Give me the LOWDOWN on Princess Fantasy Faire!

[mom2rtk]

We did the Princess Fantasy Faire when we were last at DL in the summer of 07. I thought I read somewhere since then that it was closing? We've been heading east to the World the last few trips but are thinking of heading west next summer.

In 07, PFF was the ONLY place in DL to meet the princesses.The line was insanely long and there was no way to tell who you would meet. That was a problem for us, as my daughter likes to wear costumes and get photos with the princess she is dressed like.

I would appreciate your reports from the field!

 

[pixiewings71]

No you can still meet the Princesses there but they no longer do the make overs, those are at the BBB now, and no more show, no more story time, no more ceremony on how to be a Prince/Princess, just a meet & greet with some Princess merch available. As in 07 you can still see the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto, you will see Ariel for sure and 4 other of her friends will be there as well. I definitely recommend AG over the PFF.

 

[mom2rtk]

That sounds SO disappointing! They kept the one part of that setup that drove me nuts! I used to love being able to find the princesses out in the park around the castle.

Is there any rhyme or reason on when to find certain princesses there? So if you are looking for someone specific, then you're just out of luck? At least at the World, they put up a sign showing who "in"....

AG is OK, but to be honest, I didn't like the food. And we hadn't planned on park hoppers. We might only have one day. It sounds like princess access in DL itself is rather poor.

 

[pixiewings71]

No, no rhyme or reason and they rotate every 15 minutes or so. We don't like the format there so we do AG instead.

Have you been to AG since your trip in 07? Because they've changed the menu completely, it's much better now. You get a 3 tiered starter tray with salad, veggies, breads, cheeses, salami and more, then you get your main entree (whatever you chose) and then you get a desert plate that has a boat load of stuff on it. The Tri Tip is sooooooooooooooo good, the chicken is superb, DBF loves the Ciopinno. We've eaten there 3 or 4 times with the new menu and it's so good.....
Of course none of that helps if you're not park hopping.....

 

[mom2rtk]

I haven't eaten there since 07. So maybe the food is better at least.... But that doesn't solve the park hopper issue. And to be honest, I'm looking for better photos than one can usually get at a character meal. I guess I miss the old days when you could take photos with beautiful greenery or perhaps a castle in the background....

I put a lot of effort into my daughter's costumes. When we go to the World, we can ALWAYS find a specific princess if we set our minds to it. I had really hoped they would find a better system in the Land by now....

It's a shame too. We love DL more and I'm dying to head west again... but the princesses are a big part of our Disney experience too....

If we go, it will be part of a long road trip, just one stop among many. That's why we might only get one day there.

 

[mom2rtk]

And might I add Pixiewings that I'm WAY jealous of your ability to get to DL so often! Can I move in????

 

[pixiewings71]

Sure, we will make room! However, our APs are about to expire and we aren't renewing. DBFs car is literally dying so we need to get him a new one, we are going to take a Disney break for a while so we can get him a car and pay off some other debt we have. We are bummed but it has to be done.

I'm sorry there isn't a better system in place, I'm with you on that wish, I'd like them to make the Princesses more accessible in DL too.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sure, we will make room! However, our APs are about to expire and we aren't renewing. DBFs car is literally dying so we need to get him a new one, we are going to take a Disney break for a while so we can get him a car and pay off some other debt we have. We are bummed but it has to be done.

I'm sorry there isn't a better system in place, I'm with you on that wish, I'd like them to make the Princesses more accessible in DL too.

Well... at least you got to make the most of your AP's this year! We live smack dab in the middle of the country, so I doubt we'll ever get to be AP holders. Too much to-do just getting there! Although we've made the drive to both parks several times. There's just too much to see between here and Anaheim to ever fly that direction!

I have to say I'm surprised. I didn't like the princess meeting arrangement over 2 years ago when we were there. I'm shocked it hasn't changed. When I heard PFF was closing, I thought that would change too.

Do the princesses ever appear out in front? Is there much princessy to do at DCA to justify a stop there (besides AG)? If I can talk the family into a second day, maybe we'll get over there and see Aladdin one more time before it leaves.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

It used to be that Disneyland had a better setup for meeting the princesses. Then they copied the WDW system and made it worse by giving you no idea who you're going to see. I never had the old menu at AG, but I've eaten there 3 times now since the new menu because of the food. In my opinion, it's the best character meal food in either WDW or Disneyland. I like it so much that I would still eat there if it ceased to be a character meal, but the food remained.

You can on occasion find a princess in Hollywood Pictures Backlot at DCA. I've seen Sleeping Beauty back there once, Mulan a few times, and Snow White frequently by the Magic of Disney Animation. You can also catch Cinderella just about all the time as part of Drawn to the Magic and she will pose for pictures afterwards, but make sure you get in line for her first when the show is over.

It used to be that you could see princesses out in front of the train station at Disneyland around 3:00pm (back when they had an actual parade), but the last time I saw princesses there was in February. They may be doing it again since there's now a parade, but be aware that you can be in line and they may have to leave before your turn. Good luck.