AK EMH with Pandora - no park hoppers

[princesslover]

I did a search but did not see an answer to my question, so I apologize if this has been asked.

My FP window opens Sunday. There are 2 days I am considering for AK. One has am EMH, one does not. For the EMH day, Touring Plans has AK at a 7. The other is a 5. I know that doesn't make much of a difference really but EMH does typically add crowds and I wonder if it is worse with Pandora. As you can see in my title, we are stuck there if it is bad, and we are planning to stay for ROL.

The other thing is if move my AK to the EMH day, I would need to move my Epcot day from a day that is a 4 to a higher predicted crowd level (6). All that to say, I am just wondering if am EMH is worth it.

We hope to get FP's for FOP, RD river journey. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!!

 

[slpeters]

Well, the first thing I would say is go to AK whichever day you can get the best (or any) FP for FOP. If you feel you must decide beforehand I would go for the day that is furthest into your trip (because it will increase the odds of getting the FOP FP). If you are able to score the perfect FP on both days I'd go EMH (assuming you are onsite). If you have a FP for FOP that EMH hour at AK is just golden. On the day we rope dropped Na'vi we arrive about ten minutes after park opening and still walked on to Na'vi and then the rest of the park felt empty for like an hour and a half. FOP just pulls so many people out of the system. The EMH day may be a bit busier but there are really only a few rides with big lines at AK and if you FP three of them (especially FOP) and enjoy the others in a virtually empty park in the morning who cares how crowded it gets. By that time you're enjoying the shows, the trails, the animals, the characters, maybe a drink at Nomad... We did morning EMH at AK twice in our trip (one of those days was a 9 and one was a 10) and they were absolutely magical.

 

[Robo]

Ignore the crowd-level predictions.

 

[princesslover]

Well, the first thing I would say is go to AK whichever day you can get the best (or any) FP for FOP. If you feel you must decide beforehand I would go for the day that is furthest into your trip (because it will increase the odds of getting the FOP FP). If you are able to score the perfect FP on both days I'd go EMH (assuming you are onsite). If you have a FP for FOP that EMH hour at AK is just golden. On the day we rope dropped Na'vi we arrive about ten minutes after park opening and still walked on to Na'vi and then the rest of the park felt empty for like an hour and a half. FOP just pulls so many people out of the system. The EMH day may be a bit busier but there are really only a few rides with big lines at AK and if you FP three of them (especially FOP) and enjoy the others in a virtually empty park in the morning who cares how crowded it gets. By that time you're enjoying the shows, the trails, the animals, the characters, maybe a drink at Nomad... We did morning EMH at AK twice in our trip (one of those days was a 9 and one was a 10) and they were absolutely magical.

Wow, this is super helpful thank you. The EMH day (and crowd level 7) is at 60 + 2, so that is iffy. The other option is 60 + 4. So we will see. Thank you...I am feeling like I want the EMH day now.

 

[KittyKitty]

Just to make your decision harder, go for FP FOP both days, if you plan on being at AK both days.
AND if you are a early riser, be at the park 1 hr prior to opening to do standby.

In my opinion, FOP is worth riding more than 1 time.

You probably know this, but be ready to get your FP at opening, 7am eastern, go directly to 1st AK day, and book FOP if possible, then go to 2nd AK day, and book FOP. Then you can go back to book the rest of the attractions.

Have a great time!

 

[slpeters]

Just to make your decision harder, go for FP FOP both days, if you plan on being at AK both days.
AND if you are a early riser, be at the park 1 hr prior to opening to do standby.

In my opinion, FOP is worth riding more than 1 time.

You probably know this, but be ready to get your FP at opening, 7am eastern, go directly to 1st AK day, and book FOP if possible, then go to 2nd AK day, and book FOP. Then you can go back to book the rest of the attractions.

Have a great time!

I definitely agree that FOP is worth doing twice if you can do them both with FP. This is actually what we did. The only reason I didn't suggest this is that unless you have a very long trip (or parkhoppers like we did) I don't think I would suggest two full days in AK.

 

[tlmadden73]

Is the EMH a morning or night EMH?

What Robo said -- ignore crowd levels. It is just a WAG based on previous years, which isn't accurate because factors change every year.

You may not even notice the difference between a crowd level 4 versus 6 .. or the prediction could be off and BOTH days are busier than predicted. So make your plans around what YOU want, not what the crowd calendars "guess" it will be. I mean .. what if tons of people decide to go to a park because crowd predictions are low? Well then --- it becomes busier. So just ignore them and plan for it being "busy" any day you go.

Based on apparent demand for FOP FP, I would go with the latest day in your trip as possible. Even at 60+4, it may be hard to secure that FP due to them being snatched up by guests staying 5 days or longer. Maybe after Toy Story land opens, the demand for FOP will go down .. but who knows .. AK is still an attraction-lite park.