Monday, January 27, 2014

Frozen Meet and Greet with Anna & Elsa in EPCOT's Norway Pavillion

 Since I'm a Walt Disney World local, I thought January 25th is the "slow season" and maybe I could avoid the long waits to meet Anna & Elsa from the new movie Frozen.  I went to Norway by 10am thinking since they don't open 'til 11am, I'd be near the front of the line.  I read all the information online stating 2-3 hour waits...and that is truly what happened.  People come straight into EPCOT to go to the Meet & Greet Line for Elsa & Anna.  At 10am, they were lining people up for the 2pm Meet & Greet.  I was told to expect a 4-4 1/2 hour wait.  I still agreed to get in line.  For families, only one person had to stay in line to hold the place while the others could go play and come back.  I have to admit that the wait was truly a fun time!  The hours went by quickly.  We were lined up in front of the Norway Pavilion's Stave Church, and the stone became a great place to sit while all the people in line exchanged life stories and the love for Disney.  Most of the people around me were "Locals."  I did hear Cast Members say that a lot of Guests were not willing to wait the 4-5 hours for a Meet &
Greet.  I will share that I am thankful I did...but that if I was visiting, I would not have devoted that much time to something like this.  Also, as we got closer to the front of the line, there was an outlet where people were charging their cell phones.  You know how people who spend 4 hours playing on their phone can drain a battery...so they had the opportunity to charge their phone in time to go inside and take their pictures.
The entire waiting area was outside, but the Meet & Greet was inside The Princess Plass.  I have heard that Elsa & Anna may be moved on February 1st, so this may have been the last weekend to see them in Norway.  I will say that I am so thankful that I did decide to wait in that line!  Once you get inside to meet the Princess and Queen, you truly felt very special during your time.  The Cast Member took photos with both my phone and my camera.  Elsa and Anna signed my autograph book and even a post card that I purchased to send to a a very special little girl for her birthday.  Then Elsa and Anna even allowed me to record them wishing my cousin's child a very Happy Birthday  and even invited her to come visit them in Arondale sometime.  I truly felt like my time with these special friends was the most important part of their day, as they make everyone feel.  So if these characters are important to you, I do highly recommend this special time!