Frozen at Walt Disney World Tips
Any parent taking their kids on vacation wants to know where to find Anna, Elsa, and Frozen characters at Walt Disney World. Currently, Frozen Ever After and Royal Summerhaus at Epcot, plus Frozen Sing-Along Celebration at at Disney’s Hollywood Studios are the main Frozen experiences at Walt Disney World. Oh, and you practically cannot turn around in a gift shop without seeing something Frozen.
Actually, you can catch glimpses of the Frozen characters outside of these two major attractions and the meet & greet. Additionally, the Magic Kingdom’s Festival of Fantasy parade features Anna, Elsa, and Olaf as does Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire, the new stage show that plays several times per day in front of Cinderella Castle. Additionally, during the Christmas season there’s the Frozen Holiday Wish lighting show, and several characters appear in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
If you want a warm hug from Olaf (I can’t believe I typed that), you can now find him in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Celebrity Spotlight area, which is located near Star Tours. This is an out-of-the-way location and waits are usually 10 minutes or less, so we recommend this as a good character meet & greet even if your kids aren’t huge Frozen fans. Over at Blizzard Beach Water Park, you can cool off with the Summer Games, hosted by Olaf and Kristoff. Olaf is a busy (snow)man!
At Animal Kingdom there’s nothing Frozen yet, but look for Rafiki’s Planet to soon host “Sven’s Family Friends: A Meet & Pet Experience” to debut soon! 😉 Now let’s take a look at the main Frozen attractions at Walt Disney World, and some tips for experiencing them…
As a permanent holdover from the Frozen Summer Fun Live! event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that used to take place during the summer, there’s the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.
Not having children and not being a huge Frozen fan myself (I like it, I just haven’t worn out my copy like I did with my VHS tape of the Lion King quite yet), I was not sure if this would be for me. My only real reason for seeing it was because people kept asking questions about it.
To be quite clear, it definitely wasn’t aimed at me, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless. What I mean by that is that a sing-along at Walt Disney World is never going to target the “coveted” 18-49 year old male demographic. It’s obviously for kids.
With that said, for what it is, I enjoyed it about as much as I possibly could have. The Royal Historians of Arendelle weave the songs together with a loose retelling of Frozen, and these two have some comedic chops that keep things entertaining for adults with some ‘over kids heads’ humor. It’s fun, cute, and worth seeing.
As for seeing this show, it’s now available as a Tier 2 FastPass+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Truthfully, I think you are better off using that FastPass+ on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, unless that isn’t your cup of tea.
The Superstar Theater where the Frozen Sing-Along is held is huge, so unless you are visiting on one of the busiest days of the year, I can’t see having any issues getting into a showing if you line up even 10 minutes in advance.
If you want to meet Anna & Elsa, you will have to head over to Royal Summerhaus in the Norway pavilion at Epcot. The characters used to meet at Princess Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom, but that is no more.
As of Summer 2016, Anna & Elsa are now exclusive to Epcot. Back when they met at Magic Kingdom, it was a “frustrating” attraction with FastPass+ selling out shortly after the 60 day window opens up (as in within minutes or hours) and standby waits quickly climbing to 2 hours almost as soon as the Magic Kingdom opens.
However, thanks to Disney “magic” wait times at Royal Summerhaus are normally under 20 minutes. You can probably guess how that magic of increasing capacity at a meet & greet is accomplished, but we won’t ruin the illusion here. 🙂
In addition to having shorter waits, Royal Summerhaus is a cute building resembling Anna and Elsa’s childhood retreat. There are a lot of details to see that establish this, and it’s actually nice to have a short wait in the queue leading up to the meet & greet rooms so you can enjoy the details.
As for the meet & greet rooms, Anna and Elsa meet separately, but in the same room. You visit Anna first, and then immediately go to Elsa. Since the demand is no longer as high, we found the interactions here to be far superior to those in the past at Magic Kingdom. Before, there were times when it felt like they were trying to churn through guests as quickly as possible.
Now, time can be taken for fun, special encounters. We noticed several families in front of us having intimate moments with the characters, and Anna even showed Sarah her awesome high-kicking skills!
Then there’s Frozen Ever After, which is the main draw for Frozen fans in all of Walt Disney World, and really, the main draw for everyone in all of Walt Disney World. This just opened in June 2016, and it has proven to be the most popular attraction at Walt Disney World, drawing wait times consistently above 90 minutes.
We don’t want to spoil anything, so if you want to read/see more about the substance of the attraction, you can check out our Frozen Ever After Review & Tips post. Suffice to say, the attraction is incredibly well done (albeit out of place in World Showcase) and an absolute must-do.
In terms of strategy, you absolutely want FastPass+ for it (see our Guide to FastPass+ at Walt Disney World post for more background and tips on making FP+ reservations). This is the most-coveted FastPass+ option in all of Walt Disney World, and it’s one you will want to score right at the 60 day mark (if you’re eligible).
