Reporting in 1/23 - Epcot (Anna/Elsa) and AK notes

Good Morning Dewdrop

Have Courage & Be Kind
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Went to Epcot today - with the game plan of DH (Stuart) going directly to Norway to get in line for Anna and Elsa and DD and I were going to ride a couple of things and then join him - so he could go ride TT

DH walks fast - yesterday he was first in line for Merida - he's done the Rapunzel Run many times back when she was in FairyTale Garden with Flynn so he knows how to walk quickly and yet not run.

He got into the 11:00 meet/ greet by ONE family - yes, only one family was behind us....want to know why? Because EVERYONE in the 11:00 am meet and greet - every family except 5 (3 men walked faster than he did and the family behind us) was already in line at RD they came from Akershus! One man (that I know of) didn't even eat the meal he just got in line at 8 am (I talked to him in the bakery). His family did the meal and he just started the line!

I didn't write it down exactly but around 10:30 they were lining people up for the 3 pm meeting times. At 11:00 they were already lining people up for the 4:50 timeframe - at noon (when we left the area - after eating) they were lining people up for the 5:50 time!!!! Unreal. Saw a few people being nasty to the CMs (not very many - usual story our last day we were told this etc) but overall everyone was calm and resigned to just waiting.

Anna and Elsa were great - they mentioned that Olaf is meeting in CA (not sure if that was true or to explain why he wasn't there). Dh asked them if they wanted to build a snowman and Elsa had him ask properly - she knocked on the wall - it was a lot of fun!

CMs did tell us that they had more people meet during the 11 am time than they had expected (ie the line moved faster so people beyond the family behind us got to meet) so all of the times may have moved up due to that.

Got in Mulan's line just before noon - longer than usual but no problem getting to see her.

Went to see Belle a little after 12 - close to 12:20 - line was much shorter than I expected (not just from seeing Anna / Elsa but because most times when we go by she's got a good sized line - especially now since it's the only place she'll sign for you). We were only 3 families back

Then saw Alice at 12:30. Third family in line for her - got to see her come out.

Today was the first day of FP+ at Epcot - they had a ton of people on hand by the gates when they opened. Saw lines at many of the stations especially that big middle one between the 2 innovations buildings.

Soarin was at 90 minutes at 9:30

Went to AK in the afternoon - not much to note there.

Safari at 2:15 we had FP didn't need them it was a walk on.

Went on it again just after 3 - had to wait a few minutes before the merge (standby) - then they opened up the 2nd truck side (first time we went around only one side was open for loading which is standard when it's slow).

NOTE: the bridge was working both times!

AK was having a lot of technical problems with their entry points so they only had a few open. Not sure what's going on there. Also the 2nd FP scanning thing on the safari was covered up - so we scanned on the way in and did not have to scan again.

CM at Guest Relations said that as of now you can just eliminate a FP without changing it / booking another one. So if you want to just dump something you can. Haven't tried that out personally. He did say things are changing every day. He also said that one day (not very soon he implied so not sure when) you will be able to book for different parks on the same day.

Talked to an Animal Educator CM - we discussed the Komodo Dragon dying - he said that a lot of the animals they had gotten in 1998 (when AK opened) were now aging and they were now considering what direction they'd be going in. Implied that things would be changing over the next few years but didn't say (or perhaps even know?) how.

Weather was cold this morning - coats, jeans - but not as cold as yesterday. Left the jackets in the car when we got to AK (around 1:30). Will be cold again tonight.

If you've got any questions please ask - we're here! Plan is AK tomorrow morning and MK in the afternoon.
 
If you've got any questions please ask - we're here! Plan is AK tomorrow morning and MK in the afternoon.

I assume you're staying onsite, and I assume you have FP+ tomorrow for MK?

If so, I wonder if you could get day-of FP+ at AK kiosks in the morning. Might be interesting to check out if you see an empty FP+ kiosk?

Thanks for your report. I'm glad that our granddaughters have never asked to greet any of the princesses!!
 
I assume you're staying onsite, and I assume you have FP+ tomorrow for MK?

If so, I wonder if you could get day-of FP+ at AK kiosks in the morning. Might be interesting to check out if you see an empty FP+ kiosk?

Thanks for your report. I'm glad that our granddaughters have never asked to greet any of the princesses!!

yes, we're onsite - have FP tomorrow for ETwB; Rapunzel and Peter Pan

plan is evolving - we might go by DHS first thing then hop over to AK for lunch and at least one safari and then go to MK (first FP is for 2 pm).

