Meeting Princesses - meals vs parks

[eponinepontmercy]

We (me, DH, and DD5)  have a trip booked for June, and I was able to get a lunch at Akershus one day and a breakfast at CRT another day. Should I still try to FP+ princess meetups in MK?  

We are planning on 1.5 days in MK, because we felt rushed when we went in October 2015.  We didn't get to ride Mine Train, BTMRR, or Haunted Mansion, or a bunch of other rides.  I'm trying to prioritize the FPs, but I don't want to go crazy with planning every second of the day.

[prosecco]

I don't think I would do both, unless you really want to. It's a lot of the same princesses. Who are your must meets? That will decide if you need to meet others in the parks. I actually feel like there is more and better interaction when you meet them at their character spots, but the meals are nice to knock a few off the list at a time, especially if you have Aurora on your list.

[prosecco]

The current fairytale hall princesses are Cinderella with Elena (not at a meal) and Rapunzel with Tiana (also not at a character meal), we also prefer mermaid Ariel and she meets in her grotto, and although not a princess, Tinkerbell is also not at a meal and offers FP.

[lala]

I don't think you need both either. I hate wasting FPs on princesses. We have done well just looking up the times guide & when they're appearing at places - but that won't help you with some of the big ones.

I would do akershus, so as not to waste MK time - unless CRT is pre park opening. I also just say no if the line is too long or there just isn't time. Given the option between waiting 40 min for a princess or riding rides, my kids would choose the latter anyway.

[was5]

I would only do the character meet and greets in the parks for must see princesses who aren't at meals. When we went (over 2 years ago now), we did CRT, the meet and greet with Elsa and Anna (they were in MK at the time)and we met Belle at Enchanted Tales with Belle. That was enough for DD, but she was almost 7 and was kind of getting over princesses at that time.

[eponinepontmercy]

Her favorite princess is Ariel, but I'm not sure if she cares if she's a mermaid or not.

We are trying to surprise her so I can't get her opinion on things. I'm sure she'd love to meet Elena, though. My personal must meet is Belle, so I'll be happy after Akershus.

I want to do both meals to take advantage of the dining plan. Since we have 2 days there, we can FP 6 things. I think I'll do Cinderella/ Elena (unless that changes) and Ariel in her Grotto, and then we'll still be able to FP BTMRR, Mine Train, and Splash Mountain.

[blondemomma007]

You may want to fastpass a couple princesses or just keep an eye on their wait times and book it over to Fairytale Hall when their waits aren't too long.

I completely underestimated how excited my girls would be meeting the princesses. I loaded our trip up with character meals thinking I could kill two birds with one stone; we could eat and meet the princesses. I found that at Arkhaus the princesses flew past our table. Only Snow White got down and really talked to my girls and I think that was bc one of mine was dressed as her and we told SW that she was her favorite. At the separate meet and greets we were able to talk more with the princesses and get much much better pictures. The lighting where we were in Arkhaus was horrible so those pics didn't really turn out.

We ended up doing both sides of fairytale hall and the Anna and Elsa meet up in Epcot. We didn't fastpass either and the waits were 15 mins for two of them and 30 for the other.

[eponinepontmercy]

Jan 11, 2017 9:22:05 GMT -5 lala said:

I don't think you need both either. I hate wasting FPs on princesses. We have done well just looking up the times guide & when they're appearing at places - but that won't help you with some of the big ones.

I would do akershus, so as not to waste MK time - unless CRT is pre park opening. I also just say no if the line is too long or there just isn't time. Given the option between waiting 40 min for a princess or riding rides, my kids would choose the latter anyway.

The CRT reservation is 8:25, and right now, MK opens at 9:00 that day.  I don't want to wait in line for princesses, either.  She was okay last time when I told her that the line to meet Anna and Elsa (in MK) was too long.    

[blondemomma007]

Jan 11, 2017 9:32:52 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

Jan 11, 2017 9:22:05 GMT -5 lala said:

I don't think you need both either. I hate wasting FPs on princesses. We have done well just looking up the times guide & when they're appearing at places - but that won't help you with some of the big ones.

