Best FoP strategy w/o FP

[Dis703]

Looks like the wait times are still pretty long for FoP so for a family who is staying offsite, what is the best option/time of day to get on this ride without an excessive wait? I'm helping a friend with her plans and noticed myself that there was nothing available at the 30 day mark this week, so I assume that will likely still be the case for her in a couple months. She's willing to do an early morning Tusker House breakfast if will benefit her, but if it's no better than rope drop she'll just do that instead. Unless there is a time of day it lightens up a lot?

She's going during a relatively low-average crowd level time to visit, but I get the impression that doesn't help much for FoP yet.

TIA for any advice!

 

[Tara8595]

Rope drop or end of the day. Also, just refresh refresh refresh and see if you can get the FP ahead of time. I have never not gotten a FP through persistence. Just check every day, throughout the day and it's likely you will be rewarded, and even while you're there, stuff opens up all the time. I even got one the week before Christmas once around 3pm for 3 people. You just have to keep trying.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I say RD or end of day and get in line at close. We've had lower waits and less stress getting in line close to closing. We have done this twice and one time we got in line about 30 min before close and waited about an hour. The last time we got in line at close and it was a 35 min wait. I love this ride so for me I will gladly wait this amount of time. And of course keep checking MDE. We've only gotten one FP+ for this ride in the last 2+ years it has been open and multiple trips. It's a hard to get FP for sure.

 

[gharter]

I say RD or end of day and get in line at close. We've had lower waits and less stress getting in line close to closing. We have done this twice and one time we got in line about 30 min before close and waited about an hour. The last time we got in line at close and it was a 35 min wait. I love this ride so for me I will gladly wait this amount of time. And of course keep checking MDE. We've only gotten one FP+ for this ride in the last 2+ years it has been open and multiple trips. It's a hard to get FP for sure.

Similar experience.
Also, the posted wait times near close are usually greatly inflated.When we have gotten in line about 10 minutes before close, theposted time is often over an hour and the wait was under 20 minutes.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

In Feb I got in the standby line at 9:58pm on a 10pm closing night, posted wait time was 90 min, but I was in the first pre-show room in 25 min.

I've also had good luck with refreshing for same day FPs for this ride, although to be fair, most of those have been as a solo traveler. I did get day of FPs for a party of 3 though, last year in the first week of Dec.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

As long as they already planned to be there at the end of the night, I would schedule the 3 FP at the beginning of their day, teach her how to refresh to try and find a same day, and if that doesn’t work then hop in line right at closing.

If they aren’t staying until the end, I would advise her to do rope drop, but making sure she knows to get there significantly before opening. I don’t think an ADR would be helpful.

 

[celebrationej]

When your friend makes their DAK fastpasses, I would grab Navi River Journey if it's available. Then try to modify that fastpass to FOP every day leading up to your trip. Chances are decent that they'll hold FOP FPs before they leave home, but if not, don't panic! Keep trying to modify it during the trip. A lot of people change their plans during their vacations and new availability opens up much more. I live in Orlando area, and am always booking my FPs like one or two days in advance at the most.

If all else fails, your friend should go the day that they want to ride, arrive at DAK early (I would say at least 45 mins before you can officially get into the park) and rope drop it. The line will probably look menacing, but it's not too bad if you get there early. Alternatively, they could hop in line a few minutes before official park close. I've done this before, and most recently my wait time was about 40 mins, but the posted wait was (I think) 85 or 90 mins. If it's their first time riding FOP, I think that's a worthwhile wait. The queue is visually interesting (standby is much cooler than FP).

Hope your friend is able to secure a FP and that they enjoy a wonderful WDW vacation!

 

[kylenne]

If you do decide to rope drop, pray for an 8am park opening and try to time it for then if at all possible. She will still want to be there an hour prior to be at the front of the pack. Rope drop is significantly less insane than it is for a 9am opening because less people want to get up that early on vacation.

