FOP-Rope Drop or Closing?

[cigar95]

For those of you who have had good luck at rope drop lately, what time did you enter the queue, and did you go through the full queue or the "fastpass bypass"?

I'm the guy who is determined to ropedrop Flight of Passage *and* see the entire queue.

Thanx.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Be sure to give yourself enough time to get in line before 8. They'll close the line right at 8 pm. Anyone in line will be allowed to ride. This is one of the main reasons that they inflate the wait times in the evening, so that the line will be as short as possible at closing time.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Be sure to give yourself enough time to get in line before 8. They'll close the line right at 8 pm. Anyone in line will be allowed to ride. This is one of the main reasons that they inflate the wait times in the evening, so that the line will be as short as possible at closing time.

This is my only concern about the "get in line at closing" plan. If I'm reading correctly, ROL is a 15 minute show. It should end at 7:45, which gives me 15 minutes to get over there. I have a FP for ROL, so if I'm looking at the map correctly, makes it the farthest point away from FOP. Should I leave ROL a little early to get over there? Should I sit close to the back? What is the fastest path to get there?

 

[wisblue]

Yesterday (Tuesday) we arrived at the DAK parking lot just before 8 and were at the Annual Passholder tapstiles at about 8. The lines at the tapstiles went back almost to the backside of the ticket booths.

They started letting people in at 8:15 and then held everyone in the area entering Pandora until about 8:30. We were several rows of people (15-20) back from the front of this line. A little after 8:30 they started walking the group toward the ride. We went through the entire queue and were off the ride at 9:05.

We then walked to the river ride. The posted wait time was 20 minutes and we waited about 15.

If you can get there at 8 AM or a little earlier (especially on busier days) I think that's the way to go without a FP. As we left the Pandora area and walked toward Africa, the line for FOP was insanely long. I have never seen a line at WDW extending that far outside of the normal queueing area (which is plenty long itself. Not surprisingly, with so many people in that line, the Safari had only a 10 minute wait at 10 AM.

 

[elaine amj]

Awesome!

This is all great information! I really wanted to do FOP at park closing since I was worried about motion sickness, but I was going to ride whatever time I was able to get a FP. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that I didn't get a FP. If I do decide to go with park closing, I just hope I can get over there in time to get in line. Do they close the line right at park closing? Or is there a chance they won't let me in line even if I get there before closing? I've never tried this before. ROL is at 7:30. Closing is 8:00.

Our closing was 9:30pm. They closed the line at exactly 9:30pm. My party made it in at 9:26pm for a 45 min wait.

15 mins should be sufficient to get to FoP.

Our ROL was at 8:45pm. We were in the FP section 3 rows from the water, meandered over, hunting all over for our stroller, stopping at a store and waiting for ages for a drink at Starbucks. And still made it in line by 9:26pm.

 

[ThornXBL]

For those of you who have had good luck at rope drop lately, what time did you enter the queue, and did you go through the full queue or the "fastpass bypass"?

I'm the guy who is determined to ropedrop Flight of Passage *and* see the entire queue.

Thanx.

I don't remember the time we entered the queue (my guess is 8:40/8:45am? It was 9:03 when we got off the ride), but I know we were ushered through the fastpass bypass (no lab/Avatar in tank animatronic).

Before park closing we got in line again, waited 45 minutes to ride standby to see the whole queue. Worked pretty well.

 

[elaine amj]

I don't remember the time we entered the queue (my guess is 8:40/8:45am? It was 9:03 when we got off the ride), but I know we were ushered through the fastpass bypass (no lab/Avatar in tank animatronic).

Before park closing we got in line again, waited 45 minutes to ride standby to see the whole queue. Worked pretty well.

Mine was basically the same experience. Entered the standby queue about 8:40ish and got off the ride by 9am (sadly bypassed the lab/Avatar in tank).

Despite already riding it twice with FPs during our trip, my brother, SIL, and DD wanted yet another re-ride so entered the standby line at 9:26pm (for 9:30pm close) and waited just 45 mins to ride. They got to see the whole queue and reported that it was very cool.

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

We happened to be at rope drop for the soft opening of Pandora on May 26th. We were roped off on the left side of the Tree of Life and they didn't announce that we were going to get to see Pandora until about 10 mins before they dropped the rope. Once they did drop the rope.. omg people went crazy. The CM's led us all the way to FoP to try and prevent running, but people were still sprinting from the back of the crowd and trying to push their way closer to the front. I'm not looking forward to rope drop on our October trip!! I think we are going to have enough time to try it at rope drop and park closing on separate days.. so it will be interesting to see which way is better for us.

