Storytime with Belle - NO PICTURES

[BraveLittleToaster2]

Toward the end of Storytime with Belle, the people who got to be a cardboard character pose with Belle to take a picture, which in my opinion, is one of the best parts of the storytime.

Was anyone else yelled at to "sit down, you cant get up" when trying to get up to take a picture of your child posed with Belle. I only got side view pictures or ones of my kids looking the opposite direction towards the photopass guy.

Shouldn't a photo be given to each family as a memento for waiting that long? Or at least allow me to stand and get 1 quick picture of my kids with Belle?

It made me frustrated to say the least, to have to wait in line 50 minutes and then have to BUY a photopass picture instead of being able to take my own.

Anyone else have different experiences with this attraction?

 

[mom2rtk]

My guess is that it must vary quite a bit by session. We did it twice last week. One time I moved about the room and got shots from a variety of angles. The other timeI was told if I wanted to stand I had to do so from the back row of seats, instead of off to the side as I had the first time.

Neither time did they prevent me from taking photos of my daughter with Belle. Well, other than doing things so quickly it was very hard to do.

Additionally, the photo taken by Photopass were really too dark to use. I'm very glad I was able to take my own in RAW format so I had greater latitude to adjust exposure, tint and white balance.

I stand by my statement I made prior to our trip. This is an amazing attraction. But taking Belle out of Town Square Theater was a colossal miss.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

They had the same rules for ours during the actual show, but seems like at the end they let parents move to the middle if they were ducked down to take photos.

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

Funny, I was in the back row and simply stood and walked closer to the center aisle with the benches still being behind me and as soon as I stood and held up my camera then told me I had to sit down. It was rude!

 

[chikita]

I do not believe this attraction will stay the way it is right now. We were just there and the wait times were crazy. I can not imagine what it will be like this coming week and over the summer. One of the things that really stood out to me was the lack of shade in the whole new area, from the bridge to Be Our Guest, Enchanted Tales and Ariels grotto, people will be dropping like flies this summer.

 

[mom2rtk]

I do not believe this attraction will stay the way it is right now. We were just there and the wait times were crazy. I can not imagine what it will be like this coming week and over the summer. One of the things that really stood out to me was the lack of shade in the whole new area, from the bridge to Be Our Guest, Enchanted Tales and Ariels grotto, people will be dropping like flies this summer.

And after being there during the FP+ test last week (without benefit of being included in it) I can say that the line is going to slow down permanently when FP+ is rolled out for real.

 

[aggiegirl1234]

Not to hijack the thread, but for those of you who have been, what time were you getting to the attraction that you had 50+ minute wait times? I'll be there January 11th (a Friday). There are no extra magic hours, but I'm planning on being there for rope drop. Do I have time to grab a Fastpass for another Fantasyland attraction, ride the new Little Mermaid ride, and then watch Enchanted Tales? Or do I need to book it over to Enchanted Tales before I do anything else? Is this what y'all did and still experienced crazy wait times?

 

[mesaboy2]

Not to hijack the thread, but for those of you who have been, what time were you getting to the attraction that you had 50+ minute wait times? I'll be there January 11th (a Friday). There are no extra magic hours, but I'm planning on being there for rope drop. Do I have time to grab a Fastpass for another Fantasyland attraction, ride the new Little Mermaid ride, and then watch Enchanted Tales? Or do I need to book it over to Enchanted Tales before I do anything else? Is this what y'all did and still experienced crazy wait times?

You should have time to grab a FP first, but I would do ETWB before LM. LM has tons more capacity and the line should build more slowly there.

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

I do not believe this attraction will stay the way it is right now. We were just there and the wait times were crazy. I can not imagine what it will be like this coming week and over the summer. One of the things that really stood out to me was the lack of shade in the whole new area, from the bridge to Be Our Guest, Enchanted Tales and Ariels grotto, people will be dropping like flies this summer.

I agree. The day we waited in line for 50 minutes it was 80 degrees out but it felt like 90 something because the entire queue was in the direct sunlight. I wish they had put larger trees in place or roof overhangs to shade the area more then they did.

I would say we arrived at storytime with belle between 9:30 and 10 when it opened at 9am that day. It was a very popular attraction. The wait got even longer later in the day. We walked by and it was a 70 minute wait. The week I went was pretty low crowds too, I cannot imagine what it will be like with the park close to capacity.

