At EPCOT now Anna n Elsa OH MY!

[AliceandAriel]

Also, in the mean time, they should be instructing the sisters to interact less with each guest. Sorry...I know that idea darn near gives some people here a stroke. However, until they do something else to alleviate the wait times, just have people come up, maybe a quick hug, get your picture (and limit those too - no taking a picture of every possible permutation of your party) and move on to the guests and try to move the line better.

Now that I don't agree with in the least. They're new characters (by Disney standards) and therefore any way they can further cement themselves as long-term characters with power is a must on both ends.

What Disney should have done, is hire more of the lovely ladies after the auditions they held a couple months ago. Obviously the girls are popular. Why not put them in MK? Why not add them to Akershus and remove Belle for the time being?

No person, child or adult, want to simply wait how many hours in line just for a photo, smile, autograph, and a, "Hi nice to meet you, okay bye!"

 

[Mac4life30]

Got to the park around 8:30-8:40 on 2/13, in the park and at the A&E M&G line by 9:13. Three hour plus wait. Was it worth it? Yes, but I'm a solo traveler with no kids or adults with me, so I didn't have to worry about someone else spazzing or needing to pee or what have you. I imagine this is much harder for adults with children.

Thats another thing I don't understand. Guest who wait 3+ hours yet come out saying it was worth it. Im not saying anything bad Im happy you enjoyed your time but I just couldn't justify that wait for anything

 

[Mac4life30]

Now that I don't agree with in the least. They're new characters (by Disney standards) and therefore any way they can further cement themselves as long-term characters with power is a must on both ends.

What Disney should have done, is hire more of the lovely ladies after the auditions they held a couple months ago. Obviously the girls are popular. Why not put them in MK? Why not add them to Akershus and remove Belle for the time being?

No person, child or adult, want to simply wait how many hours in line just for a photo, smile, autograph, and a, "Hi nice to meet you, okay bye!"

I agree but then you have 5 hour waits. I don't think is fair for anyone to have to wait 5 hours for anything.

 

[AliceandAriel]

There are a lot of good ideas here. But I suspect that Disney isn't actively working on this out of a sense that by the time it implements a state of the art solution, the over-the-top interests in Frozen will have subsided. They probably look at this as another "Flynn Rider and Rapunzel" flash mob that will move on to the next big thing whenever the next big thing arrives. I wouldn't be surprised to see that their "solution" is to convert Akershus into a Frozen Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner (don't you just love the name "Frozen Dinner"!) and leave it at that. You fight for an ADR the way you fight for one at the Castle or at BoG, and that is that.

Rapunzel is far from a flash mob scenario. Have you seen her wait times for the Princess Hall in MK? Every time I have gone in the last two trips (October '13 and February '14) it's been a solid 40 minutes and up. Certainly not the 3+ hours we are seeing with the sisters of Norway, but that's enough.

When Flynn is with Rapunzel, the number goes through the roof. Valentine's Day I saw 140 minutes, and nearly felt my eyeballs pop out of their sockets trying to even remotely justify that kind of wait. It's the same sort of madness during Halloween.

A flash mob, if there ever was one, would be for, sadly, Tiana. I've never heard of much of a wait for her. Merida, last time I checked, was still holding semi-long wait times, too, and that movie wasn't as strong or hugely received as Frozen or Tangled, either. Goes to show it isn't much of a flash mob.

 

[AliceandAriel]

I agree but then you have 5 hour waits. I don't think is fair for anyone to have to wait 5 hours for anything.

You're absolutely right! Five hours to wait for anything is pure madness. But no one is forcing these people to wait five hours. If they clearly want to see and interact with the sisters, that's their choice to wait in a quoted five hour line. They're more than welcome to leave at any time.

 

[nugov2]

the problem with offering it in every park is that they are having difficulty casting appropriate performers for the small amount of appearances these characters have already.

I don't buy it. You are telling me it is hard to find girls that look like this?

There is nothing that specific about either of these girls that couldn't be recast quickly if they held an open casting call. It isn't rocket science. Hold the call and train a bunch, but in the meantime announce that you at least care that this is a problem and are working as fast as you can to resolve it. It isn't their first time dealing with this situation, they should be dealing with it better IMO.

