AK rope drop plans

[becks59]

My husband and I are first timers and I want to know if our rope drop plans will work at AK. We want to rope drop Navi and Safari before our FP for Expedition Everest expires at 11:10am. This would be on a 9am park opening day. I was thinking it would be fine, but we are so used to how close things are at DL and I don’t know how to judge how long things will take to get around WDW. So now I’m worried it won’t work. What are your thoughts?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

You're totally fine. Be at the park by 8:25, as they start operating the Pandora rides between 8:30 and 8:50 for a 9am open. You'll be off of Navi before the rest of the park even opens. Then, you can head straight to the safari and still have plenty of time to get to EE. Is your window 10:10-11:10? In that case, you'll likely make it to EE before your window is open.

 

[Alesia]

If you're willing to be at the park by 8:00, you could do FoP, Navi, and the Safari before you use your fastpass. That's what I would do

 

[MooseBucks]

Sounds manageable! There is definitely a lot of walking at AK IMO but if you get there by 8:10/8:20 you’ll be fine (we tend to prefer early days to be safe so even 8:30 might be fine.

 

[MooseBucks]

If you're willing to be at the park by 8:00, you could do FoP, Navi, and the Safari before you use your fastpass. That's what I would do

Good point!

 

[pwmitch237]

Sunday the park opened at 8am officially, but they were letting people in the park around 7am. And the first ride on FOP was around 7:30am.

I arrived around 7, was in the park at 7:15, and on Flight of Passage at 7:50. The line didn't stop moving until I got to the chambers. There are no fast passes before the park officially opens, so the standby line moves fairly well. Walked immediately to Nav'i River Journey and rode it, and then jumped on to Everest before my 8:45am Fast Pass even started. Safaris was only a 30ish minute wait then too.

 

[becks59]

Thanks everyone!

 

[gharter]

As mentioned, if you want to do FoP, be in line by the tapstiles by 8 and walk quickly to the entrance of Pandora.
If you don't care about FoP and just want to do Navi, getting there about 8:20 will work. You will be much further back in line, but the majority of the crowd is headed to FoP, not Navi. Navi should be nearly walk on. Following with safari, you whould have plenty of time to get to EE. Very likely, you will be to EE before your FP starts.

 

[dagored]

My experience last month was just a bit different. DW suggested we get to AK by 7:15, she was right. CM at the entrance gave us instructions to follow them to FOP and nowhere else.

We entered about 7:30 and by 7:50, we were being paired with our banshee. As we took the long walk off the ride, wait was now 45 minutes and growing.

Over to Navi and then bugs life, by 10 we were in line for everest for 20 minutes and eating lunch by 11:15 at RF.

 

[maryj11]

Sunday the park opened at 8am officially, but they were letting people in the park around 7am. And the first ride on FOP was around 7:30am.

I arrived around 7, was in the park at 7:15, and on Flight of Passage at 7:50. The line didn't stop moving until I got to the chambers. There are no fast passes before the park officially opens, so the standby line moves fairly well. Walked immediately to Nav'i River Journey and rode it, and then jumped on to Everest before my 8:45am Fast Pass even started. Safaris was only a 30ish minute wait then too.

Wow they started super early for FOP! We are rope dropping AK in a few weeks. We do have a FOP FP but was thinking about rope dropping it also. Not sure I want to get up that early to arrive by 7:00.

 

[mco65]

Rope dropping FOP is not hard if you get there 1 hour before park opens... but keep in mind that many folks who rope drop FOP will also hit Navi right after so that standby can approach 1 hr by the time you get off of FOP... If your near the front of the Rope Drop for FOP, Navi is manageable but if your back a ways, Navi can be a bit of a wait.