Animator's Palate on the Dream About This Page:

[mackeymouse]

We will be sailing on the Dream next fall. I had some concerns about AP after reading some reviews. I am not a HUGE fan of Turtle Talk with Crush, but as long as it wasn't intrusive, I could probably stand it. However, many reviews have indicated that AP on the dream is loud, disruptive, and gets old quickly. I listened to the Moms' podcast, and it only further cemented my concerns.

I have also read/heard what a hit the Animated Show is on the Fantasy. Don't get me wrong, I am sure Crush is a huge hit with little kids. But, the animated show seems to be something that everyone- child and adult- will enjoy. Do you think there is any chance that during dry dock (or maybe it won't even take dry dock, maybe it is a quick fix), AP on the Dream will discontinue Crush and switch things over to the Animated Show? I don't know how many complaints they have received; maybe they get really positive feedback from the Crush show after all.

[PixieMichele]

I didn't find it too intrusive, he just kind of swims by and interacts with the little kids and stuff he really didn't spend too much time at our table at all but it was impressive considering what we were used to on the Magic and the Wonder. The Animation Magic show on the Fantasy is superb but i don't think the Dream is equipped to take on that technology right now or maybe they want to keep it something exclusive to the Dream or maybe it's already been changed over; I don't know.
I'm sure if you keep it short with Crush he'll just move right along. Tell him "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

[chezp]

I can honestly say I didn't find it intrusive at all - we really enjoyed the show and were still able to enjoy our meal as well. I'm going to be interested to see how it compares to the Fantasy when we sail on her later this year.

[toddjodybrent]

We didn't find Crush intrusive, but it was a bit loud. The husband and I were talking about which restaurant we would be assigned to the first night of our upcoming cruise and he guessed Animator's Palate. Fine, except that the noise keeps us from learning about and interacting with our table mates on the first night.
Here's our review of Animator's on the Dream: Williams Family: Dining in Animator's Palate on the Disney Dream

[MollyB]

I didn't find it too loud or intrusive at all. Turtle Talk with Crush is not really my favorite thing either. But I can honestly say I didn't even have a second thought about it. It was cute, I watched it for a few minutes and then back to table conversations.

[tinkerbell1012]

It didn't seem intrusive to our family, we were a large travel party and we were having a blast. If anything, it was a bit loud but only at times...you will love it

[ferrazalves]

We did not find it intrusive or too loud. It was very fun and we loved it!

[feonag]

We loved it too, I did not experience or hear any complaints that it was too loud. In fact we thought that Crush could have interacted with more ppl, he seemed to just focus on one table, made a few jokes, then moved on.

[Dave Marx]

I'm also in the "it's not a problem" camp, but everyone is going to have their own take. Some factors to consider:

Crush is "table hopping" through the evening, swimming from one area of the dining room to the next. He only interacts in your area once during the evening, for about 5 minutes. You do not hear what's going on in neighboring areas, only your own.

Does Crush get old fast? I can only guess that that criticism comes from someone who's seen the show shore-side (at WDW and/or DLR) once too often. There's not enough time during the course of dinner for the show to wear thin. If Crush shows up while you're in the midst of a deep discussion, then the interruption might be annoying.

Switching Animation Magic for Crush on the Dream probably doesn't have to be a dry dock modification. The technology for Crush is much harder to change than the tech for Animation Magic. It's mostly a software change, not a big hardware issue. The software has already been written, it's being used in an identically set-up video system (same number of screens, all in the same places). The only bit of hardware missing is (probably) the scanner they use to import everyone's drawings. Maybe some additional hard disk storage. That's part of the point of the Animator's setup on the new ships. Animation Magic does not require video cameras or microphones in the dining room, or a backstage performer wearing motion-capture gear, or a backstage system that allows "Crush" to see and hear the right part of the dining room at the correct time, all of which Crush does.