FOP rope drop

[dkostel]

I went to AK on Monday 2/5 to rope drop FOP. It was EMH so I got there about 7:30AM. By the time we all got in and to the end of the line it was already at 2 hours. I'm a fairly fast walker but there were just so many people there, on a Monday in February. I was very surprised. I've done this once before, in November and I was through the ride in 45-50 mins.
One piece of advice - when you line up to get into the park, don't choose either outside line. There were only 3-4 of the lanes open so it was like a funnel. People kept walking up to the front on the outside lines and getting in before the people standing in the line. It added a lot of time to the wait and I saw people moving through the inside lines fairly quickly.

 

[sharonabe]

It was EMH so I got there about 7:30AM

Unfortunately, this was too late. Even with EMH, rule of thumb is to be there 45 min to an hour before so you're at the front of the masses instead of the back.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

In October, we got there at 7:30 am for a 9 am opening and were one of the firsts on FOP. 7:30 am is too late for an EMH morning.

 

[Moms]

We were going to try for a "rope drop" ride on FOP but might have to change our plan. We are going to be there President's Day Weekend and planned AK for Monday ... one of the two EMH days scheduled during the four days we will be there. The site shows the EMH opening at 7:00 AM so that would mean we would have to plan to line up at 6:00 AM ... in the dark ... do the busses even run early enough for that or would we have to take a cab? Luckily we do have FP+'s for FOP at 3:30 PM that day so we won't be left "empty handed". We additionally plan to head there for a Saturday evening dinner at Tiffins after which we plan to try for the "shorter" close to closing times stand-by ride. Wow ... two hours at rope drop! That is mind boggling and making me very grateful for the FP we managed to score!

 

[HuskieJohn]

Is there much difference for FOP in the wait time 45min after EMH opening vs 45min after a regular opening?

For our first trip I followed the rule that you avoid the EMH park because more people are going to be at that park in the morning and it worked extremely well...plus I doubt that we could handle waking up an extra hour earlier!!!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Rope drop can be the busiest time of the day for this attraction. I checked several days recently and the wait times were up to 210 within 10 minutes of park opening. The waits were down to 30 within 10 minutes of park closing on the same day.

 

[coolbrook]

Rope drop can be the busiest time of the day for this attraction. I checked several days recently and the wait times were up to 210 within 10 minutes of park opening. The waits were down to 30 within 10 minutes of park closing on the same day.

The key though, is to ride it before park opening when there aren't even posted wait times to reference.

 

[dkostel]

Good to know that you need to get there 45 mins early. I didn't wait in line and went to the nearly deserted safari instead. It was amazing, all the animals were awake & active. I've been on the safari probably close to 50 times and this was one of the best.

 

[Fern]

Do they still shut down the line at end of night? I can't seem to score FP this trip, so if we get in standby an hour before close will we still make it?

 

[sharonabe]

Do they still shut down the line at end of night? I can't seem to score FP this trip, so if we get in standby an hour before close will we still make it?

I don't think they've shut down the line since they were doing the late EMH where they had to shut it down in order to get off-site people out of the line. You'll be fine going even as late as 15 min before closing.

Is there much difference for FOP in the wait time 45min after EMH opening vs 45min after a regular opening?

For our first trip I followed the rule that you avoid the EMH park because more people are going to be at that park in the morning and it worked extremely well...plus I doubt that we could handle waking up an extra hour earlier!!!

I'm not sure what you're asking. Whether it is an EMH morning or a regular morning, if you don't want to wait, you need to be at the park 45 min to an hour BEFORE the park opens. If you get there 45 min AFTER the park opens, you'll be waiting for about two hours to ride no matter if it's EMH or regular.

 

[Fern]

Thanks! I'm hoping that lines won't be too bad during RoL. We did that last time, and I have to admit, I didn't love it. The first 15 minutes were beautiful, but after that I started to get claustrophobic and felt like a captive audience. And then the kids kept complaining about how bored they were and that their butts hurt, LOL!

 

[jessrose18]

are they still opening the turnstyles 30 min prior to posted opening times?

 

[sharonabe]

are they still opening the turnstyles 30 min prior to posted opening times?

Sometimes it's earlier than that.

 

[WaterLinds]

Sometimes it's earlier than that.

I asked in another thread but will ask here too if no one minds...

If it's an EMH day and we're staying on property but arriving between the EMH time and the general opening time, how does that work? EMH starts at 7, and I suspect I won't get our whole party wrangled, parked, and to the tapstyles before 7--but I'm going to try to get us up there before 7:30. Will it be hard to navigate around people waiting for the 8 am opening? Are they still likely admitting people early for general opening on an EMH day?

