One thing that gets plenty of attention from travelers who cruise is the unlimited access to food aboard the ships. From chocolate extravaganzas to 24/7 room service to bountiful buffets, there's always something for everyone. Essentially, cruise ships are where diets go to die.
The Disney Fantasy is no exception. Sure, you can chow down on the standard buffet fare, but Disney gives its passengers a real treat with its "rotational dining." Instead of being assigned to one main restaurant for dinner (as is the case with most cruise lines), passengers on the Fantasy get rotated among a variety of restaurants (your wait staff travels with you).
A favorite on the Fantasy is Animator's Palate, located on Deck 3. The food (Pacific Rim/American) is very good, but Animator's Palate makes its mark on you with its design and dinner shows. The restaurant is an homage to Disney's legacy of animation, so the decor is full of familiar Disney and Pixar characters. The restaurant's walls are video-enabled, so there's always something to gawk at -- which is especially good if you're traveling with children who might otherwise get bored during a long dinner service.
But the best part of Animator's Palate is the chance for diners to actually contribute to the show. It works like this: After you are seated, you are given a pencil and special paper that you can use to create a character. You don't need to be a Michelangelo -- you just need to have fun (stick figures are quite commonplace). The papers are whisked away so the Disney geniuses can work a bit of magic. Toward the end of dinner, passenger-created characters are transformed from drawings on paper to actual animated figures who take part in a whimsical parade that's shown on the restaurant's walls.
It's a crowd pleaser that never fails to generate plenty of ooohs and ahhhs -- especially from the adults.
