Meet Ariel at Her Grotto in New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom (Mermaid Form)

Have you ever wanted to meet Ariel as a mermaid? Thankfully, you can do so at Walt Disney World. She meets daily at Ariel’s Grotto in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland. You can find this character’s meet-and-greet next door to her attraction, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. Below, we’ll share our latest experience meeting Ariel at this location. We’ll also discuss the best times to meet her, how long we waited, and a few talking points.

Here are a few quick references for meeting Ariel.

Ariel’s Grotto	Magic Kingdom
Location:	New Fantasyland
Lightning Lane:	No
Must Do:	High Priority for fans
Early Theme Park Entry:	No
Extended Evening Hours:	No
PhotoPass:	Photographers are not present. A box mounted on the wall takes photos of guests with the Memory Maker.
Posted Wait Time:	40 minutes
Our Actual Wait Time:	30 minutes
Signs Autographs:	Yes

Ariel’s Grotto is open daily from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. The exact operating hours will be available in the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit. Hours may fluctuate based on the park’s operating schedule. (We always recommend checking the hours on the day of your visit for any character meet-and-greet that’s important to you.)

Ariel’s Grotto is the first attraction you’ll encounter when entering New Fantasyland from Storybook Circus. Ariel’s Grotto is on the right before you reach the Journey of the Little Mermaid ride entrance.

On the evening of this visit, cast members at Ariel’s Grotto ensured guests knew they were joining the line to meet Ariel. Only a few characters have a dedicated home like Ariel, so it almost appears you are entering the line for a ride.

Ariel’s Grotto formerly had a Lightning Lane queue next to the standby line. At the time of this update, the Lightning Lane selections for character meet-and-greets are not available. But we would not be surprised if we saw them return in the future.

When I arrived at 6:19 p.m., Ariel’s Grotto had a posted wait of 40 minutes. Since it was relatively dark inside the queue, it was hard to tell, but there were at least 20 groups of guests ahead of us.

In addition to the guests ahead of us, anyone using a Lightning Lane was given priority while we waited. Since the standby and Lightning Lane queues are separate, you cannot see these other guests going ahead. But if the line’s not moving, that’s probably why.

Thankfully, the queue for Ariel’s Grotto is a pleasant place to wait. It’s cool and covered with a waterfall element.

We met Ariel at 6:49 p.m. It was approximately a 30-minute wait. Ariel was sitting in a clamshell, waiting to greet us. She loves to talk about her friends Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle, or you could always ask her about Prince Eric.

Other conversation topics for this meet-and-greet include thing-a-ma-bobs (she has twenty!) or what she uses to brush her hair. It’s a dinglehopper.

If you would like her signature, Ariel signs autographs. Cast members attending the meet will ask that you have your autograph book ready and turned to the page you want Ariel to sign. Unfortunately, PhotoPass photographers are not available at this meet-and-greet.

Even more, unfortunately, a photo box has been installed. While these boxes will snap your photo, they do not do a good job. We recently discussed this problem in detail when we visited Pete’s Silly Sideshow.

After you exit the meet, you scan your ticket or Magic Band on the screen below to get your photo. Only those who purchase the Memory Maker can access these photos.

So, you’ll have to decide whether the price of the Memory Maker is worth having a machine take your photos. If not, you can always ask a cast member or someone in your group to take a picture with your camera.

Ultimately, meeting Ariel as a mermaid is one of the best character encounters at Magic Kingdom, but I might be a little partial. If you would like to know more about meeting characters, we have a character guide for the Magic Kingdom. You might also like to browse the entire list of characters at Disney World or our guide to the best character dining at Disney World.