The largest and among the finest meet & greets in all of Walt Disney World is the Seven Dwarfs–Doc, Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful & Sneezy–all assembly collectively in Magic Kingdom. This submit covers the best way to do method this uncommon character assortment and achieve this whereas losing the least time ready in line.
That phrase alternative–waste the least time–is deliberate. If you’re trying to keep away from the road or beat the gang, that merely just isn’t doable. Don’t imagine any large guarantees made elsewhere; there isn’t a method to (reliably) do that meet & greet and not using a important quantity of ready. (Although one time we did wait lower than 10 minutes to satisfy them, however that was throughout a hurricane scare just a few years in the past–a particular outlier!)
The Seven Dwarfs is likely one of the hottest meet & greets in all of Walt Disney World; it routinely instructions an extended wait than Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which normally has the longest line in all of Magic Kingdom. The excellent news is that there are methods to attenuate how lengthy you wait to satisfy the Seven Dwarfs, in addition to shifting your wait to a much less worthwhile time of day…
The dangerous information is that the Seven Dwarfs don’t seem throughout common each day operations at Magic Kingdom or any park at Walt Disney World. You can often see a single dwarf in random places, however there isn’t a devoted meet & greet spot for all–or any–of them.
The Seven Dwarfs solely meet all collectively at Walt Disney World throughout particular ticketed occasions which can be held at Magic Kingdom. Typically, this implies Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), two occasions the place the characters have appeared prior to now.
Last yr, the Seven Dwarfs didn’t seem at both MNSSHP or MVMCP. The meet & greet was lower from the lineup attributable to performer staffing shortages, and I figured there was a good likelihood it’d be gone for good. It’s very resource-intensive for a single meet & greet, even when it’s a in style one.
Thankfully, it didn’t find yourself being gone for good–the Seven Dwarfs meet & greet is now again for the 2023 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Our expectation is that the identical will maintain true for the 2023 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, however that hasn’t but been confirmed by Walt Disney World.
We’ve had the possibility to satisfy the Seven Dwarfs quite a few instances through the years. They’ve been a mainstay of the exhausting ticket occasions at Magic Kingdom for no less than the final 15 years, serving as one of many events’ flagship meet & greets (the opposite being Sally & Jack Skellington).
The Seven Dwarfs meet & greet has been round so lengthy that it really predates the venue the place it’s at present held, which was beforehand a part of Mickey’s Towntown Fair. Prior to establishing store right here, the Seven Dwarfs bounced round varied outside places in Fantasyland. As they bought extra in style and the road bought longer, they moved indoors to a everlasting spot with an precise queue and switchback strains.
Our first assembly with the Seven Dwarfs was again in 2007. Back at the moment, they really met with Snow White! (See above.) If our information are correct, that continued for a pair extra years–our first picture with simply the Seven Dwarfs was snapped in 2010 (beneath). But sufficient with the historical past lesson, let’s talk about the place you may meet the Seven Dwarfs now, together with particulars about our current experiences…
During the 2023 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, the Seven Dwarfs meet inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Storybook Circus. This is a personality spot behind Fantasyland that’s usually house to a wonderful meet & greet for daring Disney friends as circus stars. It options two separate meet & greets every with two characters–the Astounding Donaldo and the Great Goofini or the marvelous Minnie Magnifique, and the mysterious fortune teller Daisy Fortuna.
This venue has been house to the Seven Dwarfs for the final a number of years, and sure will probably be the place they seem at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, too.
Like Jack Skellington and Sally, this is likely one of the meet & greets that opens previous to the beginning of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. The occasion formally begins at 7 pm, however company who’ve celebration tickets can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 pm. When coming into the park together with your celebration ticket, you’ll be given an occasion wristband. This is critical to queue up for the Seven Dwarfs meet & greet, and Cast Members will examine company within the queue–repeatedly–for wristbands.
If you’re already in Magic Kingdom as an everyday day visitor, you may merely go to an in-park wristband station round this time. This method could be savvy technique if you wish to be one of many first folks in line for the favored pre-party meet & greets.
With the Seven Dwarfs again on the 2023 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party for the primary time since 2019, I made a decision to prioritize this meet & greet. Rather than racing right here proper at 4 pm on the dot to be on the entrance of the road, I opted to do just a few different issues first and ended up leaping into line at proper round 5 pm.
Part of this was strategic. It was an extremely sizzling day at Walt Disney World, with triple-digit looks like temperatures and blazing solar. I wished to attenuate my time in that. I additionally suspected that after the preliminary surge of individuals lining up instantly at 4 pm, there’d be a lull till round 5 pm. That was roughly appropriate, and I solely had a pair dozen folks in entrance of me in line.
