Princess Fantasy Faire...what's it all about?

[52plan4]

Again tapping into the wealth of knowledge on these boards! Please tell me about the Princess Fantasy Faire. Is it a line up and wait kind of thing, crowded (I assume), worthwhile, which princesses generally make an appearance? Please tell me all about it and any tips to get the most out of it!

 

[Master Mason]

It is all about seperating you from your money

Other than that, don't know anything, my 15 and 23 year old son's weren't too interested.

Hope you have a great time.

 

[52plan4]

Yes, Disney is amazing at seperating me from my money!
Also forgot to ask how much time do we need to allow for the Princess Fantasy Faire?

 

[dizzyami]

Ok - it all depends on what you want to get out of it. We have only done the part that is free - so I will not include anything else. There is a small area where the kids can sit down, color and decorate crowns with stickers. There is also a show, where the kids learn how to be a princess. All sounds pretty painless so far......but then there is the princess part.

There is one big line (average an hour wait or so (Oct 06 and June 07). Once you make your way through the line, you get one on one time with each of three princesses - who are sitting with very nice back drops to take photos. Here is the kicker....the princesses sit there for approx. 30 minutes, and then when then aforementioned show is over, the three princess that were in the show swap out with the other three. So - basically - three princesses are there for 30 minutes. We have seen Mulan, Jasmine, Cinderella, Belle, Princess Mickey, Pocohontas, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White...pretty much all but Ariel - who is at her Grotto.

So - if you want to see every princess - you can spend a lot of time there. The CM's are pretty nice that if you get to the front of the line, and your fav is not there - you can wait at the front until she arrives.

We would also (no flames, we devoted many, many hours to this) get in line as a group, and then 20 minutes or so later I would get at the end of the line. This allowed our DD to be more guaranteed to see her favorite, and minimize the pain for the adults

 

[zukeeper]

We chose not to stand in line - my DD8 didn't care too much about that and does not like to get the hairdo thing which you can pay for - very au natural - won't even paint her toes. Anyway, we went down for the sticker thing and learned how to be a princess (she was about the oldest one!) and with her brother 4, they did the maypole which was fun but hard to get pics of. After that the storytime was so great! Just like old days at the Toyshop store in Fantasyland, except no pics after the story - go stand in line for that. My DD8 was chosen to do a little dance in the story, my DS10 played Belle's father, and DS4 played the Beast and danced with Belle (which brings tears to my eyes just typing!). A once in a lifetime video opp and I had 2 min left on my battery - that just never happens!! (Hint for anyone with boys - few boys go to this event and 2 are chosen for at least the Belle story - charge your batteries!)

So recap - if you want a personal pic with a princess - prepare to wait in line and take who you get or wait longer. If you want a princess updo - you will pay I think $20-30. If you want to just play and spend 1-2 hours hanging out at the fair, ask a CM when the next event starts and head on down - don't worry about being early, it is pretty casual. Front of the line doesn't really apply except at storytime.

 

[tink2dw]

Aren't there character breakfasts that include the princesses?? If not hang out near the castle at closing when everybody shows up to play!!

 

[zukeeper]

There is a breakfast/lunch at Ariels Grotto but make sure and have a PS for that one - crazy popular! The Princesses weren't doing the castle hang-out anymore since the PFF started as far as I know.

 

[dizzyami]

Again, it all kind of comes down to what level of princess"ness" you want. We did Ariels Nov '05, and were extremely disappointed with both the interaction with the princesses, as well as the pictures that we got at the restaurant. The walls were a "ocean green" color, that really did not photograph well. I was also a nervous wreck during dinner that the kids were going to get filthy to see the princesses. I know we usually get between all of the cameras a couple of hundred great princess shots (I know, overkill), and at Ariel's we had to fight to get a good shot with each princess.