Dining Options on the Disney Wonder
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The Disney Wonder is home to SO many different dining options, from sit-down restaurants, to a variety of quick service options, as well as a buffet. This is your guide to ALL the different options, including some of the speciality restaurants that come at an additional cost!
Animator’s Palate on the Disney Wonder
The Disney Wonder has a variety of different food options, both included, and at an additional cost, so you are bound to find something to suit your palate. Food options vary from sit-down restaurants, to a buffet, to heaps of different quick service options, so you should never go hungry on your Disney Cruise. In addition to this, the Disney Wonder is home to a few speciality dining options that come at an additional cost, if you’d like to upgrade your cruise experience a little!
As a note, Disney Cruise Line is generally really good at accommodating varying dietary needs as well, so make sure you alert your server on your first night and they will help you find suitable options to meet your needs.
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Travel Resources
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INCLUDED LOCATIONS
You can easily go your entire Disney Cruise just living on the included dining options. There is so much variety, not just in the type of dining locations, but in terms of the food on offer as well. You’ll find a variety of different cuisines, some healthier options and plenty of sweet treats to keep you satisfied.
Read more on what is included on a Disney Cruise on the Disney Wonder!
CABANAS
Some of the sweet breakfast options available at Cabanas on the Disney Wonder!
Cabanas is your traditional cruise buffet and during the 2023/24 Australian season, it was open for breakfast and lunch. In the past on the Disney Wonder, it was open for dinner, but we believe post-COVID this still is yet to be brought back. Hopefully for the 2024/25 Australian season we may see a return of dinners at Cabanas.
Cabanas will serve a wide variety of different foods so if you or your kids are picky eaters, this is a great place to go. We had breakfast at Cabanas every single day as we loved the flexibility of just choosing what we felt like, and going back for more if we wanted to. Our personal favourites were the Mickey churro waffles, which made an appearance on our first official morning on the cruise, so make sure you keep an eye out for those.
Other breakfast options include your traditional eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage, as well as cereals, fruits and yoghurts. You’ll also find a selection of pastries on offer as well.
For lunch, standard options will include mac & cheese, chicken nuggets and fries, and then there will also be various meat options, pasta options and a salad bar. On certain days you’ll find international cuisines like Mexican food, curries and more. You’ll also find a dessert bar with plenty of selections, so make sure you leave some space for that!
ROTATIONAL DINING
One of our absolute favourite things on a Disney Cruise is their use of the rotational dining system. If you’re a Disney Cruise newbie, in lieu of a “main dining room” most Disney Cruise ships will have three separate themed restaurants that are all included in the cost of your cruise. To ensure everyone gets a chance to eat at each of these, you will be assigned a restaurant each night of your cruise, and you, along with the other people on your table, and your servers, will “rotate” between each restaurant each night. Aside from the benefit of getting to try each restaurant, this system is great because it allows you to really connect with your servers and it makes the whole experience feel more personal. They will remember your names and your drink preferences, and will tailor their service to make your experience the best it can be.
Join Tiana, Louis and the band for some New Orleans inspired eats and entertainment in Tiana’s Place
You will be automatically assigned a restaurant each night, so please don’t just turn up to whatever one you feel like going to! If your cruise is less than 3-nights, don’t worry, you will be able to try the third restaurant during breakfast on your final disembarkation morning. Unfortunately, you will also be automatically assigned, so you won’t be able to choose which restaurants you visit for dinner. If you have a particular preference, you can try your luck at guest services but we’ve heard this can be quite difficult to change.
Inside the restaurant there are tables of differing sizes, and you will have already been assigned a table. It is important to note that you may end up on a shared table. This can be a great way to meet other guests, and we really enjoyed it, but if you would like a private table, Disney is happy to accommodate this, but you will need to call them in advance of the cruise and request it.
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Last important thing to note before we get into the restaurants themselves is that there are two dining seatings each night in these restaurants, 5.45pm and 8pm. You will be automatically assigned, but can put in a preference in the app prior to sailing. If there is no availability for your chosen time, you can go on a waitlist and hopefully a spot will open up.
Triton’s is the first of the three rotational dining restaurants on the Disney Wonder, and as you can probably guess, it is subtly themed after the Little Mermaid. Triton’s is the most upscale of the three rotational dining options and in our opinion, the least kid-friendly, so if you have kids and want to skip your rotational dining one night and just grab a bite at some of the quick service options, this may be the night to do it.
The theming in the restaurants extends all the way to the menus!
Make sure you pick yourself up some beignets for dessert at Tiana’s Place!
Next up is Tiana’s Place, which we loved. It is a bit more kid friendly than Triton’s, but still slightly fancier than Animator’s Palate. It offers live entertainment, and you’ll also find Princess Tiana and Louis wandering around from table to table! At one point in the night, they’ll even get everyone up for a bit of a boogie, so it was really a lot of fun. The highlight of a meal at Tiana’s is of course the beignets for dessert! Here’s a tip - you can order as many desserts as you want!
The black truffle pasta from Animator’s Palate is a must try!