Shortly after arriving, upkeep Cast Members from Buena Vista Construction Company appeared to vary over the signage to mirror the looks of the Seven Dwarfs. It was fairly cool to see this, they usually moved shortly earlier than transferring on to put in different short-term overlays for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
Even nicer was the setting solar slowing casting extra of a shadow and placing the queue space within the shade. Still ridiculously sizzling for the beginning of the “Halloween” season, however a marked enchancment over standing in direct daylight.
Right round 6:05 pm, Pete’s Silly Sideshow opened and the queue moved inside. This time varies from evening to nighttime, so it may very well be earlier or later while you attend.
The air-conditioning was very welcome; like a literal breath of contemporary air. This is likely one of the few party-exclusive meet & greets that happens indoors, which is important when the climate is sizzling at first of Party Season. In all of my different photographs from this MNSSHP, I look raveled and completely exhausted. In the Seven Dwarfs picture, I appeared downright refreshed by comparability.
Just one thing to bear in mind when you’re heading to an earlier Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and are balking on the potential time dedication to satisfy the Seven Dwarfs. If you’d moderately have high quality over amount, it is a good choice.
Depending upon your perspective, it’s additionally arguably a very good amount choice. This is 7 characters in a single location!
Towards the start of the road inside, Cast Members have been handing out shiny postcards with jewels on the entrance.
Note that this says Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, however doesn’t specify a yr. I’m fairly certain they’ve used this very same design prior to now.
While it is a good memento, the true objective is effectivity.
The card is handed out in lieu of the Seven Dwarfs signing autographs. That can be extremely time-consuming, and trigger this already slow-moving line to maneuver a lot, a lot slower.
Speaking of which, my wait to satisfy the Seven Dwarfs ended up being 1 hour 42 minutes.
Less than 20 minutes of that point was after the Seven Dwarfs began showing and assembly company. Meaning that MNSSHP attendees who confirmed up proper at 4 pm ended up ready longer than me in whole. Not solely that, however I had barely longer to ‘recover’ within the air-conditioning earlier than getting my picture taken with the characters.
From my perspective, this was in regards to the candy spot. After ending up right here, I used to be capable of get a reasonably great place in one other Fantasyland meet & greet line.
Guests who lined up for the Seven Dwarfs between 5:30 pm and 6 pm really would’ve had a fair shorter wait than me, so in principle, they timed it completely. However, in addition they would’ve completed after 7 pm, which is when Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party formally begins. They would’ve then encountered peak strains for the entire different characters.
If you don’t arrive for the Seven Dwarfs earlier than Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party begins, don’t trouble. At least, don’t trouble firstly of the occasion. In our anecdotal expertise, the strains for this meet & greet peak fairly near 7 pm.
If you arrive round then, you’re taking a look at a wait time of 2-3 hours. (Note: that is the wait time vary that Cast Members have quoted us a number of instances prior to now. We’ve actually by no means examined it as a result of we all know higher; there’s a very good likelihood that vary is a bit inflated. Regardless, the road is visibly longest from 7-8 pm.)
If you may’t line up for the Seven Dwarfs no less than 45 minutes earlier than Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party begins, your subsequent best choice is ready till the final hour or so of the occasion. Note that that is NOT like rides; you can not wait till 11:59 pm to leap into line, and have your total wait be after MNSSHP ends.
When it comes to satisfy & greets, the strains get lower earlier. This is normally achieved with the aim of getting the final company out of line by the point the clock strikes midnight. As a end result, there’s no exhausting and quick rule to when the road will get lower. When we’ve achieved the late evening method, we’ve normally erred on the aspect of warning and queued up round 10:45 pm. With that mentioned, we’ve gotten fortunate at 11:15 pm earlier than–but additionally been burnt round then. So all of it relies upon upon your threat tolerance.
It additionally relies upon upon whether or not you wish to meet Jack & Sally, or every other uncommon characters–and which of them are your high priorities. It’s nearly not possible to satisfy each character throughout one evening of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, so you need to make some robust decisions.
Ultimately, the Seven Dwarfs meet & greet is likely one of the coolest character experiences at Walt Disney World. It’s comparatively uncommon to come across greater than a single character in a single spot, and the outliers are nearly all the time duos. This is actually your solely alternative to do a meet & greet with greater than 4 characters anyplace at Walt Disney World.
While the multi-hour wait is a giant time dedication–particularly given the excessive per hour value of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party–the Seven Dwarfs can be one of many few character meet & greets that begins in the course of the mix-in time previous to the celebration formally kicking off. So when you view that as “free” time, the price isn’t almost as excessive. Or, you may take a look at the wait when it comes to a per-character value…through which case, it’s “only” like 20 minutes per dwarf!
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Your Thoughts
Have you met the Seven Dwarfs at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party? Did you suppose the price (in time or {dollars}) was price it for the picture and expertise? Where does this rank in your listing of meet & greets at MNSSHP, MVMCP, or Walt Disney World as an entire? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation? Any questions we will help you reply? Hearing your suggestions—even while you disagree with us—is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!