Our plans to meet or
get a glimpse of the characters started way before our vacation began. We knew Olaf, or a replica of Olaf, was
located at Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s private island in The
Bahamas. And, we had snagged a Fastpass
+ to meet Princess Anna and Queen Elsa at the Princess Fairytale Hall in the
Magic Kingdom 60 days prior to our vacation.
We had also “heard” that Anna was greeting guests on board
Disney ships, so imagine our delight when we saw that both Princess Anna and
Queen Elsa would be on the Disney Fantasy.
All we needed was a special ticket!
I headed off to D-Lounge at the designated time—shortly after 12:30—and had
to speak to three different Cast Members before obtaining the magic
ticket. One ticket per stateroom,
everyone in the party there at the designated time, no need to arrive early,
etc. The time on the first ticket was
going to overlap with some activities we already had planned, and eventually,
we were given a ticket with a time that worked for us. I did not have to wait in line very long to
obtain the ticket, but had heard that the line had been quite long just a few
minutes prior. Also, many guests did not
see the advertisement in the Navigator when they checked in at the port, but
were still able to obtain a magical ticket from Guest Services.
Our designated day was our first “at sea” day and our time
was 11:30 am. Location—Animator’s Palate
on Deck 3 Aft. The restaurant had been
turned into a frozen paradise by the creative use of lighting and digital
displays on the screens. We showed our
ticket at the door, followed the path, and gave our ticket to the appropriate
Cast Member, and our Key to the World Card to the photographer and the rest was
history. It was great to meet the
characters together. We did not need to
bring autograph items as that was being handled for us. . . but more about that
another time. All three of us agreed this
meet and greet was a highlight from our cruise.
Next came Olaf at Castaway Cay. We said hello first thing in the morning as
we exited the ship. Good thing, too, as
when we returned to the ship, one of Olaf’s arms had been broken off. We informed the nearest Cast Member upon
discovery.
Our next interaction with Olaf came when the phone rang in
our resort room at Walt Disney World.
Olaf’s voice was telling us it was time to get up and have some FROZEN
summer fun! Just a note—one of our
recommendations is to set a wake-up call and then answer by pushing the speaker
button on the phone. That way, everyone
in the room can hear the character on the other end. I asked people throughout our trip if they
had heard Olaf’s wake-up call and I could not find anyone else who had made a
wake-up call!
The FROZEN fireworks display was also hosted by the
characters—both live and digital. Just
another treat! Oh, and speaking of
treats—we enjoyed the Olaf cupcakes at Hollywood Studios, too!
We “hopped” back to Hollywood Studios on another afternoon
and took in the FROZEN Sing-a-long. We
obtained a ticket for a specific showing, queued up 20-30 minutes prior, and
made our way in the Premier Theater. We
ended up with great seats in the second row! (NOTE: There are plans to move the sing-a-long to the location which previously housed The American Idol Experience, as that attraction is closing.)
The show itself was delightful! Hosted by two citizens of Arendale who are
then joined by Anna, Elsa, Kristof, and Olaf digitally. The story is retold with great movie footage
and of course, singing along! (Remind me
to tell you the story of the young lady sitting in front of us.)
Finally, it was our day to meet Anna and Elsa at the Magic Kingdom. We had a Fastpass+ time for 9:00 am which was
great for morning extra magic hours. The
wait was less than 5 minutes for us and we were ushered into the room to greet
the Princess and the Queen—separately, but in the same room. No wonder the wait is so long—as Elsa just
watched us greet Anna and by the time we got to Elsa, another family had been
let in. My efficiency radar went way up
on this one, but nonetheless, it was magical.
There was also a shop when guests exit that is filled to the
brim with FROZEN and other Disney Princess merchandise. We found the playset that we had been hunting
for since leaving the ship and promptly paid for it. It included the figures of all the characters
and we didn’t buy it on the ship thinking we would get it at Walt Disney
World. Alas, no one had it, even World
of Disney!
Speaking of merchandise, we also brought home an Olaf plushy
and ornament for the Christmas tree to commemorate our FROZEN summer fun!
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