Failing that, you’ll want to do Frozen Ever After at rope drop. This means arriving at Epcot at least 60 minutes prior to park opening and walking “briskly” towards Norway. Guests are stopped in a holding area in front of the Mexico pavilion before 9 a.m., and slowly walked from there towards Norway at 9. You can see this process in our Frozen Ever After vlog:
Another option is a pre-park opening Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) for Akershus. This is a hot ADR, so you’ll want to make this reservation as close to 180 days in advance as possible. It doesn’t matter whether you have an 8:00, 8:15, 8:30, etc. ADR, so long as you have a time prior to park opening, you’ll be allowed to enter Epcot around 7:45 a.m. Just make sure to be out of the restaurant by 8:50 a.m. for a prime spot in the Frozen line.
A final option if you’re unable to get FP+ or Akershus ADRs is getting in line at the very end of the night. As is the case with all Walt Disney World attractions, so long as there is 1 minute left in the operating day, you can get in line. On most nights, this means skipping IllumiNations, so you have to choose one or the other. If you have small children, we’re guessing the scales tip in favor of Frozen Ever After.
Again, all of these tips–and more–are covered in greater depth in our Frozen Ever After Review & Tips post.
As you can see, Frozen has a huge presence at Walt Disney World, and likely will for the foreseeable future. This makes sense, as Frozen likely has long term staying power, and should accordingly have significant representation at Walt Disney World.
If you’re planning a Walt Disney World vacation and need to know about more than just the Frozen frenzy, make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide and related articles.
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Your Thoughts…
Has the Frozen frenzy struck your kids? Have you had the chance to do any of these Frozen offerings at Walt Disney World? Thoughts on what Disney might do next with Frozen? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts on these questions, or anything else, in the comments!
Hi Tom, once again an incredibly comprehensive and informative guide. We ste visiting from Australia in 7 weeks, little excited! Exceptionally happy I’ve come across your vlog. Thank you!! Exceptionally helpful!
I believe it’s AY-ker-shoos.
(We actually visited the real thing in Oslo last year, and now we have a reservation to eat in the restaurant next February 🙂 )
And I was ment to say “Heroes In A Half Shell” coz it’s for the Turtles destroying everything Frozen to be put to shame!
Dudes why are there no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!?? If they’re not there, well guess what? I’m coming to scare little kids with my disguise! SoWhy no Ninja Turtles??? Give me one good reason why, or I’ll scare your little onesHeroes In A Half Shell! TURTLE POWER!!
Hi Tom – I have read and have been told that Anna and Elsa and returning to Magic Kingdom for the meet and greet during the holidays? Is this true?
This is the first vlog I’ve watched! Love it 🙂 Tom’s voice does not sound like what I thought it would. Which is weird. I’m a little jealous of his voice…
Anyway, I love the video!
Ha, you can have my voice. I *hate* it.
Tom,
I agree, the real question is where do I buy the Haunted Mansion dress? Thanks to your recommendation I have recently discovered Hot Topic and I’ve already scored several Disney dresses and tank tops that my grown daughter will actually “consider” wearing…lol…we are going in October for MNSSHP and since she has the Haunted Mansion Magic Band, I would love to surprise her with this dress! Thanks for all the great info! Elaine
Here you go: http://amzn.to/29UUGe5
Sup Dude. Can anyone tell me why there are no Ninja Turtles there?? Why!?….
More importantly, where is that Haunted Mansion print dress from? I need one and for the ‘first time in forever’ I refuse to ‘let it go’.
That’s enough Frozen to keep things OT right?
We were at Disney World last month (June 2016) and the Frozen Sing Along was a HUGE hit with my 6 year old granddaughter. She was almost in tears when Elsa came out and magically filled the auditorium with swirling “snow.” We also snagged a fast pass for the Elsa/Anna meet-and-greet at Magic Kingdom (one of the last days they were there) and I felt it was very rushed compared to the lengthy, personal meeting last year with Tinker Bell. My granddaughter is WAY too sharp. She told me that she didn’t think Elsa at Magic Kingdom was the real one, since she (the granddaughter) wasn’t turned to ice after being hugged!
Why is there any black people people on Frozen ? I refuse to buy any of those products for my grandbaby American consistent of many different cultures and Disney World had limited 99.9% of them
what.
The movie actually takes place in old Norway, not in America. That’s why there aren’t any black people in the movie, or any other cultures represented. Just Norway.
My wife and I are visiting WDW in September 2016. It’s been over three years since we were last there it seems a lot of changes have taken place in that time. Sharon (my wife) is a big frozen fan so it seems like we’ll be watching that. I know that the back lot tour has gone and that was one of my favorites. On one trip I got to take part in it that is a very happy memory it was a lot of fun. Are the band Mulch, Sweat and Shears still performing?