's decks and atrium, then finish with some lively jazz music while dining at Tiana's Place before returning to port. Bon voyage!  We are listener supported - contribute to the Dole Whip Fund via Google or Apple Pay. Thanks! Walkabout the World is now on TikTok! Come follow our visual companion to the audio podcast at Walkabout.the.world.pod on TikTok And of course, visit us on Instagram and at walkabouttheworld.com - find links to all the things - attraction episodes, Insta accounts of all the hosts, and even how to buy your own Walkabout shirt! Walkabout The World is a weekly Disney podcast, always recorded on property at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort with the simple goal of making you feel like you are in the middle of the magic.

Well, hello, travelers. It's my pleasure to be coming to you guys from the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, aboard the beautiful Art Nouveau love letter, that is, the Disney Wonder. And another edition of Walk About the Cruise ship by your friend Jay here. I'm really excited to be doing this with you guys. I have a full seven days aboard the beautiful Disney Wonder. and I am looking forward to bringing you guys some of the sounds and some of the sites that makes this one of the greatest ships in the world. And we're going to start off here with our sail away party. No Disney Cruise would be without it.

And of course, sounding of the iconic horn that Disney Cruise Line is so famous for. As a reminder, we are very grateful if you guys will spend some time. It's in our dough whip fun. It helps us to continue to do this type of thing. It helps us to vary the type of content. And so any support that you guys have is more than welcome. And then, of course, leave comments. We love to hear from you.

We love to know that you're enjoying it. We love to hear what you love, what you don't. So feel free to leave comments and let us know what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, what you love. And if just being funny and telling a joke, lay that dad joke on us. So without further ado, let's enjoy the sailway party together and some of those sights and sounds. Well, it's time for us to set sail. And as you guys heard, the whistle's just blown. And it's time to head out.

Well, we're underneath Linesgate Bridge and we are headed out of the port of Vancouver out into the Pacific Ocean. I'll try to drop some pictures in for you guys. little time lamps of us going under the bridge. It's a lot of fun. The ship almost barely fits. And so it's kind of fun to go underneath it with the big ship. And, of course, the views cannot be beaten. It is just absolutely gorgeous.

But it is just the tip of the iceberg as we head out and head north to Alaska. Several years have passed, and it was time for Elsa to take the ground. She stole the ground? Did you slip for Aragon mystery one-on-one? Oh yeah, I did try to take that one online, but my computer was frozen. Also used to become queen of Aragon.

But what about her snowy powers? Exactly. Elsa was afraid the powers would show and she'd be cast out of the kingdom forever. All mother. Was dreaming of the possibilities of the puzzle dates for the first time in... Whatever! Oh, Anna, wake up it's Coronation Day! Look at that jewel off your face, her princess. It's Coronation Day!

It's Coronation Day. It's Coronation Day. So is that door. I didn't know they did that anymore. It's empty heart. Totally strange. She does me. Duh.

This guy. He's too good-looking. Elha. You're just jealous. He is dreaming. Yeah, he said that. Oh, he's so dreaming looking. You've got a little closer.

So I'll get a little bit. Respect, Aria. All right, listen. It is Coronation Day after all. Every citizen of Aaron Delw. of Arundel were the dictators of kingdoms all over ten to the royal coronation. Also was nervous, but she was able to hire her colors longed up to be sworn in as Queen of Arundel. And then they partied,

Frozen Queen, and you are the Queen! Yes! And there was so much chocolate. This is his favorite food. It was a little awkward between on and also because they didn't really talk anymore, but it seemed that maybe just maybe that could all change. And then Hans came back and they danced the night away. Yes, I. Oh, don't you just love true love? This is true love.

They literally just meant. You clearly don't know anything about true love. As a wise woman once said, love is an open door. Yes, I have heard that. It's a good quote. I'm a good shamed. Okay, can I just say something crazy? I'm crazy.

All my life has been... I've been searching my whole life to find my own place. And maybe it's stuff. And maybe it's the party talking with the chocolate fuck with you Talk with you I'm on my place Get each other's That's what I was gonna say I've got to get so much like me

Jicks, chicks again I'm a Mexican Exhibition Help for an explanation You were just meant to be Crazy Well travelers we're gonna get off the boat today and we are going to spend some time out in the fjord here,

this Gines fjord, and we're going to go all the way up to Dosson Glacier and, yeah, learn a little bit about the Tongass National Forest, and let's some time to get us. So come with me, we're going to get on this little boat here, and we are going to get as close as we possibly can to the DOSN glacier. It looks absolutely gigantic. That is just the timber.

