FOP and doing early entry-how long of a wait?

[Bete]

I wasn't able to get a fastpass for FOP; so, I'm just wondering how it goes doing the ride at the early morning hour.

I know there will be others like me; so, I'm not expecting to walk on. My group has some issues with long waits. I think 60-90 minutes would be their limit.

So, is it doable for us to try? I so want to do this ride.

 

[Robo]

Arrive well before the park opens.
Figure (on an "average day") that your wait will be 60 min. or less.

 

[iujen94]

We went just a few weeks ago on a Saturday EMH. We arrived a few minutes after 7 for an 8:00 opening. There were maybe 40-50 other people there. We were first at our tapstile and ended up being first through the EMH checkpoint. Walked right on to the ride with no wait. It was glorious and totally worth getting up early. I'm going again in October and planning to do the exact same thing.

 

[1GoldenSun]

OP you're talking about the early morning Magic Hours, right? I've been wondering the same thing because we have the same plan. Rope drop hasn't always gone well for us. It seems like we can be at the front of the tapstyle line yet by the time we actually get to our planned first ride so many people have shoved past us that we still have quite a wait. We're fast walkers, but not pushy people.

At MNSSHP we were very first in line at the tapstyles waiting for party-goers to be let in, then there was an issue with my daughter's magic band. It only took about 7-9 minute to straighten it out, but in that short time it seemed like half a park's worth of people had swarmed by us into the park, completely negating our efforts to get there so early. I worry that something like this might happen at AK when we try to rope drop FOP.

Our plan is to get there early and hope for the best. If it turns out that a lot of people get there even earlier than us, or we have a holdup with magic bands getting in, or hundreds shove their way past us, we're just going to go ride Safari instead. We've always wanted to ride that in the early morning and never have, so it won't be a huge disappointment. FOP will still be there next time. I've set a limit of 60 minutes. We'll wait that long, but no more.

 

[housemartin71]

If you arrive 60-90 minutes before the stated opening, you should have no problems getting right on within the first 15 minutes or so. For an 8 a.m. EMH, the park will probably open to guests around 715-20. We parked at around 645 on our EMH day (8/26), were third or fourth in line at our tapstile and ended up about 5-7 rows back on the bridge. We were the second or third group to ride and were in the preshow around 755 and off the ride by 810.

I didn't find rope drop to be that big of a deal from a crowd standpoint on an EMH day. Because you have the second check on EMH after you enter the park, people get strung out along the walk. Very few people were running (mostly kids). It was mostly a brisk walk and once you get to the bridge and the crowd starts to form, it was an orderly process.