Wait times at Epcot character spot--FP+ or not?

[disneybliss2]

What has everyone's experiences been with/without the FP+ for the character meet-n-greet at Epcot?

We typically attend EMH and ride Soarin and Living with the Land and then wait in line for the characters to start at 9:00. I'm worried since the FP+ option will start at 9:00 that they standby line will get out of hand, and it's already been a lengthy wait in the past.

We're only going to Epcot once on an EMH and then two afternoons. I think my only options to see the characters are at the 9:00 opening on the EMH day (worried the standby will be crazy) or give up our Soarin FP+ for one of our afternoons for the characters. DH doesn't want to give up our Soarin fp+ which I understand but I'm afraid it may only be our timely option to see the characters.

Thanks!

 

[mesaboy2]

What has everyone's experiences been with/without the FP+ for the character meet-n-greet at Epcot?

We typically attend EMH and ride Soarin and Living with the Land and then wait in line for the characters to start at 9:00. I'm worried since the FP+ option will start at 9:00 that they standby line will get out of hand, and it's already been a lengthy wait in the past.

We're only going to Epcot once on an EMH and then two afternoons. I think my only options to see the characters are at the 9:00 opening on the EMH day (worried the standby will be crazy) or give up our Soarin FP+ for one of our afternoons for the characters. DH doesn't want to give up our Soarin fp+ which I understand but I'm afraid it may only be our timely option to see the characters.

Thanks!

Not. The lengthy waits of the past are largely a thing of the past since they moved the location, doubled capacity, and reduced the number of characters from five to three. See the green link in my signature.

 

[karly05]

When are you going?

I was there at a lower crowd time in February (before the Pres Day holiday weekend) and had no wait in the stand-by line in the late afternoon on a Tuesday. Seriously, the sign might have said 10-15 minutes, but it was really just the time it took to walk through the stand-by queue and wait for maybe one party ahead of me. I saw Mickey, Goofy & Minnie (Minnie is my new bff because she LOVED my Imagination Movers shirt!).

Even at a more crowded time, I would NOT swap a Soarin' FP+ for this (or anything else at Epcot).

 

[disneybliss2]

Not. The lengthy waits of the past are largely a thing of the past since they moved the location, doubled capacity, and reduced the number of characters from five to three. See the green link in my signature.

I have used your link, quite a bit. It's been very helpful, so thank you for providing such a detailed and helpful thread with the information. I know Soarin will have more demand. The only reason why I questioned swapping FP+ is simply because my girls really look forward to this meet-n-greet. It sounds like standby is more doable than when we've attended in the past (2 years ago), so we'll go with this option.

I didn't realize they'd moved the location or reduced the number of characters. That helps to know. We liked hitting them all up in one fell swoop so that does change it some. Who are the characters typically there now? I'll look up the new location on a map.

When are you going?

June, so higher crowds. Like you, we love Soarin'. My husband looked at me like I had three heads when I suggested swapping the FP+ reservations. Just trying to make everyone in my crew happy.

 

[mesaboy2]

I have used your link, quite a bit. It's been very helpful, so thank you for providing such a detailed and helpful thread with the information. I know Soarin will have more demand. The only reason why I questioned swapping FP+ is simply because my girls really look forward to this meet-n-greet. It sounds like standby is more doable than when we've attended in the past (2 years ago), so we'll go with this option.

I didn't realize they'd moved the location or reduced the number of characters. That helps to know. We liked hitting them all up in one fell swoop so that does change it some. Who are the characters typically there now? I'll look up the new location on a map.

June, so higher crowds. Like you, we love Soarin'. My husband looked at me like I had three heads when I suggested swapping the FP+ reservations. Just trying to make everyone in my crew happy.

Mickey, Minnie, and the third is either Goofy or Pluto--I can never remember which. The new location has them much less visible than before, which contributes to the shorter waits.

The new location is right next to where they were, but not visible through glass from the breezeway everyone goes through to get to Soarin'.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We did a similar thing- did TT during amEMH and headed straight to Character Spot. It was during spring break, very high crowds overall.

We didn't quite make it to CS before regular RD, got there around 9:10. The posted wait was already 25 minutes. It may have been a few minutes shorter than that but not much. I did notice that by mid- morning it had dropped to 15 minutes.

It was longer than I was hoping, but I wouldn't give up a FP for Soarin or TT for it. The characters were Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy.

 

[disneybliss2]

Mickey, Minnie, and the third is either Goofy or Pluto--I can never remember which. The new location has them much less visible than before, which contributes to the shorter waits.

The new location is right next to where they were, but not visible through glass from the breezeway everyone goes through to get to Soarin'.

Thanks for the info! We'll keep Soarin' and plan on standby for characters. So glad I asked before switching!

We did a similar thing- did TT during amEMH and headed straight to Character Spot. It was during spring break, very high crowds overall.

We didn't quite make it to CS before regular RD, got there around 9:10. The posted wait was already 25 minutes. It may have been a few minutes shorter than that but not much. I did notice that by mid- morning it had dropped to 15 minutes.

It was longer than I was hoping, but I wouldn't give up a FP for Soarin or TT for it. The characters were Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy.

Loved hearing your first hand experience. Wow! The times were certainly shorter than in the past. Maybe having the fast pass option is drawing people later in the day.