Random Tater Pic of the Day #248

This photo was taken on our recent 2016 voyage on the Disney Fantasy.  This was the Character Breakfast at Animator's Palette, featuring some great ham and bacon, but sadly those terrible hash browns.  

French Fry Diary 684: Steak Fries on the Disney Magic

I have mentioned our waitstaff from our two Disney Cruises this season before. Brendon and Andrene are the best.

At our first dinner at Animator's Palate I ordered French fries of course, and got the terrific steak fries one usually gets on board toward the beginning of the cruise. I mentioned how much I enjoyed them, but my brother-in-law went the extra mile, saying that if I got fries with every meal I'd always be happy.

This triggered what I like to call the Creme Brûlée effect. On a previous cruise, friends Dom and Cindy had raved about the Creme Brûlée dessert and their waitstaff made sure they always had it, even when they came back on a later cruise.

Because of the bro, we had steak fries every night of the cruise and when we returned two weeks later for the TCM Classic Cruise. Yeah, they are that good, and I was in French fry heaven, whether I liked it or not. Who am I kidding? I loved it.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #224

As a ten-time cruiser on the Disney Cruise Line, I know when and where to get the 'good fries' on board. To this end I have learned where and when to order fries with dinner. Animator's Palate, first night, you are sure to get hot awesome steak fries like these.

Notably on the Disney Magic in mid-October 2015, this was the best Animator's Palate show and meal I'd had in some time. Thumbs up, and props to our servers Brendon from South Africa and Andrene from Jamaica. Great fries, great everything!

French Fry Diary 627: Animator's Palate - TCM Cruise Day One

We were on the Disney Magic, but it was a chartered cruise, the TCM Classic Cruise, so many of the Disney aspects have been toned down. Such was the case with our first dinner of the cruise at Animator's Palate. We still got a bit of a show, animations on the walls, but nothing so spectacular as the Crush interactive show, or the animation show on the bigger boats, or the regular AP show on the Magic either. I'm not complaining, just saying.

While the Disney Magic has been renovated and overhauled, there are a few things that have stayed the same. One of those is the menu. Several times (click here and here) I have ordered the same dish and each time it has not turned out to be what I wanted or liked. Sometimes I have liked it, and some times… well… However, enough time passes between cruises that I forget that I don't like that. Such is the case with the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup with Bacon Bits and Chives.

It's a trap, to quote Admiral Ackbar. It always looks good, and I always order it. And I usually am not so thrilled with it. This time, it was not good. It's a good thing I ordered a side of fries with dinner. Along with those great baked steak fries the Disney Cruise is famous for, I got the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin, with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind-Barbecue Reduction. The entrée was just terrific, with the potatoes having just enough heat.

Dinner was very good, except for the soup. We made new friends with our table mates and had a pleasant time. I just have to remember no soup when we return to the Disney Cruise next year.

Dining on the Disney Fantasy

We've been talking about the meals (and the potato-ey offerings) on board the Disney Fantasy ship of the Disney Cruise Line for a few weeks now. If you haven't had enough already, here's an extra special treat.

If you liked reading about the dining on the Disney Fantasy, you might also like listening to The Bride and myself talking about it. For those of you who aren't aware, we're doing a Disney-focused podcast called The Make Mine Magic Podcast, which you can hear here.

Not just about French fries, but all of the food offerings and dining options on board are up for discussion. Check out the podcast here.

Animation and Potatoes

I was not feeling well at all this night, but wanted to come to dinner at Animator's Palate to see the show. You draw a little guy and then it is animated into the show on the screens throughout the restaurant. Here's what it looks like:



As I was not doing well that night, I ate light, a baked potato. Our servers insisted on bringing two baked potatoes. Never argue with people who handle your food. I enjoyed what I could of one of them. I wish I could have enjoyed more.

French Fry Diary 530: Animator's Palate, Disney Fantasy 2013

We've talked about what happens in this Disney Cruise restaurant before, from the changing colors to the interactive characters. They lowlighted it a bit for our first meal there on this week long cruise. There was no big color changing dealie, but Crush the Turtle still made fun of me for being bald (the bastard). I have heard rumors that our return visit will feature some sort of new show. We'll just have to wait and see.

For tonight's meal, I had three different kinds of potato treats. As an appetizer, I got the bacon cheddar potato soup, which was thick and hot. It was good, but I didn't really taste all that much cheddar in it, and the bacon was just some crumble on top. Hot soup is always good however, and for me, not a soup person, that's really saying a lot.

It should be noted that these are all things I tried on my last cruise. With my ginger teriyaki dusted Angus sirloin, I got wasabi mashed potatoes and a side order of fries. The wasabi mashed potatoes were very hot, burn my mouth hot, make my eyes water hot. This was not the wasabi I love from Oh Yoko!.

The fries, while good, were not the ones I was expecting or wanted. The last few times at Animator's Palate I got the most delicious and hot steak fries with my meal. What I got tonight was the same old natural cut fries available from the snack counters upstairs and throughout the parks. The same old same old. Where were my steak fries from last time?

