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

[Tropical Wilds]

We went during Princess Half Marathon weekend, during the Saturday of the 10k, we sprinted to Norway after park opening, so we waited about 2.5 hours to meet them (they were not meeting at 9 at that point).

That said, they spent a good 10 minutes with our group and the Memory Maker photographer took over 60 pictures. It was a great experience and, I didn't think I'd say this, but it was worth the 2+ hour wait for us. My son was dying to meet his "girlfriend" Elsa and despite being a big chatter box, going on an on and on about how he was going to meet her and get married, as soon as she saw him... He completely melted, got totally tongue tied. She asked for a hug and that was it... He was done. A blushing, smiling, puddle of a 3-year-old who couldn't string two words together for her, but did hold her hand the entire time. She invited him to her castle to make snow statues and he took her hand and tried to march out with her right then and there.

I know a lot of it was Princess Half Marathon Weekend/week, but when we checked on the Thursday before, the line at noon was 6 hours. The line by 9:30 was back to the road where Donald meets by Mexico and the CM's were advising people it was a 7+ hour long line. The week after, after most of the runners had left, the line was still hitting 5-6 hours.

Big change from when we went during Wine and Dine, where they were out (but I think informally), and NOBODY was in line to see them. They had CM's flagging people down to tell them with the hopes they'd go see them. LoL!

 

[glvsav37]

Sorry, have not read through the whole tread, but what time does A&E start their Meet and Greet?

Epcot officially opens at 9am, right (besides AM EMH)?

 

[jimandami]

Sorry, have not read through the whole tread, but what time does A&E start their Meet and Greet? Epcot officially opens at 9am, right (besides AM EMH)?

They start meeting at 9.

 

[dance2874]

Will they let you in early at all with a 9:30 reservation? How early?

 

[glvsav37]

They start meeting at 9.

thanks JimandAmi

Will they let you in early at all with a 9:30 reservation? How early?

From what I've read...sorry, but no. They will not let you in any earlier. If the park opens at 9, and they recommend you getting there 15-20 min earlier, then you should (according to the CMs up front) have enough time to get there. a 9:05 ressie is a different story....

 

[MermaidMommy]

Will they let you in early at all with a 9:30 reservation? How early?

I posted on this earlier today, so you can look at my post above for more details, but this morning they were letting people in early who had reservations up until 9:30. People with ADR's after 9:30 had to wait.

 

[elittleton]

Keep trying to get a reservation. I got one for 8:20 on 4/26 about a week ago, when, previously, the only things available had been after 10:00.

I agree to keep trying. I got one last week for 8:15 on 3/24 when nothing else had been available for weeks.

 

[ChipnDalePals]

Went yesterday and got in line around 3:30. Waited for about 1.5 hrs and it was totally worth it! Both princesses were in true character. Anna was very chatty and Elsa somewhat more "reserved" but still so sweet with my son.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

Went yesterday and got in line around 3:30. Waited for about 1.5 hrs and it was totally worth it! Both princesses were in true character. Anna was very chatty and Elsa somewhat more "reserved" but still so sweet with my son.

. Thank you for sharing this info! I am hoping we can catch the girls in the afternoon as well! We r willing to wait up to two hours, but more than that might get rough.

 

[Berlioz70]

The people "in the know" (CMs, Kenny the Pirate, etc.) say there aren't any plans to move them anytime soon. So I wouldn't pin your homes on that.

Entertainment is always subject to change. It's no secret that Disney is trying to fix the long waits, moving the times hardly made a dent. I wouldn't rule out a venue change in the near future.

 

[ferd]

A pre-9am ADR at Akershus is now probably the most sought after ADR in all of WDW.

I was able to snag two without honestly even trying. I have one for 3/22 and one for the end of April (both 8:15) We have seen A & E twice (once before the movie came out with about an hour wait, and once a month or two ago in which I did rope drop and ran for a 11am meet and greet and saw them at 11:30--2/12 hour wait.) I'm now sewing my daughter a Frozen costume and wanted to get pics of her in it with them so I booked the two breakfasts (2 as to give myself a cushion in case I don't finish the dress in time for the first ADR. )

So basically, what I'm saying is, the breakfast openings do pop up. I didn't book these months or even weeks ago. I just logged in for a weekend morning and boom, found two. So keep trying! (and the girls are really worth the wait! )

 

[Missyrose]

Entertainment is always subject to change. It's no secret that Disney is trying to fix the long waits, moving the times hardly made a dent. I wouldn't rule out a venue change in the near future.

