Home Disney World Why can’t I find Fastpass+ for Anna and Elsa?

Why can’t I find Fastpass+ for Anna and Elsa?

By
kennythepirate
-
77
Anna and Elsa Disney World, Anna and Elsa Fastpass, Anna and Elsa Magic Kingdom, Anna and Elsa meet and greet


A lot of folks ask me why they can’t find Fastpass+ options for Anna and Elsa X days before their trip.  The reason FP+ options are difficult to find for them is simple economics.  I’m going to present some made up numbers for the sake of discussion.

Lets say, hypothetically,  that Anna and Elsa are able to meet 200 guests per hour per day when they move to the Magic Kingdom.  That would be 3.33 guests per minute, so it sounds reasonable for discussion purposes.  The Magic Kingdom has taken the stance that Anna and Elsa will only be guaranteed from 9am to 5pm daily, so we have 8 hours to work with.  If you multiply 120×8, you get 1600 people per day.  Fastpass+ usually offers express privileges to 1/3 of all the guests in an line. Given our mathematical proposal,  533 guests per day would be meeting Anna and Elsa using FP+.

There is easily 30,000 or more guests in the Magic Kingdom on a really slow day, so about 1% would be given an opportunity to meet the Frozen Princesses with a short(er) wait given our numbers on a slow day.  Guest are crying out because there “must be a better way.”  The only better way is to offer this meet and greet in multiple locations until the demand cools down but that does cost more money.  Moving them to Magic Kingdom and offering FP+ is a plus, but probably not enough to make the line really short.

If you can’t find Fastpass+ for Anna and Elsa using my tip about booking them one at a time or using the copy method, your best bets are:





1.  Arrive before park opening and go straight there on a morning Extra Magic Hour day.  This eliminates anyone skipping character meals, or eating then running out to beat you to the second rope behind the castle.

2.  If you don’t have Extra Magic Hour privileges, you should arrive before park opening and head straight there and make your way as close as possible to the rope behind the castle, eliminating as much wait as possible.

If you don’t have FP+ and sleep in, you’re still going to wait in a REALLY long line.   I’m still guessing that those with FP+ from around noon onward will experience a wait of an hour or more, unless Disney forces more people to just wait longer in the stand by line.  I’ll update you next week and let you know if my guess is correct.

77 COMMENTS

  1. I know it is months after this line of posts; however, can anyone tell me if having other fast passes booked interferes with the times shown to change your fast pass? For example, I have monsters inc 9-10, Peter Pan 1015-1115, and Buzz from 1230-130. If I go to modify Monsters to try to get A&E or 7DMT, will it show times during Peter Pan and Buzz, or will it ignore them because I have fast passes booked? Sorry if that’s confusing.

    • Not exactly clear about what you said. But yes, FP+ would affect the availability of the time slots of other FP+.

      The rule is, there must be no overlap of FP+ in the same 1 hour time window. Example: you have Peter Pan 9~10am reserved, then you will never see any other experience FP+ available in any of the 9~9:59am time slot, even if the time slots are available. So if you have other FP+ occupying the same time window, you have to move them first before you will see the new slots opening up for the targeted experience.

      The strategy with A&E is 3 prone — 1) You really need to stay in Disney resort so you can reserve that A&E FP+ 60 days in advance. 2) Perseverance! 3) Do not reserve any FP+ for the day of A&E. Just keep trying till A&E shows up, grab it FAST and confirm! Disney would auto pick other 2 experiences for you. You can go back later to switch out the random experiences to the ones you like at a time you like.

      I tried 45 days in advance for A&E and still could not get it, till the 42nd day, and this was with me checking 5 times every hour through day and night.

  2. I just tried to login at 12:01 on the first day of our FP+ window and the A&E was only standby for our entire trip. Any suggestions?

    • Andy, good luck with that A&E FP+. My recent experience tell me both A&E and the Magic Kingdom Royal meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) all sold out 60 days in advance. Which means only those who stay in Disney Resort can reserve the time and date they want, when 60 days window first open up!!

      I am going to disney Sept, and I started reserving A&E 46 days in advance, and it still shows Standby only. I tried to refresh my Browsers a few times every hour everyday whenever I have time, and manage to book a slot finally after 3 days trying.

