We just returned from spring break in Florida, including 3 days at Disney World. Days 1 & 3 were spent at the Magic Kingdom and day 2 was at Epcot.
The most popular attraction at Disney World is meeting Elsa & Anna from Frozen. Right now they are appearing at the Norway pavilion at Epcot. Lines to meet these girls and get their autographs reaches 4-6 hours on a daily basis. There is NO way that I would wait in line that long so I did research. Through blogs, social media, Lines, and talking to friends who recently went I knew the quickest way to meet them is by getting there early. We got in and had their signatures by 10am. Here is how we did it.
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| Lines outside Epcot around 8:25am |
Get in line early to enter Epcot! We arrived in the Epcot parking lot at 8am (9am opening) and were at the gates in line by 8:05. We were the 3rd family in line. The plan was for my hubby to run ahead and get in line. He made sure he was hydrated and all stretched out for sprint. We both had hip packs (because we are hip!) and I held his. The music to allow people to enter went off about 8:53am. There are 2 turnstile scanners for each line and the people in front of us were having issues, but he scanned his on the other scanner and took off. **Please take note of Extra Magic Hours. Each day, one of the 4 Walt Disney World theme parks opens one hour early for guest of certain Disney World resorts. See Disney calendar
here. Don't try to get in line early to see Elsa & Anna on an Epcot Morning Magic hour because the the special guests in early will already be in line!**
Map it out! Take a look at the Epcot map (click to enlarge) and make sure you know where the girls will be. Basically you go straight til you hit the lagoon and then turn left. Norway
is just past Mexico. You meet the girls at Prinsesse Plass which is on
the left hand side when you enter the Norway pavillon. It's across from
the Akershus restaurant. I have put a yellow path on the map above and marked Prinsesse Plass with a snowflake.
Do the Daddy Dash! When the rope drops, RUN to Norway! It only needs to be 1 family member, which is usually Dad. At least it is in our house. (I proudly display a 0.0 sticker on my minivan!) It's about 6/10 of a mile from the front gate to Norway.
My hubby was runner #4 in line, however we weren't 4th in line. People
that had made early reservations for Akershus had one family member wait
in line instead of eat breakfast. I personally am not willing to spend
$40 per adult and $25 per child to get there early. That is even IF you
can get an early reservation. They are booked months out! We were about half way back in the 2nd loop of the line and were the last people to meet the Anna & Elsa before their brief 10am break.
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| Here is our first glimpse in the door. |
The front of the line is out in front of Prinsesse Plass. The end of this line is about the 90 minute mark. The line is broken up so that Norway isn't congested. The overflow line forms along the front of Norway and snakes around the side. There is no shade, so be prepared! I talked to many people in the park throughout the day that had waited in line anywhere from 2.5-5 hours. The parents took turns waiting while the other took the kids to attractions.
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| The girls are quite lovely and chatted away with my daughter! |
All the planning was worth it! My husband was very skeptical about this working out when we waiting for the park to open, but when he got back there so quickly (way ahead of the people who were around us in line out front...those people had to wait about 30 mins longer than we had to meet Elsa & Anna) he knew we were going to pull it off and still make it back to Future World to see our son's marching band to perform at 10:30am.
