FOP at Rope drop?

[finedice]

How early do you have to arrive to be first on line? We use an alternate strategy and hop in line just before closing time. On our most recent visit, the wait was just under 20 minutes. I didn’t think that was too bad.

Well, you have that... We arrived at about 6:35 and were first at one set of tapstiles. We power-walked and did not run. To our surprise, they did not hold us until 8 at the bridge, but started the walk forward as soon as the front pack arrived there at 7:30. So we waited almost an hour pre-opening. However, we also don't have the mental or physical stamina to go open to close anymore, so hopping in at closing time is very rare for our family! - we are morning Dis'ers... Maybe that will change when our DD is off to college and beyond in a couple of years, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Well, you have that... We arrived at about 6:35 and were first at one set of tapstiles. We power-walked and did not run. To our surprise, they did not hold us until 8 at the bridge, but started the walk forward as soon as the front pack arrived there at 7:30. So we waited almost an hour pre-opening. However, we also don't have the mental or physical stamina to go open to close anymore, so hopping in at closing time is very rare for our family! - we are morning Dis'ers... Maybe that will change when our DD is off to college and beyond in a couple of years, but somehow I doubt it.

Thanks for the info. We find the crowds to be more manageable in the evenings than in the mornings, and like you we don’t have the stamina for both. We’re happy rolling in around 10:30 or so, using our prebooked FPs then refreshing for more throughout the day until it finally quiets down and we can find some really short waits on the headliners.

 

[Kaadk]

My last trip in August 2017, we were at the gate 90 mins prior to opening, about 6 deep at the tapstile line, and HUSTLED to the rope at "the bridge". We did this 3 times on the trip and were pretty close to the rope at the bridge (about 6-8 rows back). We took a bunch of elbows and ended up falling a bit further back on the slow "rope walk" in to the attraction, but we were off the ride about 20- 23 minutes after opening. Later in the day, we used fastpasses. We rode 6 times in a week on 3 AK visits with a TOTAL wait time of around 1 hour (give or take) for all 6 rides. BUT.... this takes effort - and whether you count the 90 minutes pre-park opening as wait time - is all about perspective... Given that we were done with FoP 20 minutes into the day, and wait times at everything else were non-existent - I call it a win!

As far as I can tell, the RD situation hasn't changed - but you really do need to MOVE when you get through the tapstiles. Take a look at the group behind as we waited at the RD bridge into Pandora... As a previous poster mentioned, this is about 10 minutes after we were "in position" at the rope!

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We were also there in Aug '17. Never did FOP that trip. The family wanted use the EMH to hit the safari first thing in hopes that the animals were more active (note: they were, a giraffe stuck it's head in our vehicle). We were there before rope drop, but not at the front of the pack. By the time we made it back to the Africa area, the FOP standby line was already reaching to there, and had a 3+ hour wait. At Rope, during EMH....

Last trip, we booked early enough to snag a 6 PM FP. So, that's the only time we've rode it. No way were we doing a 3 hour wait for a single ride, no matter how good it is.