WESTWARD HO! : DISNEY'S FLORIDA CRUISE LINE IS SO SUCCESSFUL, PLANS ARE ALREADY UNDER WAY FOR A CALIFORNIA ROUTE.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

With each passing day, it becomes clearer that the sun will never set on Mickey Mouse's global empire.

The Walt Disney Co. cruise ship business has become the latest success story for the entertainment giant even though it hasn't been completely smooth sailing.

After less than six months of operating the Disney Magic ship in Florida and the Bahamas, Disney is not only proclaiming it has - as promised - taken the cruise business to another level by becoming its leading family brand. It is also considering launching more ships in Southern California and Europe.

The absolute earliest such a move could occur would be in 2003 because of the time needed to order and build a state-of-the-art ocean liner. Still, the fact that it's being discussed at all shows Burbank-based Disney clearly believes it already has a winner.

A sister ship, the Disney Wonder, will start sailing Aug. 15. Wall Street analysts believe each ship - despite its stunning $350 million price tag - can generate $50 million in annual profits.

At the very least, Disney has clearly recovered from the pair of black eyes it suffered after twice delaying the inaugural cruise. And it also claims to have fixed the initial glitches.

``There was some stumbling with the first cruises but Disney looks at this as a very long-term project,'' said Michael Driscoll, editor of the Cruise Week newsletter based in Wilmington, N.C., and a passenger on one of the early trips. ``It obviously wasn't quite ready when they started but Disney has been very responsive to customer comments and criticism.''

Cruise line President Arthur Rodney admitted in a recent interview with the Daily News that Disney has considerably tweaked the ship's operations since the first cruises.

``You would not recognize it if you had gone in August,'' he said, noting that menus and activities schedules have seen extensive changes, with more activities for adults including a lecture series operated by the Disney Institute. ``We're trying to add elements that appeal to customers who are attracted by Disney with those who are traditional cruise customers.''

Pricing has been lowered slightly on tourist-class rooms and some customers have come back as many as four times, flying in from the snow-bound Northeast for a three-day jaunt.

Disney's attention to detail and focus on customer satisfaction, Driscoll said, should continue to elevate the status of their cruises despite the fact that prices tend to be 25 percent above those of rivals. The lowest prices available for a three-day cruise starting March 12 in a cabin without an ocean view was $1,250 last week.

``I think it has incredible promise as a great family vacation,'' he added. ``It already has the reputation as the top family cruise line.''

The entry into cruises comes at a time when Disney has been scrambling for new ways to extend its lucrative brand name, particularly in theme parks, where its earnings have outstripped its broadcast, movie and consumer-products operations. In the past few years, it has launched ventures as disparate as the Animal Kingdom theme park near Orlando, Fla., ESPN stores and restaurants and Club Disney and DisneyQuest indoor play parks along with announcing plans for new parks in California, France and Japan.

Laguna Research Partners consultant Kevin Skislock said the most sensible way for Disney to take advantage of its brand name is by offering consumers something they can't get elsewhere.

``That's why it's crucial for Disney to provide entertainment that cannot be done at the local level,'' Skislock said. ``A destination site like a Disney cruise ship has to do that to maintain high traffic and having your own island on the cruise is a good example of how that can be done. It's not easy to achieve that unique identity in an established industry because you really have to be going all out to differentiate yourself.''

Currently, the Disney Magic makes three- and four-day runs in the Caribbean between Port Canaveral, Fla., and the Bahamas on Fridays and Mondays, each trip highlighted by a one-day visit to Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. ``The island has been very well received,'' Driscoll said.

The ship, designed as a throwback to 1930s-style luxury liners, has been built to attract families with children, a constituency well outside three groups of core cruise customers - singles, seniors and married couples without children.

Disney Magic offers ``staterooms'' rather than cabins, reasoning that the extra price is reasonable since the space is 25 percent larger than conventional cabins. The cruise ship, which can transport up to 2,400 passengers, also has massive play areas with 250 different activities for kids, appearances by Mickey, Minnie and other key characters and staffing of more than four dozen child-care counselors.

The 83,000-ton ocean liner also has segregated areas for adults who want to get away from kids and a Broadway-style theater that Rodney claimed is the finest on any ship in the world.

Additionally, the legendary Disney synergy - making several businesses work together at the same time - is paying off seriously. Currently, 70 percent of passengers are booking package trips that begin with a three- or four-day stay at the Walt Disney World resort near Orlando, which includes four theme parks.

``Bookings have been going crazy,'' Rodney said. ``We're adding 16 reservations people to the 130 we have because the volume is so high.''

Rodney reports high levels of reservations for the sister ship, the Disney Wonder, which will begin operations Aug. 15 with launches Sundays and Thursdays.

Response has been so solid that Disney executives admit they are actively considering plans to launch similar ships in Southern California and Europe.

``The California project is definitely on the drawing board,'' Rodney said. ``I'd expect it would be operating within a decade.''

A major force behind the idea, Rodney admits, would be to offer similar weeklong cruise packages as those in Florida. That would mean starting with visits to Disneyland and its adjacent California Adventure, due to open next to Disneyland in 2001.

Rodney noted that Anaheim is only 15 miles from Long Beach Harbor, where Disney actively considered opening an aquatic theme park in the early 1990s before deciding to go with the second Anaheim location. ``I think there would be a market for the California cruises,'' Driscoll said.

Also fueling the notion, Rodney noted, is that the Los Angeles market already has responded enthusiastically to the Disney Magic. ``We've been blown away by the level of support, particularly from people who have never been to Disney World,'' he said.

Analysts have warned that the cruise industry soon could have too many berths and too few passengers with an estimated 40 new state-of-the-art ships due for launch over the next four years.

``There's no question that the industry is going to have some overcapacity, but we are a different niche so we're not that worried,'' Rodney said. ``If you have a family, you have to be crazy not to go on a Disney cruise because the kids absolutely love it. They have the time of their lives.''

MORE DISNEY

The Walt Disney Co. has launched an aggressive expansion of its theme park business in recent years:

February 1997 - First Club Disney opens in Thousand Oaks.

November 1997 - Second Club Disney opens in West Covina.

April 1998 - Animal Kingdom opens near Orlando, Fla.

May 1998 - Tomorrowland revamp opens at Disneyland.

June 1998 - First DisneyQuest opens near Orlando.

July 1998 - First ESPNZone opens in Baltimore.

July 1998 - Disney Magic launches cruise operations.

Summer 1999 - Second DisneyQuest to open in Chicago.

Summer 1999 - Second and third ESPN Zones to open in Chicago and New York.

Aug. 15, 1999 - Disney Wonder inaugural cruise.

Summer 2000 - Third DisneyQuest to open in Philadelphia.

2001 - California Adventure theme park to open in Anaheim.

2001 - Tokyo DisneySea  due to open.

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PHOTO (1-3--Color) no caption (Disney Magic cruise ship and island)

BOX: MORE DISNEY (See text)