Good to know, thanks!

 

[ammag]

As for them being careful about not having multiple characters out, not always the case! We saw belle in blue dress in world showcase, then walked over to future world and oops there she is in yellow dress! We turned my daughter and distracted her so she didn't catch on

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Entertainment is always subject to change. It's no secret that Disney is trying to fix the long waits, moving the times hardly made a dent. I wouldn't rule out a venue change in the near future.

 

[Ava]

We're not going until Sept so maybe they'll be moved by then but looks like I'll be booking us an early ADR at Akershus when my 180 days opens up in a couple weeks. Or maybe I'll get lucky and they'll move A&E to a greeting spot w/ FP+.

 

[mcd2745]

I was able to snag two without honestly even trying. I have one for 3/22 and one for the end of April (both 8:15) We have seen A & E twice (once before the movie came out with about an hour wait, and once a month or two ago in which I did rope drop and ran for a 11am meet and greet and saw them at 11:30--2/12 hour wait.) I'm now sewing my daughter a Frozen costume and wanted to get pics of her in it with them so I booked the two breakfasts (2 as to give myself a cushion in case I don't finish the dress in time for the first ADR. )

So basically, what I'm saying is, the breakfast openings do pop up. I didn't book these months or even weeks ago. I just logged in for a weekend morning and boom, found two. So keep trying! (and the girls are really worth the wait! )

I actually scored an 8am ADR the day after posting about how hard it had become to get. For the longest time, there had been no availability for the entire 7 days we will be there, but then some availability opened up right around 45-day mark. Probably not a coincidence.

 

[buckeev]

We went during Princess Half Marathon weekend, during the Saturday of the 10k, we sprinted to Norway after park opening, so we waited about 2.5 hours to meet them (they were not meeting at 9 at that point).

That said, they spent a good 10 minutes with our group and the Memory Maker photographer took over 60 pictures. It was a great experience and, I didn't think I'd say this, but it was worth the 2+ hour wait for us. My son was dying to meet his "girlfriend" Elsa and despite being a big chatter box, going on an on and on about how he was going to meet her and get married, as soon as she saw him... He completely melted, got totally tongue tied. She asked for a hug and that was it... He was done. A blushing, smiling, puddle of a 3-year-old who couldn't string two words together for her, but did hold her hand the entire time. She invited him to her castle to make snow statues and he took her hand and tried to march out with her right then and there.

I know a lot of it was Princess Half Marathon Weekend/week, but when we checked on the Thursday before, the line at noon was 6 hours. The line by 9:30 was back to the road where Donald meets by Mexico and the CM's were advising people it was a 7+ hour long line. The week after, after most of the runners had left, the line was still hitting 5-6 hours.

Big change from when we went during Wine and Dine, where they were out (but I think informally), and NOBODY was in line to see them. They had CM's flagging people down to tell them with the hopes they'd go see them. LoL!

Great story about your son! We saw that exact same Elsa actress in January and she was absolutely fantastic with our autistic son...Totally worth the long wait! His sisters were VERY jealous when they found out...(said they weren't gonna wait 2-3 hours for that!)..Now they are saying they will.

 

[RachaelA]

So the first Akershus reservation is at 8am?

We were going to make a breakfast ADR there for either a breakfast or dinner anyways so I figure we might as well just send our extra adult to get in line as soon as she's done eating!

 

[iheartbuffy]

Don't know if this has been posted anywhere or not but starting on Easter MK has Anna and Elsa listed https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/magic-kingdom/2014-04-20/#timeofday=allday

Edited to add they aren't listed at Epcot from then on either.

 

[Winnowill]

Figures. That's when we arrive. I've been stalking Akershus reservations for the elusive early one. Got an 8:15 last Friday, now it's useless.

So which Princess are they kicking out of Fairytale Hall?