My initial intent with this article was to give you a comprehensive guide to the dining on the Disney Fantasy complete with descriptions of each lush dish. However it appears I was a victim of vacation brain on our latest trip. Although I took loads of pictures of the delicious food (along with substantial assistance from Steve and Shelley), it never occurred to me to take pictures of all of the menus until it was too late! I did ask our head waiter if there was any way to obtain copies of all of the menus and was told that they would work on it for me. Alas, we got off the ship without the menus. So, until our next trip, I hope I can appease you with some fantastic photos and descriptions of the food options onboard.
Let's start with dessert - my first onboard
We always start our food journey onboard with a visit to Cabanas. Cabanas offer inside/outside casual dining for breakfast lunch and dinner each day. It’s designed beautifully and includes a 30 foot long mosaic depicting an underwater scene from Finding Nemo. My favorite thing about the design of Cabanas though is the non-traditional buffet set-up. Instead of one or two long lines down the side of a buffet table the restaurant is set up with food pods or individual stations featuring different types of cuisine such as seafood, Italian, American or Asian, a carving station and of course, desserts. This unique design allows the diner to go just where they want and choose the type of food they desire without having to wait behind a long line of other diners. At dinner Cabanas transforms to a casual table-service restaurant where dinner entrees are cooked to order. If you prefer to stay completely casual during your trip onboard, this may be the dining venue for you. If you’d like a REALLY casual dining experience (eating in in bathing suit on deck) you can visit Flo’s V-8 Cafe for a selection of pizza, burgers, hot dogs, wraps, fries, chips, fruit, cookies, and Shel’s personal favorite, chicken strips. A couple additional options for a light snack are the Cove Cafe and the Vista Cafe.
On to the other end of the scale we have Palo and Remy. I did not have the pleasure of experiencing Remy onboard this time, but I am still harboring hope that I will make it there one day. I’ll just tell you though that Palo still does not disappoint. I think you’ll get a sense of how much we like it when I tell you that we experienced brunch, high tea and dinner during our week at sea. Although all three meals are spectacular, I think I may be deciding that brunch is my favorite. The reason for this (chocolate soufflé at dinner withstanding – yum!) is that it’s so hard for me to pass up dinner in any of the main restaurants during rotational dining.
A beautiful dish of antipasti
I still believe rotational dining was a brilliant idea, so kudos to whoever came up with the original idea. On the Fantasy the three restaurants participating in the dining lineup are Animator’s Palate, Enchanted Garden and Royal Court. Although I still love the Magic and the Wonder, I think Disney really raised the bar on the decor of the three main restaurants onboard the Fantasy and the Dream. Each restaurant is unique and offers a completely different experience. But this article is about the food, and let me tell you it is equally fantastic in all of these restaurants. The food is incredibly delicious and presented to you each night as if it was a work of art; which it is. I remember way back in 2000 when we took our first cruise on the Magic that the food on Disney wasn’t as good as other cruise lines. I don’t know what they were talking about then and I sure don’t now, as the food just keeps getting better and better! There is a huge array of options each night and if you are even a little bit of a foodie, your biggest problem is going to be figuring out how not to order one of everything! Meat eater, prefer fish or vegetarian, there is plenty to choose from for everyone. And, if you have food allergies or specific needs, make sure your server knows and the chef with personally discuss with you how he can make sure your experience is just as extraordinary as everyone else’s.
A simple salad with a beautiful presentation
As wonderful as dinner was each night, but favorite meal of the trip came the day we were lucky enough to have lunch at the Captain’s table (minus the Captain) in the Royal Court one afternoon. This is the only dish I’m going to describe for you. It was pork tenderloin, beautifully moist and covered in an amazing mushroom sauce sitting atop a bed of crisp and tender potato shreds (a cross between a hash brown and potato pancake), with sautéed spinach and a dollop of sour cream. This was the type of dish that just made me go mmmmmm each and every bite. My only regret was that we didn’t eat it earlier in the cruise so that I could have gone back for more and more and more and more……….
My favorite dish!
Two special mentions credited 100% to our amazing wait staff and head waiters. In 2008 in Parrot Cay on the Magic we discovered banana bread. This was our first cruise with Steve and Mary and Steve and Allison and the six of us went crazy for it. Our servers knew we liked it and had it made special for us every night even when we weren’t in Parrot Cay. The pixie dust continued on this cruise. Our headwaiter on the Magic was Fitz and he was also onboard the Fantasy. He got together with our servers and headwaiter and made sure we had our banana bread onboard every night this time too. They made it specifically for us every day and even had it delivered to us in our cabana on Castaway Cay! How very special!
Finally, our jello! I know that sounds a little weird but here is the story. Again, back on the Magic in 2008 we kept teasing Fitz that we needed him to bring us jello shots at dinner. Although we were incredibly pampered and catered to each night, our jello shots never appeared. Probably a really wise decision on Fitz’s part since we definitely didn’t need the alcohol to liven up our party. Fast forward four years to the Fantasy. One night after we sat down for dinner we were told that we had a special treat coming for us. None of us knew what to expect but within a few minutes Fitz showed up at our table. In hand was a very special (non-alcoholic) treat made just for us!
Our long awaited jello "shot"
And this just about says it all!
Truer words were never spoken!
Thanks for reading!!
Jo Scholl is proud mom to three wonderful grown children, one of whom is my fellow WDW Fan Zone columnist Shelley. Oh, and I’m also mom to a small black dog named Mickey Mouse!
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