Welcome aboard, Aimee! Congratulations on booking your very first sailing with Disney Cruise Line. I'm glad you're considering booking a dinner at Palo. I highly suggest it, even if the times left aren't your favorite. Just grab one that looks good, and don't worry about missing Animator's Palate. I have a suggestion for you to be sure you get to experience them both.
Guests will be assigned a
dining rotation that takes them through all three of the
Magic's main restaurants: Animator's Palate, Lumiere's, and Carioca's. Since your sailing is a five-night, you'll get to rotate through two of those twice, and one just once. Once you choose your Palo reservation, give Disney Cruise Line a call at 800-951-3532 and you can request a dining rotation that has you in one of the other restaurants during your Palo night, so you don't miss out on Animator's Palate. While they cannot guarantee these requests, I find that they do their very best to accommodate them. Then, you should be all set to experience the three main dining restaurants and Palo. Did you know that (except at Palo), your dining servers stay with you and rotate the restaurants with you? So, you'll meet them on night one and they'll meet you in the different restaurants each night, getting to know you and your preferences and becoming like part of the family! My kids adore telling jokes and seeing magic tricks from our dining servers, and even finding out where they'll serve lunch the next day so we can pop in and dine with them then too!
There isn't too much else you're late to the game on, Aimee. Check out the Port Adventures and book your favorites soon, as some do fill up, but not quite as fast as Palo! Stop back if you have other questions before you set sail! Happy planning!
Marcy