A&E Meet&Greet & Olaf

[neonderlyn]

My girls adore all things frozen so doing meet and greets with both A&E and Olaf our a most on our trip. What is the best plan of attack for these?

Do we go first thing when the park opens or could we go on a day when we have MM @ disneyland @ 8, do those rides for a few hours then go over to DCA and do the meet and greets?

Never been to disneyland so im not sure how to plan days around things we want to do.

 

[lorijohnhill]

You should go early in your day to the the Fastpasses. It doesn't have to be the first thing you do, but I would really try to get them before 10 or 11 am.

 

[figment_jii]

Olaf does not use the FP/Return Ticket system, so it's best to get there early. When I was there in late March (just before the peak of Spring Break started), you were issued a pager that let you roam around the Snow Play area or Hollywoodland from Playhouse Disney to the Aladdin Theater. If you get there early enough, they just hand you a pager, but if you get there later, you will have to wait in line to get the pager. I got there about 15 minutes after opening and they were handing out pagers. It was about a 30 to 45 minutes wait for the pager to go off, but you don't have to go back right away (any time after the pager goes off is fine). By the time we finished seeing Olaf and looking around the snow area, it was about 90 minutes after the park opened and the sight said the wait for a pager was about one hour. So, I would try to get there early to cut on down on the wait. It is worth noting that Olaf's Snow Fest's last day is April 30th (looks like you'll be there for a few days before May 1)...no one has said where Olaf will be after that (or what system will be used).

A&E use a Return Ticket system. You put in your park ticket and will be issued a Return Ticket time window when you can come back to see A&E. You have to return within that time window. All reports so far indicate that the FP/Return Ticket for A&E is not linked to the rest of the DCA FP system.

If you really want to make use of your Disneyland MM, you can do that, but I would try to get back to DCA within the first 30 minutes of it's opening time to get an Olaf pager with minimal wait and an A&E Return Ticket. I would go to Olaf first, get the pager, and then go get the A&E Return Ticket.

 

[lorijohnhill]

The Olaf process has changed. He now uses the FP system. (They were having a problem with pagers not being returned. The CM said they started with over 200 and ended up with only 30 left.) The former pager line is now the line to enter the building. This line is to the right, as you face the building. They let groups in about every 20 minutes or so. Once you enter the building you then get in line to play in the snow. We waited an additional 15 minutes for that.

If you want to see Olaf, approach one of the CMs in front of the building to receive a Fastpass. When your FP window opens you may then enter the building and get in line to see Olaf. Again, the line was about 15 minutes or so.

 

[lorijohnhill]

We discovered this change over Easter. My brother (who hates standing in line to see characters) was not very happy with me.

 

[figment_jii]

Interesting...I must have gone just before the change over. Don't you love how they change the system right as the activity is about to end? Or...I wonder if this is getting put in place in anticipation of the end of Olaf's Snow Fest and the planned re-location of Olaf to some other M&G location...

Do you happen to know if this is a Fastpass (like you get for an attraction to the Sing Along) or more like a Return Ticket (like you get for A&E that is disconnected from the rest of the FP system)?

 

[lorijohnhill]

I don't know for sure which kind of pass it was. I don't think it was connected because we only needed on pass for the three of us. They didn't scan our tickets or anything. In fact, I didn't know the procedure had changed, so we got in the line like always. It wasn't until we got to the front of the line that we learned we were in the line to enter the building for snow play. The CM then explained about the pager problems and went and got a Fastpass or Return Ticket for us.

Changing the process to prepare for relocation make a whole lot more sense than the pager story, but who knows....

 

[figment_jii]

If you only got one per group and didn't need to scan your ticket, it can't be connected to the rest of the DCA FP system. So that's good to know! Sounds just like the pager system, only no pager. What kind of return time did you get? Was it for much later in the day?

 

[brandimay412]

I had a friend that was just there yesterday and I asked her about the Olaf M&G because it's a must for our trip in 10 days and she said that they had ran out of passes pretty quickly to meet Olaf (she didn't give me a time but said they were out by the time she got there) so she suggested going there early to get the pass. And touring plans had yesterday rated at a 4/10 so I can't imagine how hard it would be to get one on the busier days. I know for sure that'll be our first stop on one of our mornings.

 

[figment_jii]

I wonder if seeing Olaf last longer into the day with the pager system because you had to be willing to wait in line to get the pager. With the Return Ticket, you just get the ticket and go on with your day.

 

[lorijohnhill]

Our return time was for somewhere in the range of 5 to 6 hours later.

 

[Carolynleanne]

Wow - this stresses me out a bit. We'll plan to get FP to meet Olaf first thing I guess!

 

[agamble]

I hope they determine the relocation soon. We'd love to meet Olaf, but we're not going for another month. It'd be nice if he just met with the sisters, but I suppose that's not likely. They should put him where Duffy used to be. Decorate it all for summer with a beach theme. That'd be cute.