 

[mom2rtk]

You should have time to grab a FP first, but I would do ETWB before LM. LM has tons more capacity and the line should build more slowly there.

Definitely do ETWB first. It does not have FP available and LM does. Plus everything he said ^^^^.

The waits when we were there were longer than average because FP+ was being tested. But it's still a fairly slow moving line regardless.

 

[gwmort]

We got tons of pictures, my DW was shooting the whole time, from some different spots, I videotaped the whole thing (my DS was beast, very cute).

 

[mom2rtk]

I agree. The day we waited in line for 50 minutes it was 80 degrees out but it felt like 90 something because the entire queue was in the direct sunlight. I wish they had put larger trees in place or roof overhangs to shade the area more then they did.

I would say we arrived at storytime with belle between 9:30 and 10 when it opened at 9am that day. It was a very popular attraction. The wait got even longer later in the day. We walked by and it was a 70 minute wait. The week I went was pretty low crowds too, I cannot imagine what it will be like with the park close to capacity.

I stood in that line one hot DECEMBER afternoon wondering how folks were going to handle it in the middle of summer.

 

[aggiegirl1234]

You should have time to grab a FP first, but I would do ETWB before LM. LM has tons more capacity and the line should build more slowly there.

Touring plans updated! Thanks so much

 

[bauer1168]

Not to hijack the thread, but for those of you who have been, what time were you getting to the attraction that you had 50+ minute wait times? I'll be there January 11th (a Friday). There are no extra magic hours, but I'm planning on being there for rope drop. Do I have time to grab a Fastpass for another Fantasyland attraction, ride the new Little Mermaid ride, and then watch Enchanted Tales? Or do I need to book it over to Enchanted Tales before I do anything else? Is this what y'all did and still experienced crazy wait times?

I've posted in a couple of other threads regarding my experiences regarding this attraction and its wait times. If its of any help to your planning/strategy this is what I did. During my 2 week stay, I did ETWB 5 times, the strategy below is what I did the last 3 times (early Dec.)
-at RD for MK. Headed straight for ETWB, straight through the castle, ignoring grabbing FP for any ride and straight to ETWB. I would be standing in the queue at either 9:04am or 9:05am. Wait time was posted at 15mins.

I was just past the stable section of the queue (leaning on the wall of the actual cottage where the windows are). I was in the 'magic mirror' part at 9:17-9:20am. So lets say 12-15min wait time there. I was out the show and leaving the exit by 9:39-9:40am. The standby for it had ballooned to 60mins on the first day (Monday), 40mims (Tuesday) and 50mins (Wednesday).
This was Earlier this month when, in my opinion/past experience, were overall light/very manageable crowds. Monday is a busy day in MK regardless I believe. From what I saw, it did get up to 70-90mins for the rest of those days. It would drop dramatically for the last hour of an evening EMH.
My first time was Nov.28th (Wednesday). I was at RD but hadn't gone through the turnstiles, so I got to ETWB at around 9:15 and waited 30mins to get to the room with the 'magical mirror'. That was a quiet day at MK overall and the highest posted wait I saw for that was 45mins all day.
I agree with mom2rtk in that those standby waits will get longer.
As much of nerd as I am, I noticed the 'maximum occupancy' within Maurice's cottage was 47, and in the library where you re-enact the story with Belle, the 'maximum occupancy' was 58.
I know it's very sad of me, but after reading many posts about this attraction here on the dis and on easywdw, I knew this attraction would be of great interest to people.
I'm sure most people will disagree with me on this strategy, but Infound it much more effective to just go straight to ETWB at RD, ignoring grabbing FPs. It might only take a minute or two to grab a FP for PP and them go to ETWB, but a lot of people can get ahead of you in that queue for ETWB in that minute or two, adding an extra 5-10 minute wait on that queue.

 

[bauer1168]

I stood in that line one hot DECEMBER afternoon wondering how folks were going to handle it in the middle of summer.

Yes I agree, that is why it should be number one priority if its something you would like to do and with minimal wait. I would hate to be in that line in July/August/September weather. Then again, I suppose the theming wouldn't fit if it was under one big air conditioned roof. Maybe add a few fans like they do at other attractions/rides?

