How we met Frozen's Princess Anna & Princess Elsa in under 10 minutes

It has been three days since we met Elsa and Anna and I still can't believe that we did it in under 10 minutes! The whole thing happened so fast! I am writing this post partly to record that Hubby actually did this, and partly for the folks who are headed to Disneyland this Summer to meet the Frozen princesses. I hope that today's article will help you to meet with them.

Prior to meeting the Frozen princesses, we had read that the wait time to see them was very long. In fact, the day before we went to Disneyland, we met a woman with her young daughter in the hotel lobby. They were just returning to the hotel because the line to see the princesses was 3 hours long.

It was 9:30am in the morning. Yikes!

I told Hubby that there was no way I was going to wait that long to see a stranger in a fancy costume. I also told the kids that our Magic Morning was better spent on the rides that we enjoy. The girls sadly agreed.

While Hubby and I were relieved that the girls did not protest, we also knew that our youngest child really wanted to see Elsa. So I stayed up to do some last minute research that night. I found and read the Disney forums and almost everyone mentioned that even though the park opens at 8 am, the meet-and-greet did not start until 10 am. They also said that there was no getting around the 2-hour wait time. One person mentioned waiting for 45 minutes but it was only because it was raining that day.

On a whim I decided to check the Disneyland website.

screenshot from the Disneyland website

I found that the Frozen Princesses were at the house in between Pinocchio's Daring Journey and the Village Haus Restaurant. Even better, I found out that the Meet-and-Greet would happen at the park's opening or at 8am! I was so excited! If we stand in line as soon as we get into the park at 7am (Magic Morning's 1-hour early entrance), we may not need to wait longer than 1 hour to see the princesses! The trick was that we had to be as far ahead in line as possible. We agreed that Hubby would stand in line while I walk around the park with the girls. We will meet up when the Meet-and-Greet opens.

The next morning, we got up at 5am and was out the door at 6am. We were one of the first people to get through the bag check and were the second in line to get through the ticket checkpoint. As soon as they opened the gates, Hubby went through the ticket checkpoint and ran. He didn't stop until he got past Sleeping Beauty's Castle and into Fantasyland. A Cast Member saw him running and told him to stop because he was........FIRST!!! Then they proceeded to tell him that.....

... the MEET-AND-GREET WOULD START IN 10 MINUTES!!! It was only 7am!!

OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!!

I ran to the meet-and-greet location with the kids as soon as I received Hubby's text. I was still panting when the doors to the Frozen house opened and we started snapping pictures of the kids with Elsa and Anna!

We spent a few minutes chatting with the princesses and when we were done, we heard that the line at that point was already 90 minutes long! Wow.

I was so proud of Hubby for getting the first spot and saving us all from waiting in the ridiculous long line. If you are planning to meet the Frozen princesses, here are a few tips that may help:

1. Plan ahead.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Find out exactly where the Frozen Meet-and-Greet location is. Disneyland is big and unless you go there very often, you may get lost looking for the Frozen house. Getting lost means losing time and that would result in standing even further back in the line. So don't get lost. You can find the location of the Meet-and-Greet on the Disneyland map HERE. We actually went by the house the day before to see where the line begins.

Be sure to check the opening hours of the park and to find out when the Meet-and-Greet starts. Even though it started shortly after 7am for us, the time may change. You can find out what time the park and the Meet-and-Greet opens on their website HERE.

2. Be early
In order to be in the front of the Frozen line, you must first try to be in front of the bag check, and be one of the first to get through the ticket checkpoint. There are A LOT of people heading for the Frozen meet-and-greet and being early at the bag and ticket checkpoints will help to get you ahead in the actual meet-and-greet line.

3. Send your fastest runner
Assign one person in your party to run to stand in line. There is no point in getting the entire party to run to the Frozen line because the little ones will only slow the grownups down. Just send one person to go stand in line while you walk with the kids to the Frozen house.

4. Setting expectations right
We were lucky that both Elsa and Anna were there at the meet-and-greet because we had read that sometimes only 1 princess is there. Be prepared that you may not see both princesses.

We were extremely lucky that we did not have to wait longer than 10 minutes to see Elsa and Anna. Many folks had to stand in line even though they ran just as hard as Hubby. In the event that you do not get to see the princesses, there is another chance.  We saw Elsa and Anna on a float about 10-15 minutes before the 4pm Mickey's Soundsational Parade. Check with a Cast Member if the princesses will be appearing in the pre-parade on the day of your visit too.

I hope that today's tips are useful to those of you who are planning to see the Frozen princesses in Disneyland. If you had already seen the princesses, feel free to share your experience in the comments below. I'd love to hear about it. ;-)