the iceberg. There's about 90% of it underneath the water that we can't quite see. So in order for something to be a true iceberg, we measure what's on top. If what's on top is at least 16 feet long or at least 5 meters, it is a true iceberg. That is a big iceberg. And I suspect that is definitely an iceberg out in front of us. If it's smaller than that, so if it's between 2 to 5 meters long, it's called a burgy bit, which is a bit of an iceberg. And that is the technical term. I did not come up with that. But we have our icebergs and our burgy bits. And then we have the stuff that's really small. So it's less than two meters long. If it's on the larger side, it's going to be called a growler. If it's on the smaller side, it's going to be

called brash ice. Growlers got their name because when we hit them with our boat, they make a growling sound as they roll along the edge of our boat. And brash ice is about the size of what you have sitting in your cup. So it's going to be about ice cube size. But those two pieces out from front of us, those are definitely some icebergs. And honestly, some of the prettiest pictures I get on these tours are when we get up close and personal with these icebergs. You can see all of the different patterns that they get on them from when they melt. So once these icebergs essentially get detached from the glacier and they land in the water, everything melts these guys. It actually doesn't take very long for them to become quite small.

Basically, the wind blows over the tops of these guys. It can force air bubbles back into them, and that's why they have that white layer. That's not snow, that's essentially aerated ice. And then, on top of that, they have some funky shapes. Some of them have some stripes. Some of them have some dipplings. A lot of that comes from the wind and kind of how it consistently blows over the top of this ice. They can create those stripes.

And some of the dimples are actually from rain, as rain falls and lands on top of the wind. falls and lands on top of these glaciers, it creates little pockets where that water sits and it creates those dimples. I will make sure to drop some pictures down in the comments for you guys, but absolutely the ice here is so cool. It actually has a blue color, which is just the way the ice comes off of the glacier and refracts with the water. And it's a really beautiful color.

Apparently, as soon as you pull it away from the water here and you, you're not. just let it melt. It becomes clear, just like at home. So the only way to see it in this color is when it is part of an iceberg or part of a glacier. Dawes National Glacier is one of the last glaciers left. It loses about five meters of ice every day. So it's moving down, it's sliding down through the fjord at about five meters a day, which has increased over the years. used to only be about one meter a day, about 10 years ago.

So it is starting to become more and more dangerous for the environment. Along with being able to see the glacier, they actually pulled a piece of it under the boat. And they made us some glacieritas, and we got to hold pieces of it. It's remarkably heavier than I thought it would be. So hopefully you guys have really enjoyed the... Quick facts about the Tongass National Park and coming on this little excursion with us. And more cruise vibes to come. Thanks for coming on this little excursion.

Well, hello, the travelers. We're still working our way through Alaska. Hopefully you guys enjoyed some of those sounds of the Frozen Ever After sing-along. And today we're going to do a few very much more exciting things, So the beginning of the cruise is a little mundane, some glacier viewing. However, today we are headed into Skagway, Alaska, and we are going to be on the White Pass Railroad. So we're going to spend the day on the White Pass Railroad,

get a little bit of history, and have a little bit of fun. And then this is where we'll definitely start to see more waterfalls on our right. Waterfall. Waterfall. This is the area I was waiting for. We got a waterfall coming up on our right here, shortly. This one I expect to be going pretty good today. Right here.

And you're going to see very soon that it's good that we retired it because there's large sections of it that have collapsed over time. So we won't be crossing this bridge. I promise we're not going to pick up speed or anything. But it's actually really neat when it kind of materializes out of the mist. You can just start to see it. start to see it here now. When they built it in 1901 it was the largest of its type in the world. It stands 215 feet tall. I am trying to let the little tour guide do most of the talking. Don't worry. I'm still here.

Hopefully you guys are enjoying all the sights and sounds. Once again, you know, we'll leave videos and pictures. There'll be lots of them because we're visiting so many places. But I am happy to say that we crossed into Canada and And I love to believe that walk about the world. We're getting a chance to really go see the world. I do wish you guys were here with me. I'm trying to do my best to give you an opportunity to really, really enjoy it as much as I am. It's definitely been a pleasure being here with you guys.

I really hope that you guys are having a good time. Definitely lots more stuff to do. Once again, we are just about halfway through our Alaskan Advent. and the way past was just an amazing one. Hope you guys enjoyed the history. Hope you guys enjoyed the train sounds. And of course, I hope you guys are enjoying our special adventure here on Walk About the Weather. Beautiful mountainside and it's a little bit foggy today is amazing.

And so the fog is just giving it a very eerie little beauty. Such beautiful views. almost scary at times. The train leaves over the edge of the mountain. And you can look straight down. There's still a little bit of snow. It is definitely warm everywhere else in the world. But in Alaska, it is definitely a little bit cold.

We are still getting lots of snow up here. Now that we've spent some time outside of the ship, I thought I would, we should do some tours around the ship. There's lots of sounds. They do lots of cool renditions. of songs that are familiar favorites. So, yeah, let's, I'll talk about some of the sights and sounds on the ship, and then we'll stop and listen to some of our favorite songs.

