Disney Fantasy - Dining rotation and Animator's Palate appetizer question

[Deb in IA]

We randomly asked our server early in a cruise whether any restaurant on board had coconut shrimp on a menu, as it was our daughter's (age 10 at the time) favorite food. The answer was no (at least not in the MDRs)...and yet a big ol' plate of them showed up at our table for the next two nights. Somehow, the head waiter had gotten involved and made it happen. He got a nice tip at the end of the week!

Disney magic!

 

[Kimosabe]

This is cool! Even if borderline OCD
I have no creative skills at all, but I would like to draw something sort of recognizable - just to help my kids spot our group of drawings. I wonder if I can make it look like a fish or an animal or something? Hmmm.

I readily admit that I was/am perhaps well into OCD territory with this! When we sat down at our table and I immediately started whipping out Captain America without a second thought, my wife, brother-in-law and his wife all looked at me like "seriously, dude...you actually gave this thought in advance?" Ha! Our kids, however, were thoroughly impressed!

The blanks on the placemat give you certain available space for what you're drawing (in the general shape of a human, but with separate spaces for head, body, arms, legs), but yes, I would think you could turn it into an 'animal" of some variety if you were creative. Do a Google search for Animator's Palate placemat and you'll see the type of space that you have to utilize.

To me, the kicker for creating something that is going to stand out on the screen is to fill it in with color rather than simply doing an outline of a body. Markers will likely be fairly limited at each table, so if you really want your family to consider sending you to OCD "camp" when you get back to Port Canaveral, bring a few markers of your own to ensure that your masterpiece can be properly created and appreciated.

My therapist just called me into his office, so I've got to go now...

 

[mitsguy2001]

If this one point is stressing you out that much, then simply talk to your head server about it the first night and tell him exactly which deserts you wish to have on the night you are in AP for the animation show. With enough notice, they can do just about anything. When the chef came out and asked us how our meal was on Pirate night, I mentioned being disappointed they didn't have the white chocolate cheesecake anymore. We had it served to our table the next three nights. While it didn't ruin my cruise to not have it on the menu, I had looked forward to it and simply mentioned that I would like to see it return.

Other posters said that they do not take special requests on Animation night.

 

[mitsguy2001]

A question which nobody has answered: does the Halloween season, or Rosh Hashanah affect the rotations on the Fantasy? Remember, I was on the Dream 4 night the week of Sept. 7, 2014, and because of the Halloween season, night 2 was Halloween night (rather than formal night), and formal night was moved to Night 4. That meant we had formal night in Animator's Palate rather than Royal Palace, which annoyed my wife.

 

[mitsguy2001]

Saw a few tuxes on Formal Night. DH and DS have their own and usually wear them for Formal Night (DS sings in the University Choir here and had to purchase one for their concerts), but we did not pack them this time. We saw more on our longer cruises (transatlantic and 12-night Mediterranean). I wore a full-length gown.

You'll get a range on Semi-Formal night, from suits/ties to folks just wearing their regular stuff. I wore a cocktail dress.

We like to get pictures, so we tend to dress up.

What percentage would you say wear a tux? I hope I don't have to rent one just for a cruise.

 

[mitsguy2001]

Well, I liked the appetizer plate. It gave me a chance to try duck (a new item for me). And I like mozzarella/tomato combinations. I didn't really care for the lobster/shrimp item, though. But, it did give me a chance to find that out. DH liked it (but then he's a lobster aficionado).

Can I get it without mayonnaise?

 

[mitsguy2001]

As was mentioned above, the reason for the 1 appetizer, 1 soup is that the pace of dinner in Animator's Palate is so fast and tight on show night. They simply don't have time to take orders and prepare multiple options for the first two courses. We love both the Animation Magic and Crush, but find the dinner pretty hectic and the mac&cheese soup gloppy.

The first formal night is more formal - you'll have the chance to take formal family portraits, and you'll see more people dressed up.

Personally, I would not overthink the whole "match our outfit to the dining" thing - and I'm a woman. I would just relax and go with the flow of whatever rotation you are assigned to.

I agree with you, but this is very important for my wife.

There is no 'adult' rotation or 'kid' rotation. Generally, second seating has fewer young children, so that is really the only difference.

Disney does an awesome job of trying to match you up with compatible table partners. You will find that they are similar to you in age - one year, the other family we were matched with worked in the same industry and my husband, and on another cruise, our kids had similar learning disabilities, and the grandma and I were both cancer survivors. There is no way DCL could have known that - just Disney magic, I guess.

Which is why I would have personally preferred to just go with whichever rotation Disney gives us.

 

[Kimosabe]

What percentage would you say wear a tux? I hope I don't have to rent one just for a cruise.

Very few. I take one, just because I can still fit into the one I bought several years ago for my wedding (or that is my plan, anyway), plus we like to dress up for dinner and feel like we're on an old-school cruise like the Titanic (preferably, one of the days before it hit the iceberg and sank). However, I would not likely rent one if I didn't already have it. If you do not have one, you will not feel out of place at all.

