When: Tuesday June 27th, 2006 at 7:00pm
Who: 2 adults, 1 child aged 3 ¾ (boy)
Arriving at Ariel's Grotto for our priority seating we quickly found out that the computers upstairs were down… which slowed down the whole process. While there were many empty tables the computer problem caused seating delays and it was about 7:20 before we were taken to a table.
For the first time at this restaurant we were seated inside which was nice as it was very hot and humid outside. They tables were laid out in a nice way to allow easy access to each and every table by the Princesses. It was immediately noticeable that people actually stayed in their seats for the Princess Meal at Ariel's Grotto. This was a wonderful and very welcome change from the same character meal when it was at the Plaza Inn.
As usual the menu here is all a fixed price with each meal giving a soup or salad, entrée, and dessert. The food at Ariel's Grotto is not the greatest in the park but with character interaction like you get here that is not a huge deal. In this one place you can see 5 or 6 different Princesses.
For this meal each adult in our party ordered the cheeseburger and they were actually very tasty. The onion soup was not nearly as salty as in the past so the two adult meals were actually not bad at all. For Alex we got the macaroni and cheese with an octa dog. Thinking we were covering our bases with two of his favorite things he would be a happy camper. Unfortunately we didn't anticipate that his hot dog was cut up to form an octopus and that upset him so he refused to eat it. Alex was done after two bites of his macaroni and cheese. For desserts we had the apple churro, chocolate cake and the children's sundae. Alex was the only one who enjoyed his dessert. Cost for this meal after the 10% discount for AAA was a hefty $74.71.
While Alex is not into Princesses, and did not really enjoy the first few, he definitely had a favorite and when Sleeping Beauty came to our table he was in heaven. After that he did warm up to the remaining Princesses. Each Princess came to our table only once. While they didn't spend much time at our table it was simply because Alex was not real interested. The Princesses really did not interact with the adults much at all… they were pretty much all about the kids We did notice that the little girls got a lot of attention and one on one time with the Princesses.
The Princesses we saw were Mulan, Ariel (walking, which was wonderful to see), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, and Jasmine. Each was personable and willing to spend time at the tables based on the interest from each table.
The location of Ariel's Grotto is a huge improvement over the Princess Breakfast at Plaza Inn. Not only is the location better and the tables set up in a better manner, but the patrons actually stay in their seats and wait for the Princesses to come to them. Ariel's Grotto also serves lunch and dinner so more people can dine with the Princesses each day.
This is one character meal that I truly recommend, even though we didn't enjoy it so much. The ONLY reason we didn't have total enjoyment was because Alex was not interested in Princesses. Food at the Disneyland Resort is often mediocre, so even that didn't really bother us. If you have a daughter who is in love with the Princesses don't skip this meal!
Disney's Princess Breakfast Review (2005 at Plaza Inn)