 

[Mac4life30]

I don't buy it. You are telling me it is hard to find girls that look like this?

There is nothing that specific about either of these girls that couldn't be recast quickly if they held an open casting call. It is rocket science. Hold the call and train a bunch, but in the meantime announce that you at least care that this is a problem and are working as fast as you can to resolve it. It isn't their first time dealing with this situation, they should be dealing with it better IMO.

I hate saying this but what it boils down to is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[faneuil]

The problem with all of these ideas is that WS isn't technically open yet.

I always forget about that part, cause I like to roam WS 9-11 for pictures.

Then I go back to my original idea of putting them in the Odyssey.

 

[AliceandAriel]

Thats another thing I don't understand. Guest who wait 3+ hours yet come out saying it was worth it. Im not saying anything bad Im happy you enjoyed your time but I just couldn't justify that wait for anything

It's an experience, honestly. After meeting countless Ariels, Auroras, Snow Whites, and Cinderellas, the interaction with them is… lackluster. You can almost know exactly what they're going to say or do and how it will be phrased. The sisters are new, vibrant, and so much more 'lifelike' in a sense that they behave much closer to people today versus say, the way Cinderella behaves in her movie. If that makes sense?

Not only that, but once you've seen everything in WS or WDW as a whole, waiting 3+ hours to meet two ladies and add to your photo collection is a no brainer, so long as you're patient. I figure if I can wait up to 30 minutes for allergy food at QS spots that spit out regular food in under 5 minutes, three hours to meet new characters isn't going to kill me.

But again, I'm a solo traveler. YMMV.

 

[JimmyV]

Every time I have gone in the last two trips (October '13 and February '14) it's been a solid 40 minutes and up. Certainly not the 3+ hours we are seeing with the sisters of Norway, but that's enough.

When Flynn is with Rapunzel, the number goes through the roof. Valentine's Day I saw 140 minutes, and nearly felt my eyeballs pop out of their sockets trying to even remotely justify that kind of wait. It's the same sort of madness during Halloween.

But I guess that is my point. Disney isn't going to overreact if the mobs die down to 40-90 minutes. That is manageable (in their eyes). And not at all unusual to the point where they need to devise a new, state of the art texting/fast pass system.

Question: Why did your eyeballs pop out of their sockets trying to justify a 140 minute line in light of what you posted earlier:

Got to the park around 8:30-8:40 on 2/13, in the park and at the A&E M&G line by 9:13. Three hour plus wait. Was it worth it? Yes,

Not being snide. Just curious.

 

[faneuil]

I don't buy it. You are telling me it is hard to find girls that look like this?

There is nothing that specific about either of these girls that couldn't be recast quickly if they held an open casting call. It isn't rocket science. Hold the call and train a bunch, but in the meantime announce that you at least care that this is a problem and are working as fast as you can to resolve it. It isn't their first time dealing with this situation, they should be dealing with it better IMO.

Come to UCF for a few hours and they'll find enough women to play the parts.

 

[MuddyBoots]

Simple solution. Either add Elsa and Anna to the breakfast cast from the time the restaurant opens until 8:45 (and encourage the people at breakfast to NOT get in the meet and greet line if they have already met them at the table), or change the entire theme of the breakfast to a Frozen theme and do away with the meet and greet altogether, perhaps moving it to the MK or DHS, leaving Norway to be the peaceful place it used to be.

^^^THIS!

The breakfast should be changed to an all Frozen cast breakfast until 8:45, then have Anna & Elsa go over to the Meet & Greet.

 

[Goldilocks07]

Also, in the mean time, they should be instructing the sisters to interact less with each guest. Sorry...I know that idea darn near gives some people here a stroke. However, until they do something else to alleviate the wait times, just have people come up, maybe a quick hug, get your picture (and limit those too - no taking a picture of every possible permutation of your party) and move on to the guests and try to move the line better.

Honestly, we watched for a while- maybe 15-20 minutes, and the sisters were fast. Even with big families. The real underlying problem is that EVERYONE wants to meet them and there's only 2 sisters and ONLY in Norway.
Oh, and everyone at the princess breakfast wants to see them as well.

 

[AliceandAriel]

the problem with offering it in every park is that they are having difficulty casting appropriate performers for the small amount of appearances these characters have already.

