Food @ Ariel's Grotto?

[neonderlyn]

Im trying to decide if I should book a meal at Ariel's Grotto, my girls would love it because they are overly obsessed with princesses. Is the food good there, them menu I seen online did not blow me away but i was hoping it actually tastes better then it sounds.

 

[DahliaRW]

It's good, nothing special, but it's not bad or anything. My kids really loved the kid's dessert.

 

[poppins2008]

For us it was all about the princesses. The food was fine, but not memorable, especially because we were much more focused on the princesses making their way from table to table. Pictures and autographs with 4 different princesses without waiting in long lines was worth it.

 

[Diszona]

I am not a fan, but as others have said it is more about the princesses there for us.

 

[neonderlyn]

For us it was all about the princesses. The food was fine, but not memorable, especially because we were much more focused on the princesses making their way from table to table. Pictures and autographs with 4 different princesses without waiting in long lines was worth it.

Do they rotate which princesses are there or is it always the same 4 and if so which ones?

 

[Diszona]

Do they rotate which princesses are there or is it always the same 4 and if so which ones?

Though 4 is the usual number, we actually had more than 4 the last time we went. We had Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, Belle, Merida and of course Ariel for the picture before dining. I don't think Merida is there all the time though and I know sometimes Tiana shows up. Keep in mind the princesses will pose and sign and talk for maybe a minute but they are trying to get to a lot of tables so the interaction won't be as extensive as it is at some of the other character meals.

 

[luulu1999]

We went over the summer and of course my daughter loved meeting all the princesses but we did not really like the food, the salad that came with my pasta was not good, the pasta was ok and my bf didn't even eat his stuff. But we did it once

 

[poppins2008]

We've seen Ariel, Snow, Alice, Jasmine, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella and Mulan....that's in 4 visits over the last 7 years.

 

[dugthetalkingdog]

My daughter (20) and I had lunch at Ariel's Groto and had a wonderful time meeting the princesses and the food was ok. We
were to busy taking pictures to really enjoy the food.

 

[Vala]

In October we saw Cinderella, Belle, Tiana and Rapunzel plus Ariel.

 

[pmaurer74]

I agree. I looked at the menu last night and saw nothing I would like.

 

[jemmi]

We're going to give it a try for breakfast, that menu looked more appealing than lunch to me.

 

[3monkeys4me]

We've been twice and find the food to be decent. We have had good princess interaction though. DD11 was wearing a shirt that had Cinderella on it with the quote "Boys come and go but shoes are forever" and had a nice little chat with her about it. We all enjoy the desserts there.

 

[BoomerThePirate]

we recently did the WOC dining package in january and we all thought the food was excellent. The tri-tip was really good as well as the crab chowder. the lobster was so-so.

 

[MommyJKM]

The food there is like eating at a cafeteria. But as everyone else has said -they get away with it because you're there for the princesses. I'd rather pay for a sub-par meal and see the princesses than wait in a long line at Princess Faire or the Royal Hall.

But be aware the food is NOT in any way "good" so if you go in knowing that you probably won't be dissappointed. The princesses are always so great with the kids! This is the kind of smile you can expect there from your child though....

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

I always get the tri-tip... It's actually pretty good, between the appetizer tower thing and the desserts too, we never leave hungry.

 

[sandysue]

We enjoyed the food - Ariel's octopus hot dog with the goldfish swimming around is cute, as were the rolls in the shape of a flower.
We were pleasantly surprised that Princess Minnie joined us, along with Belle, Aurora, and Cinderella. So that was a win.

 

[ktlm]

For us is it all about the Princesses, not the food. We thought the food used to be okay, not great, but not bad. Unfortunately, they changed the menu in July 2014. We ate lunch there shortly after they changed the menu and found the food to be really bad. Mine was pretty much inedible and DD hated hers. DD actually really liked the kid's meals there before the July 2014 menu change. It was so bad, that DD and I wound up going somewhere else and getting CS after we left lunch at Ariel's. Now I will say that we were there very shortly after the menu change, so maybe the kitchen had not perfected the dishes yet- maybe they have improved? We will probably go back because it is all about the Princesses- hopefully the menu will change again, but if not, I think we will try breakfast.

Sandysue, I'm so jealous that you saw Princess Minnie! We have never seen her anywhere at DLR, and we always hope to run into her. We had Belle, Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel last time. DD was a little bummed because she was hoping for Sleeping Beauty as a CM at Studio 365 had given her a black and white photo of Sleeping Beauty to have signed. We had seen her at Ariel's on one of our DL trips. We never did find her that trip, so the picture never got signed. We always seem to have a hard time finding her at DL which makes no sense as she has a castle there! She is easy to find at WDW! Other than the princesses listed above, we have seen Mulan at Ariel's twice, and we saw Pocahontas once. We were told by a CM at the Princess merchandise cart outside that we were lucky to run into Pocahontas as she very rarely made an Ariel's appearance.

 

[Geemo]

We gone to Ariel's twice. The Princess interaction was great!
The food on the other hand wasn't. In fact each time I ended up feeling sick.

With the Princess Royal Hall in DL, I don't see the need to return to Ariel's.
However, if I do go again it will be on our very last day. So if I get sick at least we'll be on our way home.

Geemo

 

[kitayama]

I liked the tri-tip too! My wife also enjoyed it.
But then again, I had two servings of it because my mother did not like it at all... Plus, tri-tip tends to be hit or miss at many places.
We went in without high expectations because all the food at other character meals that we have been to has been absolutely horrible. Overall, we were pleased with our experience!
These are the princesses we saw in October.