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View Full Version : Line for the Princess Fantasy Faire...OMG!!!



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nursechrissy32
03-21-2009, 04:57 PM
Being that my children are older now, and one is a 15 year old boy...I have been able to avoid the curious line.......by the entrance to toon town....until....Wednesday, March 18th 2009.

Here, we stood for One hour and 45 minutes. My sister, my 3 year old niece and 7 year old niece. Yes...there was crying ,whining, fits, 2 trips to the bathroom...by the time we made our way to the front of the line....my 3 year old line waiter, had orange cheese all over her Cinderella dress, and refused to stop crying...even though the promise of princessess were just "right around the corner".

Our turn...finally. We walked up to the first Princess...Snow White, "smile for your picture" then, "move along". Now to Ariel in her princess dress, who was complaining about something to the photo pass picture man, and barely forced a smile as we quickly took our picture and moved along to the next princess. About 2.5 minutes in the "enchanted walk" we were done.

The children seemed pleased with their short greetings....we never did run into Cinderella or Aurora...both of which the two girls had just hoped to see....

I was just surprised about the lack of care, for tired children in lines, and extremely patient parents...you would think that the characters would have a bit more interaction with the children who waited hours to see them. I was...disapointed.

I usually NEVER complain about anything in the land...but this one, I just wanted to share a complaint on.....and not to steer you all clear of the oppurtunity to have one on one time with Disney Princess'....just wanted to tell you to do these few things, to save yourself some sanity....

1. Bring snacks. You are not allowed to have the stroller in line so backpack the snacks with you.

2. Distraction devices of any kind are encouraged....

3. Bathrooms are close, so make friends with those in line with you, so they know when you have to run out, that you will be back for your spot :)

Hope that helps a little bit.......

Thanks for allowing me to vent!! :)
Christine

houseofmouse
03-21-2009, 05:55 PM
I know the parks have been super packed. Sorry for your experience.
We did this last July and had a great time. We waited 25 mins with two 9 year old girls.
Our interactions were wonderful. Each took their time talking to the girls, signing autographs and posing for several photos. We saw Mulan, Belle and Sleeping Beauty.

Maybe due to the crowds and such the princess' had had enough. Does not excuse the behavior but may help explain it. :|

ChipmunkStar
03-21-2009, 11:10 PM
Imagine how much longer the line would have been had the princesses been having full conversations with every single child head of you (and yours, of course).... Yikes!

mickey4ever
03-22-2009, 07:15 PM
Yes, we decided to forgo that experiance our last trip. We did Ariel's grotto instead, and it was a much more pleasent experiance. I know it is a little pricey, but so well worth the un-headaches withmy 3 yr old daughter. Each princess came to our table, spent a great amount of time with our daughter, and sons (7 and 12) :), they were even a little thrilled, although they would never admit to it! We have booked the lunch again for her 4th birthday celebration in May, and hope to have jsut as good a time as the last.

ryanvalle
03-22-2009, 07:55 PM
I'm a 19 year old male and I waited a good 20-30 minutes for my photos and they turned out great. :)

I did this with my 20 year old brother and 17 year old cousin :) haha

DisneyMamaof2
03-22-2009, 09:44 PM
We've done the Princess Faire several times, including during peak times, and have always had a pleasant experience. Granted, the line is long, but most lines at Disneyland are long.

We even bought two posters with different princesses on it and took it through the Faire. Each princess personalized their autograph on the poster and talked with my daughter (4 years old).

I am sorry that you had such a horrible experience, try not to be discouraged though.

Wildwill
03-23-2009, 06:20 AM
I walked by that line that day, I can confirm, the queue was REALLY REALLY long. Then again, the entire park was more crowded on 3-18-09 than I expected it to be. Darn Arizona Spring Breakers!

If it helps, minutes earlier I passed by Pixie Hollow and the line for that was at least an hour long.

adriennek
03-23-2009, 08:19 AM
Imagine how much longer the line would have been had the princesses been having full conversations with every single child head of you (and yours, of course).... Yikes!

Sorry, ChipmunkStar, I'm not feeling it.

I'm just not.

They have ways of dealing with this at Mickey's Studio. I'm not going to put this in spoilers for anyone here because you should all be old enough to have this stuff figured out - but if you really don't want to know for some reason, stop reading NOW. (I already know that many of you, including CS, will know this already)



There are four rooms with four Mickeys. The line moves because groups are put into a room, walls are moved and the next group sees a different Mickey. I have never, ever been rushed through Mickey. Ever.


If the Princess thing is so popular that there's a 2 hour line and the children are being rushed through it when they're finally at the front of the line, then there is a problem.

Princesses are supposed to be gracious and magical. The experience the OP had was clearly "not" - and the answer "Just think of how much longer the line would've been if they hadn't rushed through it" is really lame. I'm sorry, I'm not very eloquent this morning. Lame is the best I can come up with. It's an excuse not an answer. This is Disney and there should not be an excuse.

