AK - morning or hopper?

[CyndiLooWho]

We are going to be in Orlando the last week of Jan 2022. With EE down, the big thing for us will be to try to ride FOP and do some wandering. We've never been to AK at night, and we've never been able to get FP for FOP. I know AK will close at either 4 or 5 in Jan.

Would it be better to hop over there after doing another park, or will that push us too close to closing time?

Right now I have CityWalk dinner the day we fly in, Su - MK, M - USO, Tu - HS, W - EP, Th - AK, Fri - EP. All of that is pretty flexible except for Sa, since that's the day we fly in. Might change Fri to MK, since I think we'll likely hop to EP for dinner a couple of nights.

 

[Miffy]

You might not realize this, but there is no more FastPass. It's been replaced by Genie+, however, FoP will probably not be a Genie+ attraction. I say "probably" because no one knows yet. Genie and G+ have yet to roll out.

That being said, it's assumed that FoP will be what's called an Individual Attraction Selection, which means that a parkgoer can purchase a place in the Lightning Lane (the former FP line) for a price that's probably going to vary with the time of day, day of the week, etc., etc. How much will this be? No one knows. There's a lot of speculation about it.

So, if you want to ride FoP, your best bet this coming January would be to purchase an IAS for it. There are several threads here on Genie, Genie+, and IAS, although keep in mind that since this hasn't been implemented yet, the actual workings of it may change.

And, further, in case you're not aware of this, you now need a park reservation to enter your first park of the day. After that, park hopping is available, but only after you've visited the park you reserved and only after 2 pm and of course you need a park hopper ticket or AP in order to hop.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

AK tends to open and close the earliest of the parks. For that reason I’d prefer to start there in the morning and end in a different park.

 

[EmilyGahr]

With park hopping not available until 2 pm, and AK closing earlier than most parks, I would definitely do a morning there and then hop somewhere else.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We are going to be in Orlando the last week of Jan 2022. With EE down, the big thing for us will be to try to ride FOP and do some wandering. We've never been to AK at night, and we've never been able to get FP for FOP. I know AK will close at either 4 or 5 in Jan.

Would it be better to hop over there after doing another park, or will that push us too close to closing time?

Right now I have CityWalk dinner the day we fly in, Su - MK, M - USO, Tu - HS, W - EP, Th - AK, Fri - EP. All of that is pretty flexible except for Sa, since that's the day we fly in. Might change Fri to MK, since I think we'll likely hop to EP for dinner a couple of nights.

While I agree with park opening, I will say I anticipate AK being open later than 4PM or 5PM. While it can change year to year, AK was open until 5PM or 6PM in 2021 and until 8PM most nights in 2020. We plan on hopping to AK at least once during our stay to take advantage of later in the day crowds and being there after dark.

 

[Anchored]

I like to do the safari early in the morning. I would go there in the AM and park hop to another park

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Thanks for the responses.

This will be my 3rd trip since COVID, but we skipped AK the last 2 trips for various reasons. I'm hoping this will be the one that we get to ride FOP, since we have not been able to ride it before. I would normally make this an evening park, but am really concerned about the 2pm hopping thing and the possible early closing. Our Jan 2019 trip, I think AK closed at 5 on the weeknights.

I think our best shot is to go in the morning, and then we can hop to EPCOT or HS for dinner.

 

[Ronaldo17]

Yep, I agree with the morning for AK, it's also the best time to see most of the animal activity if you can snag the Safari's

 

[lions1995]

I would concur with starting at AK and hopping later, especially if you’re onsite and get the 30 minute early entry.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

I agree AK in morning. On my upcoming trip, I will be doing AK in morning and then hopping to Epcot.