A Royal Birthday- Celebrating At Ariel’s Grotto At Disney California Adventure Park
How do you throw a birthday party that is fit for the princess in your life? By celebrating at Ariel’s Grotto in the heart of Disney California Adventure Park. As the Disneyland Resort continues to dazzle as it gets closer to its own 60th diamond anniversary on July 17, even more special was the occasion of my granddaughter Moya’s birthday.
Over the years, the family has come together at the Happiest Place on Earth to help her celebrate each milestone in her life but this year it was decided that she needed something worthy of any true Disney Princess and no location is more befitting of royalty than Ariel’s Grotto. Ariel’s is a Character Dining experience at its very best-especially if you happen to have a princess of your very own. It combines fabulous food along with laughter, music and all the excitement that accompanies meeting all of your favorite Disney Princesses.
Located in the back of Disney California Adventure Park at the entrance to the Paradise Pier boardwalk area, the magic starts as soon as you enter the restaurant. As you walk down the spiral staircase who should be at the bottom but Ariel herself who not only greets you but poses for pictures with you.
From the royal décor, to the views of Paradise Pier, you immediately become immersed in the beauty of the sea. Whether you are a princess in training, or royalty of a grown up nature, it’s difficult not to be swept away in the magic as each of the Disney Princesses come to greet you and visit with you at your table during “Ariel’s Disney Princess Celebration”.
If meeting your favorite Princess wasn’t reason enough to visit Ariel’s Grotto, the food is truly fit for any King or Queen. We dined on a three-course meal selected from a fixed price menu. Our appetizer course was a beautiful fruit and cheese plate with lobster and crab salad with salad greens.
Our main course choices ranged from Sautéed Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta to Red Oak-Smoked Honey-Whiskey Barbecue Tri-Tip,
to Pan Roasted Chicken Breast to Grilled Lobster Tail Salad as well as several seafood options.
For the young royals in your party, there was such treats as Ursula’s Octo-Dog, Whozits and Whatzits Fries and Nuggetz, and from the Kids’ Mickey Check Meal there was Clammy Turkey Sammy or Angel Hair Pasta a la Dinglehopper.
For those of you that are regular readers, you know that we are in need of a Vegan option when we eat out and the chefs did not disappoint. This was one of the most amazing Vegan meals we had ever had, Vegan or not. It consisted of bok choy, rice noodles, sund-dried tomotes, potabella mushrooms in a slightly spicy sesame seed sauce. As fabulous as the main meal was, dessert was even better.
Our servers brought out a tray with the most delectable arrays of cupcakes, chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, and a white chocolate conch shell. We wanted this to make this day extra special for Moya so we arranged to surprise her with a special touch of magic to cap off her birthday celebration with a personal-size party cake. We chose the Disney Princess Jewelry Box cake but there are several options to choose from including the one we selected or a Disney Pirate Treasure Chest.
These specialty cakes are available not just at Ariel’s Grotto but are also available at select table-service restaurants, Character Dining locations as well as through Disney Hotel Room Service for those staying in one of the three Disney resort hotels. To learn more about all the ways you can celebrate a birthday at the Disneyland Resort or to order a cake of your own or just call (714) 781-DINE or (714) 781-3463 up to 60 days prior to your visit and keep in mind that you must order custom cakes at least 3 days prior to your preferred date of delivery. 
