Dinner Night 1 - Animator's Palate

We dressed up and headed to dinner at 5:45 on our first night.

Disney now does a cool dinner rotation where you eat with the same families (I will share about our table mates in a minute) and the same dining staff each night but you get to eat in a different dining room each night. We went to Animator's Palate, Enchanted Garden, and the Royal Palace. Of all the nights.... the first one was our favorite, as well as the only night I remembered to take any pictures.... Oh well - The food was good and we had fun.

The family that we sat with was also a military family, a mother and her two sons age 11 and 7. Sadly, they were enjoying some time away following the passing of their father, who had been overseas fighting. We enjoyed sharing our meals with them.

A quick picture before our meal began

Shortly after we ordered our food, the lights dimmed and the pictures on the walls came to life.

Shawn wasn't sure what to think at first!

Another quick pic "under the sea!"

The main character was the turtle from Finding Nemo.

He played picture games with the kids and interacted with the dining room.

He was hilarious.....

Isaac was thoroughly engaged.

and then the fun began.

The Turtle was interacting with a man a couple tables away and we all got a good chuckle.

Then he began talking to Chris (who in his awesome teen mood thought he was talking to someone else).

It wasn't until I said "Chris he's talking to you!" that we finally saw some expression.

Chris could not stop laughing!

He tried to avoid eye contact.... but it didn't work!

He was sucked right in.

Check out that face!

Laughter!!!Taking the oath to never eat fish again

(The turtle asked what Chris' favorite food was.... his reply....SHRIMP!)

Even Isaac took the oath!

Anyone remember that commercial about the teen daughter who goes on vacation with her family. The parents show her participating in multiple activities with a glum look on her face.

Then, a boy looks her direction or something and she smiles.

The catch line is something about catching that moment.... well - This was our moment!

It made the whole first night worth it, and it broke the tension about Chris' overall grumpiness for the first night.