Character meets & easy access pass advice

[carlins_leap]

Hi all,

Were busy gearing up for our Halloween trip and I wanted to ask if anyone who has been recently could offer any advice about the meet and greets at Princess Pavilion and for the Halloween characters?

When we visited in May, we had to queue at the Princess Pavilion - a separate queue for people with the easy access pass - and a person with a register would give us an appointment...is it the same now or isthere a new system at the moment?

Also - is there any queuing system setup for the Halloween characters this year?
We've watched a video on YouTube and seen what looked like a queuing system to meet Maleficent...that would be great as trying to navigate the scrums with our youngest in her adapted pram is just impossible.

Thanks
Steve

 

[cherrymarzipan]

Hi Steve

We were in the park for the beginning of the Halloween period and I think the Princess Pavilion closure at that time is now finished (Ms Poppins came after us and may know) so we saw princesses at various outdoor locations which for us was better. When we were last visiting the PP I found the only way to ensure a disability reservation for Oliver was to queue before 10 (by the windmill) to get onto a list. We then had to return at 10:30 (along with everyone else on the list so another queue) to collect our reservation ticket itself and then of course return for the allotted time at the exit to the PP. This was all a bit too much for Oliver so we only did it a couple of times.

This trip we found all other queues well ordered: Donald Duck, Mickey & Minnie, Tic & Tac, Goofy & Pluto – all at EMH, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy – these three in Halloween costumes at various locations, Marie, Stitch, Jack Skellington (high on your list I imagine!), Merida (Frontierland) and Maleficent whose queue wound round the briars in her courtyard. Just a question of seeing a CM at the exit and in many cases getting a reservation ticket for a little later. Don’t leave getting a reservation too late in the allocated time for a character though as all places may be taken early on.

The other villains after the show were very difficult to get to although with a specially adapted pram the characters and handlers may well notice and help you come forward if you can get close enough in the first place.

Have a wonderful Halloween!

 

[carlins_leap]

Hi Cherry,

Thanks for the info & tips

The queueing & "appointment" system is so much easier to handle - in May, we tried to get appointment times from the CM's as we entered the park and spread them out over the morning.
Then, whilst my wife and the girls went on Buzz Lightyear, I queued at the PP.
I was baffled at the system of queuing once to make a reservation, coming back for a ticket and then returning for the meet n greet itself - I really can't work out why you couldn't get a ticket whilst queuing up the first time....


I would imagine we'll be meeting Jack every day
maleficent is also a definite on the list for our girls, so I'm glad they'll get a chance to meet her.

The meet 'n' greets without a queue can be really difficult at times.
Everyone is desperate to meet the characters and normal etiquette can go out of the window...some of the characters are great at trying to pick out those who have been patient and waited, but not all of them get the chance with the mad rush from the crowd...it's not really their job to manage the crowd.
Some of CM's and characters are great when they spot our youngest in her adapted pram, but it is quite a big hefty thing and manoeuvring in a crowd can be difficult - I'm always nervous about bumping into people or running over their toes

It sounds as though there will be lots of opportunity to meet the girls favourites!

If anyone else has been recently and can offer any advice on any new system at the Princess Pavilion - that would be awesome

Thanks
Steve

 

[Ms Poppins]

We're just back but didn't use the princess pavillion so I can't help with that. I did notice that there are fast pass machines but don't know how they work.

The villan meets in Fantasyland in front of the Dragon/Bramble and in front of the castle stage are a bit of a scrum. They do put pumpkin head markers on the ground which is where the villans should go to, so you could stake one of these out before a show.

Hope you have a lovely time.

 

[dhidra]

I read that the new reservation machines for PP won't be in operation until November.

 

[katiesam]

We were there at the end of September and although this was before the Halloween season kicked off, there were still a lot of meet and greets around the park. Unfortunately, when we visited a lot of them, we were told they didn't accept Easy Access Passes and we were told we'd have to queue up normally.