Film studio will be hoping that fan reaction is warmer than than that of most critics

Dust off the Elsa costume, get ready to play Into the Unknown on repeat and – most importantly – make sure the tickets are booked: Frozen II mania has come to the UK.

The much-anticipated follow-up to the 2013 original finally hit the screens on Friday and, for many children, that means dragging their parents to the cinema this weekend.

The movie has already broken the record for pre-sales in the US and many cinemas in the UK have cleared their schedules to run screenings throughout the day.

The original was the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind The Lion King) taking more than $1.2bn (£940m) at the box office. And with reported merchandise sales of more than $100bn, the highest of any film in history, Disney is banking on a similar smash hit.

On Friday, eager fans in Leicester Square, central London, had the chance to be among the first in the country to see it at a 10am screening. Among them was five-year-old Anoushka Pandya, wearing a Frozen dress and a golden braid like that of the first film’s main protaganist, the ice princess Elsa.

“I liked it. I like it more than the first one,” Anoushka said afterwards. Her view has not been shared by critics but will be music to Disney’s ears, as it seeks to register its sixth $1bn-grossing film of the year.

Anoushka’s father, Minesh, 39, was more cautious with his praise. “I didn’t get the storyline as much as the first one,” he said. “But it’s probably because I have seen the first one so many times. I’ve seen it about 300 times and [Anoushka] has probably seen it about 400 times.”

He said Anoushka’s second viewing was already booked – with her mother over the weekend – but, despite having a cold, she had been desperate to see it as soon as it came out. “She has been really excited,” he said. “She’s been talking about it. She knows who Elsa and Anna are - [the voice actors] Idina [Menzel] and Kristen [Bell] – she’s been watching interviews with the cast of the film.”

With the stampede by Frozen-obsessed schoolchildren yet to begin, many adults were taking advantage of the relative calm to see the film, although some also struggled to contain their excitement.

Atilla Budai, 30, a waiter who watched the film with his partner, Roland Demeter, said: “The storyline was good, the songs were great, the jokes were smashing, We just wanted to stay and watch it again.”

Elsa is among the top 100 names for British babies and people can wait up to four hours to see her at Walt Disney World, Florida. The soundtrack to the original was the best-selling album of 2014 and few can be unfamiliar with Let it Go, the empowerment anthem sung by Elsa, which Into the Unknown aims to emulate in Frozen II.

Demeter, 32, spoke for many, young and old(er), when he said: “We’ve been waiting for this for six years. We really love it. I don’t think it’s just for children. There are things I am not sure children get, about family, love – it’s for everyone.”