The Buckingham

Executives announced that The Disney Fantasy, Disney’s brand new cruise ship, would now include an elaborate dinner show, along with some other new features.

At a briefing held on Disney’s three-month-old cruise ship Disney Dream, Disney executive Joe Lanzisero said, “We don’t like to repeat ourselves. We have a very loyal fan base, and we want to give (them) a reason to experience both ships.”

The Disney Fantasy is scheduled to make its first appearance in March 2012. The Fantasy, which has enough space for 2500 passengers, is identical in size and general layout as the Dream. As Lanzisero said though, Disney does not like to repeat itself, so the Fantasy is definitely going to spice things up.

The new dinner show to be called “Animation Magic” will take place at the Animator’s Palate restaurant on the Disney Fantasy and will star and animated Mickey Mouse.

The Animator’s Palate restaurants are a staple feature of every Disney cruise ship. The restaurants have an animation theme with pillars that look like huge pencils and brushes and character sketches on the walls.

So far, Lanzisero has given only a sneak peak into what the new dinner show will be like. He has said that the experience will begin with diners invited to draw a character on their placemat at the dinner table that will later be incorporated into the animated film, which will be projected on the walls of the restaurant. About this, Lanzisero said, “There’s nothing more exciting than the first time you see your animation on the screen.”

The new “Animation Magic” centers on a Sorcerer-themed Mickey who appears on the walls before dinner is served. More animated Mickeys projected on the walls turn from black to colorful, and then the Sorcerer Mickey introduces a montage of food-themed moments from Disney and Pixar films. This whole montage is set to the song “Be Our Guest” from the movie Beauty and the Beast.

After the montage, the diner’s drawings will be taken away and later displaced on the walls of the restaurant. At the end of the show, credits will show the names of all the diners that drew animations.

This new dinner show “Animation Magic” is only one of the many new elements the Disney Fantasy is planning on implementing to create an exciting, new and different experience for its fans.