Anna and Elsa five hour wait!

[katt789]

We knew waits had been crazy bad at the beginning of the month so we went in, rode Soarin, and headed straight to Norway. The line was already formed at 9:45 for their first set at 11(?) and we were about the third or fourth last group for that set.

Luckily it was WELL worth the wait for us and we weren't waiting that long, there wasn't much else for us to do in Epcot as we had a TT fp+ for later, and we knew this was our priority!

As for the future, I had heard that they were only temporary, but thanks to them casting more people for those roles, I wouldn't be surprised if they're adding them into another park/place to see them.

As for it being crowded, the same thing happened when Rapunzel first came to the parks, the wait times were crazy!! Merida's waits are still kind of insane over at MK. I personally think it's the way the meet and greets are set up. The more doors you have to go through to get to the characters, the better!

 

[j2thomason]

We have been back three times, one after a huge downpour of rain, and still no luck we hope by some miracle that we will get in to see them after he 5:00 candlelight processional. We already moved all our FP for tomorrow in case we have to come by first thing in the morning.

 

[morethananyonex]

And I thought waiting 90-120 minutes for them was crazy. Am I ever glad my son is too young to care about meeting them.

 

[RandFamily]

They should definitely put them where they can do a fast pass line. This is crazy.

 

[crostorfer]

Apparently none of you were around in 2011 for the hullabaloo over Rapunzel, whom if you wanted to meet, you had to send a runner at rope drop, and that runner had to sit, alone, for two hours and hold the place in line due to the people with early ADR' s being able to line up ahead of you in the hub....

Or when Merida bumped Rapunzel from her perch, and the same chaos ensued, only the little girls in line wore different costumes....

No one should be surprised by this. Your only hope to see Anna and Elsa without at least an hour wait for the next several months is to make a breakfast reservation at Akershus, so as to be in Norway and in line already before the WS opens.

 

[maxiesmom]

If I'm not mistaken Epcot opened at 8 am. During the very busiest time of the year you really needed to be at the park at opening to meet brand new characters without much of a wait. Getting in line 2 hours after open was not a good idea. Hopefully you have much better luck tomorrow.

 

[FindingMerida]

Wow, I can't believe anyone would wait 5 hours?! All that park time wasted?

I love Anna and Elsa and my five year old is obsessed, but there is no way she could queue that long.

Hoping they're still the in October and the wait times are more sensible!

 

[pmaurer74]

It was worth the two hour wait for me and a highlight in our trip but 2 hours was my limit.

 

[jimandami]

Apparently none of you were around in 2011 for the hullabaloo over Rapunzel, whom if you wanted to meet, you had to send a runner at rope drop, and that runner had to sit, alone, for two hours and hold the place in line due to the people with early ADR' s being able to line up ahead of you in the hub....

Or when Merida bumped Rapunzel from her perch, and the same chaos ensued, only the little girls in line wore different costumes....

No one should be surprised by this. Your only hope to see Anna and Elsa without at least an hour wait for the next several months is to make a breakfast reservation at Akershus, so as to be in Norway and in line already before the WS opens.

The WS opens at 11 every day, right? People are already lining up at 9:00 AM for the 11 AM meet and greet, right? So, even if you made a breakfast reservation and lined up at 8:45, you would still need to wait over 2 hours wouldn't you?

 

[karly05]

The WS opens at 11 every day, right? People are already lining up at 9:00 AM for the 11 AM meet and greet, right? So, even if you made a breakfast reservation and lined up at 8:45, you would still need to wait over 2 hours wouldn't you?

It seems to me that has to be compounding the wait-time problem. They need to start the M&G at 9:00/9:15 or so, even if it means moving A & E to another park. I think putting the M&G in Norway sounded like a good idea at the time, but it sounds like it's not the most practical way to do it.

 

[mesaboy2]

This week's wait times are an aberration and shouldn't worry anyone who isn't there now and may have to deal with them. After next week, their waits should normalize back down to the 60- to 120-minute range. Still a long wait to be sure, but not unheard of for new and popular characters.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

No offense, but who would ever wait that long?

Another reason I am so glad my girls have very limited interest in meeting characters. We've had some nice interactions, but they have never argued when I've said a line is too long. When Rapunzel first started appearing, we avoided her and saw the other princesses, and not one word of complaint from my girls.

