Anna and Elsa FP confirmation

[LalaCoop]

Any recent updates or changes to the process?

 

[DrClinky]

I want to make sure I understand this process so I don't go to the wrong place We will be going next month on a MM. Early Entry is at 8, park opens to public at 9. Please tell me if this is what I should be doing. We are planning on being to the park no later than 7:30am. Once they let us into the park I should be going to the hub on the left hand side (Statue of Walt & Mickey). There should be someone there with some sort of Frozen sign/hat?!?! I should get in that line and they walk us to the area where they are handing out the return tickets? Is this correct? And I can take the tickets for our whole group once we get into the park? Am I planning on getting there early enough? We are going on a Tuesday and staying at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We were hoping to grab breakfast and walk over to the entrance while eating. Thanks in Advance!

How did this work for you? I was also wondering if there are any updates. Thanks! Sorry for the duplicate!!!! I didn't think this went through

 

[DrClinky]

I was also wandering if there are any new tips to this process. If I arrive 7:30am, how much time should I allow for procuring 'return tickets'. Could I be on Peter Pan by 8:20???? I am a crazy planner. Can someone share a recent experience at rope drop? Thanks!

CashKaneenHensleysmom...how did it work out for you with your plan?

 

[DharmaLou]

Interested as well if there have been any changes - do we go straight to the A&E M&G by Village Haus to get our FP?

 

[Epek]

I did it this morning. Sunday, 8am opening non-EMH. We did not make rope drop, but were walking in shortly after park opening. We went straight to the meet n greet area and were directed to the return pass line which stretches along the Village Haus towards Frontierland. The end of the line was at the gate between lands. It took us about a half hour to get the passes and we had a return time of 11:20-11:40.
We arrived back about 11:15 and were allowed to go right in line. The CM was going to hold us, but decided to let us go ahead. It took almost 45 mins to get to Anna and Elsa. Long, but I'll take that over 3hrs! I think it took so long because they take so much time with each group. The girls were great, especially Anna. Ds4 who is never shy got all clingy with me and they coaxed him right out if his funk. I'm glad we finally got to see them!

 

[lb2000]

I did it today too...was not really planning to, but wandered by probably shortly before 9:00 to find a very short line, so I got 4 "reservations" and came back between 1:40 and 2:00. We probably waited 5 minutes for the fast pass and then 20 - 25 minutes in line when we went back. It was pretty easy.

 

[kiwiweezy]

We did the Elsa and Anna meet and greet on Sunday Oct 5, which had an 8am opening without any early entry hours. We got to the gate (after parking, tram etc) around 7:30am. At about 7:45am they let us through and we walked fast down Main Street to the hub where there were cast members directing people to the line for Frozen. We waited in this line for about 10 mins then around 7:55am they led us through the rope and under the castle to the Elsa and Anna M&G area. The first several groups got to go straight into the line to see Elsa and Anna and we were with the rest of the people in the line to receive return tickets. There were maybe 5-10 groups ahead of us. At 8am they started giving out the return tickets and we had ours by about 8:05-8:10am. Our return window was 8:30-8:50am so I don't think they were giving out any return windows for earlier than 8:30am. We decided to ride Peter Pan while waiting. It already had a posted 30 min wait but it was probably closer to 20mins. We were done with Peter Pan shortly after 8:30am and we were able to walk straight in to see Elsa and Anna without waiting at all. I think that the first groups who didn't get return tickets and went straight in had all finished and none of the 8:30-8:50am groups like us had returned yet since we were right at the beginning of that window. Anyway, it worked out perfectly for us with very minimal waiting time. I would definitely advise getting to the park as early as possible to avoid waiting long to get the return tickets etc.