Let's go. The atrium is definitely one of the best places to start, so that's what we're going to start. It is a three-story atrium. It's got glass elevators that go up through the ceiling, and then there used to be a Chihulli chandelier up in the ceiling here. They have a new one. this ship is themed to Ariel and so there are lots of

aerial details here not to mention the Ariel Atrium Statue but also in the carpeting the coloring the railings I'll make sure to leave you guys a couple of pictures And then of course there's the four glass elevators That take you up the three stories

And they're beautiful Even when you do head up past the glass tubes In the Atrium There's some beautiful murals for you to look at We'll do a little video for you guys So you can kind of see what that looks like going up through the elevators here. But while we're here, there plays some beautiful music in the atrium here. So let's just stop and stroll through the atrium. You guys can look at the pictures,

and I will let you guys enjoy the sounds of the atrium as we take a tour around it. That's a perfect way to end. All right, let's go stroll into the rest of the ship and see what other sights and sounds I can find a share. Let's go. There's an entrance from the atrium into Tritons, one of the three main dining rooms on the ship. But we're going to walk down the hallway here, and we're going to walk by Tritons to all the windows here. And then enjoy the end. The hallway is a marble hallway.

There are windows on both sides. The windows on the right-hand side go out to the water, and the windows on the left-hand side go into Triton's the restaurant. After you walk by Triton's, there is the French Quarter Lounge. One of the themed restaurants on the ship is Tiana's place. And then, of course, there's a lounge just outside of it that looks like the French Quarter. And there's all the time there's live music here in the French Quarter. You can get some minis, you can get some French Quarter coffees, and, of course, some libations.

So it's a wonderful place to hang out, chill, and enjoy the evening. It's definitely themed to 1940s, 1930s, New Orleans. and so there are little touches of that everywhere. Of course, the French Quarter wouldn't be the French Quarter without a trolley. They most certainly do have one of the... Tiana's place is one of the restaurants. They rotate which places are open for lunch and which ones are open for breakfast. Tiana's is on that rotation.

But they have to play some jazz. It's beautiful. but we're not going to do any jazz today. We're going to continue walking around the ship. So let's go up a floor and see what's going on on the third floor. So we're on deck four F, which is also where one of the restaurants the Animator's Pallet is. And Animator's Pallet is one of my favorite restaurants

because as you go throughout the night, the colors change. There are colors behind the walls. And, of course, the food is very good. But we're going to walk by Animator's Pallet. and we're going to walk through the jewelry store that's on board and head back into the atrium. This is we're on level four. We'll see what's going on in the ATM from level four.

So let's walk. Wanting to earn a medal. Ship medallions, if you don't know, there are eight different medallions to collect. There is Mini, Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Bouto, Chippendale, and the cruise ship. So this can start or add to your collection, and you can wear it around the ship, and brag. Everyone loves bragging rights.

I know, brag, right. Go you! Okay, let's do these answers. Back to question number one. I'll read the question out loud as fast as they can. You shout the answers out. Hopefully you get it right and don't embarrass yourself. Question number one, which unlikely character poses as a double agent

that helps the resistance in the rise of Skywalker? General Hux! It is General Huck! Give it a nice big tick if you got it right. Have you got it right? No one. Question number one. Is it?

The first one. trivia is definitely a big portion of some of the fun on board. I'll definitely drop a board. DeLounge is one of those places. When you win trivia, you do get a medal, as you just heard. They get their theme to all kinds of, they're themed to all kinds of different characters. So I myself have quite a few, mostly goofy,

because I usually try to go to the ones that are goofy. And, yeah, we made our way back into the atrium. and yeah we'll stop and listen to the music that's going on here and that before Ursula comes in and tries to capture Ariel out of the atrium we're gonna head out onto the dock and see what's going on out here so we can get some sea sounds as we head towards the front of the ship this is an Alaskan cruise so we've definitely enjoyed a lot of scenery and you've heard we talk about that already however

As we head back to Vancouver, which is our port of call, we will have to do a little bit of time in the Pacific Ocean before we head back into those inner straits and the Straits of Vancouver around Victoria Island and such. So as we currently are, and believe it or not, it's been a little bit of a foggy day. It's a very first day that we've had a complete fog. A little bit earlier, the ship's whistle was actually having to go off

the fog horn It's how thick the fog was Sorry I know it got loud as we We can probably hear our foghorn As I said it's a foggy day for us I wanted to take you Across the front of the ship So you can see

One of the cool things about the classic ships And that is you are able to Go into the anchor room And tell with the other ships You're not able to do that And so I'll drop a few pictures in of the anchor room for you guys so you could see not a lot of music playing here

but I thought you would enjoy the sounds of the ocean as we go by and then of course some of the cool sights about the smaller ships you do not get on the largest ships anymore we've walked away around the front of the ship and so we're going to head back inside for a little bit here and see if we can catch some more tunes and do a little bit more walking

one of the pluses of being on a Disney ship when they are premiering a new movie is that you will be able to get the premiere day early. So everybody has been all of us about Toy Story 5. It premiered on the ship on Thursday. And, of course, they do several showings on that ship. So lots of people are in there. Popping my head into the Walt Disney Theater.

