Elsa and Anna meet & greet: how long did you wait in line?

[abbynlindsaysmom]

Well, I'm going at rope drop with EMH so I hope if I get there at 8, that it won't be AS bad. I don't know but my kids really want to see them so I guess I'm stuck in line until we make it to the front!

 

[scrappinam]

We have an ADR at akershus for 8:00 am. One if us is going to leave around 8:45 to get in line for Anna and Elsa. Is this early enough or should we leave at 8:30? We have a 5 yr old & a 2 year old that love Anna and Elsa but I am hoping to minimize the time that they have to stand in line.

Also is it better to enter epcot at the main gate or at the international gateway? We have only entered at the main gate before. I wasn't sure if those with early adr's could enter at the international gateway.

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

We have an ADR at akershus for 8:00 am. One if us is going to leave around 8:45 to get in line for Anna and Elsa. Is this early enough or should we leave at 8:30? We have a 5 yr old & a 2 year old that love Anna and Elsa but I am hoping to minimize the time that they have to stand in line.

Also is it better to enter epcot at the main gate or at the international gateway? We have only entered at the main gate before. I wasn't sure if those with early adr's could enter at the international gateway.

Early ADR's can enter at the International gateway. They have someone there checking names the same way they do at the main gate.

 

[JacksDaddy]

Would they allow us in the park at 8:30am for a 9:35am res at Akershush? My plan would be to go directly to the Elsa line and if luck would have it that we are done by 9:30 we go to breakfast, if not, wife/daughter stay in line while son and I go enjoy breakfast. Will this work?

 

[triana00]

Would they allow us in the park at 8:30am for a 9:35am res at Akershush? My plan would be to go directly to the Elsa line and if luck would have it that we are done by 9:30 we go to breakfast, if not, wife/daughter stay in line while son and I go enjoy breakfast. Will this work?

I don't know. They do check reservation times when letting guests in before the park opens. Not sure how strict they are about the times. They have a clipboard a d check names, time and people in your party

 

[Nole95]

I wonder why Disney has not implemented some type of ticketing system for this. By now, they have to know the average number of people that are getting through the line per hour.

Why not have a cast member there handing out timed tickets to come back later? Sort of like a manual FP. If they did not want to hand out tickets, then do a sign up procedure like occurs for JTA at HS.

Seems like this would be a win-win for everyone and would cost nothing. It would get the congestion down in Norway and allow people to go about their day as usual. There is no reason a guest should be waiting in line more than 5 hours for anything.

 

[ks-man]

Just wrote a whole thread about our experience, but saw this, so I'll paste here too:

At the world right now. Went to Epcot this morning. Got to the international gateway ex trance at 8:20, they didn't start bag check until about 8:55. I'm not sure what time we actually made it into the park, probably about 9:00. We got over to Norway as fast as we could. If I weren't pregnant, maybe we could have made it a couple minutes faster. We were in line at 9:07 at which point we were told the wait would be two and a half hours. We had lunch reservations at 11:30, but decided to stay because there was no way the wait was really that long. Five minutes later, they were telling people the line was five hours. The line didn't move at all until about 9:30.

We actually had a really good time waiting. The weather was beautiful, we made friends with the other folks on the line, joked around. My sister-in-law actually gave birth back home while we were waiting and the folks in line celebrated with us. We also sat most of the time in the shade, which made it much easier. Only the last hour was a little tough. By the time we got to the front, we felt like we just finished some long race or something. The whole experience was really my favorite part of the day, lol.

The three hours really did fly by. And yeah, we were pretty late for lunch, but it turned out OK.

Just thought I'd post our story for anyone thinking about going there at rope drop. Get there fast, fast as your legs will take you.

My god, are you really saying that by 9:12am today the line was 5 hours long???

 

[Disney_Princess83]

My god, are you really saying that by 9:12am today the line was 5 hours long???

Yes, I have heard this on several occassions

 

[imLissy]

My god, are you really saying that by 9:12am today the line was 5 hours long???

I was surprised too, especially because the park wasn't that crowded. That's the longest the line got all day though.

