AK and EMH

[Cinderella822]

So I have been hearing that to ride FOP without a FP, the best thing to do is get there one hour before the park opens. My question is, when AK has EMH, do they still open the park an hour earlier than that to let people in to Pandora? EMH is 7 am, so will the park open at 6 am?! I want to get there early but that means I should leave the hotel about 5?! Also, I assume when the park opens that early, the buses will start running earlier?

 

[ShadeDK]

Having done 7am EMH at AK (and many EMH mornings there):

1) Yes - AK still opens early on EMH mornings. The time varies, but is usually anywhere from 15-45 minutes before official opening time. During the most recent 7am EMH that I did, the gates were open by 6:40, but guests were held on the bridge to Pandora until about 6:50.

2) If you want to be at the front of the pack, arriving approximately one-hour is recommended and probably no later than 6:15. Note, however, that even if you arrive later (but before 7am) the wait for FoP is unlikely to be more than 20-30 minutes.

3) Buses will run early, but I would not expect to get there much before opening on a 7am EMH day if relying on the bus. By way of example, the first bus from WL to AK that I took did not arrive at the resort until 6:20 and did not get to AK until almost 6:40 (at which point the gates were already open).

 

[chirogrrl]

If you have an evening to close out AK, that can be a better time to ride FOP without at FP+. We got in line at 9:50p (10p park closing time) last Friday and the posted time was 105 minutes. It was 32 minutes from when we got in line, to when we entered the pre-show. There was also the bonus of cooler weather after sunset.