Will try to ask to see if we can arrange something for the morning but am highly doubtful.

Meeting the princesses is time consuming but (with the right child that really loves it) ever so magical!!
 
Very interesting, thanks.

Soarin was 90 minutes at 9:30 AM!!
On January 23rd?!

That's just not right.
fast pass plus problems?

I don't know the answer, but I've been there this week several years and never saw lines that long during the week....this is supposed to be a slow week!
 


Very interesting, thanks.

Soarin was 90 minutes at 9:30 AM!!
On January 23rd?!

That's just not right.
fast pass plus problems?

I don't know the answer, but I've been there this week several years and never saw lines that long during the week....this is supposed to be a slow week!

it really was a slow day - I don't know what was going on with Soarin. We saw and noted the wait time as we came off of Living with the Land (zero wait we practically had the boat to ourselves). Posted wait time at the attraction was 90 minutes - out on the big board that you see on the way over to the land said 80 minutes - not sure if it's information was old (hadn't caught up to the 90) or if the wait was going down - we saw it as we left the Land area to head over to Norway.

I enjoy reading up to date reports so I'm trying to report in.

For those arriving this weekend - we're expecting rain on Monday and Tuesday
 
Went to Epcot today - with the game plan of DH (Stuart) going directly to Norway to get in line for Anna and Elsa and DD and I were going to ride a couple of things and then join him - so he could go ride TT

DH walks fast - yesterday he was first in line for Merida - he's done the Rapunzel Run many times back when she was in FairyTale Garden with Flynn so he knows how to walk quickly and yet not run.

He got into the 11:00 meet/ greet by ONE family - yes, only one family was behind us....want to know why? Because EVERYONE in the 11:00 am meet and greet - every family except 5 (3 men walked faster than he did and the family behind us) was already in line at RD they came from Akershus! One man (that I know of) didn't even eat the meal he just got in line at 8 am (I talked to him in the bakery). His family did the meal and he just started the line!

I didn't write it down exactly but around 10:30 they were lining people up for the 3 pm meeting times. At 11:00 they were already lining people up for the 4:50 timeframe - at noon (when we left the area - after eating) they were lining people up for the 5:50 time!!!! Unreal. Saw a few people being nasty to the CMs (not very many - usual story our last day we were told this etc) but overall everyone was calm and resigned to just waiting.

Anna and Elsa were great - they mentioned that Olaf is meeting in CA (not sure if that was true or to explain why he wasn't there). Dh asked them if they wanted to build a snowman and Elsa had him ask properly - she knocked on the wall - it was a lot of fun!

This has me pretty freaked out. I almost want to book a ressie for Akershus just so I can get in and go right to the line, and eat the $10 charge (I'm a party of one, solo trip.) I can't not meet Anna & Elsa- but the idea of getting there at RD and having to already wait for a later time than 11AM sounds insane. UGH UGH UGH.

...can they just please add them to the FP+ list at say, February 1st? That would be great.
 
This has me pretty freaked out. I almost want to book a ressie for Akershus just so I can get in and go right to the line, and eat the $10 charge (I'm a party of one, solo trip.) I can't not meet Anna & Elsa- but the idea of getting there at RD and having to already wait for a later time than 11AM sounds insane. UGH UGH UGH.

...can they just please add them to the FP+ list at say, February 1st? That would be great.

honestly to me that sounds like a genius idea $10 for a guaranteed 11 am meet/ greet with them - bargain IMO! and you wouldn't have to rush from the turnstiles - I mean you'd have to walk out there but at 8 am I don't think you'd have to rush - unless it was a Tuesday (EMH).

not sure if you could get an ADR at this point but might be worth a try.....
 


Now I'm thinking maybe I should see if I can get a breakfast reservation for just me and my daughter and she can see all the princesses that way and then we can go hit the line. She's going to be the only girl on a mainly boy trip.
 
Olaf is in CA. There is an animatronic Olaf on the roof of the Frozen Meet. He is wonderful!
 
so is it just the animatronic Olaf that is in CA or do you really get to meet Olaf? Sorry if I'm being dense !

I'm 99.9% sure there is no meetable Olaf at DLR either and the sisters were referring to the animatronic one.

Have a great trip! Sorry the A&E line is so long, but I'm sure there are others who appreciate you reporting back.
 