For those who are interested in other characters too, right after Elsa and Anna we went to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell and had about a 15 min wait. We had not planned to wait to see the princesses in Royal Hall since we assumed there would be a long wait by the time we were there, but in the late afternoon (shortly before the last performance at Royal Theatre) I noticed there was no line outside Royal Hall. I asked the cast member how long the wait would be and he said we could go right in! They only had Cinderella and Snow White in attendance there (no third princess like they usually have) but with no wait it was totally worth it! Around that same time (between 4 and 5pm?) we also noticed Rapunzel and Flynn Rider were doing an impromptu M&G over by the Snow White grotto - we waited around 20 mins to see them but they were so great with our daughter and really made it a fun experience for us all.

Hope this info is helpful to some of you. I have definitely benefited from reading all the other experiences people have posted here

 

[DharmaLou]

Thanks so much for the info. Looks like it helps to be there first thing rather than trying an hour later or so.

 

[SPOERLX3]

Hoping for some help from my Disboard friends
I won a trip to DL (4 days/3 nights w/ 4- 1 day tickets with no PH).
We will be there Thursday, November 20-Sunday, November 23rd.
Our flight lands at 8:15am on day 1. We are hoping to get our luggage and on the bus to DLH by 8:45am, an hour bus ride to the DLH, check in by 10am and hopefully to a park between 10:20-10:30 (Does this sound about right )
With predicted crowd levels at DL on Thursday (our 1st day) being a 2 vs Friday being a 4, would we even have a chance for a return time ticket for A&E on Thursday if we don't get there till 10:30 on and 9am EE day? or should we just do CA on Thursday and RD DL on Friday?

Our original plans were to do:
Thur: DL 10:30ish-8pm
Fri: CA 8am-10p
Sat: CA 9a-2p (back to hotel to rest a couple hours) then use our 4th day ticket to go back to DL from 4pm-midnight) Our flight leaves at 2:15pm on Sunday so are going to use both our 1 day tickets (days 3 and 4) on Saturday.
Sun: sleep in, good breakfast, DTD and back to DLH to catch the bus back to the airport by 11:15 (2:15 flight).

But now I am wondering if we should flip our park choices on Thursday/Friday. My thought was since both parks predicted crowd level on Friday is a 2, it would be nice to have an extra low crowd level for DL for Thursday.

I hope this makes sense

 

[2tinkerbell]

We tried that on 9/30 and when we got to the Anna and Elsa M&G for a FP, they were all gone. It makes it very stressful and you never know when something might happen. If Anna and Elsa are a must do, I would try for your second day and then switch around and do DL first on your third day if you didn't have a chance on your second day.

Doing CA first on your first day is easier. FP for Radiator Springs are still available. TSMM would be your only issue in that park.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We just got back late last night and found the Elsa & Anna M&G very easy. I hadn't actually planned seeing them - we were only there for 2.5 days and didn't want to use time trying to secure FPs knowing we'd back in a month for longer (and we had seen them in June). We started our morning in Tomorrowland and did Space 2x and then did a bunch of rides in FL. At about 8:30, I noticed they were still handing out FPs, so asked the kids if they wanted to see them. I was able to secure 8 FPs for 6:30-6:50pm with zero wait to get them. We returned right at 6:30 and had one family in front of us. E&A spent A LOT of time with the kids once we were in.

I know there is no guarantee they'll be FP that late in the morning, but I found it so much easier than trying to rush there first thing.

 

[SPOERLX3]

We tried that on 9/30 and when we got to the Anna and Elsa M&G for a FP, they were all gone. It makes it very stressful and you never know when something might happen. If Anna and Elsa are a must do, I would try for your second day and then switch around and do DL first on your third day if you didn't have a chance on your second day.

Doing CA first on your first day is easier. FP for Radiator Springs are still available. TSMM would be your only issue in that park.

That was my next question, the FP's for Radiator Springs
And CA doesn't open on Thursday till 10am, so we would only miss 30 minutes of park opening so we could possibly still get the RS FP and then make it over to TSMM. or go to TSMM first thing on Saturday Morning!

 

[disneydadazut2]

Just got back from from our trip. Just to give our experience..

