How much time to put aside for Merida

[Shrill]

Hi everyone.

I'm doing personalized touring plans in Touringplans.com. Merida is a must-do for my DD, but TouringPlans doesn't offer Merida so I need to create a "break" to put the M & G into my plans.

How much time should I put aside? There is a possibility that we might be able to go right at RD, but maybe not as we have quite a few things competing for that time slot (and I'd like to plan for a "worst case" scenario). Basically, how long should I bargain for if I go at a busy time during the day on a 4 crowd day? I realize that at rope drop or later it could be significantly shorter. We also have a 2 day as an option as well: how much easier would it be that day?

Thanks!

 

[slford00]

I have the same conundrum for our trip in September. I even emailed TouringPlans about it. Apparently I deleted their response (it's been a couple months) but they suggested what you mentioned: creating a "break" in your plan and putting in the notes that it's for Merida. I forget how much time they said to set aside--maybe 30-40 minutes if not doing it first thing? That's PROBABLY your "worst case scenario," but it's hard to say since there are no wait times listed for her anywhere.

One thing to keep in mind is that even at RD, she doesn't start greeting people until 9:15.

 

[123SA]

Me too with the same problem and the same timeframe. So I'm no help other than commiserating. I find it very vexing that she doesn't start until 9:15 - -that's enough time to make you annoyed about wasting it (prime rope drop time!), but not so much to really go do anything else.

 

[Mamato2cutekiddos]

Merida is a big one for DD also.

All this planning is giving me anxiety. Part of me wants to say eff-it we will get what we get... but I know I can't do that haha.

 

[slford00]

Me too with the same problem and the same timeframe. So I'm no help other than commiserating. I find it very vexing that she doesn't start until 9:15 - -that's enough time to make your annoyed about wasting it (prime rope drop time!), but not so much to really go do anything else.

Exactly. It stinks to give up 15 minutes of the best time to be in the park all day, plus the 5-10 minutes you'd spend waiting/seeing Merida once the line starts moving. But if you tried using that premium time to squeeze in something else (quick ride on Space Mountain?), I'm sure there'd be a significant line waiting for you when you show up at 9:15.

 

[jsbowl16]

We met her last night and it took us just under 30 minutes. We got in line just before 6pm.

 

[Disneymom1126]

I'm not sure what your rope drop and fastpass priorities are, but if you did rope drop, hung a right over the tomorrowland bridge, you could do the tea cups or buzz lightyear with no wait and then go right from there to Merida and probably not have a long line as other rope-droppers are going to head elsewhere. That way you're not wasting time waiting for Merida's to start her M&G. Just a suggestion depending on if you are already planning some other things at rope drop! We've always been able to basically do everything in Fantasyland (minus A&E and SDMT) at rope drop with no wait because so many people will rope drop the mountains, A&E, or SDMT...we then just use fastpasses for the mountains, A&E, & SDMT. We usually spend more than one day at MK as well, so that helps us out as well. In general, as the day goes on her wait gets pretty long because she spends a decent amount of time with each guest.

 

[123SA]

We decided to make a character morning. We have 3 MK days though. We plan to see Merida first. If we get through fast we'll see ALice & White Rabbit before heading to Gaston's line. The Fairy Godmother next. Cinderella and Rapunzel 10-11 FP+, A&E 11-12 FP+. Possibly Ariel somewhere in there if we didn't meet her on a previous day. Then a quick lunch and to the front of the park to see Snow White & Marie.

 

[pmaurer74]

usually 45 minutes for us.

 

[kiapepito]

Our RD is at 8 am but she does appear until 9:15 am. I have it set as a "break" to go see her from 9:10am-9:45 am and then we are heading over to see Gaston at 10 am. I'll let you know in a couple weeks when we go how it goes and how long we are in line for!

 

[Shrill]

Thanks everyone. We are one of the lucky ones with 3 MK days. I've "booked it in" for 40 mins at 9:10 on our 2nd day, but we have quite a bit of flex time on our first day (since it is the first time ever to WDW plus the busiest day of our trip), so I think we'll keep a watch and go see her if the line isn't too long then. Does she have wait times posted?

 

[kennythepirate]

Depends upon when you want to go. Go at rope drop and wait 15 minutes. Go other times and you could wait up to an hour.

 

[Malibustyle23]

We saw her last November and it seemed like it took forever!!! I walked by her line a couple of times because after I finally found it, it was just so LONG! I finally gave in and we waited. She is a great character and gives great interaction therefore the line took forever to get through. I think we were in line 30-40 minutes easily.

I'd try to get there early in the day if I did it again.

 

[Malibustyle23]

No wait times posted, no cover. Just an outside line that wraps around the side so you can't even see when she is on break depending on where you are. When you arrive you can ask the cm at the rope about how long it should be. They can gauge the line pretty well usually.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

If you are using the Touring Plans app while in the park, be sure to hit "optimize" when you're done with Merida to get back on track. That feature saved us a lot of anxiety over the schedule we created. It may shuffle your order of attractions based on that moment, but enables you to be flexible for things like character greetings or other non-planned/taking longer than planned events.

 

[electrocutie]

I remember waiting a long time for Merida (only one in our family really wanted to see her, so everyone else was complaining. Didn't help it was super hot that day either!). But if I had to guess, we must have waited 45 minutes to 1 hour. This was when we walked by and said family member really wanted to stop and wait in line. Like others have said- I've heard rope drop is the way to go for a much shorter wait time.

 

[TwoCortWort]

Hi everyone.

I'm doing personalized touring plans in Touringplans.com. Merida is a must-do for my DD, but TouringPlans doesn't offer Merida so I need to create a "break" to put the M & G into my plans.

How much time should I put aside? There is a possibility that we might be able to go right at RD, but maybe not as we have quite a few things competing for that time slot (and I'd like to plan for a "worst case" scenario). Basically, how long should I bargain for if I go at a busy time during the day on a 4 crowd day? I realize that at rope drop or later it could be significantly shorter. We also have a 2 day as an option as well: how much easier would it be that day?

Thanks!

My niece and I waited for 45 minutes to meet her and then we spent probably less than 5 minutes with her and then turned around and had her at CRT for our dinner. LOL