 

[steph12]

Does anyone know what the dining rotations are during Halloween time? It looks like last year Halloween was on day 3 and pirates on day 5. Would this still be AERAERA? Or did it change during that time to AERAEER?

 

[DisneyDreamer2504]

A question which nobody has answered: does the Halloween season, or Rosh Hashanah affect the rotations on the Fantasy? Remember, I was on the Dream 4 night the week of Sept. 7, 2014, and because of the Halloween season, night 2 was Halloween night (rather than formal night), and formal night was moved to Night 4. That meant we had formal night in Animator's Palate rather than Royal Palace, which annoyed my wife.

This is the time when we usually cruise, and we've never seen anything for Halloween. They have specific cruises designated as celebrating the holiday, and at some point they put out a list which has which ships and dates. I don't know how it would affect rotations or anything though. As far as rosh hashanah, I don't think they do anything. Usually the navigator lists that if space is need for religious observance then they will provide one for you, but that's basically the only thing I've seen for any religion.

 

[princesspwrhr]

I honestly don't see how plating them all together and forcing everyone to have those is any faster than just limiting it to those three.

I really want to see the "show" in AP, even if I can't draw worth a crap, but honestly the trio of pre-plated appetizers and that disgusting sounding soup (I am all about potato soup normally, but with mac and cheese? GROSS!) make me want to just skip that meal. And I normally love AP.

Has anyone had any luck asking your servers the night before AP if they could give you a different app for the 2nd AP night? Maybe even a salad? It seems like such a shame to miss out on some of the apps on the special nights just because you are in AP.

You can definitely order apps and salad from the kids' menu that night... we did for my older kids (who are typically not kids' menu kids) and had no issues...

You can skip the appetizer and/or soup if you would like, or you can order the soup/salad from the kids menu. I ordered the kids chicken noodle soup as my soup and usually skipped an appetizer every night. The kids chicken noodle soup that night was really bland (like thinned down chicken stock with a few pieces of carrots and corn, and some noodles) but the noodles were fun that night. They were the shaped Mickey pasta. The next night at the Captains gala menu (I think that was it) the noodles were plain, but the soup was really good- like grandma would make.

I would pay more attention to the main courses- if you can't find anything you want on that menu, then consider skipping. The show is fun though.

 

[mitsguy2001]

This is the time when we usually cruise, and we've never seen anything for Halloween. They have specific cruises designated as celebrating the holiday, and at some point they put out a list which has which ships and dates. I don't know how it would affect rotations or anything though. As far as rosh hashanah, I don't think they do anything. Usually the navigator lists that if space is need for religious observance then they will provide one for you, but that's basically the only thing I've seen for any religion.

Last year, I was on the Dream 4 night cruise this same time of year, and they had a Halloween night on the 2nd night (in lieu of the formal night), and moved the formal night to Night 4. I assume that they do something similar with the Fantasy.

I'm not Jewish, but I do know that there is at least one cruise line which is sometimes partially chartered by a Jewish organization for certain Jewish holidays. They have one MDR reserved for the entire cruise for that group. I assume that Disney doesn't do anything like that for Rosh Hashanah, and that all 3 MDRs will be open to the general public?

 

[bumbershoot]

My therapist just called me into his office, so I've got to go now...

You wanted to keep with the franchise; in my family we would mix it up. We'd likely go with something Harry Potter'ish. Or draw the *cartoon* versions of Marvel characters, because those are the characters Universal has the right to with meet&greets. (our one MNSSHP, DS went as a "men in black" character and his cousin was Harry Potter...it was faboo)

 

[lbgraves]

Other posters said that they do not take special requests on Animation night.

Requesting something that night is less likely to be accommodated due to time constraints. I said that you would get better results if you speak with the head server the first night. That gives them six days to arrange it. We have never had a problem requesting something that is on one of the other rotation menus when we are in a different MDR.

One cruise our servers noticed that the kids requested more banana bread. There were baskets of banana bread at our table every single night of our 7-night cruise -- even though they normally only bake it 3 days. This was when Putu W was our assistant server. When Banjo was our server on the Wonder he found out Putu had taken care of our group on the Magic and said he was going to make sure we had a better experience with him. LOL! He asked the first night what he needed to do to make that happen. Everyone said -- banana bread! Plenty of it for all 7 nights. The 4-top that rounded out his section asked about it night 3 and they also had a basket each night the rest of the cruise.

Of course, we have been lucky to get outstanding servers and really lucky to request our favorites. The ones who have been with DCL since the beginning know how to make the special requests happen.

 

[Deb in IA]

What percentage would you say wear a tux? I hope I don't have to rent one just for a cruise.

Very few this time - maybe around 10 - 15%? Again, I noticed definitely fewer on the Caribbean cruises, and more on the European/transatlantic ones.

