REVIEW: You’ve Never Been to an Animator’s Palate on a Disney Cruise Ship Like This

Disney Cruise Line has a shiny new ship in the lineup, and you already know what that means: new spaces to explore, new snacks to hunt down, and at least one dining situation that’s about to become someone’s entire vacation personality.

Welcome aboard the Disney Adventure, where the venues are bigger, the vibes are extra, and the food options are giving “we did not come here to eat granola bars in our stateroom.” Between quick bites, sit-down dinners, and themed restaurants that look like they belong in a Pixar storyboard, this ship is making a strong case for packing stretchy pants in your carry-on.

Today, we’re zeroing in on one of the most talked-about dining spots onboard: Animator’s Table, aka the place where dinner is not just dinner. It’s dinner… plus Disney doing Disney things. This restaurant reminded us of the Animator’s Palate aboard many Disney Cruise Line ships (and is also available on the Disney Adventure, as well), where the restaurant is themed to Disney animation.

However, since this restaurant is more themed to the golden age of Hollywood, you’ll find that the color scheme is mostly black and white with splashes of color here and there. On other DCL ships, the Animator’s Palate restaurant is usually very colorful, with red being one of the most prominent colors.

However, we loved looking at the walls to see animation happening in real time! It was a great splash of Disney magic while still making us feel like we were in an upscale restaurant.

You could even draw your own animation, and see it pop up on the screen, which was a big part of the show — Mickey brought your drawings to life right in front of your eyes!

We loved seeing not only the figures themselves appear on the screens…

…but we also got to see the names of the people who had drawn them, which we thought was very fun.

Getting into the food itself, the menu did have a heavy emphasis on seafood, but other options were available as well for both small plates and entrées.

We started off with the Chicken Satay, which we enjoyed! The chicken was well cooked but still juicy, and it had a decent char on the outside. The peanut sauce was a bit runny and slightly sweet, which we weren’t a big fan of, but the rice was cooked perfectly. The cucumber situation here, though, was pretty spicy, so that’s important to keep in mind.

We also grabbed the Dragon Roll, which was a solid sushi roll! This had actually interesting fish and was well prepared! However, it was definitely straight out of the fridge, so it had that “too cold” grocery store sushi quality.

The Pan Seared Scallops were also fantastic, and might have been our favorite entrée from a rotational dinner! The scallops were nice and meaty without being too chewy, and the risotto was shockingly good. It was perfectly cooked and not too sticky, and the truffle flavor overall wasn’t too overwhelming or overpowering, but apparent. We also loved the lemon arugula oil as a subtle addition that we used to soak up the scallops, and the amount of mushrooms in here was perfection.

We also grabbed an unfamiliar dish to us, which was the Laksa Lemak, and really enjoyed it! This was a beautiful broth that was nice and spicy and wasn’t fishy at all, despite there being seafood in the soup. The shrimp were meaty and perfectly cooked, and the Tau Pok soaked up the flavor wonderfully.

For dessert, we tried the Salted Caramel Cheesecake, which may have been our favorite dessert of the cruise! The cheesecake was nice and soft, and the dulce de leche on the outside held together well and made for a really nice, flavorful, textural element. The base was our favorite part, though, because it was so light and crispy. It was a bit hard to get our spoon through, but honestly, the payoff was worth it to us!

We also snagged the Almond Pear Tart, and we loved this filling! It was beautifully cooked pears over an almond filling that was along the lines of a thicker frangipane. There was a great nuttiness without any grainy texture. The matcha ice cream tasted more like leaf green tea than powdered matcha and paired nicely, but the pastry shell itself was way too hard and dry, and we didn’t eat much of that at all.

Also on board this ship is the Animator’s Palate, which is very similar in both theme and menu to Animator’s Table. If you’re scheduled for either of these dining locations during your cruise, you can know that you’ll be getting about the same experience at both!

Remember, there are lots of places to get a bite to eat on a Disney Cruise. Just because this might be part of your rotational dining options doesn’t mean you have to eat here. You can get room service, or just fill up on Mickey Ice Cream Bars — the choice is yours on a Disney Cruise!

Animator’s Palate and Animator’s Table are one of those Disney Cruise restaurants that scream, “You’re on a Disney ship,” in the best way. It’s themed. It’s immersive. It’s the kind of place where you’ll look around mid-bite and think, “Why does this feel like a ride queue… but with dinner?”

Bottom line: if you want a meal that feels distinctly Disney (and not just “nice cruise dining in a generic room”), this is a solid pick. Just go in knowing what you’re signing up for: a full experience, not a quick bite. The ship will keep you busy. Your schedule will be chaotic. Your dinner should at least be entertaining.

We’ve had so much fun trying all these new treats on the Disney Adventure. Stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney Adventure content!

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