Join Ariel and her princess friends for breakfast or lunch at Ariel’s Grotto.
Photo Credit – Disneyland Resort
Character dining at Disney parks is always a magical experience and having a meal with your favorite Disney princesses is a must do experience. Located in Disney California Adventure Park in the Paradise Pier area you will find Ariel’s Grotto. Reservations must be made in advance, but I have been able to secure a reservation the morning of without a problem – of course this depends upon the crowd level at the time of your visit.
It’s Time to Meet Ariel
Once it is time for your reservation you will wait on a spiral staircase that descends down to the dining area. It took us about 15 minutes until we made it to the bottom of the stairs so be prepared to entertain your little ones while you wait.
At the bottom of the stair case is the princess of honor – Ariel. She will take a few minutes with your group, sign autographs and take pictures. There is a photo pass photographer taking pictures but instead of putting the image in your photo pass account they will print out the image and attempt to sell it to you during your meal. My tip is to hand them your camera and ask that they take a photo of you with your camera as well.
There are two dining areas to choose from, one is outside near the water so you can enjoy the sights and sounds of Paradise Pier and the other is located inside in an under the sea themed room.
What I found to be unique about this dining experience is that everyone is sat at relatively the same time in each dining area. Once everyone is seated, the princesses make their grand entrance one by one and circulate through the room. They will each come to your table so you don’t need to worry about getting up and tracking them down in order to get an autograph and photograph. During our visit we saw Ariel, Belle, Snow White and Cinderella.
Time to Eat
The food is delicious and there are unique items on the kids menu. My girls loved Ursula’s Octo-dog which is a macaroni topped with gold fish and a hotdog.
Dessert was scrumptious as well.
Ariel’s Grotto is a participating restaurant for the World of Color Dining Package however the princesses do not appear during this special event.
For reservations call (714) 781-DINE or (714) 781-3463 up to 60 days prior to your visit. For more information about Ariel’s Grotto visit Disneyland.com.