Food wise, this cruise was not turning out to be as wonderful as previous ones. I really hope that this is not a trend. Either way, we are still having a fabulous time. 

French Fry Diary 267: Animator's Palate, Disney Dream

Day three dinner on board the Disney Dream brought us to Animator's Palate. There are Animator's Palate restaurants on the other Disney Cruise Line ships but this one us supposed to be a little different. It us smaller and a bit more intimate. In the others, a black and white atmosphere surrounded by animated images turns fully color and animated as the evening goes on.

It is a similar experience on this version although as I said, it's more intimate. The setting is more like that of a real animator's studio and desk and shelves. The decor is reminiscent of when Disney used to have tours of their animation studios.

The floorshow is much the same but the animation is much more amazing. You get three dimensional entertainment featuring Crush the turtle and other Finding Nemo characters. Crush is interactive like Turtle Talk at Epcot.

I got brave again and this time ordered as an appetizer the bacon and cheddar baked potato soup. It's the same dish you could order at Le Cellier in Canada at the World Showcase in Epcot, according to my friend Dom. As you would guess being a catastrophically picky eater, soup is not in my wheelhouse. This was pretty good, sort of a very thin mashed potatoes with the bacon adding an extra tasty kick. Nice.

Dom and Cyndi's daughter ordered fries from the kids menu and she got fairly tasty looking natural cuts. But since they were hers I had to get my own. And she got the Mickey Mouse full of ketchup again.

For my potato selection, to go along with my angus beef tenderloins, was wasabi mashed potatoes. These were very good mashed potatoes. The wasabi had a bit of a slow burn to it but it was a good burn, quite good.

French Fry Diary 261: Enchanted Garden, Disney Dream

Day one of our vacation on the Disney Dream brought us to the Enchanted Garden for dinner. The Enchanted Garden is one of the new restaurants on the Disney Cruise, on both the Dream, and the new Fantasy. Its theme is that of a garden that changes from sundown to nighttime - the decor changes color and mood, and like the old Animator's Palate, it's a slow subtle visual treat. Most visually exciting is the sun going down at the rear of the room.

We also got to meet our waitstaff - Fitz (who we had had before and gave us wonderful service and care), Goncalo from Portugal, and Charlie from Liverpool. Excellent service is always one of the amazing features on any Disney Cruise, and they were no exception. The best part is that they will be there for us for every dining experience on board.

Charlie absolutely rocks just because he was trying so hard to be American and say 'fries' instead of 'chips,' but that was cool with me. And we also bonded as he's a big comic book fan too.

The potato selections at dinner were very good. The Bride had a twice-baked potato, which looked very good and she said it was okay. I had both the wonderful hot baked potato that came with my excellent steak, and the French fries (chips to Charlie) I special ordered.

Great baked potato, and steak fries - hotter than at Cabanas earlier in the day, and baked. Aces for the fries, as was the bananas foster for dessert. The bananas foster was another stepping stone first for this catastrophically picky eater, loved it.

French Fry Diary 172: Triton's, Disney Wonder

Day four brought us to both brunch and dinner at Triton's. For our late brunch I had the French toast, bacon and roasted red potatoes. At Triton's there were a bit better and hotter than they had been up at Beach Blanket Buffet, and in a much larger portion. Also the bacon was reasonably cooked, not crunchy like glass as it has been most mornings up there. I guess it is a matter of where you go.

For our last dinner on board the Disney Wonder I had the best meal of our cruise. French bread as an appetizer, aged Angus beef tenderloins, bacon (yes, bacon!) wrapped green beans and side order of French fries - because it's a French restaurant after all.

These larger than usual regular cuts were the exact same delicious and nearly perfect fries from our first aboard ship at Animator's Palate. Dessert was an old-fashioned ice cream sundae. This definitely made up for last night. Not just the best meal on the cruise, but the best meal - not to mention service, Stafford and Myriam were first class - I've had in a long time.

French Fry Diary 168: Parrot Cay, Disney Wonder 2010

Our first foray into Parrot Cay on this Disney Cruise trip was on Day Two for breakfast. Now of course, like many of the restaurants on the DCL, I'd been here before, but every dining experience is different with Disney, and especially with the cruise. The breakfast potatoes this time around were red bliss potatoes halved and quartered and simmered in a succulent sauce, tender, hot and just right.

Day two's dinner returned us to Parrot Cay. And just for kicks, I did not order any fries. I bet I caught you off guard with that one. There were fried and potatoey stuff on the agenda however. My appetizer, a delicious island jerk chicken came with tasty dried and deep fried shredded carrots, and my entrée came with a yummy twice baked potato. Good stuff, and a nice change of pace.

Day three's lunch got me back to Parrot Cay, and that burger and fries you'll read about in a future entry. The burger I had been hankering for since the previous morning was my Parrot Cay lunch. While ninety-nine percent of the ship was ashore at Disney's private island Castaway Cay, it's my favorite time on the boat. No crowds, just rest and relaxation, peace and quiet. Maybe I'm just a freak, but that's how I vacation. So I had much of the restaurant to myself as well that lunch time.

