Expedition Everest - Stategy to get on the Ride during Easter Break

[pathoov]

Ok gang...since this site is the indeed the ultimate source of Disney knowledge I need your help. My family and I have been going to Disney for the last several years (sometimes twice a year). Whenever we go over the major holidays parks are of course packed! Major thrill rides are always a challenge (even getting fast passes). This year we are going over Easter and I gotta make sure we get on Expedition Everest. We are staying at AKL. I am seeking strategic advice to make sure we get on this ride. We are staying at Disney April 17-21st. Assume that fast passes are part of the equation. I was thinking that I would get up early one morning and be first one at the park (aka Clark Griswald) and get the fast passes. I could use Nextel and let wife and kids know when to get there before fast pass expires. Any thoughts here?

 

[Leota]

You can't get a Fast Pass with a Park Pass that has not been activated that day at the turnstiles. So you would not be able to get passes for your family unless they were in the Park.

 

[jmcross]

We are also going Easter Week and want to experience EE. Our strategy is just to get there as early as possible. I have a feeling that the fast passes will run out quickly as this ride is becoming very popular already!

Joanne

 

[pathoov]

Whoa....thanks Leota, I had no idea. See I was on my way to making a major mistake.

 

[cyndilou01]

since you are staying on the property, I would definetaly do the EE and go straight to the ride and get your fast pass... if it is anything like soarin in epcot, by 10:30 11:00 they will be gone..

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

I remember when ToT opened in DCA initially, the fastpasses went quickly, but we were there in December and it had calmed down. As for a strategy to hit EE that week, I would go there first thing in the morning and deal with whatever wait they have at that time or grab a fastpass, especially since at least for now AK is closing at 5:00pm every day. EE may change that, but we'll have to see what happens.

 

[byoung]

Get there at rope drop and walk fast after the drop. Rode it monday morning it's great.

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

byoung, did you do the AM EMH for that? I'm thinking about doing it on May 1.

 

[yasuern]

Okay my advice is to get a fastpass1st thing in the am - then jump right into the standby line and ride EE - after the ride - go enjoy the rest of the park - then sometime before the park closes us your FP - they will honor any FP for that day as long as the earliest time to return to EE is past -

We rode it 3 tomes on Wednesday when we were there - just like above we got thr FP rode the ride using standby line(took 20 minutes in the early am) then returned to use FP - at 11am - noticed they still had FP left for 245pm ret time so got another FP and enjoyed this very fun rid 3x's


At the top of the 1st hill is the only place in WDW you can see all 4 parks at the same time - you are in AK ,behind you is MK and off to the left is Epcot and MGM.


EE is a very fun ride you will love it!!!!!!



Sue

 

[pennyplanner]

A similar strategy for Soarin' involved being there for the rope drop. Walk quickly but safely toward the area where the ride is located. Get in line, ride the ride and secure fast passes as soon as you exit the ride provided you wish to ride again. The fps for Soarin' were gone by approximately 11 a.m. That was during Thanksgiving week!

Good luck and enjoy your adventure!

--penny

 

[CPM]

Last Saturday we rode it twice in a row using single rider line. We only waited for five minutes!! It was great. You may not get in the same car but it doesn't matter that much since it's dark & fast anyway.
Other than that use EE, or get in early to get a fast pass.

 

[byoung]

Sleeping Jedi Beauty Yes it was the am

 

[ESN]

For those who have been there on the AK EMH mornings, has EE / Asia been open? Or do you just get into AK and wait for that part of Park to open?

 

[valeriekc]

since you are staying on the property, I would definetaly do the EE and go straight to the ride and get your fast pass... if it is anything like soarin in epcot, by 10:30 11:00 they will be gone..

Expedition Everest will not be like Soaring at all.
Because EE is a continously loading ride with up to 5 trains, it can hold (and move) many more riders than Soaring.
Soaring only has two theatres each loading 90 people for an approximate show time of 6-7 minutes with load and unload time...so if you figure the math you can see why Soaring is such a crowded attraction and fastpasses are completely distributed for the entire day by 11-2pm.

Roller coasters such as big thunder, space mtn, RNR coaster very rarely runout of fastpasses until late in the day or evening (when WDW is very crowded).
EE will certainly have an initial surge as all new attractions do, but will smooth out and run like all the other mountains in WDW.
I know during the preview weekend at EE they didn't run out of fastpasses until late in the day and that place was mobbed.

 

[CPM]

It was pretty crowded last Saturday and they had just run out at 4:00, park closed at 5:00. Didn't even make sense to have one. LOL

 

[Nite0wl71]

According to the Disney website, AK will be open until 8pm everynight between April 9-22.