The final restaurant in the Disney Wonder’s rotational dining system is Animator’s Palate. This one is definitely the best for kids, but in all honestly, we had such a fun time as well. Themed around the world of animation, this restaurant is covered in different Disney sketches. The theming is immaculate, with giant paint brushes as pillars in the restaurant, and the butter knives also shaped this way. The entertainment is the best of the bunch, and while the food was great, the entertainment will undoubtedly be the highlight. When you sit down, you’ll have a piece of paper in front of you for you to draw a character/person of your own design. Later on in the night will be a show painted across all the walls of the restaurant, and your art may just come to life!
We were blown away by the whole experience at Animator’s Palate and it was probably our favourite restaurant of the three.
TIP: Animator’s Palate is home to the famous Black Truffle Pasta. I tried this and highly recommend it! It is a favourite of most people!
If there is a Pirate’s night during your sailing (only on sailings that are 3+ nights), you may see a menu change. We were on a 4-night sailing, so we returned to Animator’s Palate, but purely for the seating. There wasn’t the usual Animator’s Palate entertainment, but instead, it was a pirate-themed night, and this was the same across the other two restaurants as well. A pirate-themed menu brought plenty of Caribbean-inspired dishes, and honestly, this was our favourite food of the cruise! All the servers were also in their pirate-themed outfits, which made for a great night!
Pirates Night on the Disney Wonder will bring you a Caribbean inspired array of dishes!
A Pirates of the Caribbean inspired menu for Pirates Night!
DAISY’S DE-LITES
Daisy’s De-Lites is the first of the quick service options. All the quick service options listed here will be found on the pool decks, making them a great place to pick up a bite to eat if you’re enjoying your time lounging by the pool and don’t want to leave.
Daisy’s De-Lites is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat if you’re looking for a healthier option during your cruise. It offers up a variety of salads, sandwiches, wraps and fruit and is included in the cost of your cruise.
Enjoying a slice of pizza from Pinocchio’s Pizzeria!
PINOCCHIO’S PIZZERIA
This one is obvious from the name, but Pinnochio’s Pizzeria is another quick service option on the ship, located on the pool decks next to Goofy’s Pool, where you can grab yourself as many slices of pizza as your heart desires. During our sailing, they had on offer pepperoni, vegetarian, Hawaiian or plain cheese.
PETE’S BOILER BITES
The third of the quick service options on the pool deck, Pete’s Boiler Bites offers up a variety of classic American foods, like hot-dogs, chicken tenders and burgers. We found Pete’s often offered up some great plant-based options as well, like Impossible hot-dogs.
Pete’s also seemed to have daily specials on offer, like Chicken Shawarma which are worth checking out as well.
EYE SCREAM TREATS
This is definitely a fan-favourite spot on the pool decks, and it’s not hard to understand why. Eye Scream Treats offers up serve yourself, unlimited soft serve all day! Make sure you check back every day because the flavours changed throughout our cruise, and we saw chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and even banana at one point!
FUN FACT: You can get Mickey Premium Bars onboard! You can request them for dessert in the restaurants, or otherwise order them through room service, which is included in the cost of your cruise!
SPECIALITY LOCATIONS (ADDITIONAL COST)
PALO
Palo is the only speciality dining, sit-down restaurant on board the Disney Wonder, open for it’s famous brunch, as well as dinner. This is an adults only venue, and is considered to be a finer dining experience, so you will need to dress up slightly from your usual dinner attire in formal or semi-formal attire.
Palo serves up Northern Italian style food, with the interior also Italian-inspired. From everything we have read, Palo is absolutely worth the additional cost, with people particularly raving about the brunch. It is also extremely popular, so it does require a reservation, which you can make when your booking window opens up prior to boarding the ship.
PRELUDES
Sitting just outside the Walt Disney Theatre, Preludes is more of a concession stand with your usual theatre drinks and snacks. Unfortunately, purchasing anything at Preludes will come at an additional cost, but you can look to pick up some popcorn and other snacks prior to settling in for one of the ships many broadway-style shows.
If you are also looking to pick up a popcorn bucket, this is your best place to do it.
ROYAL COURT ROYAL TEA
Another speciality experience, the Royal Court Royal Tea Party provides you the opportunity to join Lady Chamomile, Chef Brule and an assortment of Disney princesses as you enjoy some tea and a mix of sweet and savoury treats. Each child will also be sent home with an assortment of gifts from their experience.
This is a popular experience, so will also require a reservation that you can make prior to setting sail through the Disney Cruise Line app. As a note, this is an experience aimed at children aged 3 to 12, and their parent or guardian. Children aged 13 to 17 can attend, but will charged at an adult price. It is not open to solo adults without children.
There are additional speciality locations onboard, offering up coffee, alcoholic beverages and more. You can read about these in our Ultimate Guide to Disney Cruises in Australia!
We hope that article was helpful! If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our Ultimate Guide on Disney Cruises in Australia, as well as our YouTube video of our full experience on the FIRST EVER Disney Cruise in Australia!
If you’re looking to book your next Disney Cruise in Australia, you can use the code ‘GOFORLAUNCH’ for your first booking on Klook to get a small discount!