I always manage to get FPs and rope drop NRJ but last month there was 8am EMH and I rope dropped FOP because I had an early afternoon FP. It was a lot less running of the bulls at that hour.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

On our last visit, we hopped in line just before closing and the wait to the first pre-show was 17 minutes.

Just keep in mind that posted times are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders. The posted time was 110 minutes.

 

[mamamelody2]

I would get in line shortly before close. Wait time is always greatly exaggerated. We've done it a couple times and it has been around an hour from getting in line to being finished with the ride. The regular queue is really quite interesting and they can see the lab. If they rope drop it likely they will be led through the FP queue and miss that. Also, then when they get out, the park is closed and there's hardly anyone around. They can slowly head toward the exit getting some awesome AK after dark pics with hardly anyone in them.

 

[White Sox]

I was able to find fastpasses by refreshing the app throughout the day (early September). I got 2 in a day for FoP. Just keep checking.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Rope drop FTW! Even if you end up middle-of-the-pack the line will still move faster because it takes a while for FP's to return. Same strategy for 7DMT BTW.

 

[cjlong88]

With no FP, we prefer FOP at closing just because we aren't having to get there super early and the waiting comes once the park is closed. Plus, you get to see Pandora at night with fewer people as you exit the park, which is really fun.

 

[KBoopaloo]

With no FP, we prefer FOP at closing just because we aren't having to get there super early and the waiting comes once the park is closed. Plus, you get to see Pandora at night with fewer people as you exit the park, which is really fun.

I agree with this. Have done it twice both ways and I think I prefer the end of the day. Even if the wait ends up being long (though it is generally never as long as what the sign outside says) I always feel like I am not wasting any time since I am in line while the park is closed.

And Pandora at night and almost empty is pretty magical.

 

[Delirium]

I think end of day is always a better option than rope drop. You can knock out other attractions with very short lines at rope drop. Saving FOP until the end of day does not interfere with other touring.

 

[dancin Disney style]

There is some great info here. Sorry to hijack but we are going in early Dec (just booked) for a weekend. The trip is mainly to see Christmas décor but we are going to do three parks in one day starting with AK. We will be there before RD so that we can ride FoP. Having never done it before we are planning to be at the gate at 8am for a 9am opening. Is 8am early enough to be able to get through FoP by around 9:45? We want to be able to see Pandora and then do a couple of other things in the park before noon, then go to Epcot.

A little extra info if it helps.....we are very experienced WDW visitors(2-3 visits/year) but AK is our least fav park and we don't go there regularly. We probably only go to AK every 3 or 4 years for a half day visit.

 

[DavidNYC]

100% end of day. You can do rope drop too but to me it's just too stressful with having to deal with the mad rush of people. End of day it's relaxing and you get to actually go through the queue which is good to see. To be at the front of the pack for rope drop you need to be in the park at least an hour before opening. I'd much prefer to get on line 10 minutes before closing and spend 40 minutes or so on line (which has been my experience with timing right before closing at a moderate crowd period.

 

[KellDy]

We rode last night at 8:45, 15 min before close. Posted 80 min wait, but it only took us 20.

 

[dd1525]

I was there on Wednesday morning this past week (10/23) and was not able to get a FP beforehand or at all during the day on MDE. According to the crowd calendar, that specific date was a 5/10 at AK, which I thought was pretty crazy. Anyway, I had a backup battery pack and was checking for a FP every 30 mins with no luck to see if one would pop up. I did not get there at rope drop, as AK had an hour of EMH that morning (and was traveling with not so early risers), but around 9:30am. By that time, the wait was 90 mins and the lowest I saw all day; 100+ easily from there on out. I feel like getting a same day FP for FoP is nearly impossible; was able to get one for Navi though! Sounds like end of day will work out the best, from what everyone is saying. Good luck.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We rode last night at 8:45, 15 min before close. Posted 80 min wait, but it only took us 20.

It’s very common for the posted waits on the headliners to be around 4 times the actual wait late at night.