After going over Frozen Ever After ride strategy in this post, we move on to the neighboring Royal Sommerhus Meet and Greet, where guests have the opportunity to meet Anna and Elsa.
Unlike Frozen Ever After, which replaces Maelstrom, Royal Sommerhus is new construction located in between Mexico and the rest of the Norway Pavilion.
As you head through Mexico, you will see the entrance before arriving in Norway/where Frozen Ever After is located.
I’ll first cover wait times and strategy and then walk you through the experience. So if you don’t want to see inside before experiencing it for yourself, you can click “close” before we get to that point. Just know that I will miss you thoroughly.
The good news is that unlike Frozen Ever After, which averages a wait in the vicinity of three hours, Royal Sommerhus has proven to be much more manageable. Disney had originally erected an extended outdoor queue in a small courtyard area across from the attraction entrance.
But it has turned out to be unnecessary and Disney actually removed the stanchions/ropes from this area and used them down in China for the ride.
Larger: https://www.easywdw.com/reports13/royal_sommerhus_anna_elsa_waits.jpg
Thanks to a healthy capacity, Royal Sommerhus has averaged a wait under 20 minutes thus far with the longest waits from 9:45am to 11am. That makes some sense as those heading to Frozen Ever After first thing ride and then move over to the meet and greet after. That means an afternoon visit is more intelligent than a late morning visit. And because most of the queue is air-conditioned and nicely done, you probably won’t mind an actual wait of 15 to 20 minutes. You certainly would not want to deal with the rope drop craziness in order to head to the meet and greet first. And I don’t think spending an extra 15 minutes walking up here and back to Future World before 11am makes a ton of sense over getting in line later in the day. As you can see, on 6/21, Royal Sommerhus is open during evening Extra Magic Hours to nonexistent waits as well.
So I think it’s all good news on the Sommerhus front. The meet and greet is otherwise very nicely done I think. Anyone that has visited Enchanted Tales with Belle will likely recognize the style of much of the queue. Like Princess Fairytale Hall, the sisters meet separately. The meet and greet does not currently offer FastPass+, which also helps with standby waits.
I think that’s all you need to know if you don’t want to see inside, which we’ll take a look at next.
With an actual wait of 20 to 25 minutes, you’ll likely spend a brief amount of time outside.
This is one of the two main waiting areas just inside the house. Some details:
The border on this tapestry resembles the seat backs that were used during the film after the Maelstrom ride.
You’ll then enter a second room:
Then there’s one final waiting area before heading into the room with the characters.
Anybody that’s visited Princess Fairytale Hall should recognize the setup.
Interestingly(?) in some of the rooms, the characters are switched so that Elsa is met first.
Her face when I told her that TouringPlans expected Frozen Ever After/Royal Sommerhus to open with the rest of World Showcase at 11am beginning in July. Can you imagine what that would look like? All of those people waiting in front of La Cantina at 9am multiplied by 35.6.
You can really sense that brief(?) moment of fear in the poor character’s eyes as I stroll up and they wonder if it’s “going to be one of those.” I always ask for a “quick picture for the Internet, please” and then try to hustle out of there as quickly as possible. I still remember the guy that had brought roses for the princesses in Fairytale Hall and had the cast member film the entire interaction with an iPad.
You can actually see just how weird things get in this video, starting around 4:38.
Overall, Royal Sommerhus is an enchanting opportunity to visit Anna and Elsa from Frozen. Considering how short wait times have become, anybody that wants to greet the sisters now has a pretty easy opportunity. I would stick to an afternoon or evening visit to reduce waits as much as possible. If the line is backed up to the entrance, you should wait about 25 minutes. Obviously shorter lines mean lower waits.
The meet and greet empties into a gift shop of course, which is all Anna/Elsa/Frozen stuff.
You’d want to visit the store attached to Frozen Ever After for Norway merchandise and other more interesting items.
That’s the Sommerhus.
Josh, saying I still remember “that guy” who brought roses for the “princesses” is an obvious cry for help. Admitting you have a problem, is the first step to curing it.
Eeeeeek! Thank you Josh!
I am speechless……….thanks for the update. I hope I don’t have any nightmares.
They should just make that part of the line for the ride! Shaded, a/c , something to do for at least 45 minustes of the 3 hr wait!
Was there any unique merchandise in the shop (other than the missing Julebrus of course)?
I think Elsa fancied you, Anna not so much.
“it’s going to be one of those”..LOL
Elsa is strikingly beautiful and I think she was totally flirting with you! ♥♥♥
Can I be part of the Elsa-Josh book club or is there only room for two?
When you start going to Elsa’s book club will you be filming that as well? As for the flirting, I think it was mutual. You were into Elsa but I guess redheads do nothing for you because you were completely ignoring Anna.
Anna would NOT STOP with the Kristof this and Kristof that. Kristof Kristof Kristof!!!
It’s like was her “wedding band at the bar” strategy.
Shoot! You’re probably right. We guys are clueless.
That was adorable! The whole house is darling and even though we’ve already met the sisters, I am strongly considering doing it again after seeing this. Thanks for the great post.
Given that the waits have been somewhat low because of the increase in capacity with the “extra” sisters, would you expect them to reduce the capacity? Or will they try to keep it staffed like this to keep guests happy?
We definitely witnessed one of “those guys” last fall at MK while meeting A&E. He sang the ENTIRE Let It Go song to Elsa when it was his turn to meet her. My six year old daughter was even creeped out…lol.
m y my josh you are the lady killer there. stunning just … while lisa away josh will play
You should have kept going back until Elsa gave you her number. Or until we got to read “Creepy Stalker Ejected from Park”. Awesome either way.
Josh might regret this post more than dinner at Diamond Horseshoe, lol.
“You can really sense that brief(?) moment of fear in the poor character’s eyes as I stroll up and they wonder if it’s “going to be one of those.” I always ask for a “quick picture for the Internet, please””
And by saying that you actually confirm that is indeed “one of those”…
Indeed.
Whenever I’m having a bad day, I just imagine Josh at the princess meet and greets.
“Remember the love experts?”
“Uh…yeah”.
I audibly squealed at that. Elsa and Josh. I ship it.
Awwwkkkkkkwwwwaaaaaaarrrrrrrddddddd
Why are the wait time so low now…? I heard a rumor that they have 4 Anna and Elsas’ in 4 different rooms to help with the waits… Is that true, Will waits for them always be that low??? PLEASE HELP. Trying to plan time alotted.
Hi there! Thanks so much for your honest reviews and information! Much appreciated! We are headed to WDW in Aug. I have an 8am Akershus reservation. And an 11 FP+ for Frozen. My original plan was to hit up the meet and greet right after breakfast and then head to joy and sadness. Now I am wondering, do I just make a beeline for joy/sadness/baymax right after breakfast and then do Anna Elsa meet and greet before/after we ride FEA? Soarin is happening on another day and Test Track is not a huge priority for us since we have young girls.