Anna and Elsa Fastpass Hoarding

[spleuchan]

My 60 day window opened in the past week. I wanted A&E for Wednesday morning of our trip, to no avail waking up at 1 am. I booked it for both the evening of Wednesday and Friday, not sure which one to pick. I thought about it for a couple days, then dropped the Wednesday evening. I know they are popular, but going the last week of August (which is suppose to be lower crowds, although with the amount of people saying they are going then, I'm starting to wonder), I figured I could have gotten Wednesday morning or afternoon waking up at 1 am 64 days out. Are people selecting them for a bunch of different days just because they are popular and hoarding them, planning on dropping them later?

 

[slickpoetry]

I have read people on here report not being able to get them at 60 days out, but then checking closer to their trip and finding some availability. So if that is true it does suggest that the scenario you describe could be happening.

 

[Kpskyman]

A&E are the most popular M&G characters right now with a stand by line of 4 hrs some days. There may be a small percentage of hoarders but overall everyone going into the parks wants to have a visit with them so the passes go quickly. Keep trying though because like you, folks change their minds on when to visit and cancel their FP so you could still have a chance.

 

[spleuchan]

A&E are the most popular M&G characters right now with a stand by line of 4 hrs some days. There may be a small percentage of hoarders but overall everyone going into the parks wants to have a visit with them so the passes go quickly. Keep trying though because like you, folks change their minds on when to visit and cancel their FP so you could still have a chance.

I understand they are the most popular, but looking at my app right now, 7MT's expected wait time is 85 minutes, splash mountain is 60 minutes, space mountain is 50 minutes, and A&E is only 45 minutes. I understand many more people can ride those rides than A&E, but I figured 7MT and A&E would be close in availability, but not even close.

However, Cinderella and Rapunzel is also the same 45 minutes at the moment. I realize there are other times when A&E is slightly longer of a wait, but getting Fastpasses for Cinderella and Rapunzel isn't a problem, just A&E. It almost seems like an A&E bubble to me. The hype of how hard getting a fastpass is, is making others hoard them up.

 

[scoobydooby]

I think it's simple supply and demand. They are the slowest loader so to speak in the park. Tens of thousands of guests a day. A tiny % of whom can see these characters. Remember most other princesses can also be seen at character meals increasing overall capacity to see them. Not A and E.

 

[jco_direwolf]

As far as I see it. It doesn't make any difference if someone "hoards" FP+ at 60 days out for anything (A&E, Soarin, TSM, or IasW.) They have choosen to remove the option of getting something else at that time.

This isn't the days of free ADRs where there was no reason not to book 3 or 4 meals per day depending on what you wanted when the day came. That is a case where you are hurting others because you are not going to eat TS lunch at 4 different parks in one day.

When you choose which A&E you are going to use you'll be in the pool with everyone else at the time trying to find a left over something else FP+ to replace A&E or you are losing all your FP+ selections to move from MK to EP or DHS.

 

[mossy1]

My 60 day window opened in the past week. I wanted A&E for Wednesday morning of our trip, to no avail waking up at 1 am. I booked it for both the evening of Wednesday and Friday, not sure which one to pick. I thought about it for a couple days, then dropped the Wednesday evening. I know they are popular, but going the last week of August (which is suppose to be lower crowds, although with the amount of people saying they are going then, I'm starting to wonder), I figured I could have gotten Wednesday morning or afternoon waking up at 1 am 64 days out. Are people selecting them for a bunch of different days just because they are popular and hoarding them, planning on dropping them later?

OP I am just curious but what is your party size? From what I have been noticing the larger groups are filling very quickly especially for A&E. However if you can search in smaller groups or individually you may bring up some better times. Also if you have a longer trip, availability may be better at the end of your trip than the beginning since it would be less picked over, if that makes sense. Good Luck!!

 

[TwoCortWort]

I woke up and got ours at the 60 day mark for the first day, that was the day my niece wanted and at 7:00 the earliest I could get was 2:50 for 4 people. I called Disney to see if they could see if there were earlier times, but said I would have to split it into 2 different times for 2 people would be the only way to get it. So we are splitting AK and MK one day and seeing the parade on a fast pass.

 

[spleuchan]

OP I am just curious but what is your party size? From what I have been noticing the larger groups are filling very quickly especially for A&E. However if you can search in smaller groups or individually you may bring up some better times. Also if you have a longer trip, availability may be better at the end of your trip than the beginning since it would be less picked over, if that makes sense. Good Luck!!

Only 4, so not huge. I do have a spot, so I shouldn't complain too much. Just had to be flexible and book it for a night I wasn't planning to be at MK. We are doing BBB first thing Wednesday, so I was hoping to get one with my daughter dressed up that morning or afternoon. I'll still keep trying.

 

[Aurora0427]

OP I am just curious but what is your party size? From what I have been noticing the larger groups are filling very quickly especially for A&E. However if you can search in smaller groups or individually you may bring up some better times. Also if you have a longer trip, availability may be better at the end of your trip than the beginning since it would be less picked over, if that makes sense. Good Luck!!

