Beginning Wednesday, July 23rd, Disney will begin testing a new standby system for entry to the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet at Princess Fairy Tale Hall in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom. The massive popularity of the hit Disney movie Frozen has spilled into the WDW parks as lines to see Anna and Elsa have been enormous. Standby wait times of up to 300 minutes have been regularly reported since the princesses arrived at Princess Fairy Tall Hall in May 2014. Fast Pass reservations via Disney online system, My Disney Experience, seem to fill up as soon as a new day starts, leaving guests frustrated in getting a chance to see these currently popular Disney characters.
As such, reliable sources have confirmed to Temporary Tourist that Disney will begin testing a different system in which guests can visit Anna and Elsa at the Princess Fairy Tall Hall.
How will this system work?
Starting at the park opening at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, July 23rd, Cast Members will allow guests to fill the standby line to its capacity, which is the shield just on the outside of the Hall. Once full, the line to Anna and Elsa will be considered closed. Guests who arrive after the line has been filled will be directed to Magic Kingdom Park Support, who will be located on the other side of the Courtyard Carrousel. Each guest will receive a pass with a comeback time on a “first come first serve” basis. The comeback time printed on each ticket will have a 30 minute window in which to return and enter the standby line to see Anna and Elsa. Once a guest has come back to Princess Fairy Tall Hall and enters the line, Disney expects the maximum wait to approximately 30 minutes.
How long is the testing period going to last?
At this time, Disney is planning on testing this system at the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet for three days beginning Wednesday, July 23rd and lasting until Friday, July 25th. Our source has not confirmed any further testing past July 25th.
How will Fast Pass+ work during the testing period?
Fast Passes will still work as usual. (9 FastPass+ Fast Pass reservations per hour – yes it really is that low!) Guests who have a reserved Fast Pass during the testing phase will still be able to access the Fast Pass line to see Anna and Elsa. Guests can still log into My Disney Experience and attempt to reserve a Fast Pass during the testing phase, as well.
How will guests with a DAS card visit Anna and Elsa during the testing period?
DAS users will also need to visit the Magic Kingdom Park Support group to get a ticket. Comeback times will not be written on the DAS cards for Anna and Elsa during this testing phase. DAS users, however, will be given a ticket similar to other guests, but DAS users will enter the FP line rather than the standby line. Of note – No change to the Make-a-Wish system in place, those guests will still receive immediate access.
How many passes will Disney be giving out during this time frame?
As this time, it’s believed Disney will only be handing out 80 passes per hour for the entire testing day. Once all passes have been distributed for that day, no more passes will be given. As such, no more guests will be allowed to enter the line to see Anna and Elsa on that day. These 80 passes per hour do not include any Fast Passes given for visiting Anna and Elsa. Only 9 Fast Passes per hour per day are distributed to guests for Anna and Elsa. EDIT: This does not include Fast Pass+ reservations. Disney allots 9 Fast Passes per hour per day in the Magic Kingdom park for the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet.
Sounds pretty radical. Is this a new system to Disney?
This new system is not new to Disney. Two attractions/shows at DisneyWorld’s Hollywood Studios currently utilize a similar system. For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration currently runs up to seven shows a day and hands out comeback times for one of the shows to guests who want to see the show. Also, the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow also utilizes comeback times for guests to see this show as well. This is a change from the standby line when the show was first opened.
Are any other attractions going to be testing this system besides the Anna & Elsa Meet and Greet?
Yes, two other attractions will be entering testing on this system 7/23/2014 – Soarin at Epcot and another attraction currently unknown by our sources (in the Temporary Tourist’s opinion, we believe the other attraction will be Toy Story Mania or Test Track, again that is what we think, but not confirmed)
Of note, none of the Princess meet and greets will be affected. Their queues are to remain unchanged.
Ever have the chance to meet Anna and Elsa? Here’s our video of Carson’s meeting:
CONFIRMED – Thanks to @WDWPres
Does anyone know if they are still doing the ‘comeback’ passes?