My main goal is to be done Na'vi before 8:30, hop on FOP with our FP, and flee Pandora for less crowded areas elsewhere.

 

[sharonabe]

I asked in another thread but will ask here too if no one minds...

If it's an EMH day and we're staying on property but arriving between the EMH time and the general opening time, how does that work? EMH starts at 7, and I suspect I won't get our whole party wrangled, parked, and to the tapstyles before 7--but I'm going to try to get us up there before 7:30. Will it be hard to navigate around people waiting for the 8 am opening? Are they still likely admitting people early for general opening on an EMH day?

My main goal is to be done Na'vi before 8:30, hop on FOP with our FP, and flee Pandora for less crowded areas elsewhere.

It's not hard to get in and find your way even after the EMH has started. There'll be a CM inside checking your magic bands to allow you further entry. I'm not sure where they hold the off-site crowds waiting for Pandora. We arrived during the EMH (onsite) like you want to do, and I can't even picture where they were, so obviously not a problem.

Depending on when you get there, that 8:30 goal may not be achieved. There will be EMH people who have finished with FoP and doing Na'vi right after, so that line might build more than you're expecting.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Do they still shut down the line at end of night? I can't seem to score FP this trip, so if we get in standby an hour before close will we still make it?

They only closed the line early when the ride was brand new and they didn't want the standby line to interfere with the evening EMH crowd. Now, you can get in line a minute before closing time and will be allowed to ride.

 

[WaterLinds]

It's not hard to get in and find your way even after the EMH has started. There'll be a CM inside checking your magic bands to allow you further entry. I'm not sure where they hold the off-site crowds waiting for Pandora. We arrived during the EMH (onsite) like you want to do, and I can't even picture where they were, so obviously not a problem.

Depending on when you get there, that 8:30 goal may not be achieved. There will be EMH people who have finished with FoP and doing Na'vi right after, so that line might build more than you're expecting.

I'm hoping we can be through the gates by 7:30 so we aren't behind too many EMH folks, but if it's bad we'll just skip it/try again later. TP is predicting just a 13 minute wait at 8 am, but that does seem optimistic! I wonder if the late change to EMH start time might keep the crowds down a *little*? (The hours were changed less than a week out, maybe some people will miss that information?). I won't get my hopes up too high, though.

Good to know it shouldn't be hard to navigate the entrance during that in between time. Thanks!

 

[soniam]

I'm hoping we can be through the gates by 7:30 so we aren't behind too many EMH folks, but if it's bad we'll just skip it/try again later. TP is predicting just a 13 minute wait at 8 am, but that does seem optimistic! I wonder if the late change to EMH start time might keep the crowds down a *little*? (The hours were changed less than a week out, maybe some people will miss that information?). I won't get my hopes up too high, though.

Good to know it shouldn't be hard to navigate the entrance during that in between time. Thanks!

Unfortunately, TP wait times at park opening, even EMH, are notoriously wrong. Usually, they are too pessimistic, but I think some of the FOP times are too optimistic. Have you re-evaluated recently? I ask, because for our mid-March trip, FOP wait time at opening jumped to over an hour, when it had been less than 30 minutes. We plan to get to AK more than an hour before park opening on an AM EMH day.

You will be behind a giant log jam of people if you don't enter until about 7:30am. Granted, not as many people show up really early for the 7am EMH, but I suspect a decent amount of people will be lined up by 6:30am. So, that would put you behind at least an hours worth of people. Look to see what TP says the wait times are an hour after opening.

 

[WaterLinds]

Unfortunately, TP wait times at park opening, even EMH, are notoriously wrong. Usually, they are too pessimistic, but I think some of the FOP times are too optimistic. Have you re-evaluated recently? I ask, because for our mid-March trip, FOP wait time at opening jumped to over an hour, when it had been less than 30 minutes. We plan to get to AK more than an hour before park opening on an AM EMH day.

You will be behind a giant log jam of people if you don't enter until about 7:30am. Granted, not as many people show up really early for the 7am EMH, but I suspect a decent amount of people will be lined up by 6:30am. So, that would put you behind at least an hours worth of people. Look to see what TP says the wait times are an hour after opening.

Fortunately we don't have to hit FOP standby, so I'm less concerned than I would be otherwise. I think TP is showing FOP at 90+ minutes at opening, so not too unrealistic? I optimized this morning, so I'm assuming it reflects the hour change but not sure. And I know they're struggling with the AK crowds lately.

If it's too busy we'll do something else for a bit until our FOP FP time.

 

[jessrose18]

yes i put in fop in TP and they are saying 120 min at opening... ill plan on getting to turnstyles at least 60 min before open time. we have to do baby swap for the ride on top of it.