Dinner at Animator's Palate on the Disney Wonder

Rotational dining - each night trying a different restaurant and a different menu, all with the same service team – is one of our favorite parts of a Disney Cruise. There are three main dining restaurants, and even though you eat at each restaurant at least twice on a seven night sailing, and one three times, you won’t see the same menu offerings twice! (Well, unless you’re like us and take back to back sailings.)

Today we have for you the menu items that we tried from the two Animator’s Palate exclusive menus. Enjoy!

As with all main dining dinners each of the menus feature a delicious bread and dip combination to hold you over until your appetizers arrive. Six Grain Country Bread with Caramelized Onions Sun-died Tomato Dip and Garlic and Herb Focaccia with Roasted Garlic Dip are both quite satisfying. The bread and dips pair nicely together and these two dips are two of our favorites on the ship – we had to ask for more of both.

We sampled two appetizers from each menu. The Tomato, Spaghetti and Meatball Soup is just what it sounds like – creamy tomato soup with spaghetti noodles and small meatballs throughout the broth. Don’t pass this one up if you’re a tomato soup fan.

We also tried the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup which has a slight sweetness to it from the squash. It is creamy and has a feeling of fall. If you’re not a butternut squash fan, but are in the mood for soup, the same menu offers a Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup – it is like eating a baked potato. Creamy, potato-y, cheesy goodness with bits of bacon throughout. Yum!

Lastly we tried the Appetizer Sampler Platter. This dish and the tomato soup are the only two appetizer items on the menu on show night in Animator’s Palate. Since the show aspect of this meal – the second evening you eat in Animator’s – takes a bit longer to prepare for the meal is a bit more streamlined than other meals in this location. At the beginning of the meal you are given your menu which includes starters, entrees and desserts so that at the end of the meal you can enjoy the show.

Between the two menus we tried five entrees. The Chicken Schnitzel, breaded chicken that has been fried in butter. Yum! It is served with buttered green beans and potatoes that have been roasted with bacon.

The Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin is a real treat if you’re a fan of Asian flavors. Tender beef tenderloin that has been dusted with ginger and teriyaki and cooked to your preferred temperature. The beef is served with bok choy, zesty and creamy wasabi mashed potatoes and a slightly sweet tamarind barbecue reduction that went amazingly with both the meat and the potatoes.

We love pasta, so we had to try the Pennete Bolognese. The generous portion of pennete pasta is tossed and coated with meaty Bolognese sauce and topped with melty Parmigiano-Reggiano and is served with crusty toasted garlic bread made with might be our favorite beard, ciabatta.

We also tried the Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb. The lamb was juicy and tender and the outside was crusted in a delicious herb rub. The lamb was served with ratatouille, a flavorful mix of roasted onions, peppers and zucchini and roasted thyme potatoes. A rosemary red wine reduction paired perfectly with the lamb and the potatoes.

The Roasted Filet of Beef Wellington, tender filet of beef filled with mushroom stuffing and wrapped in puff pastry. The dish is served with carrots and broccoli that were tender, but still had a bite to them, as well as roasted fingerling potatoes.

Christian enjoyed the Kid’s Crusty Cheese Pizza each night in Animator’s Palate. Cheesy pizza served with a side of fries and his case with apple slice or a banana since he’s not a fan of broccoli.

Dessert is the best part of any meal and at Animator’s Palate we tried five different decadent sweets.

Chocolate Decadence is layers of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and glossy chocolate ganache served along with a creamy chocolate pot de crème type dish. If you like chocolate this should be your go to dessert choice on the show night menu.

The Celebration Cake, layers of sweet strawberries, vanilla cream and cheesecake, was a real treat.

Warm Sticky Date Pudding is a warm, moist cake that is full of delicious date flavor. It is served with vanilla ice cream – we love warm desserts paired with ice cream – and a creamy butterscotch sauce. This is one of our favorites.

We’re also huge carrot cake fans so we had to order the Deconstructed Carrot Cake. This dish has a slightly different approach carrot cake than the traditional version, but it is equally delicious. Circles of moist carrot cake are served with a sweet carrot puree, raspberry icing and cubes of cream cheese frosting.

If you’re a fan of cherries the Very Cherry Chocolate Sundae is also a great choice. Vanilla ice cream is topped with sweet, but tangy dark cherry compote, chocolate fudge sauce and whipped cream. Yum!

We’ve enjoyed every meal that we’ve had at Animator’s Palate, and are looking forward to trying Animator’s on a ship that is new to us in 2019! We highly recommend attending dinner at Animator’s Palate, as well as the other main dining restaurants every night of your cruise! (Unless of course you have plans for Palo and/or Remy!)

Do you have a favorite dish at Animator’s Palate?

There are more opportunities for magic and fun – Disney Cruise Line 2019 Summer are now available for booking. Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com for your FREE quote and to start planning. For more Disney and travel information feel free to follow me on Facebook.