Princesses at Ariel's Grotto Dinner?

[jenhelgren]

Are the princesses always the same at Ariel's Grotto or do they rotate them sometimes? Who are the "standard" princesses and can all of them be seen fairly easily with low waits elsewhere in the parks? This is our first trip to DLR and we always do a princess meal at WDW because it saves a lot of time waiting in line for us. But-my family is not very excited about Ariel's Grotto menu and I have heard from friends that the food is not that great so I am trying to decide if should cancel our reservation or not and since its the only princess meal at DLR-I cant make up my mind

 

[agamble]

The princesses are not there at Dinner. They rotate characters and the only one guaranteed is Ariel. I believe you see 4-5 princesses at the meal. Frozen sisters will NOT be there. You can see 3 princesses at the Fantasy Faire with a wait and you can see Anna/Elsa in DCA with a FP.

 

[mom2rtk]

We have had the same 5 princesses for lunch on our last 2 annual trips. Belle, Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel.

If you want to see the princesses, you'll need to do breakfast or lunch.

 

[nicolispicoli]

We saw Ariel, Belle, Mulan, Cinderella and Tiana when we went.

 

[mom2rtk]

Mulan would be cool!

 

[nicolispicoli]

Mulan would be cool!

She was the absolute sweetest, the best princess I have interacted with in the parks. My babe was being pretty shy and she was so sweet talking to her about her stuffed horse she brought to breakfast. We did the Fantasy Faire the next day at the other park and she told my dd she remembered her and asked her where her horse was. My girl was so excited she remembered her. I know she's still there, i saw an insta friend posting a picture with her a couple days ago.

 

[jenhelgren]

I meant to type lunch in the thread title..sorry it has been a LONG day today!
Do the princesses rotate in Fantasy Faire also? I though it was usually the same 3 all the time. How are the average waits at Fantasy Faire? Is there a best/worst time to stop by? If it is easy enough to meet most princesses at Fantasy Faire we may just cancel lunch. Is Merida outside the castle all day still? Thanks for all the help!

 

[tiffjoy]

We went August 16 for my older daughters birthday and saw Mulan. My girls were over the moon excited! I was not far behind. We have only met her at WDW before, and we have been to Ariels a number of times. She was as the PP described- the very best of the bunch and sassy and sweet. My youngest adores her and was so sad she hadn't worn her Mulan dress.

We also saw Tianna, Belle, Aurora, and Snow White in addition to Ariel.

I'm of the opinion the food is meh, but we don't go for the food anyway. I do like the desserts.

 

[tiffjoy]

Merida and Rapunzel rotate out front of Fantasy Faire.

The waits vary, but it's less first thing in the am. You can wait up to 45 min and I would say 30 is average for normal days. A slow day would obviously have less wait. Those princesses also rotate, and they post those outside so you know who is meeting.

We always do both because my girls love M&Gs, well, my oldest has started to outgrow it a bit now but youngest is still going strong. Ariels was my DD6's request though- she loves it there.

 

[McNs]

We saw Cinderella, Aurora, Belle and Princess Minnie for breakfast last year (and Ariel of course). Yes the food was overpriced for what it was, it certainly wasn't bad but far from a wow meal, but I loved the way the Princesses came out and were announced in to the room. We are going again this year...

 

[heidica]

On Saturday August 22nd we saw Ariel (but you don't get any real time with her, just pictures before going to your table), Rapunzel, Belle, Cinderella and Tiana. My niece who is princess crazy. loved it. She didn't get much food eaten, but she had a great time.

 

[MommyJKM]

Are the princesses always the same at Ariel's Grotto or do they rotate them sometimes? Who are the "standard" princesses and can all of them be seen fairly easily with low waits elsewhere in the parks? This is our first trip to DLR and we always do a princess meal at WDW because it saves a lot of time waiting in line for us. But-my family is not very excited about Ariel's Grotto menu and I have heard from friends that the food is not that great so I am trying to decide if should cancel our reservation or not and since its the only princess meal at DLR-I cant make up my mind

Make sure you know THERE ARE NO CHARACTERS AT DINNER! We always see families waiting and I want to shout at them "THERE ARE NO PRINCESSES"...

We dislike the food but my DD loves the princess interaction for lunch. Last trip we had Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and of course Ariel and all of the pictures look gorgeous. It's worth it to me to pay not to stand in the line to see them at the Fantasy Faire. As pp have mentioned they rotate a couple (Tiana, Minnie) but I usually see these 5.
said t

 

[jammyjam25]

We went for lunch last December and saw Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Cinderella, and Aurora. We had no qualms about the food and all enjoyed the interaction we had with the ladies as they wandered the room.

We always try to do Fantasy Faire early in the morning if possible as lines seem to be shorter then. Last year we had Snow White, Cinderella (in her winter dress) and Ariel at FF all 4 days we were in the park.

 

[heidica]

We always try to do Fantasy Faire early in the morning if possible as lines seem to be shorter then.

I'll second this! My brother took my niece first thing on our 3rd day (Aug 23rd) and there was no wait for the Princesses. This was their 2nd time going to Fantasy Faire (again my niece super crazy about the Princesses) and each Princess spent a lot of time with her. By the end of the trip, my brother was joking that the FF was a vortex, they couldn't walk by it without being sucked in - they went 3 times.

 

[Winnowill]

When we went a month ago, we had Ariel, Rapunzel, Belle, Tiana, and Snow White. At Fantasy Faire, it was Cinderella, Belle, and Snow White - twice.

 

[jenhelgren]

Is Princess Minnie only at breakfast or is it just random? Does anyone have a pic of Princess Minnie to share? It might make my DD want to switch to breakfast-she loves collecting photos with Minnie in different apparel!!

 

[agamble]

The Princess Fantasy Faire wait can vary a lot. June 2014 we went just after park opening. We had 0 wait and were pretty much the only ones there. So this May we thought we'd do the same thing. It happened to be a MM day and we were there for regular rope drop, the princesses do not meet during MM. Well when they let down that rope a ton of people rushed to the PFF. We were told the wait was 30 minutes, but actually waited 45. The CM at the entrance told us the best time of day is actually the middle of the afternoon because they generally have a lull. I'd be afraid to chance it though as I usually see the line around 45 minutes to an hour wait.

They have a sign out front that usually lists 2 of the three visiting princesses. They last princess is generally a "friend," which simply means they can rotate whoever they want that day.

 

[McNs]

Introducing...Princess Minnie


Sounds like it is pretty random when she is there, and I don't know if there is any way of knowing for sure. I haven't seen her anywhere else in the parks...

 

[nicolispicoli]

Princess Minnie!!!! I just got so excited...for my daughter I mean...or me...ok ME!

I wish we could see her, that dress is so cute!

 

[Vala]

Minnie is very random. We've seen her exactly twice and we've been going there at least once a trip since 2006.

Friends of ours saw her at the Fantasy Faire once. That was 2013, same year we saw her at Ariel's last.