We were worried about not being able to get there in time, especially with UEA and the Halloween Holiday crowd. We arrived for Magic Morning at 6:45, we were at the ticket booth and waiting for park entry. I'm not sure why - but they didn't let us past the ticket booth until about 7:07 - and at that point, people just ran to their rides/lines.

I took our stroller and baby to get the tickets and my wife took other three kids to Dumbo, etc. Turns out that by the time I arrived at the Frozen line, if the whole family had been there, we could have walked right on in. Instead, I got my tickets to return from 7:40 - 8:00 am. We came back at 7:45 and nearly walked right in. In between FP tickets and photos, we were able to ride dumbo, Mr. Toads, Peter Pan and the carousel. Could have done another dark ride, but was afraid we would miss our window.

When we were done with the photos, we lingered around Fantasyland for a few more minutes - and when 8 am hit - there was a HUGE stream of people running for the A&E ticket line. We had heard from Cast members on Wednesday that the tickets were gone within 60 in of park opening.

Wait times:
In the "Fast Pass/Return Ticket" line - 4min
In the actually line: 3min? However, when we came out from our pictures, I saw that the actual line was now probably 4-5 families deep.

Lesson learned - should have stayed together since we were the third family in the ticket booth line (yeah, one of 16 or so ticket booths). The other thing - DON'T try and fudge with the tickets. In this line, they check and double check everything so there isn't any tricks going on.

 

[GatorChris]

The other thing - DON'T try and fudge with the tickets. In this line, they check and double check everything so there isn't any tricks going on.

Good. I wondered if they'd up security for this.

 

[DrClinky]

This is all very helpful. Thank you!!!!

 

[BigCheese]

We did the A&E FP process this morning and our experience is like everyone else's recent experience. We met A&E back in February when it was a mad dash to the meet & greet or face a 2-3 hour wait and I have to say the current process is so much smoother. The only cavaet is that you have to get there in the morning because today the FPs were gone by 10:00.

Today was a non MM 8:00 opening at the park (relatively early due to MHP in the evening) and we got there around 7:15. They opened the gates around 7:45ish or so and there were plenty of CMs with signs on Main Street directing the crowds. The FP line formed on the left side of the hub and at around 7:55 the CMs led the line around the left side of Sleeping Beauty's castle and into Fantasyland. The first 40 guests could meet A&E at 8:00, or you could opt for a FP for a later return time. We were one of the first 40 but opted for a FP and received a window between 8:20-8:40. They just scanned your tickets and gave us the FPs with the time window printed on them. You can have one person in your party get all of your FPs but you need to have every person's ticket with you. When we got our FPs it was right at rope drop as the guests started flowing into Fantasyland. We opted for the FP to get a couple of rides in before the lines for Peter Pan and Dumbo got too long. At 8:20 we went back to the meet & greet where there was literally zero wait to meet A&E. When we went in there was only one family in line after us. The interaction was fantastic, especially the friendliness and outgoing nature of Anna. All in all a great experience and a lot smoother and easier than what it was before. The only downside is that if you get there later in the morning you'll be out of luck.

 

[LalaCoop]

Big Cheese, how long was the wait for PP? Glad the process worked for you!

 

[BigCheese]

Big Cheese, how long was the wait for PP? Glad the process worked for you!

For us yesterday the wait was short. We were about the tenth family in line and got the passes right after 8:00 (they let the line into Fantasyland before top drop and started handing them out before official park opening), so from the time they opened the gates, we had passes in hand in about 15 min (but if you're not near the front the wait is most definitely longer). Today's process was a lot different than yesterday. Today was a MM. They did rope drop at the end of Main Street at the corners of Coke Corner and the Photo store (instead of further up Main St at the hub). They also didn't have any special line on Main Street for the FPs. Instead it was a mad dash to Fantasyland to get into the FP line. Most of the folks at rope drop headed for the FP line. Not sure if this is the typical process on MM days but I personally like yesterday's process better.