 

[sky13]

Was at AK yesterday. Had intended to try to get in line for FOP right before closing (had done FOP with FP, but wanted to see the queue). Park close at 9.30pm, turned up at 9.25pm to find the queue stretching out past the regular queue line with a posted wait time of either 90 or 105 minutes or somewhere around there. Decided not to check if the posted wait time was inflated...

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Was at AK yesterday. Had intended to try to get in line for FOP right before closing (had done FOP with FP, but wanted to see the queue). Park close at 9.30pm, turned up at 9.25pm to find the queue stretching out past the regular queue line with a posted wait time of either 90 or 105 minutes or somewhere around there. Decided not to check if the posted wait time was inflated...

Disney uses a technique called Line Stacking where they close off a lot of the available waiting area and let the line spill outside of the attraction. Then they post an inflated wait time to discourage late riders.

This could have been what you encountered yesterday, or it could have just been a big holiday crowd.

 

[housemartin71]

We were there on 8/26 and 9/1. Did rope drop for both 8 a.m. (arriving 645) and 9 a.m. (arriving 730) openings. The reality is that they open the lines and let you into the park well before opening time. We didn't wait more than 60-70 minutes or so before entering the pre-show at FoP. The CM we talked to on 9/1 said that if you are on or near the bridge to Pandora at rope drop that you should be on within 15 minutes. If you're not there, I wouldn't bother. When we got off FoP (slightly before official park opening), the lines were already insane.

 

[rtbreneman]

Anyone with good knowledge of how RD is for FOP during EMH?

 

[elaine amj]

If the weather is hot, maneuver yourself to the right side of the bridge by the railing for some cool air My DD and I were on the right side, but about 3-4 people away from the railing and we kept wishing we had scooted over when we had the chance!

 

[MikeTaylor]

We got up early and rope dropped during EMH because we couldn't get a FP. The park had been open for about a half hour before we got in line... took 75 min.

 

[BigB0882]

I have a question about waiting until closing. What is the rule for when they cut you off from getting in line? If the park closes at 10pm can you get in line at 9:59 even if the posted wait time is an hour? Will they make sure everyone in line gets to ride? Or do they cut the line off around 9pm if it is an hour wait so that the final people are getting off the ride as the park closes? If I can't get a FP we have decided to make FOP our final ride and I don't want to get in line too early but I don't want to find out it was cut off, either.

 

[rtbreneman]

We got up early and rope dropped during EMH because we couldn't get a FP. The park had been open for about a half hour before we got in line... took 75 min.

Thanks. I'm hoping a 7:30-7:45 arrival for 8 am EMH means we can be off of FOP by 8:45 or so. Might be wishful thinking.

 

[richmo]

Given the rope drop/closing choice, I'd pick closing. You miss the craziness of the rope drop sprint only to wait a long time anyway and you're not taking 2 hours out of the rest of your park day. Taking up to a couple hours after the park is already closed has no impact on other activities (maybe sleep).

That being said, last Thursday (Sep 21), at 12:25 we entered the FoP queue with 105 minute posted wait and got on the ride in about 95 minutes...right about 2:00. The normal queue was used, so most of the wait was indoors.

 

[jjjones325]

I have a question about waiting until closing. What is the rule for when they cut you off from getting in line? If the park closes at 10pm can you get in line at 9:59 even if the posted wait time is an hour? Will they make sure everyone in line gets to ride? Or do they cut the line off around 9pm if it is an hour wait so that the final people are getting off the ride as the park closes? If I can't get a FP we have decided to make FOP our final ride and I don't want to get in line too early but I don't want to find out it was cut off, either.

No one can enter the line after park closing, but once you are in the line, you get to ride.

 

[housemartin71]

Thanks. I'm hoping a 7:30-7:45 arrival for 8 am EMH means we can be off of FOP by 8:45 or so. Might be wishful thinking.

Based on my experience a few weeks ago, if you arrive to the park around 730-45 for EMH, the park will already be open, the line at FoP will have formed and people will be riding FoP already. I'm not sure 845 is a realistic goal at that point.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I have a question about waiting until closing. What is the rule for when they cut you off from getting in line? If the park closes at 10pm can you get in line at 9:59 even if the posted wait time is an hour? Will they make sure everyone in line gets to ride? Or do they cut the line off around 9pm if it is an hour wait so that the final people are getting off the ride as the park closes? If I can't get a FP we have decided to make FOP our final ride and I don't want to get in line too early but I don't want to find out it was cut off, either.

You can get in line right up until closing time and will be allowed to ride, no matter how long the line is.

Keep in mind that wait times are intentionally inflated late at night to discourage this behavior. If the posted wait time is an hour, you're likely to find an actual wait of 20-30 minutes.