Anna and Elsa Wait over 90 minutes? Tips To Get The Most Characters Out Of Your Day At Magic Kingdom!

Hello fellow readers and Disney World goers! If you haven’t been lucky enough to get a Fastpass for Anna and Elsa, don’t despair! I tested this character ‘plan’ for 3 days, all on Saturdays (typically busier).  I was done by around 11 am with the following characters: Alice, Anastasia, Anna, Elsa, Cinderella, Drizella, Merida, Rapunzel, Tiana, and White Rabbit. (Park opened at 8) Then I experienced -Enchanted Tales With Belle- at 9am.

How did I manage to do this? More importantly,  how did I manage to CONSISTENTLY do this every day I planned on doing it? Easy!  And if characters are the most important to you, this plan might get you through Magic Kingdom without all of the cries of children about waiting so long. The best part about this plan that needs to be mentioned is that I did not use any fastpasses for characters at all. None.  I had my fastpasses for rides after 11 am.  So, if you have a little boy complaining that you will have no time for rides, reassure him that no fastpasses are being used for characters.

The Character Plan For Magic Kingdom

Whether staying on-site, off-site or driving from home, be past the turnstiles (where you touch mickey to mickey) well before the welcome show, about 25-30 minutes before park opening. If you can, go to the right near the entrance of the park and bypass the actual viewing of the welcome show.  This will prove beneficial (I tested it and watching it put me back about 25 minutes). So the welcome show begins, people scurry closer to the entrance, you do too.  If you have a stroller, prepare to walk briskly with it.

When the welcome show ends, go in and start fast walking.  Most importantly, avoid stopping to take pictures. There’s no wait to take pictures of the castle, therefore, do pictures after meet and greets.  You are on a mission- keep fast walking. If you did the beginning part correctly, you should be near the front, if not at the front, directly behind the rope walkers. If you are, congratulations!  You are on your way to a successful no wait character day. Most people, I’ve noticed, run to the mine train at rope drop (that is what Disney calls the beginning of the day). Don’t do it.  Remember, you are on a mission to avoid a 90 minute wait for Elsa and Anna and, hopefully, you have a fastpass for the mine train. That should be a Fastpass priority.

So you are walking behind the rope through the castle and you are set free! For some reason, guests must walk BEHIND the carousel.  So walk briskly and do not walk to the outside.  Keep close to the carousel and then stroller parking. If you have a stroller, have one parent park as the other one takes the kids in line.  Guests are not let in to Elsa and Anna for about 5-10 minutes anyway, so if you are the stroller parking parent, just go through the Cinderella and Rapunzel line until you find your family.

Enter the line for Anna and Elsa!  Congratulations! I was the 2nd person in line twice and the first person once. When I watched the welcome show to test as I mentioned, I was in the waiting room for about a 25 minute wait. BUT you, being such a great reader as you are, did not watch the welcome show and you were in the front row rope drop at the right entrance.  🙂

You’ve now met Anna and Elsa and it’s barely 9 o clock.  Exit the gift shop (briskly) but don’t let your children stop in gift shop.  Tell them you can shop after and head back to Princess Fairytale Hall to get in line for Cinderella and Rapunzel. Each time, minus the day I watched the welcome show, I was the first guest! No one sees them first- it’s always Elsa and Anna. So I recommend going straight into the Cinderella and Rapunzel line directly after Anna and Elsa (you also get to appreciate you hard work when you see the line after a mere 5 minutes). The line does fill up fast after people get done seeing the Frozen princesses, forewarning.

Four characters down and it’s probably about 8:20. Head to the Carousel!  Anastasia and Drizella should be there shortly and you can ride it with them.  They have quite interesting conversations and great photo opportunities!  After their one ride, follow them to the wall at Cinderella Castle and you can take photos with them. They are fun to converse with and different characters to see besides princesses.

So far we have seen 6 characters and it’s about 9:00. Perfect time for tea! Head to the Mad Tea Party to meet Alice and the White Rabbit.  Take the less known route.  Do NOT go by the carousel or Princess Fairytale Hall.  Instead, take a right at Sir Mickey’s and you will see a path between the castle and the store.  Stroll down there and, remember, pictures after. The Mad Tea Party is straight ahead and there may be a tiny line.  I waited about 5 minutes. It’s early in the day and guests are still entering the park, so it should not be too crazy.  Later, a longer line will persist.

It should be about 9:30 and you have two options-

1. (Recommended) Go to Merida’s Meet and Greet area to wait for her appearance at 10:15 (one parent can wait as the kids and other parent hit a nearby ride.  Bring the waiting parent a coffee or snack as a reward for waiting 🙂 ) You should be first in line at 9:30 and just remember to park the stroller across the walkway at the Starlight Cafe.

2. Ride Mad Tea Party and/or Tomorrowland Speedway after the Alice and White Rabbit meet and greet. Be in line for Merida by 10 am.  You will not be first and will wait 10 -20 minutes, if not more.

If you went with option 1, it’s roughly 10:30 and that means Tiana time! She is in her Garden Glen so the easiest route to her is go back up the path to the castle to the area where you saw Anastasia and Drizella at the castle wall.  Continue to the other path and take it down.  Instead of going left to the Castle or right into Liberty Square, go straight and behind the gift shops to find her Garden Glen. Get in line to see her.  I waited 5-10 minutes.

It should be about 11 am and you have had a character filled morning! There are more characters, of course – Mickey and Tink (Town Square- 2 separate lines), Donald and Goofy (Storybook Circus- same line), Minnie and Daisy (Storybook Circus- same line), Buzz Lightyear (Tomorrowland), Stitch (Tomorrowland), Woody and Jessie (exit of Splash Mountain), Aladdin and Jasmine (next to Sunshine Terrance in Adventureland), Fairy Godmother (the walls near Pinocchio Village Haus and the path to the Mine Train), Ariel (Ariel’s Grotto), and Chip and Dale (Frontierland- random spot near the shooting gallery/Country Bear Jamboree on the other side of the walkway) just to name a few.  But this plan gets you the most characters in the least amount of time; 10 characters in 3 hours with a ride or two at Magic Kingdom.

All pictures in this post are mine and were  taken on the same day (December 13th, 2014) in the order of the character plan.

If you do this plan at Magic Kingdom, comment below about your experience! See Ya Real Soon!

– Monica L. Gillis

IG: pixie_dust_or_bust

Jason Mayhew

My name is Jason Mayhew, and I am the owner of OFF On The Go. When not traveling with the website, I own my own marketing and PR company, J Mayhew Marketing. I have the best job where I get to travel the world and showcase the most amazing and unique experiences!