FOP timing

[kpgclark]

My husband and I will be at Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. We don’t have a fast pass to FOP. Instead of getting to the park early and doing a mad dash I’m wondering if we could just get in line at closing time and then just wait to go on the ride. Can you still get in line for a ride right at closing time? Since there won’t be people there with fast passes at 9, won’t the line move much faster?

Thanks for your help!

 

[mesaboy2]

My husband and I will be at Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. We don’t have a fast pass to FOP. Instead of getting to the park early and doing a mad dash I’m wondering if we could just get in line at closing time and then just wait to go on the ride. Can you still get in line for a ride right at closing time? Since there won’t be people there with fast passes at 9, won’t the line move much faster?

Thanks for your help!

Yes.

 

[ClapYourHands]

My husband and I will be at Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. We don’t have a fast pass to FOP. Instead of getting to the park early and doing a mad dash I’m wondering if we could just get in line at closing time and then just wait to go on the ride. Can you still get in line for a ride right at closing time? Since there won’t be people there with fast passes at 9, won’t the line move much faster?

Thanks for your help!

This is a recommended strategy.

I did both this trip. I did RD on an 8:00 EMH morning, arriving around 7am, and we were literally the first people on FOP. We then went on NRJ, and were off that and taking a bathroom break by 8:11.

We also got into line at 7:40 on an 8:00 closing night. The posted wait was 80 minutes, but we were to the pre-ride "linking room" in 40.

Overall, I found the RD to be much more efficient in terms of not using up park time, but I found the evening ride a much more immersive experience. Pandora is amazing when it's all lit up at night. It's pretty during the day, but in another category in the dark. In the morning, we went through the fast pass entrance, and the pre-ride videos were abridged. The end-of-day standby queue took us through all the cool elements of the experience, and let us out into an amazing glowing night.

 

[mamannc]

Thanks for these tips! We just planned a last minute trip-heading to Disney a week from today, so we weren't able to get a FOP fast pass either. I hadn't even considered trying to ride FOP near closing time!

 

[sharonabe]

Can you still get in line for a ride right at closing time? Since there won’t be people there with fast passes at 9, won’t the line move much faster?

I would just be sure that I was in the line about 15 min before closing. If you wait to RIGHT AT closing, your watch may be a little different than there's and they could say, "sorry, we're closed." Just saying don't make it too close to closing.

 

[pl71]

I did that for FOP this past Thursday, Nov 8. I got in line at 715 when the park was closing at 8pm. Posted wait was 105 min, it took me 65 min to sit on the ride chair.

I was a single rider and that also cut off a little time. In the last section before the linking rooms they break you into multiple lines. They had a couple lines they kept empty and sent those of us who where alone to that line so they could use us to fill the rooms. Because the other lines were full and I was sent to a completely empty line, that saved at least 10 min for me.

 

[shocker]

Thanks for these tips! We just planned a last minute trip-heading to Disney a week from today, so we weren't able to get a FOP fast pass either. I hadn't even considered trying to ride FOP near closing time!

I will say, my trip in Oct I was not able to get any headliner FP's until the night before or morning of. But, I got every one from 7DMT, FOP, and SDD.

LOTS of people make changes to their schedules and which park they will visit the night before. Don't give up hope you will get a FP. But, FOP is SO good that you will want a FP AND ride again at closing, so keep that plan too.

FOP is an easy one because any available FP will show up at the top of the alphabetical list of available FP's so you won't have to take time to scroll, grab any time that is available and then just keep hitting refresh and moving the time toward what works best for your schedule.

Best of luck

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Just keep in mind that the posted wait times are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders. We’ve often found the posted time to be up to 4x the actual wait on some of the headliners. When in doubt just asked the attendant. They do know the real wait time.

Recently, the shortest evening wait I’ve seen for FoP was 17 minutes a few weeks ago. There have been plenty of recent reports of 30 minute waits also.

Still a more efficient use of time than fighting through the morning crowds,

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I would just be sure that I was in the line about 15 min before closing. If you wait to RIGHT AT closing, your watch may be a little different than there's and they could say, "sorry, we're closed." Just saying don't make it too close to closing.

We’ve found the Disney clocks to be on the same timing as I-phone clocks to the second.

It’s always fun when my kids run by for one more ride on something and I can tell them exactly how much time they have to reach the gate.