Where to Meet Ariel Near Echo Lake at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Temporary Location)

Ariel, from the Live-Action Story of The Little Mermaid, is meeting guests daily at Echo Lake near Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Her location is listed in the My Disney Experience app as near 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Disney announced in late October that Ariel would temporarily relocate to this location. Her former location inside Walt Disney Presents has been converted to a Santa Claus meet-and-greet for the holiday season. We do not know, at this time, if Ariel will return to Walt Disney Presents after the holiday season.

On a recent visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we stopped by to meet Ariel and check out her new location. She wears her light blue land dress from the live-action film at this location.

Ariel in her light blue land-dress from the live action version of The Little Mermaid

Echo Lake is on the front left side of the park after you enter. You’ll take the first left off of Hollywood Boulevard and run straight into the lake as shown in the picture below. Ariel meets to the left of the Gertie the dinosaur, who’s sitting on the back side of the lake.

She is meeting immediately in front of the shuttered Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost. This new location is completely outside and exposed to the elements. So in the event of inclement weather, even a mild rain shower, she will not come out to meet with guests.

Ariel's meet-and-greet

A PhotoPass photographer was not available at this location on the day of our meet-and-greet, but Ariel is an autograph-signing character.

She showed off her new land boots with heels. She mentioned that since she had learned to walk better, she could maintain her balance.

Ariel shows off her pink land boots

Like some of the other parks, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is undergoing major construction for the next few years. We’ve seen numerous character meet-and-greets shift, and we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more in the coming months and years. As always, we try to keep our character guides as up-to-date as possible. That said, things could and will likely change. So our best advice is to learn how to use the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit to confirm locations and times. Here’s how:

How to Locate Characters in the My Disney Experience App

  • Open the My Disney Experience app and select the pin drop at the bottom of the home screen.
  • Scroll (left to right) through the icons at the top of the screen and select “Characters.”
  • After selecting characters, use the locations drop-down to select the park of your choice.
  • Then, on the bottom right of the screen, select “Show List.”
  • Scroll through the list of characters with their times and locations.
  • As an alternative, you can use the map view to locate characters.

*As the day passes, you might notice that characters disappear from the app. When their last scheduled time passes, the meet-and-greet automatically disappears. A new schedule won’t be loaded until the following day. It is essential to check the app for meet-and-greets on the day of your visit.

Learn More: How to Use the My Disney Experience App to Find Characters

For more on Ariel, make sure to see The Little Mermaid Musical Adventure at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and meet her as a mermaid at Magic Kingdom. She meets at Ariel’s Grotto in Fantasyland. You might also like our entire guide to Ariel at Disney World.

For more information about meeting characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you might like the following:

You might also enjoy previewing our entire list of character meet-and-greets at Walt Disney World.

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In the Comments

Have you ever met the live-action Ariel? What do you think of this new temporary location? Let us know in the comments below.