Disney Hercules – Disney Cruise Line – Disney Destiny

Submitted by: Stephanie Morehead
Lead Designer: Michael Serna
Studio: Disney Live Entertainment
Outfitter: Merima
Shipyard: Meyer Werft
Completion Date: 20/11/2025

Disney Hercules is a one-hour Broadway-style production created for the Disney Destiny. The show reimagines the beloved film with contemporary staging, pop concert-inspired design. All the original songs feature new gospel, soul, and pop-infused arrangements. Music was recorded with nearly 70 Nashville musicians.

The Muses drive the storytelling, guiding guests through Hercules’ journey with powerful vocals and dynamic personalities. Cutting-edge puppetry brings the show’s mythical creatures to life, including a colossal multiheaded Hydra and towering Titan puppets standing up to 13 feet tall. Developed with Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, the Titans utilize a combination of stilts, puppetry, and EXO-frame technology to achieve unprecedented scale and movement for a single performer.

Technically, the production is one of the most ambitious at sea, featuring 94 automation cues, approximately 1,200 lighting cues, and extensive show-control programming. Additional innovations include projection-mapped costumes for the Muses and the stage debut of “Shooting Star,” a ballad cut from the animated film. The production required 150 hours of rehearsal in Toronto and 370 onboard production hours.