Adrienne

mickey4ever
03-23-2009, 08:48 AM
Wow Adrienne, I did not know that about Mickey.....thanks:)

ChipmunkStar
03-23-2009, 09:13 AM
I'm not excusing, I'm just theorizing. For those who have not been through the meet and greet at the Faire, there are three Princesses in a row. They rotate out throughout the day, so you basically wait in line for three Princesses of whom you won't know who's there until you are standing in front of them. You go to Princess A, then to Princess B, then Princess C, and then you're done. Every once in a while, people luck out when the Princesses are switching out, so you'll get 4 instead of only 3.

Anyways, back to my theory. It seems that the "job" of the Princesses is to keep the line moving at a somewhat decent pace, especially Princess A. If the line were already at the length of an hour (just by the sheer amount of people), but the Princesses (again, highlight A) were having four to five minute conversations with every single child that walked through that meet and greet the line would obviously be much longer by at least another hour wait.

I'm not excusing the earlier reported "Now to Ariel in her princess dress, who was complaining about something to the photo pass picture man, and barely forced a smile as we quickly took our picture and moved along to the next princess." I agree, that is inexcusable. But with the report already mentioning that the line had been 1 hour and 45 minutes with a "hug and move on" momentum to it, the line could potentially have been lengthened to 3 hours if not more with gratuitous conversation. Even if the conversation were limited to a "Why hello, how are you today? What kingdom are you from? Shall we take a picture? Goodbye!" Which would probably only take 1 minute or 2, would that be enough to justify the 2 hour line?

So where exactly does the bar fall to have a decent length line (i.e. momentum) to the amount of time spent in the walkway? Would a 3 and a half hour line be worth only 9minutes (assuming 3 minutes per princess) of face time?

Again, please don't think I'm trying to justify, I'm just curious and theorizing what the best scenario would be.

MammaSilva
03-23-2009, 11:39 AM
Adrienne is AFK for the next several hours but as the mom of one who it's NOT Disneyland until we've gone and said Hi to Mickey and we don't leave until we say goodbye to Mickey, it's obvious that the process is there to make things work a lot smoother...that area is large enough to split the lines so that there were, yeah that means more than 3 princess's out in the meet/greet at once but it means twice as many guests in the same amount of time (give or take). Children got much more from the princesses before the faire area IMHO.

Niwel
03-23-2009, 11:42 AM
Wonder if, when Bibbiddi Bobbido Boutique opens, they'll take out part of the merchandise area and make a better meet and greet area?

MKY4ME
03-23-2009, 12:02 PM
luckily the line was ONLY 40 minutes for our friend's 4 yr old to see Jasmine, Ariel and SURPRISE Aladdin (hmmm, never saw him there before?)--got lucky when Mulan took over for Ariel and got her picture too.

Also, to Niwel, I do believe that the princess shop is NOT going to be closed and the show may return (rumors only)

ChipmunkStar
03-23-2009, 12:21 PM
Children got much more from the princesses before the faire area IMHO.

And that is something I completely agree with. Unfortunately the Faire doesn't seem as though it'll be going anywhere soon, so the only current option would be to somehow adjust or improve the experience as it stands, rather than hoping for something that probably just won't happen (at least, not within the next few years).

Bolivar
03-23-2009, 02:08 PM
I find the Princes Faire does not really live up to what I would expect from Disney. It strikes me as not a concept that someone came up with as a good attraction which they worked into the park, but rather they had this space and wanted to put something, anything in there and someone came up with this as an idea for the space -- not a lot of thought, not a lot of creating the concept or building anything out, just a quick and dirty "throw it together" kind of thing.

It is disappointing and I too think Ariel's is a better alternative, though my daughter has outgrown the princesses so I don't have to worry about it.

tmptink
03-23-2009, 02:58 PM
I like that idea Adk about the 2 groups like they do in Mickey. I felt rushed during our last Mickey visit. It was really strange because they did not even have a PhotoPass CM there. But that was the only time I felt rushed with Mickey.

As for the Princess Faire, I think that if they did rush people, the line would move quicker. From my experience we have always had 2-5 mins with each princess and the people ahead of us the same thing but we always have an autograph book so that adds time. I try to rush my dd more than the princess does. I think this last visit we spent 5-8 mins with Jasmine and Belle. It was a cute encounter and it totally made the waiting in line worth it. Even though when I was waiting in line I said I will never do this again.

To the OP, I am sorry you had a bad experience. It really makes you not to want to do it again.

Spacecadet
03-23-2009, 04:14 PM
Thanks for the heads-up. I have not told my 3.5 year old about the Faire and don't think I will just in case we do decide to skip it if the lines are too heinous. I don't think my 1.5 year old would wait very happily with us for that long. We'll stick to doing the Ariel's Grotto dinner to get her ample princess time and keep the Faire as an unmentioned possibility to see on the day how it's looking.

gornicke
03-23-2009, 06:18 PM
My wife and 2 daughters visit every summer and luckily they are in their teens now so we are past the "waiting to see the princesses". Last year I peeked over the wall and was shocked when I saw Pocahantas inside the Fantasy Faire. We had never seen her even though we asked on every yearly visit. She is one of my younger daughter's favorites, but we weren't going to wait an hour, and then have her possibly not be there when it was our turn. We always had a great time visiting with them when they were in the park-mostly near the castle or in Fantasyland. So, I'm casting my vote that this current system of meeting the princesses needs to be reformatted.