You shouldn't have to rent a tux. If you want to dress up, a nice suit and tie would be totally appropriate.

 

[amyshell]

Is all the food in the MDR's "fancy" like this?? or can you order a burger if you want??

My DH is more the burger type but would probably like some fancier food.. my kids are 10 and 11 and do like to try new things, but i'm thinking they'd like some other choices as well..

 

[princesspwrhr]

Is all the food in the MDR's "fancy" like this?? or can you order a burger if you want?? My DH is more the burger type but would probably like some fancier food.. my kids are 10 and 11 and do like to try new things, but i'm thinking they'd like some other choices as well..

All of the food in the MDR is "nice". I wouldn't call all of it fancy, you can get a steak/chicken breast/salmon with a vegetable and rice/potatoes from the menu every night, they are listed as lighter options. That to me is kind of "normal", but it's presented in a "fancier" way so it holds with the atmosphere of the dining room. Most of the rotation meals seem to try to be fancy, but are really dressed up nice food. LOL kind of like the patrons- dressed up nice food for dressed up nice people.

Burgers are always available upstairs near the pool deck.

Your 10/11 year olds can eat off the kids menu or the adult menu. My 10 year old pretty much had salad every night because she doesn't eat meat and thought the wheat pasta was gross. My turned 11 on the cruise pretty much had either the steak or chicken from the lighter menu every night. My 10 year old didn't care that her drink came in the plastic cup with a lid, my 11 year old wanted a regular glass (though last cruise they both wanted regular glasses). One thing to remember is that kids meals typically come out with the adult appetizers, so the kids may end up bored/figidity if they are not used to sitting through a 2 hour meal. Bring a book or something if needed. The second night of this cruise our server told my girls that they were allowed to draw on the table cloths with the crayons since it washed out easy. From night 2-7 the majority of our table was covered in drawings and everyone was happy.

 

[Kimosabe]

All of the food in the MDR is "nice". I wouldn't call all of it fancy, you can get a steak/chicken breast/salmon with a vegetable and rice/potatoes from the menu every night, they are listed as lighter options. That to me is kind of "normal", but it's presented in a "fancier" way so it holds with the atmosphere of the dining room. Most of the rotation meals seem to try to be fancy, but are really dressed up nice food. LOL kind of like the patrons- dressed up nice food for dressed up nice people.

Burgers are always available upstairs near the pool deck.

Your 10/11 year olds can eat off the kids menu or the adult menu. My 10 year old pretty much had salad every night because she doesn't eat meat and thought the wheat pasta was gross. My turned 11 on the cruise pretty much had either the steak or chicken from the lighter menu every night. My 10 year old didn't care that her drink came in the plastic cup with a lid, my 11 year old wanted a regular glass (though last cruise they both wanted regular glasses). One thing to remember is that kids meals typically come out with the adult appetizers, so the kids may end up bored/figidity if they are not used to sitting through a 2 hour meal. Bring a book or something if needed. The second night of this cruise our server told my girls that they were allowed to draw on the table cloths with the crayons since it washed out easy. From night 2-7 the majority of our table was covered in drawings and everyone was happy.

We actually got a little annoyed when they kept bringing the kids' food out so early, with the same result you had -- i.e., bored kids by the time we got our food. We let it slide, since we had a couple of much younger cousins with us, for whom early distraction of food was a good thing. We're going alone this time, and since both of our kids (10 and 12...turning 13 on ship) enjoy good food, they'll be happy to follow our own app-entrée-dessert approach with same timing...and if prior experience is any indication, our server will gladly do whatever we request along those lines. The service on this ships is crazy good (or so our experience has shown).

Our older daughter also tended to go from the "lighter side" menu each night, which usually meant having a steak, but she loved the appetizers and desserts. Our younger one tended to stick with the kids' menu, but will probably go back and forth this next time, depending on the options. We never left hungry, but even so, it's really nice to know that if something goes horribly wrong in the MDR, there are plenty of "quick service" options or room service later in the evening.

Somebody in the family might have gotten a burger at some point along the way at the quick service (Flo's) near the pool, but there are a ridiculous amount of other options, so we all love the variety.

 

[mitsguy2001]

Does anyone know what the dining rotations are during Halloween time? It looks like last year Halloween was on day 3 and pirates on day 5. Would this still be AERAERA? Or did it change during that time to AERAEER?

Which itinerary was that? I'm not sure why they wouldn't just have Halloween night on Night 3 and leave the rest of the schedule alone, since that night has no theme that would have to be moved or canceled. But since Night 3 is part of Rosh Hashanah, maybe they feel that wouldn't be appropriate?

 

[mitsguy2001]

My wife now wants to request the rotation that puts us in Royal Court for the first formal night. Assuming that nothing changes for Halloween and/or Rosh Hashanah, that would be ERAERAE. Not sure I like that, since it puts us in Animator's Palate for the 2nd formal night, and means that we'll get the dumbed down menu for the Captain's Gala, which means probably missing the best menu.