Sometimes I am envious of children. This time, it’s because of the kids-only spaces on the Disney Wish. Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship boasts multiple areas in its Oceaneer Club, where kids ages 3 to 12 can play while adults go do their thing. They have an Imagineering Lab, Fairytale Hall, Marvel Super Hero Academy, and Star Wars Cargo Bay. Adults can visit the spaces during scheduled open houses—and they should. The Star Wars Cargo Bay in particular has plenty of creatures for fans to see. The space connects to both Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Lucasfilm’s animated shorts, Galaxy of Creatures. And most importantly, it brings Chewbacca and porgs together again.
Star Wars Cargo Bay depicts, unsurprisingly, the cargo bay of a ship. This vessel is on its way to Batuu (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge), where it will deliver the creatures in the cargo bay to Bina’s Creature Stall. When you walk into the space, you’ll see various critters around. The creatures include a dokma, a sleepy Loth-cat, a dianoga, and a worrt. If you’ve been to Galaxy’s Edge, all of these will be familiar. But Cargo Bay’s unique feature is its animatronic porg, the first of its kind in Disney Parks. It emits little porg screams as it gently bounces up and down next to a nest of eggs.
If nothing else, visit Cargo Bay to see this porg. Its sounds will melt your heart. And if you’re lucky, maybe Chewbacca will stop by while you’re there. I watched him have a full conversation with the porg. Afterwards, Chewbacca promised me he is the porg’s friend and has no plans to eat the creature.
While all the creatures in Star Wars Cargo Bay remain in their kennels, ready to be adopted from the Creature Stall on Batuu, some porgs have escaped. As you look around the space, you’ll notice small porg nests crafted from wiring. And yes, you’ll even see some porg poop. Ah, authenticity. (at least it’s not scented).
During kids only hours, a show takes place in Star Wars Cargo Bay with Rey and Chewbacca. Show director Tony Giordano explained that a character named Quinn teaches children to be creature handlers, and as they learn about how to take care of the creatures, one of them bites Quinn. But it’s okay! Rey and Chewbacca are aboard as stowaways and Quinn knows she can call them for assistance. Then things take a turn when bigger creatures on the ship, rathtars, break loose. The show is an interactive one, with kids using all the screens and buttons in the space to capture the rathtars and save the day.
Though adults don’t get to experience the show, they can take in all the details during the open house. For example, Star Wars Cargo Bay doesn’t have ceilings and it’s the only space on a Disney cruise ship without them. Imagineers noted the piping in the ceiling while the ship was in dry dock and realized how much it fit into the Star Wars universe. And as a bonus, the lack of a ceiling makes room for a certain tall Wookiee to roam the space.
Those details are the kinds of Imagineering touches I can’t resist. I spent my time in the space looking up at pipes, translating as many of the Aurebesh creature tags as possible, and yes, looking for porg poop.
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy, The Art of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, The Jedi Mind, and more Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