      If you would visit multiple parks, try be flexible with the dates. Open multiple Browsers each on different date to focus on the availability of A&E. Grab whichever comes first.

      Better have fast finger though. And once you see an opening, grab ASAP with 2 FP+ on other experiences. You can always go back to the FP+ to change the experience later. Spend too much thinking and its GONE!

      If still no luck, then be at MK on rope drop. Typically they open the park like 10 minute or more earlier than usual, depending on crowd. Or if you stay in Disney resort, find the day MK with 1 hour earlier opening time just for the resort guest.

      I ask this before to the agents on phone, if there would be more A&E lots opening up on the 30th day prior, thinking that this is only fair to those not staying in Disney resort. They said no such rule. But you might just want to try you luck on that 30th day prior. try Mid-night after 12am EST, or 1st thing in morning.

  3. I need help here. It’s 7/16/2014, and on both the smartphone App and Disney web site about Magic Kingdom, there is no attraction named “Princess Fairy …” or “Hall ..”, let alone FastPass.

    Am I looking at the wrong place? Please let me know the navigation in the App to reserve it.

    Thanks
    Sean

  4. We will be at MK towards the end of June. I was able to get 4 fastpasses for 5:40-6:40. Is that correct? When I called Disney Agent, they said that if the fast pass was issued then it is correct. Very concerned …

  5. We have 8:10 reservations for Cinderellas castle breakfast on June 20. Do we have any chance at all of seeing Anna and Elsa? I got online at midnight 60 days in advance of June 20 and there were NO fast passes available even that far out…

  6. I hope more FP pop up. I was online at midnight last night and nothing showed up for our 30 days in advance being available to Anna or Elsa. I am so bummed.

  7. Can you explain the rope drop for MK?? If there is no EMH for that day when should I get to the park and where do I go? You said there are two ropes?? I can’t book my FP’s yet but I am paying I can get my baby girl in to see A & E!!

    • Two different sets of ropes that hold people back.
      Set one are at the Train Station. They are on the right and the left side of the Station and are released at the end of the the welcome show.
      Set two is behind the castle where it turns into a giant cow pen. Stay to the LEFT. However, I recommend trying really hard to get FP+. The line goes from zero wait to 300 minutes within seconds of opening.

      • Great thanks! I will be trying everything I can to get FP+. I may even book a breakfast for one day just in case so we can get in the park early…not sure how that works either but it is worth a shot. :) Thanks for everything!

  8. I had almost given up on FP+ for A & E – they must have released more because I just managed to get all 4 of us in for next Monday!! My girls are going to melt!! :) Hoping the lines stay under 20 min like all the posts have said – don’t mind that at all! Friday May 2nd seemed to have some open too.

  10. Any updates on how the FP is working for these girls? Is it a really long wait even with the FP as predicted? I know it only started on Sunday but just curious.

  12. Does anyone know, is it possible to get FP+ passes for Anna and Elsa on the actual day? Are some passes held back and only released on the day?

    I was just wondering if it would perhaps make sense to rush to the FP+ machines in the morning, instead of rushing to the princesses? I have two (Frozen-crazy!) toddlers who just wouldn’t be able to rush through crowds.

    Thanks in advance, I hope this isn’t a really stupid question, this is my first visit to WDW and the whole FP+ thing is so confusing!

  13. When i go online to try to get a FP for A&E I am seeing Standby Available for both days we will be spending in MK. Does this mean all FP options have been reserved?

  14. We were at MK at rope drop today. Thousands ran to A & E. We luckily got there quickly and got right in. When we came out at 8:10 there was a 180 minute wait. This was during magic hours.

  15. Went to MK today, 180 minutes at 9:45, I had fastpasses for that time, was in and out in about 10 minutes, no fastpass return line at all, we were right at the rope and had to wait about 3 minutes before being taken back!

  16. My disney app and disney experience website only let’s me book fastpasses
    30 days in advance. I keep reading about people booking 60 days in advance. What am I doing wrong? Waking up at midnight to book anna and elsa passes is getting old and I still don’t have them

      • My family and I will be staying at a Disney resort in June. The 60 day out mark was April 10. There were absolutely no FastPass+ options for Elsa and Anna for any day/time of our 11-day vacation. I’m quite O-C when it comes to Disney. I have tried all hours of the day and night every day since. I had an online chat with a Disney cast member last night and was told the My Disney Experience system is showing standby because FP+ is not needed since Elsa and Anna will be available all day. I didn’t believe that one for a minute! We have early breakfast reservations and always open the park, so I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed that we can get to the line quickly. Otherwise, my three nieces will be devastated!

