Current CL10 Flight of Passage Rope Drop Experience?

[rad91]

In this forum, I read that people can RD FoP 1 hour early to get near the front and be done with the ride by official opening time. I also read that there was a huge crowd that early also. We will RD Animal Kingdom on New Year's week (7am EMH specifically). By then, FoP will be 2 1/2 years old. To get current insight, can you share your Thanksgiving week experience rope dropping FoP?
How early did you arrive?
What time were you done with the ride?

 

[beesly]

Last year I visited AK on 12/30, a non-EMH day with park opening scheduled for 8:00am. We took an Uber from POFQ at 6:40 and arrived at 7:00am. By the time we joined the line it was right next to the ticketing booths. The gates opened around 7:45-7:50 I think, and we walked briskly to join the FOP line, which was on the walkway to Africa by the time we got back there. The line moved pretty quickly and we were directed through the FP queue. I have Pandora photopass photos from after the ride with a timestamp of 8:40am and then we moved to the rest of the park, getting in Dinosaur, EE, a snack, and holiday photos with Mickey and Minnie before heading back to the room. I took a photo of the AK tree on our way out at exactly 11:00am.

*Edited arrival time after checking my Uber ride history.

 

[CallieS]

Go to easywdw dot com. He just posted his FOP rope drop experience from a couple days ago, I believe. It was a 9am regular open. He got there about 7:30am. Hopefully your 7am EMH will be less crowded.

 

[hiroMYhero]

easywdw.com isn’t a blocked site and he does have current and very exacting posts regarding rope dropping AK.

 

[BrianL]

Go to easywdw dot com. He just posted his FOP rope drop experience from a couple days ago, I believe. It was a 9am regular open. He got there about 7:30am. Hopefully your 7am EMH will be less crowded.

I read that report and was there that day. It is 100% accurate (I'm even in one of the photos). They started letting people into the park about 8:30 to be held at the rope on the bridge to Pandora. The rope did not drop until 9:00 AM and they corralled us just before the path to enter the ride proper. We only held there for a couple of minutes then were let onto the ride. All told, I got off the ride at about 9:40 even after being there over 1 hour early and in the front part of the pack. It seemed a bit slower than I am used to.