Provided that you haven’t spent a considerable amount of time in total seclusion and cut off from the rest of society, you’ve probably heard of a little movie released last year called Frozen. Not only did it become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, but parents and kids alike lost their minds to the ensuing frenzy, from widespread merchandise shortages to costume hunts.
It’s hardly a surprise that the mania travelled all the way to the Magic Kingdom, where the Frozen Pavillion in Disneyland and quickly become the coolest (see what I did there), most popular attraction. Parents are lining up with their kids for hours on end, just for the chance for their little ones to meet the stars of the hugely popular film, Princess Anna and Queen Elsa.
It was inevitable that my family wouldn’t escape the Frozen craze, because we haven’t been living in seclusion, and also because I have a four-year old daughter. It’s not just her: neither she or her older brother can get enough of the movie and the music.
Our family had made plans to spend a few days in Southern California to hang out at the beach and visit LEGOLAND in Carlsbad, however we weren’t planning to visit Disneyland this time. A few weeks before heading on our vacation, my son and I were at an orthodontist appointment. The sound of Frozen’s theme song “Let it Go” drifted through the waiting room sound systems while my son waited to get fitted for an expander. While he was nervously waiting in the chair to get x-rays and a fitting, I heard him humming the song.
Later that evening, my husband was venting his frustrations about a bad day at work. Trying to lighten the mood, I put on a YouTube video of “Let It Go” that was stuck in my head from that afternoon. My plan to lighten his mood worked, as he grabbed a bottle of wine, and using it as a microphone, started belting the song out much to our children’s delight. They laughed hysterically at this falsetto rendition and spent the next hour pouring over live performances and lip sync sensations of the snow queen’s anthem on You Tube before we finally got them ready for bed, both of them singing their favourite songs from the movie’s soundtrack as they nodded off.
On a side note, this is our all time favourite You Tube lip sync version of Love is an Open Door.
After putting them to bed between giggles, we knew we had to take a detour from the beach and spend a day at Disneyland during our upcoming trip. The planning began.
The day we arrived, just after 8 a.m., the lineup to meet Anna and Elsa at Disneyland’s Frozen Pavilion had already reached a wait time of two hours; later in the day the wait had climbed to four hours! It was worth the time spent in the line though, as our little girl got to meet her first real live princess. It’s a moment I will never forget as a mother.
Most recently Disney has added a Frozen float in their Mickey Soundsational Parade, so kids can still get a chance to see the princesses if you don’t think they’ll be able to withstand the long lineup. Olaf is even there too!
Photo Credit: Renee Tsang Travels
If you absolutely must meet Anna and Elsa in person, and your kids can’t let it go (that was the last one, I promise), consider one of the three options to avoid a long wait:
- Stay at one of the Disney properties
- Purchase a Southern California CityPass
- Purchase an eligible three-day pass
Any of these options will ensure you will have access to the Magic Morning, which allows you park access an hour before opening to the rest of the public.
As you can imagine, our brush with Arendelle royalty has only intensified the obsession in our household. Fortunately, the memories of the trip are ones our whole family has a fondness for and there isn’t much more you can give young Frozen fans than the opportunity to meet the stars of the show. Even more fortunately, we have invested in noise-reducing headphones so when the appeal of Let It Go begins to lose its sparkle for us parents after the eight thousandth replaying, we’re still as happy as a snowman in summer.
Thank you to the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau and Disney Parks for their media consideration.
For more great ideas of family fun things to see and do in Southern California, be sure to visit www.anaheimoc.org
