Best Strategy for Ariel time?

[cbellasmomma]

DD's favorite princess is Ariel. She loves the movie and will probably be in the musical this spring so by the time we hit WDW she will be pumped for some Little Mermaid.

What is the best Ariel meet and greet? Is it something I can use a fast pass for or is there a ADR opportunity? The sites I've looked at say she "might" attend the character meals I've been looking at. Am I missing one where she is guaranteed to attend? Thanks!

 

[valskate86]

While not a character meal...I had great luck meeting her in her grotto during evening EMH. There were very few others in line and she spent quite a bit of time chatting with me about how great bubbles are and how she loved my Mary Poppins pins. That was one of the best character interactions I've had (next to Cruella when I was like 10 and A&E last October).

Ariel is one of my favorites too. I hope you all have a great trip and your daughter gets some great interaction!

 

[dwbrewster]

DD's favorite princess is Ariel. She loves the movie and will probably be in the musical this spring so by the time we hit WDW she will be pumped for some Little Mermaid.

What is the best Ariel meet and greet? Is it something I can use a fast pass for or is there a ADR opportunity? The sites I've looked at say she "might" attend the character meals I've been looking at. Am I missing one where she is guaranteed to attend? Thanks!

We met her at the Grotto as well which is the only place to see her with the fin on, I believe you can FP+ this, we did it during EMH one morning though. She also appears (though they never guarantee her appearance) at Akershus and she appears in an aqua dress, the lunch and dinner isn't everyone's favorite but the breakfast was great when we went!

Personally I preferred the interaction in the Grotto since that is what my DD(4) most associated with Ariel.

 

[Starhart81]

DD's favorite princess is Ariel. She loves the movie and will probably be in the musical this spring so by the time we hit WDW she will be pumped for some Little Mermaid.

What is the best Ariel meet and greet? Is it something I can use a fast pass for or is there a ADR opportunity? The sites I've looked at say she "might" attend the character meals I've been looking at. Am I missing one where she is guaranteed to attend? Thanks!

Every review I have ever read about Akershus, Ariel is always one of the princesses there. I know it says these princesses "might" attend, but Belle and Ariel are always listed as attending in about 100 reviews that I have read about Akershus.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

you can get a FP + for her.

Also meeting her right at RD is a great plan (then you can save your FP+ for something else) - she's not very busy at that point (most people are rushing towards Anna/ Elsa, 7 D and PP).

 

[Dawnlight]

We saw her in the grotto, with no line, early in the morning during peak week (Christmas). She was amazing with my girls. I had made custom outfits for them with an Ariel theme (seen here) and she complimented them and wanted their headbands. She was really sweet. The photopass photographer got a bunch of great pictures of my twins together and individually.

We also saw her at lunch at Akershus in her dress. The interaction was a little more hurried, as to be expected at a character meal, but still very pleasant.

 

[mggeary]

You should be in good shape without a FP meeting her in Fantasyland Grotto until 10am without any lines, in all but the busiest weeks. By 11am on, I would advise a FP.

 

[cbellasmomma]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Meldev]

My DD6 is our little mermaid as well! I had a FP lined up for her at the Grotto on the Thursday of our trip but we ate at Akershus on Wednesday - she had a fantastic interaction with her at Akershus - in fact all 4 kids did - lots of pics (and maybe it was our table location right where they entered the dining area but we had a wonderful time. So much so I cancelled the FP at the grotto and used it elsewhere.

 

[mom2rtk]

She's not nearly as hard to meet as she used to be before her new grotto opened. She was twice as hard before the move. Can't really explain without a spoiler alert........

 

[kennythepirate]

I'd also say that meeting her late at night is a great time because she rarely has a line later

 

[Pete S]

Late afternoon/early evening seems to be a good time to meet her at the Grotto. We went this week on a busy day abut 730, essentially just waiting for our ADR at BOG. The wait was less than 10 minutes and the interaction was fantastic.

 

[Sam1Cohen]

We went on the night we stayed until 1am (when the park closed) we got there around 11pm ish and there was no wait and no one behind us so they talked for 5-10 min, it was great.

 

[sully&mike]

Everyone has a different goal at WDW.
We did Ariel at Rope Drop.
We saw Ariel, Rode Voyage of the Little Mermaid, then did the Dumbo Ride and the Goofy Barnstormer --- all before 9:25am!

For US, it was a nice decision to head all the way back to new Fantasyland at Rope Drop! It was very empty! We got a lot accomplished in a very short amount of time!

We also saw Ariel in her Green Dress at Akershus in Epcot. But, I preferred the interaction at her Grotto at MK. She pulled her 'dinglehopper' out from behind a shell and was brushing her hair...talking about whether Meg wanted to brush HER hair with it. She was a personable little Ariel! We enjoyed her. Honestly, we didn't see many characters at MK this time around, but the ones that we did see were very interactive and didn't just push you out of the way!