UPDATE: The Frozen girls returned to the lame 11:00am start time on Sunday, February 16, 2014. I’ll go check this out later in the week, but people are stating that it’s a minimum 4 hour wait.
I recently posted that many guests were having great success in meeting Anna and Elsa later in the afternoon. Some people tried it out and found the wait to be significantly less. Recently a few people found that Disney’s website was listing Anna/Elsa meet and greet moving to a 9:00 am to 6:00 pm schedule beginning Sunday, February 9.
I was able to confirm that this is a test schedule that will allow Disney World to see if it improves the guest experience. They have been beginning at 11:00 am, which meant that the line would easily be 3 to 4 hours long before the ladies even arrived to meet guests. I recommended a couple of times that they look at doing a rope drop meet and Disney has responded, of course, it could have been the hundreds of complaints at guest relations.
So, beginning Sunday, February 9 I will again recommend that you visit the ladies at rope drop and do not visit on an Extra Magic Hour morning!
Went today. They were schedule to meet starting 9AM. Arrived at the gate for EPCOT at 8:35. Ran back to Norway and was in line at 9:05. They first reported the wait at my spot as 2h45m, then later upped it to 3h. Wound up taking 3h15m. While in line they were reporting the wait at the back of the line as 5h. Facebook friend went the day before, got in line at 4:30 and only waited an hour supposedly. Might be worth a shot in the later afternoon if you aren’t willing to wait in line for long.
So is the 9:00 start for next week accurate???
Yes. Updated app
So would you suggest going to see them in the morning and have someone wait when gates open? Or have you heard if they wanna go back to 9am meet?
As i noted at top, I suggest visiting them in the afternoon until they change back to 9:09
I’m wondering why I cannot add the Elsa & Anna meet and greet to my itinerary for Feb.23rd on my Disney experience. It just posts times up to Feb. 22nd. Perhaps, they will be changing schedule again. Any thoughts on this?
They only post schedules a couple of weeks in advance, but I wouldn’t trust their character schedules for planning purposes.
Thanks for all your information. Have been reading daily trying to make the best touring plan while still seeing Anna and Elsa. So now that they are at 11, do you again suggest late afternoon to early evenings to start waiting in line? And if so, can you clarify – in one of your replies to another who spoke of a short line, you said they “cut” the line at 2:30 for the rest of the day. Was that just for when it finished at 6pm? We have to go on Feb 25, an early magic day and was hoping that we’d only have to wait the first hour and change… with the change – it seems we need to be a little more creative and flexible. And if arriving to stand in line at 4 or 5pm is better, we could do that too.
Since they moved back to the lame 11:00am start time, there is not currently a way to avoid a 4 hour wait.
FYI
I am at Epcot now. Anna and Elsa now back to 11 AM start time for greetings.
Last week was just a test run for 9 AM start time…
Yes I changed that schedule on my app last night
Kenny, we have 8:30 ADRs at Akershus on 2/26. If we get out by 9:00am and get on line how long do you think we will be waiting with the rope drop crew? Is it a better strategy to have DH eat fast and get in line at 8:45? I don’t want to be first on line since we would have to pull our girls out of the breakfast quick for the meet and greet. What’s the happy medium?
Go to your breakfast even earlier than they say. I’d arrive at Epcot at 7:45 and go on in. They will likely seat you. If you beat the first rope drop people, you’ll wait a little less.
We were in Disney World from Feb 1 – Feb 8. We did Epcot on Tuesday, Feb 4 and arrived at 9:00am. My husband ran over to the Anna & Elsa line first thing (based on the advice we got). The kids and I rode other rides while my husband waited in line. We finally got to meet Anna & Elsa at 1:00pm. From the time he got in line to the time we actually met the girls, we clocked in 3 hours and 50 minutes. It was worth it because my six year old daughter loves Anna. But 4 hours of waiting? My husband and the other dads waiting in the long line said that the Frozen gift shop should have T-shirts made up that say “I survived the Anna & Elsa line at Disney World”!
Lol. This was before they moved to 9:00 opening for those wondering
Can’t thank you enough for the tip! Got there 50 minutes before rope drop & jogged back to Norway. Even with that, the wait was 45 minutes…but that’s tolerable. They were excellent with my little man & spent lots of time with him. He was over the moon! Thanks!!!
Is there any chance they would move to Fairytale garden in Magic Kingdom or is Merida staying there for awhile?
They won’t go there.
So you still suggest late afternoon? Just trying to maximize park time! Thanks Kenny!
Nope, I recommend going at park opening on a regular operating day without Extra Magic Hour.
I’m so anxious to head how it went today! :-) how early should be arrive tomorrow? Thanks!!!
I posted an update last night
Why not go on an EMH? It would only be an hour wait, right?
Why wait an hour and then wait for every attraction when you wouldn’t need to? It’s a total waste of an EMH.
So if we are at Epcot at ‘rope drop’ (that’s the park opening time, correct?) and run straight to Norway, we shouldn’t have to wait hours?
Beginning Sunday, yes. Do that before Sunday and you’ll wait 2 hours.
Thank you so much! I was going to put myself thru this tomorrow. Now I will wait til Monday! My 3-year old turned up a little too short for Star Tours (which he’s been asking to ride for months) so if we can’t see Elsa & Anna (the other big request for this trip) he may lose it completely! :-)
Hopefully, he will grow a bit before you go back to Hollywood Studios too!
Touringplans.com posted today that the girls will start meeting at 9 am in a few days, looks like Disney heard you loud and clear, Kenny :)
TP got the info from here too :) I guess they forgot to source it this time, huh?
Is the 6 p.m. a firm closing time? For a late arrival, what is the latest you would recommend getting in line?
I won’t really know until Sunday. I’ll let you guys know then
I wonder if they will meet at 8 on EMH mornings? We have an AM EMH at Epcot planned specifically for this meet, with my husband to do the sprint while the rest of us catch up.
any word about them getting put on fast pass +?
No time soon. The current location can’t accommodate FP+
Any indication how long the test period will last? Would love to see this when we are there in March!
Dunno, but I’ll let you know if it changes and I update the character locator app regularly with current schedules.
Is your app available on iPad?
http://kennythepirate.com/apps/character-locator-for-iphone-windows-phone-and-blackberry/