FoP rope drop

[TheBigErn]

Without a fastpass, we are going to rope drop FoP on 11/29. Any suggestions for a strategy? Once we ride, any guesses of how long the line might be if we get right back in line for a second ride? Park opens at 9am that day.

 

[Katie1174]

From our past FOP rope drop experiences you need to get there at least and hour early. We usually get there about 1 hr 15 min early to ensure you are in the front of the pack. They usually will open the park for Pandora earlier than posted and lead you to the land. If you are in the front of the pack you will get on your first ride really quickly, hardly any wait. When you get out of that ride you can see the posted wait times and see the line so you can judge then if you want to get back in line or perhaps head over to Navi since that wait will probably still be reasonable.

 

[Anchored]

That is the day after Thanksgiving, right?
I would get there 2 hours before posted opening.
I wouldn't count a 2nd ride with a short wait time. The ride will take you about 23 minutes from queue to exit. The line will have built up by then with Thanksgiving crowds

 

[Katie1174]

Opps, didnt notice the date. So yea, 2 hours early would be better. When we do it, its always in the middle of May so the crowds aren't holiday crazy.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Without a fastpass, we are going to rope drop FoP on 11/29. Any suggestions for a strategy? Once we ride, any guesses of how long the line might be if we get right back in line for a second ride? Park opens at 9am that day.

I'd say 7-7:30am around a holiday. Also, I don't know your plans for getting to AK but on any day when we are rope dropping, we don't rely on buses. We usually uber or minnie van not so much because we have bus issues, we just want to save our time and it's usually early morning. The other strategy for FoP that we've done several times is getting in line at park close. No idea if that would work for your park plan but we enjoy that much better and less stressful. We will still RD AK but we head right to Dino Land and Asia where there are less crowds.

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

Even if you are one of the first groups on FoP after it opens, by the time you get off I would estimate at least 120 minute wait, maybe more that weekend.

 

[NH-to-FL]

I would agree with arriving 2 hours before opening. I have rope dropped FoP a couple of times, arriving 90 minutes before opening on average crowd days and was close but not at the front by the time I got to the rope. I won't run to the rope. One time I was chosen as the last single rider for the first flight and the other time I was on the second flight of the morning. By the time I walked back out to Pandora the wait time was posted as 120-150 minutes.

Get there early!

You probably won't want to get back in line for FoP but you probably will be able to do Navi River with a short wait.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Don’t forget that if you don’t have evening plans elsewhere you can always get in line right before it closes. Line moves faster without FP cutting it off, you aren’t spending park time in line, and at AK there’s no real reason to get there 1-2 hours before rope drop if you aren’t riding FoP.

Everyone else’s rope drop advice is spot on if that’s the method you choose.

 

[gharter]

Agree with being at the tapstiles at least an hour before park opening. In general, by the time you get off the ride, the line will easily be close to 90 minutes and stay there most of the day.
If its an EMH, be there 1 hour before that time. If you can't do EMH on an EMH morning, don't bother, the line will be 60-90 minutes ( or worse) by the time you get there.

 

[SunnyBunny33]

Without a fastpass, we are going to rope drop FoP on 11/29. Any suggestions for a strategy? Once we ride, any guesses of how long the line might be if we get right back in line for a second ride? Park opens at 9am that day.

For a 9:00 AM park open:
Bag check at 7:30 AM. They open at 7:30. This is the key to it all, being at bag check at 7:30 AM. It gives you an advantage. Even with small delay you’ll still be in a good position in line. It’s crazy how you can be delayed because of one family. We were 3rd in line at bag check. Family ahead of us went through right away. Across the table from us was a family with huge strollers and tons of little bags. They were also discombobulated. It took security 5 + minutes to pass them through. It’s only 5 minutes, but it affected our place in line at the tapstiles.
The family ahead of us were first in line, while we were 20th. We still walked onto ride though. I’m not complaining but it’s funny how a little time delay can have such a set back.

Line up at tapstiles until they open it up at 8. As long as you’re lined up in front of the ticket booths you will be able to get on ride with minimal wait. 0-25 minutes. If you’re towards the back of the line and the line extends past the ticket booths towards the parking lot you may have to wait 45-60 minutes.
They open tapstiles at 8 AM. Some posters on here have referred to a wdw post about opening later than 8, but I haven’t experienced that and we go once a month.

Walk fast don’t run towards bridge at Pandora entrance. As long as you’re on bridge or close to it you’ll walk on the ride. Anywhere from 5-25 minutes. If you are in the sea of people past Tiffins towards Tree of Life you will wait 45-60 minutes. I’ve been in both.

Check for EMH because this strategy doesn’t work if Guests have been in the park already for Early Morning Magic Hours.

This strategy has worked during busy August crowds, less crowded September, busy October Halloween crowds, & Thanksgiving Day.

That’s it. Have fun and it goes fast. Walk into Kilimanjaro afterwards. You won’t be able to ride FOP again, like you can do with Big Thunder Mountain. Wait times will be upwards of 90 minutes.

 

[SunnyBunny33]

Without a fastpass, we are going to rope drop FoP on 11/29. Any suggestions for a strategy? Once we ride, any guesses of how long the line might be if we get right back in line for a second ride? Park opens at 9am that day.

Pro tip from an AK security guard: It’s possible to get FOP fast passes the day of first thing in the morning, around 6AM or even the night before. He said people drop them thinking they will be charged if they don’t use them (kind of like dining reservations).

 

[mandis77]

We might need to RD FOP on Jan 29. This has all been so helpful. We are staying at AKL so hopefully we can get to AK relatively quickly/easily.