 

[Marthasor]

We were there last Friday and wait time was 75 minutes around 10 am. People were getting ruffled. Yeah, summer time will be rough. We did the attraction twice and the second time, my DS5 was chosen to be the Beast, so I grabbed a seat on the aisle in the first row, diagonal from him while he danced with Belle, so was able to get some good shots without standing. Got some shots at the end, too, although he is looking at the photo pass photographer. I left there thinking, darn you Disney! I didn't pre-buy any photo pass products and now I'm going to be shelling out $179 for your CD. AARRGHH!!! you got me, Disney. you got me.

Try to sit front row on the aisle if you can - you can probably get a few good shots!

 

[mom2rtk]

I've posted in a couple of other threads regarding my experiences regarding this attraction and its wait times. If its of any help to your planning/strategy this is what I did. During my 2 week stay, I did ETWB 5 times, the strategy below is what I did the last 3 times (early Dec.)
-at RD for MK. Headed straight for ETWB, straight through the castle, ignoring grabbing FP for any ride and straight to ETWB. I would be standing in the queue at either 9:04am or 9:05am. Wait time was posted at 15mins.

I was just past the stable section of the queue (leaning on the wall of the actual cottage where the windows are). I was in the 'magic mirror' part at 9:17-9:20am. So lets say 12-15min wait time there. I was out the show and leaving the exit by 9:39-9:40am. The standby for it had ballooned to 60mins on the first day (Monday), 40mims (Tuesday) and 50mins (Wednesday).
This was Earlier this month when, in my opinion/past experience, were overall light/very manageable crowds. Monday is a busy day in MK regardless I believe. From what I saw, it did get up to 70-90mins for the rest of those days. It would drop dramatically for the last hour of an evening EMH.
My first time was Nov.28th (Wednesday). I was at RD but hadn't gone through the turnstiles, so I got to ETWB at around 9:15 and waited 30mins to get to the room with the 'magical mirror'. That was a quiet day at MK overall and the highest posted wait I saw for that was 45mins all day.
I agree with mom2rtk in that those standby waits will get longer.
As much of nerd as I am, I noticed the 'maximum occupancy' within Maurice's cottage was 47, and in the library where you re-enact the story with Belle, the 'maximum occupancy' was 58.
I know it's very sad of me, but after reading many posts about this attraction here on the dis and on easywdw, I knew this attraction would be of great interest to people.
I'm sure most people will disagree with me on this strategy, but Infound it much more effective to just go straight to ETWB at RD, ignoring grabbing FPs. It might only take a minute or two to grab a FP for PP and them go to ETWB, but a lot of people can get ahead of you in that queue for ETWB in that minute or two, adding an extra 5-10 minute wait on that queue.

5 times? I bow to your greatness!

I'm curious what you saw over those 5 visits with regards to photo taking. I was really surprised at the different approach in my 2 visits. Were people up and moving about taking photos?

 

[mom2rtk]

We were there last Friday and wait time was 75 minutes around 10 am. People were getting ruffled. Yeah, summer time will be rough. We did the attraction twice and the second time, my DS5 was chosen to be the Beast, so I grabbed a seat on the aisle in the first row, diagonal from him while he danced with Belle, so was able to get some good shots without standing. Got some shots at the end, too, although he is looking at the photo pass photographer. I left there thinking, darn you Disney! I didn't pre-buy any photo pass products and now I'm going to be shelling out $179 for your CD. AARRGHH!!! you got me, Disney. you got me.

Try to sit front row on the aisle if you can - you can probably get a few good shots!

My problem that second time was that I hesitated to get a photo of my daughter with the wardrobe and was one of the last ones in. Next time I'll try to be quicker.

But at least my daughter is trained to look at the photopass person, then right at me when PP is done!

 

[BraveLittleToaster2]

Unfortunately, we were the last group entering into the room so we didn't have an option of getting one of the few middle aisle seats. We were on the outside aisle.

 

[mom2rtk]

Unfortunately, we were the last group entering into the room so we didn't have an option of getting one of the few middle aisle seats. We were on the outside aisle.

If I hadn't moved over behind the PP person, I would have never gotten a photo over all the heads in front of me, even standing up in the rear.

My advice to those attending now, I would suggest sitting in the back, then right befor your childn's turn at the photo, skulk over behind the PP photog. Hopefully there won't be time for anyone to tell you no, and the PP person will be too busy taking their own shots to notice you.