Disney's rotational dining experience is nothing short of brilliant, especially for parents cruising with young children. Even though as an adult, I appreciate the grand dining rooms other ships offer, as a parent I really enjoyed the varying and entertaining decor of each night's restaurant, and its side benefit: With our children well occupied, we were able to enjoy an appetizer, a salad and at least most of the main course.

There are three main restaurants on the Wonder, and every guest dines in each of them at least once (on the four-night cruise you return to your first restaurant for a second time). Your dining tickets will be waiting for you in your stateroom indicating your dining time (6 or 8:30 pm), table number and restaurant rotation. Your table number, dining companions and servers remain the same throughout.

Two additional Disney dining perks include free sodas during dinner at these restaurants (and at the self-service beverage station on the pool deck), along with a different children's menu/activity sheet each night, filled with fun word games, a coloring sheet and maze.

Triton's the most formal of the three is an upscale dining room with stained glass walls and a massive shimmering tiled wall depicting a scene from the Little Mermaid. Here you'll find continental cuisine with a French flair, with items like deep fried Camembert, chilled vichyssoise soup, and herb-crusted North Atlantic Filet of Cod with sauteed spinach and Champagne sauce.

Animator's Palate is part restaurant, part animation show, right down to the holograms on the menus. Shortly after we entered the all black-and-white room, it was wrapped in a ribbon of blue with twinkling green lights in the "bristles" of the giant paintbrush shaped pillars. Throughout the course of dinner everything but the carpet seemed to change colors, as scenes from Disney movies transformed from simple black-and-white sketches to full-color images in Flintstone-like frames. The music score composed specifically for the restaurant provides cues to the servers on when to serve each course, as well as indicating when it's time for them to change into a vest splashed in color and parade back out through the restaurant to the tune of "Zippity Do Da." It was definitely a fun and unique dinner experience, and by far our son's favorite on any cruise.

Parrot Cay, the third dining room, offers a Caribbean-themed multi-sensory experience, with birds chirping in the background, and bold tropical colors throughout, including the oversized green porthole windows. We visited for lunch one day and discovered a delicious seafood lunch buffet, along with made-to-order stir fry and a much better salad bar than we'd found upstairs at Beach Blanket Buffet.

Palo, the adult-only restaurant, is an elegant open-kitchen dining room with espresso bar, wine cellar and sweeping ocean views. Inspired by the Italian birthplace of the ship, Palo is named for the poles that line the canals of Venice and serves Northern Italian cuisine. The restaurant is open nightly for dinner (and for Champagne Brunch during the "at sea" day on a four-night cruise); both require reservations, which should be made as soon as you board the ship. The food and service here is worth so much more than the per-person $10 charged.

Beach Blanket Buffet, up on Deck 9, is the indoor/outdoor place for breakfast and lunch buffets serving salads, sandwiches, made-to-order omelets, luke-warm waffles, gravy and biscuits, and assorted fruits. (Note: If you want fried eggs you must head to one of the restaurants.) Casual outdoor eateries include Pinocchio's Pizzeria, Pluto's Dog House (for burgers, hot dogs, and chicken tenders) plus the all important snack resource, Scoops, serving ice-cream with an assortment of toppings. Cookie Time, typically open from 3 until 5 p.m. on Deck 9 aft, is the place to head for DVD-sized assorted cookies that are very tasty.

The service in all four restaurants was excellent; the only exception was in Beach Blanket Buffet where it was often hard to find assistance. The servers that rotated with us were personable, funny and observant. They must have noticed us urging our younger son to keep his crayons on the sheet of paper, and off the white tablecloth, because the next night they presented him with a box of washable crayons. Our older son enjoyed reading everyone's name tags to see if he knew where the country was that they were from and commented that it would be fun if each person had his or her favorite Disney movie, or character, on the tag too.

Triton's: Triton’s, named after The Little Mermaid’s father, offers 442 seats in a truly special venue. Here, dining hearkens back to the First Class meals enjoyed aboard yesteryear’s luxury liners. Dark woods, elegant lighting and fluted columns reflect the easy pace and quiet grace of a bygone era, updated to today’s tastes and amenities. Tuxedoed waiters provide excellent service and offer fine wines and tantalizing cuisine.

Animator’s Palate: The 442-seat Animator’s Palate is where the Disney wonder® really shines – and changes color! You’ll marvel as the entire restaurant – including the charcoal sketches on the walls – transforms itself from basic black & white during your appetizer to dazzling colors by dessert! At one point, the whole room’s a stage as the walls seem to come alive with Disney animations. Even the waiters’ uniforms undergo a color change during your meal.

Parrot Cay: If you were Robinson Crusoe you’d feel right at home in this 442-seat tropical island restaurant. Fans twirl overhead cooling the parquet floor, and toucans peer through colorful foliage. Regional specialties include temptations such as Coconut Prawns, Grilled Vegetable Salad (with a delicious mango-chili sauce), Caribbean Okra Gumbo, Seafood Creole and Cuban-style Grilled Rib-Eye. Save room for the Banana Flambé!

Palo: Reservations are required at this 138-seat, extra cost, adults-only venue. Enjoy the flavors of Northern Italy. Enjoy the 270-degree views, too, thanks to Palo’s aft location high up on Deck 10. Watch the gourmet pizzas being prepared through the windows of their “on-stage oven.” But there’s much more than pizza cooking up here – Pumpkin-filled Raviolinni, Rack of Lamb in Chianti Sauce, for instance.

Beach Blanket Buffet: Most major cruise ships offer an always-casual buffet option for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On this Disney ships it’s the Beach Blanket Buffet and it’s especially popular, given this line’s appeal to active families. The basics are here (burgers, sandwiches, salads and desserts) along with a changing list of daily specials.