Animator's Palate on the Disney Dream

Welcome back for part 2 of my mini food blog series! Today we are going to Animator's Palate on the Disney Dream. We ate here two nights in a row, the second being Pirate Night, which you'll read about tomorrow.

Walking into Animator's Palate was like walking into a Disney Cruise Line commercial. You always hear about this restaurant and how it comes to life, and to actual experience it was just... WOW! Check out those adorable Mickey seats at our table. I had that inside seat facing the walls. In this restaurant facing a wall isn't a bad thing because the artwork is constantly changing.

Upon sitting down we were quickly offered the drinks we had the night before, and Katura's water cup was waiting for her as well! Seriously, Linval and Alejandro were so good with Katura and Ariana. The girls never had a chance to really get fidgety or feel hungry. Their drinks and food were always out first and on this particular night Katura was treated to some magic tricks performed by Alejandro!

As per usual, up first was Bread Service. I really loved the bread on this night. Heck, I always like bread, but this was my favorite! The bread was Garlic and Herb Foccacia with a roasted garlic dip. Delicious! Bread was always delivered once we arrived and took our seats. I could have eaten so much more of this! Next it was time to order. Check out the menu, it is essentially animated!

Appetizers. I took Linval's suggestion and had Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes - pasta purses filled with truffle-scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce. This. Was. So. Good. !! I had no idea what to expect, but dang, I'd get that again!

Looking at the photo, I think Shawn had the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup garnished with chives and drizzled with sour cream. From here we will go straight to entrees, since Shawn is also visible with his appetizer!

Entrees. 

Shawn chose the recommended dish of Pennete Bolognese - pennete pasta mixed with a rich bolognese sauce garnished with shaved parmigiano-reggiano and toasted garlic ciabatta. Doesn't that bread look absolutely tasty?? Multiple people at our table ordered this and loved it!

Katura was wild... and had Macaroni and Cheese with vegetables and steak fries. Seem familiar??

And lastly my entree from the vegetarian section. I chose the Black Bean Chipotle Cakes over corn kernels and brown rice topped with tomato-cilantro salsa. This was very good, but also very spice for me. Seeing as I don't normally eat spicy food anything with any flavor feels like a lot. I ate slowly because of that, but still really enjoyed it. I probably left half of it behind. It looks small, but sure was filling!

Let's take a moment to see what was going on while we were eating, shall we? Like I said, this restaurant comes to life. On the Dream the restaurant theme during a normal night is Finding Nemo. Crush swims from screen to screen and actually interacts with us. He talked to Shawn and Katura on the monitor right behind my head!

All of the Finding Nemo characters made an appearance throughout dinner, and it really was so much fun to watch and guess who would appear next. When Crush would come out to talk all of the lighting in the restaurant dimmed to a cool blue color. Loved it!

Dessert.

For dessert Katura mixed it up a bit, and went for just chocolate ice cream. Oh boy was she excited when she saw that dish come out! We did have to ask for a small spoon, however! She didn't hesitate getting that big one in her mouth while she waited!

I was very excited to try the Lemon Icebox Pie served with lemon curd and berry creme. Oh my goodness this was heaven!! Katura had the little green candy piece for me, but that pie was all mine!! Get In My Belly!!

And lastly Shawn went for the Cookies 'n Cream Sundae - cookies and cream ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate chip cookies. If you saw my poll on Facebook a while ago about if I should stop my no-chocolate streak and actually give in and eat it ... this is why! I knew there would be so many yummy desserts waiting for me on the ship. *I still haven't had any chocolate, fyi.

I was happy that in our dining rotation we actually got to eat here two nights in a row, the second being Pirate Night. It was a completely different experience, and I'm glad this was the restaurant I had for that. Stay tuned tomorrow!