      • Rule one: Don’t talk to Disney CMs on the phone. They don’t have a clue. They are scheduled until 5PM and the schedule only shows for 2 weeks in advance to those in the know.
        Rule two: If you can’t find FP using my tips, go there at Rope Drop and you’ll still be fine.

        “Line” doesn’t form like it did in Norway. There’s a rope behind the Castle before you reach the meet and greet area.

      • That was already my plan. Thanks for your quick response. I just wanted to alert people to the problem I ran into.

  18. I have fp+ for a Tuesday in mid may.. Was able to get mine that ends at 10:20 and my wife and son that start at 10:35. A few questions. One, will they let us all in at 10:20; Assuming they won’t let us all in at 1020, can I go in at 1020 and wait on line and when they come 15 minutes later, they can come up to me? I’ve never been inside that before..also what do you anticipate the wait for us at approx the 1020-1030 range?

  20. Hi Kenny,
    We will be visiting MK on April 29 and will be traveling w/ 3 kids under the age of 4. We have A&E FP for 0920 and are trying to figure out the best way to Fantasyland in the morning. My friend recommended taking the train from the main gate first thing in the morning; she said it’s about a 15 minute ride and that it would be easier than fighting everyone trying to walk there. What do you recommend?

  21. Look forward to seeing how this plays out. I was going to get FP+s to see A&E but maybe we would be better to rush there at 8am, when it’s EMH in the morning.

  22. Awesome website! Thanks for all the great info!

    What time would you recommended getting to the gate to be first in the park when it opens? When do people start lining up? It looks like the park opens at 9:00 the day we’ll be there–no extra magic hours.

    Also, is it ok for my husband to head straight to the line to meet Anna and Elsa when the gates open and for the kids and I to join him in line a little later? Do they allow that in the parks? (I’m just thinking it’s going to take a while for me to get through the bag check line and to get all three kids to Fairytale Hall on our first day there).

    • MK is different because there is 2 ropes and I can easily walk up to the side of a rope 15-30 minutes before opening. If he heads straight there, he’ll meet them before you arrive. Bag check is outside the gates and outside the rope. You’ll be waiting at the rope on the inside.

      • Perhaps they are just guessing like I’m guessing, but mine comes with years of actual character meets, not just passing photos. I test everything I talk about, including standing in character lines. I stood in the Valentines line and had friends do the same. By mid-afternoon the FP+ line exceeded 1.5 hrs. Anna and Elsa are a phenomenon that are causing people to wait up to 7 hours. No theme park, any where in the world, has ever seen this for a meet and greet. Rapunzel and Flynn was the only thing that came close.

      • They are usually pretty accurate. They say they have quite a bit of scientific research going into their predictions. But I don’t know how scientific it can be when there is no history for this attraction with FP.

        I use their personalized touring plans which give minute-by-minute estimated wait times. We have FP+ set up for 2 days in early June. Both days, the appointment is around 10:30 am and both days TP.com estimates the wait at roughly 30 minutes. One day it was 28 minutes and the other 30 minutes even.

        No idea what that’s based on. But I would have to think its a fairly educated guess.

  24. Do you really think we’ll see FP+ waits of an HOUR? How long do you think the standby line would be if FP+ is at an hour? And do you think they’ll have a sign at the FP+ entrance saying a wait time? I can’t imagine getting in a “fast”pass line and waiting an hour. I understand it’s “fast” relative to the regular line, but still…

  25. Booked FP for them on our June trip. Got on at midnight and used your copy method until we all got in at 10:00. (Had to book for the last day on our trip instead if the first- FP all taken up the first four days.) But Yeah!!! Thank you so much Kenny for all your tips! I never would have been able to get in if it weren’t for you:)

  26. Yes, I would still want a FP at ropedrop (if possible)…think about how quickly the line grows at Epcot. MK has two early breakfast options that will give many the jump on those there at ropedrop. What I am wondering is if you think that WDW will release some the morning of, like I have heard they did with TSM, etc.??

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.