Drince88
03-23-2009, 06:26 PM
We'll stick to doing the Ariel's Grotto dinner to get her ample princess time and keep the Faire as an unmentioned possibility to see on the day how it's looking.
Smart idea!

adriennek
03-23-2009, 08:24 PM
Anyways, back to my theory. It seems that the "job" of the Princesses is to keep the line moving at a somewhat decent pace, especially Princess A. If the line were already at the length of an hour (just by the sheer amount of people), but the Princesses (again, highlight A) were having four to five minute conversations with every single child that walked through that meet and greet the line would obviously be much longer by at least another hour wait.

This is a problem. It should not be the character's job to keep the line moving. It should be the character's job to greet the prince or princess and provide a lovely moment. It should be Disney's job to figure out ways to keep the line moving. They seem to have managed that at Mickey's studio.


I'm not excusing the earlier reported "Now to Ariel in her princess dress, who was complaining about something to the photo pass picture man, and barely forced a smile as we quickly took our picture and moved along to the next princess." I agree, that is inexcusable.

Oh Boy Howdy Yes.



But with the report already mentioning that the line had been 1 hour and 45 minutes with a "hug and move on" momentum to it, the line could potentially have been lengthened to 3 hours if not more with gratuitous conversation. Even if the conversation were limited to a "Why hello, how are you today? What kingdom are you from? Shall we take a picture? Goodbye!" Which would probably only take 1 minute or 2, would that be enough to justify the 2 hour line?

So where exactly does the bar fall to have a decent length line (i.e. momentum) to the amount of time spent in the walkway? Would a 3 and a half hour line be worth only 9minutes (assuming 3 minutes per princess) of face time?

Again, please don't think I'm trying to justify, I'm just curious and theorizing what the best scenario would be.

After standing in a 2-hour line, the child should have gotten at least a little conversation. I don't think a 9-minute interaction is necessary. But yes, a nice little "Hello, Princess. How are you today? Your gown is beautiful."or Are you having fun? Have you seen my castle or gone on any boat rides or SOMETHING. Maybe a little curtsy lesson or princess wave would be adorable. (remember that cute commercial they had awhile ago where Cinderella taught a little toddler to twirl?)

But something. And I do think that having some curtains set up so they can have more than a couple of princesses would help keep the line moving. I recognize that it's harder to get and pay for face characters than a short woman to assist in the portrayal of Mickey - I really do - but if they're going to capitalize on their princesses (and let's face it - Disney CAPITALIZES on these opportunities - between merchandise and photos and even food sales - they're not missing any opportunities!) then I do think they should make an effort to improve the quality of the experience beyond hug and move along.

Adrienne

Disney Donna
03-24-2009, 08:27 AM
Any advice/strategy on how to cut down on the waiting time at PFF? :confused:

disneyfn
03-24-2009, 01:31 PM
One word, early! Anytime I want to see something at the park I arrive early and go straight there.Yes it means arriving at 8AM or earlier but it is worth it when you return later in the day and see a hour or more line .;)

shna
03-24-2009, 02:34 PM
It seems that perhaps DLR could take elements of WDW's character experiences. There's a building in Toontown in Magic Kingdom at WDW where you can line up for pictures with either Princesses or Faeries. They have video screens running with alternating film clips of Princess/Faerie movies. You're ushered small group by small group into a back area with three characters & then do the Character A, Character B, Character C thing. The line was about 45 minutes long, but the faeries (Iridessa, TinkerBell, Silvermist) had really nice interaction with the kids. Well - Iridessa & TinkerBell did. Silvermist seemed slightly disinterested -- but maybe that was just because my daughter had eyes only for TinkerBell.

Funny -- it just hit me that I spent oodles of time at WDW in various parks waiting for pictures with characters. The only one I've stood in line for at DLR is Mickey.

kimbeejohnson
03-24-2009, 04:08 PM
I agree that you should do the Princess Fantasy Faire early, but try NOT to do it on an early entry morning (T, TH, Sat, Sun) if you don't have Magic Morning entry.

We arrived on Thursday at "normal" entry time (no early entry), went straight to the PFF and still waited over an hour to see the princesses. It was because the early entry people that were already in the park were already in line.

On Friday (non-magic morning day) we went straight to Tinkerbell at park opening and only waited 15 minutes to see her.

So choose your days wisely!

Tisha
03-24-2009, 05:49 PM
Yeah I am 25 but went once with a friend just for some cool pics. The line didn't LOOK that bad but took between 45-60 minutes. You can never know which princesses you'll get because they will change several times just while you're in line.

I think they could definitely move the line along faster! When my friend and I did it we went through quickly just taking a few pictures. When I turned back around they still hadn't let the next group in and the princesses were just talking, dancing, while they waited.