I would do akershus, so as not to waste MK time - unless CRT is pre park opening. I also just say no if the line is too long or there just isn't time. Given the option between waiting 40 min for a princess or riding rides, my kids would choose the latter anyway.

The CRT reservation is 8:25, and right now, MK opens at 9:00 that day.  I don't want to wait in line for princesses, either.  She was okay last time when I told her that the line to meet Anna and Elsa (in MK) was too long.    

Are you doing lunch or dinner at Arkhaus? We did dinner and went over to A&E right after dinner. We waited 15 mins, there was like 2 families ahead of us. It worked out really well.

[eponinepontmercy]

Jan 11, 2017 9:37:19 GMT -5 blondemomma007 said:

Jan 11, 2017 9:32:52 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

The CRT reservation is 8:25, and right now, MK opens at 9:00 that day.  I don't want to wait in line for princesses, either.  She was okay last time when I told her that the line to meet Anna and Elsa (in MK) was too long.    

Are you doing lunch or dinner at Arkhaus? We did dinner and went over to A&E right after dinner. We waited 15 mins, there was like 2 families ahead of us. It worked out really well.

Lunch at 12:25.  I want to FP Forever Ever After, too.  If DD wants to meet A&E, we'll figure it out based on the lines and such.  We can sprint there once WS opens if she is really insistent on it.  

I originally had a dinner booked that night at Coral Reef, but I'm going to cancel it in favor of CRT.  It's more fun to eat snacks and different QS stuff at EPCOT anyway.  Plus, it's going to be hot, so if DD wants to go back to the hotel and swim, we'll have that flexibility.

[curbsideprophet]

I would write out which princesses you should meet at each location. There is typically a lot of overlap between Akershus and CRT. You might be better off dropping CRT and going to Fairytale Hall at rope drop. Or get a PPO BOG and go to Fairytale Hall right after you are done.

[was5]

Jan 11, 2017 10:35:19 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

I would write out which princesses you should meet at each location. There is typically a lot of overlap between Akershus and CRT. You might be better off dropping CRT and going to Fairytale Hall at rope drop. Or get a PPO BOG and go to Fairytale Hall right after you are done.

I like this idea if the main goal is to meet the most princesses. However, if the idea of eating in Cinderella's Castle is a big thrill, I would keep it. I think sometimes we forget how "magical" it is to be able to go inside Cinderella's Castle. Something like that was only a dream when I was a little girl. When I was at WDW at the age of 5 in 1979, I remember being really bummed that the only thing accessible to the public were shops on the main floor. I would have loved going inside of it.

[lishie]

You can't FP Merida to my knowledge, but she was one of our best princess interactions. I highly recommend doing m&g with her.

[eponinepontmercy]

Jan 11, 2017 13:13:26 GMT -5 lishie said:

You can't FP Merida to my knowledge, but she was one of our best princess interactions. I highly recommend doing m&g with her.

DD didn't want to meet her last time, and I was pissed.    

Then, when told she could pick out any souvenir in the whole Main Street Emporium, she picked a Merida bow and arrow set.  Kids are weird. 

[Deleted]

are A&E at askershus still? or will we need to go to their separate meet and greet epcot location?

[eponinepontmercy]

Jan 12, 2017 12:29:55 GMT -5 @sing4mysavior said:

are A&E at askershus still? or will we need to go to their separate meet and greet epcot location?

It looks like they are only at their meet and greet area, but according to disboards posters, the wait isn't usually too long.

[eponinepontmercy]

Oh, and when I started a casual conversation with DD about what Disney princess she most wants to meet (she wanted to talk in the car but I had to pick a topic), she said Anna, Elsa, Jasmine, Ariel, Snow White, and Aurora. So, roughly all of them.

I think the 2 princess meals plus waiting for A&E and a FP for Ariel in MK will be fine. She's only 5 once.