DIsney knows how to amp up a meal!  They have taken dining aboard the Disney Cruises to a whole new level with their themed character dining experiences.  I loved our time at Tiana's Place.

Pulling influences direct from The Princess and The Frog, you feel like you are walking down the streets of New Orleans.  Tiana's place is filled with low-key southern charm, just the Riverside Port Orleans Resort.

Tiana shows up to welcome guests to her restaurant like a good guest should.  She sings with the band and comes around to spend time with the guests at her tables.

If you are on the ship long enough for a 2nd meal here, you get to experience Mardi Gras on your cruise.  It's a fun experience with a parade of our two characters and all the wait staff.

Now, lets get down to the food.  We came to this restaurant to eat right?  Honestly again, I tend to dive right into my food, so I don't always get great pictures of my food.  Some food was GREAT, and other foods were rather meh.  For a Cajun styled dining, I expected a lot more flavor and punch to my food.
​The crab dip was yummy yet a little light on seasoning.  The shrimp was pretty good.

The highlight has to be the beignets!  I love the light fluffy texture of these authentic pastries.  These buttermilk beignets coated with powdered suger and served with a chocolate espresso sauce are just to DIE for.  Only beignets I've had that were better were over at the Port Orleans Resort.

Disney has done an AMAZING job of updating their older ships!  On the Disney Magic they updated one of the dining options with some heavy Tangled decor and theatrics and boy did it pay off!

The first show celebrates Rapunzel's birthday and the ruffians are there to help us all have a good time!

When we first walked in the Ruffians were all there gruffly reminding everyone to wash their hands with the provided wipes and hurry up and get in!  Hookhand, Attila, and Vladimir were having fun with the guests as we walked in.

These guys truly made the evening so much fun!  During the dinner they were wandering around and being generally ruff and gruff.  Angie let out a girlie little shriek as Vladmir caught her off guard.  We watched him spook the same guest repeatedly because she was easily spooked but their whole table was laughing and having a good time.  We had a quick little conversation about Hookhand's music career when he came by.

I was so enraptured with the everything going on, I didn't get to record the performance.

Ruffians teach us all the not so secret password making us all official ruffians.  We all got to sing along with "I have a Dream" as the ruffians and Rapunzel put on one heck of a show. The musical performers stayed around and played versions of contemporary pop hits, which just added to the nice ambiance.

Rapunzel also makes her way around the tables greeting everyone.  She asked us if her friends were on their utmost best behavior, we ratted Vladimir out for scaring the guests.  She said she was going to have to have a talk with him.

 The room is just breathtaking!  You really do feel like you walked into the movie.  The floating lanterns overhead add just the right amount of lighting.  The sigil of the kingdom of Corona, the sun, can be seen all over the dining hall.

​Little touches of decor like the bowl for the bread and the table numbers just make the table feel that much more special.  The bowl even has silhouette cut outs that cast shadows of Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder around it.

The bread itself was pretty great with a soft pretzel and savory mustard to go with it.  The other rolls were pretty standard.

Everyone immediately thinks Disney Cruises are just for kids, only for family types.  And while yes, they are family-focused and give the whole family lots to do together, it doesn't mean the grownups lack their own fun.  There is a lot to learn and imbibe.
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From Tastings to Mixology, there are a variety of alcohol classes to enjoy aboard your Disney cruise.  Each class is around $25 with a good lesson on spirits while you enjoy your spirits!  You get a good number of drinks with your class for the frugal drinker, but the experience and fun is what I look for.

Each class has different offerings and is hosted by one of the bartenders at one of the ships' bars.  Let me break down some of the differences.

Mixology - or the art of mixing a drink.
​This by far one of my favorite classes.  The bartender with his wait staff shows you how to prepare 5 to 6 different drinks.  The drinks will vary wildly based on the tastes and preferences of the bartender.  Usually each drink will be different enough that you will learn some cocktail mixing basics.

You learn to muddle ingredients for a mojito, properly use a shaker, and sometimes layer your cocktails.  Most of the work is done ahead of the time by the barstaff.  Your level of involvement largely depends on the bartender.  In the past, small groups were brought up and shown how to mix the drink.  On more recent cruises, we have done smaller portions at our individual tables.

Overall, a fun experience to have with friends.  And if you don't like one of the drinks, you can always have a friend drink yours.  My favorite drink so far is pictured above.  The Coco Cadillac was a mix of Pineapple juice, midori, coconut rum, and whipped cream---delicious!

  Every cruise has it's assortment of alcohol tastings.  Beer, wine, rum, tequila, the list goes on and on.  Make sure to see what will be available on your sailing.  You'll get a history of the drink as well as a discussion about the differences and complexities of each.

We tried a martini tasting, with 4 martinis from the classic martini all the way to a desert martini.

Our rum tasting was 4 different high end rums with a nice lesson on the origins of each.  You really have to like rum though, as it was only rum, no mixes here.

​Every class is different, but the bartenders who host these are very knowledgeable.

We book our Disney cruises so the whole family can have fun.  Sometimes that fun isn't together.  The kids loved going to the kids club and sometimes, Mommy and Daddy just want to relax and enjoy a good drink and each other's company.

So relax, pull up a chair, and let them show you how to mix a really tasty drink.  No matter what class you pick, there's fun to be had.

Just remember, when it's time to plan for Disney.  It's Mouse O'Clock!

Dining on Disney Cruise Lines is always a unique dining experience, but nothing compares to your experience at Animator's Palate!
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Animator's Palate is one of your 3 rotating Dining locations on any of the Disney ships. You rotate between 3 restaurants on the ship while your wait staff comes along with you. And while the menu's may vary from ship to ship Animator's Palate is always my favorite one.

On the Wonder and Magic ships Animator's Palate is themed in black and white with accents of classic Disney animation.
As the night progress and the show begins.  The color starts to ramp up and everything is bright and colorful.

One night will be Drawn to Magic.  The pictures one the wall will change and show you how your favorite characters are drawn.  They characters then begin to move and come to life.

Sorry, couldn't stop myself from adding the dialogue.  :)

On the Dream and Fantasy Animator's Palate takes on more Pixar theming.  The dining hall has more colors from the start, giving it a whimsical Disney classic feel.  Here you will get an aquatic show of Nemo and his friends swimming around.

Crush, the surfer sea turtle, comes around and has conversations with the nearby diners.  Similar to Turtle Talk in Epcot, Crush will ask you questions and have a little talk with you at your table.  The kids loved having him swim by and ask them where they were from.

​Your second night will be the Animation Magic similar to what I described on the other ships.

Some of my favorite dishes are served here.  The black truffle pursiettes  are amazing!  The food is a "Pacific Rim" style with many American dining options.  The food styles come from all over with some Asian inspired dishes as well as pasta and steak.  The deserts were pretty  cake's and cheesecakes to satisfy your sweet tooth.

​Dining on Disney is always delicious, but nothing compares to the magic you get during your experience here.

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