The burger was a half-pound slab of succulent Angus meat on a toasted roll. Wow. This was the best burger I had eaten in quite some time. The fries were slightly larger than regular cuts, similar to those that first night at Animator's Palate, but not quite. Still very very good.

If I had to say anything negative at all, it had to be that the fries were a bit dry, but that's my fault, because I'm not a ketchup guy. I did surreptitiously slip a few under the bun and on top of the burger (like I might sometimes do at McDonalds), and that was terrific. What a treat, and a wonderful lunch.

Dinner for day three was also at Parrot Cay, which was also Pirate Night, a great event on board the Disney Cruise. Folks, passengers and cast members alike dress up like pirates, sing, dance, eat, drink and shoot off fireworks - not necessarily in that order. Fun all around, but I wish that carried over to the dinner.

Scrapbookers might be upset at one corner Disney has cut in that the Pirate Night menu is no longer a rolled up take home treasure map dealie. That was a bit of a disappointment but I had ordered a side of fries with dinner so I thought things were all good. Don't count on it.

The French fries were regular cuts, and nothing at all what I got just a few hours earlier for lunch. These fries were just bad in comparison with the usual excellent quality on board the cruise line, but just bad, period. We're taking Old Country Buffet under a heat lamp for a week bad. On a good note, the beef ribs that I got as my entrée (and were only just okay) came with a barbeque sauce that was excellent for dipping and made the fries just a bit better.

All in all, despite one off night for dinner, Parrot Cay does remain my favorite of the Disney Cruise Line restaurants, and I do look forward to coming back.

French Fry Diary 166: Animator's Palate, Disney Wonder 2010

Just when I thought that after a dozen or so visits to this fun but gimmicky Disney Cruise Line restaurant, I have been surprised. Animator's Palate has black and white images and animations all over the walls that slowly as the meal progresses begin to gain color until the entire restaurant is alive with vibrant full color and music. It's a great trick the first time, and fun a few times after that but after a while it becomes old hat. This time however, was as good as the first time, and the best meal of our Disney trip so far.

Much of this goes to our serving team Stafford and Myriam who were fabulous taking care of us. And with the Disney Cruise, your serving team stays with you throughout your cruise, following you from restaurant to restaurant, so I foresee a wonderful carefree few days ahead of me. I require very little usually on these cruises. Don't give me a look when I ask for French fries, and keep my Coke filled. I got aces from these two, and their end of trip tip will show that.

The side order of fries that came with my beef tenderloins were without peer, and easily the best I've had on this entire trip so far. These were thick steak fries both in width and girth and shape, very similar to the British chips I would have gotten at Cookes of Dublin or Yorkshire County Fish and Chips, had I gotten there this trip. These fries were seriously damn good, baked and not deep-fried, golden brown, crisp outside and soft and hot on the inside. Near perfection, baby.

French Fry Diary 68: Room Service, Disney Magic

This is an amazing thing, and it just doesn’t happen on cruise ships, but mostly at finer hotels. It’s called ‘room service,’ and it’s truly a magical thing. You pick up the phone and then after a few moments, people come right to your door, right to your table by your bed… and they bring you French fries. Yeah, seriously. I told you it was magic.

In the case of the Disney Magic cruise ship, we got a case of the munchies one night on our cruise and made the magic call. In a matter of minutes I was greeted by steak fries, similar to the ones I had at Animator’s Palate. Hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The only thing that could have made them better would have been more fries.

And you know, there could have been, they were only a phone call away. Like I told ya, magic.

I’m gonna see if the same thing happens with chocolate, and then bacon, and if it does... I ain’t leaving...

French Fry Diary 67: Animator’s Palate, Disney Magic

The Animator’s Palate on both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder is a thing of both magic and wonder. It’s a restaurant that gives you the sensation of experiencing a Disney animated feature from start to finish, from sketches to full animation – literally from black and white to color.

In fact when you enter Animator’s Palate the entire restaurant is in black and white and set up with props like giant paint brushes holding up a ceiling of artist’s palattes and walls filled with black and white preliminary sketches of various Disney characters and movie scenes. Even the wait staff are wearing black and white.

As you order your meal and enjoy the company of your companions and eventually eat, some of the wall fixtures come to both color and animated life. Finally in a blaze of color the entire restaurant is transformed, including the wait staff, vibrant colors soak every corner of the room as an animated video and music show transpires around you. When it ends, you can enjoy your dessert in the vibrancy of the new atmosphere. It’s a truly wonderful experience.

The themed menu at Animator’s Palate has some great stuff on it, including some penne pasta, veal and salmon, but as anyone who has traveled on the Disney Cruise Line knows – ask and you shall receive. I asked for fries and I got fries. These were steak fries, general variety, probably frozen from a bag, but they were so tasty. Obviously the chefs here on the Magic know their stuff even when it comes to the easy stuff.

And of course, the best thing about eating on the Disney Cruise is that your wait staff follows you from restaurant to restaurant. They get to know what you like, what you don’t like, and how to specialize a meal to you. This is only the first night of the cruise. I suspect by tomorrow, I’ll be happily getting fries with every meal. Vacation is good.

Steak fries, mmmm. Ask and ye shall receive.