79: Dine at Animator’s Palate

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Beauty and the Beast
The Jungle Book
Sleeping Beauty
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Peter Pan
Lady and the Tramp

What does your mind conjure when you think of these beloved Disney film classics?  Memorable characters, heartfelt songs, joyful moments, and… a little magical something called Disney animation.

Disney Cruise Line ships offer the truly unique experience of Rotational Dining: Guests rotate between three different restaurants for dinner, while their servers “rotate” with them, ensuring that they get to know their guests’ preferences and provide the best possible service. Guests sailing on the Disney Fantasy are in for a memorable dining experience at Animator’s Palate: the Animation Magic show. From the Disney Cruise Line website:

“Animation Magic: An experience that’s exclusive to the Disney Fantasy, Sorcerer Mickey leads the fun as black and white explodes into color and “Be Our Guest” reaches new heights. Don’t be surprised if your own hand-drawn characters join the colorful production!”

Two things greet you at your table upon arrival. One: your menu, informing you of the magic to come (click to enlarge):

Two: a sheet of paper on which you are asked to draw a character of your very own. Here is mine, filled in (you will see there is no need to be jealous of my artistic skills ):

Next, you will order your meal. PLEASE don’t miss out on the Corn Three Ways: Buttered popcorn soup, caramelized popcorn, and spiced cornbread. I know it sounds weird . But don’t knock it until you’ve tried it—you’ll be surprised how well this works!

And then… your surroundings will transform from black and white…

… to COLOR!!!

All of this accompanied by beautiful arrangements of Disney film scores! There was plenty here to already make this a dining highlight of our cruise. But then, somewhere around dessert, something even more amazing happens… that character you drew when you sat down at the table? He or she shows up on screen… and starts to dance !

Not only that! He or she will then start to dance… with DISNEY CHARACTERS!

Oh, my goodness—I got so excited when Albert (that’s my character’s name, by the way ) danced with JIMINY CRICKET HIMSELF that I didn’t even get a picture. I was too shocked… I may have even screamed—I won’t deny it! I did get the briefest shot of Albert dancing on the “Be Our Guest” cakes from Beauty and the Beast (bottom right in blue–you can see him if you squint )

If you think it can’t possibly get better, think again, my friends… because at the end, every guest’s name flashed on screen receiving film credit as “Animators!”

AND our drawings came back to us with new gold titles freshly stamped on the bottom: “Official Disney Animator”.

For fans who love Disney animation, it truly CAN’T get better than this .

To learn more about what it’s like to sail on the Disney Fantasy, click here .

If you would like to hear more about what it’s like to sail on the Disney Fantasy, give a listen to Episode #497 on the Be Our Guest Podcast (also found on iTunes)!