Epcot was great today! Walked by Soarin at 2:30 and standby was 30 minutes. It was 90 at 9:30 because one side broke down first thing this morning.
 
honestly to me that sounds like a genius idea $10 for a guaranteed 11 am meet/ greet with them - bargain IMO! and you wouldn't have to rush from the turnstiles - I mean you'd have to walk out there but at 8 am I don't think you'd have to rush - unless it was a Tuesday (EMH).

not sure if you could get an ADR at this point but might be worth a try.....

So far, no openings. But you bet your behind I'm going to check every day (probably more than once) until I get one! Or so help me... :sad:

It's a bargain for me, only because of the solo trip, and thankfully I've already done the princesses at Akershus, plus I have a CRT ressie for this trip, so either way I'll be okay. It's just the time waiting and spent for A&E that'll get me this trip. Everything else, I've got mapped out. Aaaaanyway.

Good to hear you had a good trip, at least!
 
So far, no openings. But you bet your behind I'm going to check every day (probably more than once) until I get one! Or so help me... :sad:

It's a bargain for me, only because of the solo trip, and thankfully I've already done the princesses at Akershus, plus I have a CRT ressie for this trip, so either way I'll be okay. It's just the time waiting and spent for A&E that'll get me this trip. Everything else, I've got mapped out. Aaaaanyway.

Good to hear you had a good trip, at least!

good luck getting an ADR - really I think it's a great idea!

Stormtracker - thanks for the 411 on Soarin we were wondering about that long wait time!

mesaboy thanks for explaining Olaf. Keeping tabs on the Anna and Elsa line was oddly fascinating. I knew if I was at home and getting ready for a trip I would want as much intel as I could get so I went in with that in mind. We had a nice group of 3 CMs that we got to chat with off/ on. And the 3 men and one woman who walked swiftly with DH (the only ones that came from the turnstiles to the line) were really great - it was fun when their families finally showed up - they were fun too! One man told his family to just sleep in and turn up just before 11 and they did! A woman in the Norway bathroom told me she couldn't possibly be expected to get 3 small children (not sure how old they all were the one she had in the bathroom with her looked around 5) up and to the parks at RD - she wasn't overly happy with the Anna/ Elsa wait - not sure how far back they were.

Still here - we leave next week on Thursday the 30th - so if anyone has questions -do ask I'll see what I can find out. For background we are AP holders, staying onsite and Park Hopping every day. Willing to ask just about anything or try to find out - will not (obviously ) be rude or break any rules.
 
...can they just please add them to the FP+ list at say, February 1st? That would be great.

Has Disney extended the meet and greet past the end of January? The last I read Disney had "extended" their meet and greet in Norway until January 31st. A quick look at the Disney World website shows their meet and greet hours up to February 01, but nothing after that date.

Was there an updated announcement? I figured they would be gone already when I'm at Epcot in early February.
 
Has Disney extended the meet and greet past the end of January? The last I read Disney had "extended" their meet and greet in Norway until January 31st. A quick look at the Disney World website shows their meet and greet hours up to February 01, but nothing after that date.

Was there an updated announcement? I figured they would be gone already when I'm at Epcot in early February.

Not officially, but everyone close to the situation is confident they are not leaving.
 
Not officially, but everyone close to the situation is confident they are not leaving.

Thanks Mesa, I just read the thread some one else posted with the same question and saw your reply there as well. I appreciate your reply..
 
Love this thread! We are leaving in 10 days and it's so great to get details on what I can likely expect. Thank you OP!
 
I cant beleive that January has those kinds of lines. I was there 2 weeks before Christmas and i got on the A&E line at 12 for the 2 o'clock M&G. so what this is saying that if i got there at 12 noon now i would wait almost 6 HOURS????????? aint gonna happen, we met them once and anything over 2 hours is nonsense.....Unless Olaf and Sven were there then maybe i would consider it
 
so is it just the animatronic Olaf that is in CA or do you really get to meet Olaf? Sorry if I'm being dense !

Olaf isn't at CA as a meetable character exactly. He is animatronic. :)

Has Disney extended the meet and greet past the end of January? The last I read Disney had "extended" their meet and greet in Norway until January 31st. A quick look at the Disney World website shows their meet and greet hours up to February 01, but nothing after that date.

Was there an updated announcement? I figured they would be gone already when I'm at Epcot in early February.

Given their wait times, the Arrendale Princess and Queen will be meeting for sometime. According to most blogs that have very reliable information, they'll be around for sometime. :)
 

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