Not at this time, they are not
Just got back from WDW. We went to the Magic Kingdom on July 28. It was not an extra Magic Hour Day. My daughter wanted to se Anna and Elsa and from what i read, chances were slim unless we wanted to wait in a long line. We were at the ropes at 8:30. The let us in at 8:45 following the rope excort and we headed straight to Fairy Tale Hall. We not only met Anna and Elsa, but turned around to meet Cinderrella and Repunzel. we were done meeting wt all four Princeses by 9:20.
Best bet is ot be at the rope drop early and head straight there. It worked for us.
Getting on 7 Dwarfs Mine Train was another story and we passed on it due ot wait times.
I’m curious to see how this new system works. I’ve been counting down the minutes to our September WDW vacation, and I was on my Disney app at the stroke of midnight to get a FastPass to see Anna & Elsa with my one-year-old Norwegian princess 😉 However, NO passes were available at midnight 60 days prior to our vacation for ANY day of our vacation! I’m STILL infuriated about this! So something definitely has to be done, and I’m glad to see that Disney is trying to come up with a solution.
Do you know if everyone in your party has to be present to receive one of the first come first served return tickets or can just one person from the group get it for our family of 4?
Our sources confirmed to us originally all members of your party had to be present in order to receive a pass. However, during the days of this test I’ve been reading on a few forums of people who’ve been able to secure passes for their entire party without all members being present.
I tried reserving FastPass+ for Anna and Elsa Meet & Greet during my September visit but it was grayed out and couldn’t select it.
Does this mean I will never be able to reserve it with FastPass?
Thanks!
Don’t feel bad…you’re not the only one who’s finding it difficult to schedule a FP+ to see Anna and Elsa!
Keep trying to see if any spots open up. Also, try reserving times in smaller numbers. For instance, if you have a family of 4, trying reserving times in increments of 2. I’ve heard of guests who reserve FP+ times for rides for a small number of guests, then simply copying their itinerary to the other members of the party to have everyone together at the same time.
Hope that makes sense, and good luck!
I don’t understand what you mean when you say “simply copying their itinerary to the other members” can you further explain how you do this?
thank you
How is this different from the old Fastpass system where you showed up the day of and got a come-back time window first come first serve?
With the old Fast Pass system (which gave you paper tickets on a “first come first serve” from a machine with a comeback time), you could get a comeback time and return to a specific FP line which allowed for quick boarding of a ride or show. Additionally, you could choose to enter the standby line and wait for a longer time to board the ride as well.
With this system being tested, no standby line will be available to any guests once it’s been initially filled right after park opening. Guests will be given comeback times on a “first come first serve” basis and once those have been distributed, guests will not be able to see Anna and Elsa for the rest of the day during this testing phase. Only guests with this comeback pass and any guests who’ve reserved FP+ in advance will be able to see Anna and Elsa on this day during the testing phase.
I’m so glad we went last week. My girls would have been devastated if they didn’t get to see them!
Why don’t they have/use a theater type setting that has multiple characters (like 3 Anna’s and 3 Elsa’s) in multiple rooms? Make it so the line doesn’t see the multiple characters, but then you are shuffled into one 1 of the 3, and have no idea of the others…
Because there is only 1 Anna, and 1 Elsa. They are princesses, and they are real people.
**SPOILER ALERT**
Princess Fairy Tale Hall already has 2 rooms for Anna and Elsa. So, this means since Anna and Elsa have arrived at Magic Kingdom back in May, there have always been 2 sets of Anna and Elsa being visited in 2 separate rooms.
Really if true good idea to solve the long lines. What are their hours from open to closing or something else. Their the best do still greet individually our together as in the past. Hope to see em soon Gary Radnich gary@knbr.com
Thanks for the comment Gary!
Just to clarify, the test was only for 3 days last July of 2014. Since then, no changes to the standby line for Anna and Elsa have come about. Further tests were completed at Soarin at Epcot and Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios, but no permanent changes have occurred to those rides as well.