This is going to be my strategy. We are going for 6 nights with a seventh day the day we fly out. I am going to try and book A&E towards the end of our trip first, then go back and try and find something on day 2. I have a 3 year old, so a 8pm FP just won't work. I am hoping I can get lucky and get something in the morning or afternoon. We are going before school gets out in early December, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[spleuchan]

However if you can search in smaller groups or individually you may bring up some better times. Also if you have a longer trip, availability may be better at the end of your trip than the beginning since it would be less picked over, if that makes sense. Good Luck!!

The best tip ever. I had a party size of 4, which seems relatively small, but I've been looking for a group of 4 in the morning or afternoon on a particular day for a week and nothing. However, by breaking us into 2 and 2, I was able to get two sets of two for anna and elsa in the morning / afternoon for the day i wanted. Then after about 3 days of stalking, I was able to switch one of the groups of 2 to overlap the first one. So now we have one group of 2 10:40 - 11:40 and a 2nd group fo 2 10:50 - 11:50. So as long as we go between 10:50 and 11:40 we are golden. Anyone that is looking for anna and elsa should do this strategy if they can't get their party size for the day and timeframe they want.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I woke up and got ours at the 60 day mark for the first day, that was the day my niece wanted and at 7:00 the earliest I could get was 2:50 for 4 people. I called Disney to see if they could see if there were earlier times, but said I would have to split it into 2 different times for 2 people would be the only way to get it. So we are splitting AK and MK one day and seeing the parade on a fast pass.

Only 4, so not huge. I do have a spot, so I shouldn't complain too much. Just had to be flexible and book it for a night I wasn't planning to be at MK. We are doing BBB first thing Wednesday, so I was hoping to get one with my daughter dressed up that morning or afternoon. I'll still keep trying.

We had a party of 4, and I had to book each person individually in order to get the time I wanted (late morning on our only MK day). Everyone in your party doesn't need the exact same time, as long as the windows overlap. Between the 4 of us, we have a 20 minute overlap and that's when we'll enter the line. Yes, it narrows your window, but booking one at a time gives a wider range of times than trying to book 3 or more at a time.

 

[jco_direwolf]

They are the slowest loader so to speak in the park.

yep at best they have a total capacity of 600 people per day? Even old single dumbo could do something close to that per hour.

 

[lizard1]

I have to agree with booking in smaller groups. A&E doesn't have nearly the capacity as a rollercoaster. Therefore, there are fewer FP available to start with.

Also, remember that FP booking is similar to making ADR. People who are staying onsite can book at 60 days for the LENGTH of their stay. It isn't just limited to the 10 days like the dining is. So, if a group is there for 2 or 3 weeks (I know, maybe not the norm, but just to illustrate a point), at your 60 days they may have been able to book FP for that day for 2 or 3 weeks. This makes it more difficult to get desired times, especially if you do not have a longer trip planned or have a bigger group that you travel with.

 

[Aurora0427]

Would you guys recommend booking one at a time for a party of 3? My daughter is 3. A 9pm FP just isn't going to cut it, and we have dining reservations every night, so 7pm isn't going to cut it either. We go in early December, and I am quietly freaking out about this!

 

[spleuchan]

Would you guys recommend booking one at a time for a party of 3? My daughter is 3. A 9pm FP just isn't going to cut it, and we have dining reservations every night, so 7pm isn't going to cut it either. We go in early December, and I am quietly freaking out about this!

I'd recommend grabbing whatever you can. Start with a single and keep checking. Singles pop up quite frequently. Before you know it you will have 2 with overlapping times, then 3. Speaking with experience.

 

[lizard1]

Would you guys recommend booking one at a time for a party of 3? My daughter is 3. A 9pm FP just isn't going to cut it, and we have dining reservations every night, so 7pm isn't going to cut it either. We go in early December, and I am quietly freaking out about this!

It may depend when in your trip you are trying to book. If you are trying later in your trip, you have a better chance. When I booked my A&E, I had no problems booking for a party of 4 and got good times. However, there was no availability for my party of 8. I would try to book for the entire party at the same time. If there is no availability or you can't get your desired time, then break up the party and try again.

 

[igk]

Isn't there a simple way of increasing capacity at A&E? I mean a 'ride' like SDMT has a physically restricted capacity due to it's very nature, but they could increase meet & greet capacity by just having more of the characters operating simultaneously. OK the room they meet in is special and all that so that would need some thought, but it's far easier to reconfigure meeting space than it is to build a new ride.

Maybe that's what already happens - or is there really just one Anna & Elsa at a time?

 

[DizneyLizzy]

yep at best they have a total capacity of 600 people per day? Even old single dumbo could do something close to that per hour.

This! They are not technically the most popular attraction in the park...statistically speaking, most guests are not lining up to meet them. If they see 1,000 people per day and there are 50,000 guests in the MK (average day, right?) they are seeing 2% of the total days park guests.

 

[helenk]

My 6 year old grand-daughter and I will be in WDW August 17th through the 22nd. At my 60 day mark I was ready at midnight, and the site was not working. I went to bed and got back up before 6:00 am to try again and I was able to book our Anna & Elsa fast passes for the 18th for 11:20 to 12:20, which was perfect because we have breakfast at 9:35. I also booked to see them again on the 21st which is our last full day at 3:30 to 4:30. We can watch the 3:00 parade see Anna and Elsa one last time, and then finish our day in Epcot.
I also booked the Frozen package in DHS for the 20th, Hopefully this will not all be Frozen over-kill.