Then explain why;

We have Belle at ETWB, Akershus, and a M&G in Epcot. (3)
Ariel at CRT, Akershus, and M&G in MK. (3)
Snow White at CRT, Akershus, M&G in MK, and M&G in Epcot. (4)
Jasmine at CRT, Akershus, M&G in MK, and M&G in Epcot. (4)
Aurora at CRT, Akershus, M&G in MK, M&G in Epcot, and Perfectly Princess Tea. (5)

That's a lot of bodies for a character that's pretty common. I know, it's the fact that they play on the core princesses, but seriously. Two would be just fine, three at most if you really needed it. This doesn't include (because I don't know if it's the same girls or not) the princesses portraying the ones above in parades, either. That could easily be another body or two.

And yet, Disney can't get two or three sets of the sisters? Come on. If they're looking for a budget cut, I found their payload.

 

[ses1230]

I don't buy it. You are telling me it is hard to find girls that look like this?

There is nothing that specific about either of these girls that couldn't be recast quickly if they held an open casting call. It is rocket science. Hold the call and train a bunch, but in the meantime announce that you at least care that this is a problem and are working as fast as you can to resolve it. It isn't their first time dealing with this situation, they should be dealing with it better IMO.

These were the ladies we saw last month, and they were spot-on fantastic!

This meet and greet was the highlight of our trip with 6 and 8 year old DD. They are nuts for anything Frozen, and so are their classmates. I don't see the demand dying down any time soon, especially since Rapunzel still commands the wait times that she does, and I don't remember the craze for Rapunzel being like it is for Anna and Elsa.

 

[Goldilocks07]

I don't buy it. You are telling me it is hard to find girls that look like this?

There is nothing that specific about either of these girls that couldn't be recast quickly if they held an open casting call. It isn't rocket science. Hold the call and train a bunch, but in the meantime announce that you at least care that this is a problem and are working as fast as you can to resolve it. It isn't their first time dealing with this situation, they should be dealing with it better IMO.

I agree.
What is so difficult in hiring girls that look like the princesses? Seems like a dream job to me!!

 

[Mac4life30]

I agree.
What is so difficult in hiring girls that look like the princesses? Seems like a dream job to me!!

You think these are the two highest paid Princess at Disney??

 

[nugov2]

I hate saying this but what it boils down to is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I think I read somewhere that they get paid $13- $16 dollars an hour. Seriously they would get that back in spades with the money you would spend out of line for that 3-4 hours. They just need one of those people in line to purchase two cookies an hour per M&G that they add or one misting fan and they are breaking even. With 100 people in line...I'd say it is likely one of those people would make one purchase they wouldn't have made if they had to wait for 3 hours in line. Plus more people through they could have more frozen merchandise to sell at the end of the M&G and they would really increase profits. Add an upcharge picture for those without MM(do they do this already? We had PP in June so we had a bazillion pictures so I never looked at what you could buy).

 

[TooExcitedCantSleep]

Why not set it up like Jedi Training Academy. Have a kiosk set up half way between IG and the main gate and have a cm hand out return times.

Yup. I like this set up the best......hate the character breakfast idea. I don't want to have to make reservations and fork over the big bucks for a breakfast in order to meet Anna and Elsa.

 

[AliceandAriel]

But I guess that is my point. Disney isn't going to overreact if the mobs die down to 40-90 minutes. That is manageable (in their eyes). And not at all unusual to the point where they need to devise a new, state of the art texting/fast pass system.

Question: Why did your eyeballs pop out of their sockets trying to justify a 140 minute line in light of what you posted earlier:

Not being snide. Just curious.

Mostly because it was more for the coupling of Flynn and Rapunzel that created the 140 minute wait, more than anything. Flynn isn't a staple, so I see why the wait jumped through the roof because he's limited to appearances, BUT. The sisters are not. They're (currently and hopefully staying) a pair, as they're both princesses (er, one queen, you get the point) and you can't just have one and not the other.

I agree with the no need for a texting system. I don't think that's necessary. I do, however, think they should work the sisters into a FP+ location/system of sorts. If I can FP+ my way to see Aurora and Cinderella, I should be able to FP+ the Norway girls. Disney makes this big deal about 'saving you time' with FP+, well here's a good spot to start!