The Disney cruise phenomenon that swept Australia last month ended up being a ‘Disney miracle’ for one small family Melbourne travel agency after they saw their busiest day on record on Thursday, September 29.

After Hurricane Ian effectively shuttered Disney Cruise Line’s website, Mr Chocolate’s Travel owner and mum-of-six Rebecca Mason and her family were forced to rise in the early hours to weather the proverbial storm of bookings, as they were one of the few Australian agencies that were offered a direct booking portal to sell Disney cruises.

They managed to book more than 100 cabins on Disney’s Australian cruises before they sold out.

“We were so busy,” Rebecca tells Cruise Passenger of organising booking for the highly-anticipated cruise.

“On that Thursday morning, I got up and rallied the troops to be in the office at 2 am,” adding that she enlisted the help of her daughter – an emergency nurse – as well as her husband to deal with the mountain of bookings.

“We’re only just recovering!” she added.

Rebecca, who is a lifelong Disney fan and one of the first to cruise on Disney Wish recently, has also written a book about how to make Disney dreams come true after successfully getting her family of eight to several Disney parks.

Now, she’s hoping to make the Disney dream come true for more families who missed out on booking Disney’s coveted Magic at Seas cruises in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

“We’ve been in the Disney game for a long time so understand the power of Disney but even we were surprised by how desperate Aussie families were to get on a Disney cruise and give their kids a taste of Disney down under,” she explained.

“For many families, overseas Disney parks are out of reach so there were a lot of tears when we confirmed a coveted spot onboard Disney Wonder during its first Australian season. We made a lot of Disney dreams come true and that makes me so happy.”

For those who weren’t lucky enough to get a booking the first time around, Rebecca remains hopeful that she will still be able to make some more dreams come true, adding, “We’ve got an active waitlist, and were constantly going through and looking for cancellations coming through the system.”

In more good news for Disney fans, two Transpacific voyages will also go on sale this Thursday, October 13, offering one more opportunity to experience Disney down under when Disney Wonder sails into Sydney in October next year and departs Sydney in February 2024.

The two Transpacific voyages on Disney Wonder include:

• A 13-night voyage from Honolulu to Sydney departing October 13, 2023, priced from $3950 per person twin share
• A 15-night voyage from Sydney to Honolulu departing February 16, 2024, priced from $4800 per person twin share

To experience the magic of being the first to cruise into Sydney on a Disney cruise ship, sign up for one of the coveted cabins on the Transpacific voyages at Australia’s specialist Mr Chocolate’s Travel, here.

Or, to join the waitlist for Disney Wonder’s Australian and New Zealand voyages register at Mr Chocolate’s Travel here.

A huge Disney fan herself, Rebecca is planning to take not only one but two cruises on the famous cruise line next year.

“I’m so excited! I’m going on one with my husband in April to Mexico – but we’ve also booked a cabin for the 3rd of November out of Melbourne for Disney’s Magic at Sea,” she said adding, “We don’t mind doing double – or even triple – Disney!”

Magic at Sea cruises will set sail from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Auckland between October 2023 to February 2024, with sailings aboard the 2,400-passenger Wonder ranging from two to six nights and departing from four home ports: Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as Auckland.

For more information, head to the Disney Cruise Line’s website.