And yes, we've seen the same characters at different parks on the same trip. A favorite recent memory is running into a very short line for Pooh at DHS. I think Disney wants certain meet and greets to be viewed as extra special and exclusive, especially new characters, so they are not going to appear in multiple parks.

 

[fairestoneofall]

my daughter is OBSESSED with the movie and desperately wants to meet them. i am perfectly happy sitting in line so she can do so. it's the one thing she REALLY wants to do on our Epcot day. and i'd gladly give up my Test Track FP+ for one for them.

during our Halloween trip, i waited at least two hours to meet Jack and Sally.

 

[PatMcDuck]

The more I keep reading about the long waits for Anna and Elsa the more worried I am getting. We will be there first week of Feb...have reservations at BBB in the morning. I've planned to take my DD's Anna and Elsa dresses in our luggage and surprise them on the morning of BBB. We have dinner ressies at akerhaus. Was hoping my Two DD's would get to meet Anna and Elsa on the day they are all pretty from BBB and in their dresses. But from what I'm reading it just doesn't look like its gonna happen. My wish is they will get a FP+ to meet them....

I don't think the lines are the same the week between Christmas and New Years, and the first week of February! So your plan may work just fine.

It would be nice if they offered FP+ for Anna and Elsa, of course. Even if they had them at MK (in the new Fantasyland attraction with the FP options) as well as Epcot for awhile.

 

[mom2rtk]

Check the times again any day after 1/6. I think everyone will be happy to see the wait down to 2 hours again!

My 90 minute wait at DLR earlier this month now looks like a real bargain!

 

[mom2rtk]

Just curious. When demand became problematic with Rapunzel and Flynn they reduced the meeting to just Rapunzel so they could add more appearances.

I would think a duo would have a limited life span as the cost is double that of a single character meeting. Which one do people care about meeting more..... Anna or Elsa? Or maybe they'd just switch them off if they went that direction?

 

[mesaboy2]

Check the times again any day after 1/6. I think everyone will be happy to see the wait down to 2 hours again!

My 90 minute wait at DLR earlier this month now looks like a real bargain!

Yeah, our 70 minutes in November definitely looks like a deal now.

Just curious. When demand became problematic with Rapunzel and Flynn they reduced the meeting to just Rapunzel so they could add more appearances.

I would think a duo would have a limited life span as the cost is double that of a single character meeting. Which one do people care about meeting more..... Anna or Elsa? Or maybe they'd just switch them off if they went that direction?

I would think Elsa would be the keeper, but my DD is doing nothing but playing Anna on Infinity the last few days, to the detriment of I think 7 other characters--including Elsa, Rapunzel, and Vanellope.

And you're not suggesting princess roulette would improve things, are you?

 

[crostorfer]

The WS opens at 11 every day, right? People are already lining up at 9:00 AM for the 11 AM meet and greet, right? So, even if you made a breakfast reservation and lined up at 8:45, you would still need to wait over 2 hours wouldn't you?

Not if you make a 9:30 reservation, take one hour to eat, and then hang around the Norway pavilion for only 30 minutes.

To meet Rapunzel people were making Crystal Palace reservations, not to eat there, but in order to get into the park early to be one of the first hour of groups to meet her. Same strategy, essentially.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yeah, our 70 minutes in November definitely looks like a deal now.



I would think Elsa would be the keeper, but my DD is doing nothing but playing Anna on Infinity the last few days, to the detriment of I think 7 other characters--including Elsa, Rapunzel, and Vanellope.

And you're not suggesting princess roulette would improve things, are you?

You just had to put that out there, didn't you? Now if it happens, I get to blame you.

I actually sort of see Anna as the lead, but I like Elsa's costume more.

 

[jimandami]

Not if you make a 9:30 reservation, take one hour to eat, and then hang around the Norway pavilion for only 30 minutes.

To meet Rapunzel people were making Crystal Palace reservations, not to eat there, but in order to get into the park early to be one of the first hour of groups to meet her. Same strategy, essentially.

But people are reporting they are cutting off the line for the 11 session at around 9:45 most days. Even the OP went to line up around 10 (after the TT fastpass, right?) and it was going to be for the session that was 5 hours later! I think what is different with MK is that even though WS doesn't open til 11, they are allowing people to line up when FW opens, thus creating a 2 hour wait from the get-go.