I'll show you guys there currently playing Toy Story 5 again in the Walt Disney Theater. It's also where they do Broadway theater shows on this particular ship and for this sailing it is frozen it's Alaska of course we have a frozen night as you guys heard earlier

with our frozen dance party so it's definitely a part of the ship here but when I tell you that these shows are Broadway quality they absolutely are there's a lot of people on the ship to do it's our day at sea

so everybody is roaming around the ship so you can probably hear everybody in the background it makes for a good time a little beauty in the beast stop and walk this hallway and listen to this tune. And just enjoy. I say, let's go get in the elevator

and enjoy a ride up to the top floor so we can see the mural and, of course, enjoy the lobby views from the last elevator. And then I think that we've done enough walking around the deck together. Tonight we're going to be at Tiana's. It's our last night on the ship, unfortunately. But Tianus does an amazing show.

So we'll definitely do some listens there and get some sights and sounds from Tiana's. So I know you guys will enjoy listening to the jazz band in Tiana's, and I'm looking forward to letting you guys have a listen. So let's go jump on that elevator and go for a little ride. As promised, we're going to have some jazz tonight at Tiana's Place, and the food is great. I wish you guys could see it in here.

It's a beautiful New Orleans-themed restaurant. one of the best versions of this restaurant on this ship. And then, of course, the best part is Tiana treats us some wonderful jazz. So I hope you guys enjoy listening. Sit down, sit back, and listen to some good old Disney Jazz. You can't goodbye, but I'm going. And I'm just, they're going to be. But the food and I'm going to be.

It's about we are to do. I'm a while in the day. We're always seeing. But I thought is what I'm saying very a better point. You're not. I'm not going to be able to I do this one

You know what I need your help for this next one When you give you the chorus on this song I want you to grab me after you and give me that I do have the course for you Does anybody know the name of that love struck firefly Princess who was ready We thought we're older of church morning I said to come with us

Why are we sing raised by something I'm glad or imagine I think we're barely going to love A little fire drop that lights up with my sky. Every single one, but this is a little bit. That's so... I got the dance part, I told you on. This is all right?

So let's go on and have preserved everybody. Everybody else, say, boy. I'll get a turn. I will round some check one more time. This announcement is to inform you that the Disney Wonder is now cleared by local customs and border protection for those guests with luggage tag colors and characters that are yellow with Chippendale or white with Ariel. You are kindly invited to disembark the ship at this time via the gangway located on deck three midship. Please have your key to the world card out and ready to be

swiped off the ship. Once inside the terminal building, you will be required to provide a proof of citizenship for the inspection by customs and border protection. Be advised that no fresh free vegetables, plant materials, meat, or animal products may be brought off of the ship. If you have any of these items, please discard them in the embassy bins as you disembark. Once again, guests you have luggage tag colors and characters that are yellow with Jim and Dale or white and aerial are now cleared to disembark via the gangway located on deck three midship. Guests holding any other Disney character luggage tag are invited to wait comfortably on until their luggage bag is announced before disembarking the ship.

We thank you for sailing with us on for the beautiful Disney Wonder. I hope you have a safe and pleasant journey home. Well, travelers, that means that they want me to get off the ship, which I've been looking for a hiding spot for the past day, just trying to see if I figure maybe they'll, I could hide in a cabinet and then we get out to sea, and then they couldn't kick me off the ship until we got back. And then I could get a second cruise.

But I don't know if I get away with that. So I'm going to follow the rules, and unfortunately I'm going to get off. As much as I dread that sound, it has been a wonderful cruise with you guys. I really love spending time with you. And I hope that you guys enjoy the walk about the ship and all the activities that we did together. And I really look forward to doing more cruises with you guys And of course, I'll definitely see you guys in the parks And I just really, really I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did

And the sights, the sounds, the Disney Wonder We don't get a lot of the Disney Wonder on the East Coast She's exclusively on the West Coast She doesn't even go to Europe, she does her dry docks in Canada And so we visited Alaska We visited Vegas Hoover and I really enjoyed spending our time with you guys. As always, we really, really appreciate any support you might give.

Our dough wood fund does help us to do more things and give you quality entertainment that I know you guys really, really love. And of course, if you ever see one of us in the parks, it does help us to make sure that you get a little gift from us when you say hi. And it's been Jay, and it's been real, and I hope to see you real soon.