Has anyone done Ariel's Grotto Princess meal?

[POOH&PIGLET]

Is the Ariel's Grotto Princess meal worth doing?
On of my DDs loves Ariel so we are considering spending the $$$ for this.
Any info will be much appreciated.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

We loved it. We did it last November and are doing it again in September. We have never been to any other character meal so I can't compare it to others. There are 5 princesses/characters (I say character because Wendy from Peter Pan was at the lunch we were at), they only stayed at the table for a couple of minutes but long enough to talk briefly, take a picture and sign an autograph.

I thought the food was good, you got a salad or soup, an entree and dessert. The kids also get a plastic pail with a shovel. My dd LOVED it!

 

[lucky1]

Of the character meals it is my least favorite. The princesses seem to rush around the tables and not a lot of interaction time. I believe it is the only place to guarentee that you will see Ariel (with legs) at a meal. She does appear at Goofy's kitchen from time to time.


Food was okay.

 

[tlovesdis]

We've done it twice because my niece loves the Princesses, but I don't really like it. I would rather just stand in line and meet the Princesses in DL! The food is horrible and the Princesses come by so fast it's ridiculous. The last time we did it the place wasn't even busy and each Princess came by, rushed the autograph and pic and left. Of course that doesn't matter to a 7 year old!

 

[eatmypixiedust]

I've eaten at Ariel's a couple of times. I don't really care much for the princesses and I noticed my little sister (she's 9 yrs. old) didn't care much for them either. I went with my brother before it was princess themed and we had a blast.

They used to have Chip N'Dale, Goofy, Mickey & Minnie, Pluto and Donald all dressed in sailor outfits. Mickey was dressed as a captain. Every few minutes they used to hand out some instruments to some kids (maracas and tambourines) and they would form a conga line and dance and follow the disney characters around Ariel's Grotto. The characters would all visit your table and there was a lot more interaction compared to the Princesses. One time I saw Mickey swing dance with a lady to "Mickey Loves Mambo." I honestly miss having the "Fab Five" there.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We've done it once each on our past 2 trips and we've found it worth it to see the princesses without having to wait in long lines at DL. We actually like the food and the kids meal comes with a shovel & pail. we were celebrating dd's 5th bday on our last trip where she had a libby lu makeover eariler that day. She ended up wearing her Princess Aurora dress and all princesses commented on how beautifuls he looked. As far as character meals go, we like having the option of having a sit down meal not just buffets. We've got another DL trip planned in a couple of weeks and we've made ps's again for ariel's grotto.

 

[AspiringCindy]

WE were there last week, and only booked Ariel's Grotto because of DD(5)! I did not care for the food choices...and the princesses DID rush through! I won't be doing it again!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I believe it is the only place to guarentee that you will see Ariel (with legs) at a meal.

this is the ONLY reason I go...my god daughter is dying to see that...we didnt make it the last time we were there...so I will spend the $$$ to take her...this past march I went and I wasnt impressed by the food at all and most of the princesses were ugly...gosh almighty you should have seen jasmine but Im still gonna go back and take my gd...maybe I will just stick to hamburger or something

 

[Dale-n-Chip]

I wasnt impressed by the food at all and most of the princesses were ugly...gosh almighty you should have seen jasmine

OK, Lynn--now you are scaring me! My friend and I are going ADULTS ONLY in Nov/Dec and won't be dragging her boys or mine for once. We thought we could finally get in a Princess meal! We were so excited!

But now it's mediocre food, rushed characters and ugly princesses?! Somebody tell me they at least have a wine list! Otherwise this sounds like a big thumbs down. What a bummer!

mk

 

[bclydia]

Now, now, I disagree. We were there last year, my second visit, and we all thought the food was very good. There is lots of it too. We really loved that all the princesses came by and visited with our 5 little princesses all under age 5. We were a large group (13) but there was a lot of interaction and the princesses were very lovely. Jasmine particularly remembered that it was one of the girl's birthdays later when she saw her in the park. The birthday girl still talks about it.

 

[lworts]

Totally worth it for little girls, probably not for you "bigger" gals. My daughters loved seeing the princesses, and didnt really pick up on the fact that they were robotically rushed throught the joint. The food is pretty mediocre especially for the price. The princesses did their best, Aurora was actually very kind and chatted with my girls, Mulan was very brisk and very rushed. Ariel was okay, at least she didnt seemed annoyed when each of my dd's wanted a separate pic with her, unlike a couple of the others. I would not want to do it again myself. Sorry for the negative review, but I am trying to be honest!

 

[lworts]

Ooops, I do want to express that although I didnt care for it, like I said in my previous post, my daughters loved it.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

This is our first DLR trip so I figure we should do a character meal. I think we will do this one because Ariel is one of my DDs favorite characters. (We always go to get a picture in her WDW grotto.)
Thanks so much for all of your responses.