 

[ks-man]

I see people saying to get to Epcot at 8am to get in line for the 9am opening. Is that the earliest that you can get there? Any reason not to get there at 7:30am to ensure you are at the front?

--Edit--

Also, how long is the jog/run from the main gate to Norway? Is it over a mile? Hopefully this running at the gym I've started the past month will be good for something.

 

[thadarkslayer]

Basically, what I'm getting from this thread if I'm park hopping and end up at Epcot early afternoon, I'm going to be spending most of my afternoon in line if I want to meet Elsa and Anna. Bummer.

 

[ConvenientTruth]

My kids will just have to miss out, because there in no way in hell I'm waiting in line for 3 hours for them to meet these two.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Basically, what I'm getting from this thread if I'm park hopping and end up at Epcot early afternoon, I'm going to be spending most of my afternoon in line if I want to meet Elsa and Anna. Bummer.

Yes. more than likely. A minimum it seems 90 minutes + is the minimum wait times. Most people are waiting 2-3 hours.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

Yes. more than likely. A minimum it seems 90 minutes + is the minimum wait times. Most people are waiting 2-3 hours.

. What is the better strategy - to go right away at rope drop or to try in the afternoon? We are not going to do akershus this visit because we r going to try CRT. Thanks!

 

[1princess2pirates]

Anyone who actually waited 4-5 hours themselves? I keep reading that so and so told me, by a friend, a relative or I heard.... you know how that goes people always like to embellish after the fact to make them look like they did something great. Someone posted earlier that they cut the line off if it reaches 4-5 hours, which would totally make sense to me. It looks like waits are somewhere between 2-3 hours. 3 years ago when we went, I waited more than 2 hours for Rapunzel and Flynn when they were new and almost that long for TinkerBell and the Fairies when they were at Epcot.

 

[mom2rtk]

Anyone who actually waited 4-5 hours themselves? I keep reading that so and so told me, by a friend, a relative or I heard.... you know how that goes people always like to embellish after the fact to make them look like they did something great. Someone posted earlier that they cut the line off if it reaches 4-5 hours, which would totally make sense to me. It looks like waits are somewhere between 2-3 hours. 3 years ago when we went, I waited more than 2 hours for Rapunzel and Flynn when they were new and almost that long for TinkerBell and the Fairies when they were at Epcot.

I think most of the posters here are well aware of the popularity of this meet & greet and made an effort to be there prior to rope drop to avoid the worst of the waits.

The reports I have heard were not "my sister's co-worker said they waited 4 hours" but instead "We were 2 hours back in line but heard the CMs telling those entering the line later that it would be 4 hours."

 

[Itinkso]

Anyone who actually waited 4-5 hours themselves? I keep reading that so and so told me, by a friend, a relative or I heard.... you know how that goes people always like to embellish after the fact to make them look like they did something great. Someone posted earlier that they cut the line off if it reaches 4-5 hours, which would totally make sense to me. It looks like waits are somewhere between 2-3 hours. 3 years ago when we went, I waited more than 2 hours for Rapunzel and Flynn when they were new and almost that long for TinkerBell and the Fairies when they were at Epcot.

On Feb. 18th, I stopped by the A&E line just to check on the wait times. The CM said that the day before, Presidents' Day, the wait time was six hours. The Line Attendants only stop/end the line when they have determined there are enough people in line to meet the characters up until the meet ending time.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Saw a few facebook comments from folks who said they were Disney guests and waited 4-5 hours Not everybody waited in line that long, you need 1 person to hold the spot.

 

[1princess2pirates]

Saw a few facebook comments from folks who said they were Disney guests and waited 4-5 hours Not everybody waited in line that long, you need 1 person to hold the spot.

I just haven't seen anyone comment on here that they actually waited 4-5 hours.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

My kids will just have to miss out, because there in no way in hell I'm waiting in line for 3 hours for them to meet these two.

Neither would I, no matter how much my DDs begged me. My 9-year-old DD couldn't believe parents are waiting three to five hours. If it's worth it to you, go ahead, but refusing doesn't make you the worse parent in the world either. It's your vacation too.