 

[SamIAm21]

We were there in June and the service was pretty bad. The waiter seemed very distracted and sort of "spacey", I guess is the best word for it. He definitely was not on top of his game that evening. We ordered our dinner, and while we were waiting the Princesses came by. About an hour had gone by and the waiter looked at us quizzically and stated, will there be anything else? I looked at him and said, we haven't even gotten our food yet. He looked confused, but then appropriately dismayed. He ran and got our food, which was not much better than diner food. Our reservation was for 7:00 and we didn't leave the restaurant until almost 9:00 and just made it in time for the ELP.

I was trying to just go with the flow and not let things bother me too much, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd take a pass on Ariel's Grotto.

Each of the princesses, however, did spend a few minutes with my daughter, signing autographs and posing for pictures. The one highlight of the evening is that we were seated outside with a great view of California Screamin.

 

[kxmeeh]

We have been to Disneyland twice. The first time, we did lunch at Ariel's grotto. It was the best meal we had that was not buffet style. We did several of the character meals (Goofy's kitchen is by far the best for food and character interaction) The first trip we did lunch, it was wonderful, no rushing, the characters danced with my daughters, then 2 and 6. The second trip, Halloween week 2005, we did a dinner reservation. The food was also very good at dinner, but I agree it did seem rushed. The princesses did make their rounds and signed books and did pictures. It almost seemed like an assembly line. I would recommend buffet character meals...they are so much more relaxed. Have fun!!!!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

OK, Lynn--now you are scaring me! But now it's mediocre food, rushed characters and ugly princesses?!

Im serious...pm me your email addy and I will send you the pic of Jasmine and you tell me if she isnt ugly!!

 

[Dukland]

We were just there last week. It was our second trip to Disneyland as a family. The first trip, Goofy's Kitchen was our first, and only, character meal. This time around we did three. We did Ariel's Grotto, Plaza, and Goofy's Kitchen.

We thought Ariel's Grotto was okay. The food wasn't bad, and we did get to see the Princesses. My 2 year old ds was bummed that Cinderella wasn't there. Our waitress seemed slilghtly irritated at first (not at us), but was more cheery as the evening progressed, and always very polite. I agree that the Princesses seemed rushed through. But they did all stop, take pictures with us, and sign autograph books. Including Mommy's autograph book, that I got so I could put pictures of the kids with characters and autographs, all in one place.

Would I do it again? Maybe. It would depend on how much time we had, and if we were limiting ourselves to one character meal or not. I still think Goofy's Kitchen is the best, but I haven't done all the different Character meals. yet

 

[Eric&Tyler'sMommy]

I have not been to Ariel's Grotto, as I have two boys. I have been to both the character breakfast at the Plaza and Goofy's Kitchen. Between those two, hands down, Goofy's Kitchen wins on every level. The selection of food is amazing and tastes wonderful! There is dancing with the kids and characters. Goofy comes out and "spills" a tub of dishes on the floor. The characters we have seen there are the Fairy Godmother, Wendy, Alice in Wonderland, Goofy, Max (Goofy's son?), Pluto, Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, and a few others which are slipping my mind at the moment.

My just turned two year old is a tad obsessed with Donald Duck. He would run up to Donald, where he was always standing near the desserts, and start quacking. Now, my toddler has a duck quack that sounds very much like a real duck....cracks us up. He would run up there, squat down like a duck, and start quacking. "Donald" was so shocked to hear this the first time, she laughed out loud! My husband came running back to the table, so proud that Tyler had gotten a character to make a sound! He swears he heard her laugh. I have pictures of Tyler laying on the floor in front of Donald, and him laying down looking at his face, starting to lay on top of him, holding him down for a picture.....great shots!

It makes me tear up just thinking about it, because Tyler was beyond thrilled to be with Donald Duck. As all of you Disney fans know...to him it wasn't a person in a costume, he was with DONALD DUCK! We went to Goofy's Kitchen three times during the week we were there. Every time, he got the same attention from Donald. I have no idea who was in that costume those days, but they made a huge impact on my little two year old. I emailed Disneyland complimenting this cast member profusely.

At the Plaza, the price was the same, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong here! But, the food was no where near as good and the selection was very slim. And, the character interaction doesn't come close to the time and attention given at Goofy's Kitchen. And, there is not any "show" put on by the characters at the Plaza, no dancing with the kids, etc..

 

[50thisyeartoo!]

I've done it twice with grankids and nieces and nephews. There are so many guests in there that the princesses don't have a lot of time to spend with each guest BUT...they were always very nice and we did get the pictures. It was well worth not having to stand in line and all that nonsense. I think Jasmine was the nicest of all of them.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

At the Plaza, the price was the same, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong here! But, the food was no where near as good and the selection was very slim. And, the character interaction doesn't come close to the time and attention given at Goofy's Kitchen. And, there is not any "show" put on by the characters at the Plaza, no dancing with the kids, etc..

If you're talking about the minnie and friends breakfast...then I totally disagree regarding the food...to me that is the best breakfast food of all of the sit downs in the park and hotels...and Ive done them all but you are right about the time and attention regarding the characters..they dont really have the room to put on a show at the plaza