FOP with no FP

[VeeHam]

We are attending AK on Monday May 28. It is an early morning extra magic hour so the park is opening at 8. I have not been able to obtain a FP for this ride. According to one of the 'ride planning" websites, if we are at rope drop and head over there we will have a 2-3 hour wait. Is this correct? If so, how should I plan on doing this ride? Rope drop? Night time?

 

[Capang]

That's going to be a busy day so I'd assume that wait time will be a fairly accurate description. Still, I'd do rope drop if its 2 hours or wait until close to closing to hop in line.

 

[CAS239]

I'm assuming you're staying on site and able to take part in emh.

Arrive at the park entrance no later than 7am. Earlier the better. You'll be on FoP with a minimal wait. Your next best option is to wait until close to park close, but I'd still anticipate about a 75 min wait then

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

If you get there a good while before park opening and walk briskly, you probably won't have a 3 hour wait. Yes, it's wild at park opening but most people I know who arrived an hour in advance, were near the front of the crowd, and made it to the ride in a timely fashion were in and out within an hour.

 

[EdmondD]

There are about a trillion threads on this but I think the consensus is (and this was our experience) - get there about an hour before opening (so 7, obviously, in this case) and the wait is not terribly long. We got there at 8 for a 9 opening and were off the ride by like, 9:40, I think.

 

[DaniMoon]

If you are there for rope drop, I think 2-3 hours is a lot. We rope dropped FOP twice last year. They opened the turnstiles 7:40 for an 8 am opening, 6:45 for a 7am opening. We were through and off the ride at 8:15 and 7:45 --- we got there 45 mins before RD for the 8 am opening and were about 10 people from the turnstile. We only got there about 20 minutes early for the 7am opening, but still never really "stood", the line moved steadily.

 

[VeeHam]

Thank you everyone. Yes we are staying onsite and we will try and arrive an hour early (7 AM). I hope arriving this early will help with the 2-3 hour waiting. My DH doesn't think anything is worth waiting that long. LOL

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

We did EMH in Oct. We stayed at the Contemporary... unfortunately the bus service was severely lacking to AK. We were down waiting for a bus by 6:15. There were no AK busses until 7:15 (and only because I finally stopped the THIRD HS bus that was driving by without any passengers and said GET US A BUS), so we weren't there until 7:35 or so. However once inside, it was (fairly) organized chaos, and we were off the ride by 8:20. Technically between the busses and the rope drop stuff, we still waited 2 hours, but it didn't feel like it. More importantly, IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

If you’re interested in an alternate strategy, there have been several recent reports of 30 minute waits close to closing time. There have also been a few reports of guests being able to ride twice during the last hour of operation. This is something that definitely can’t be done in the morning.

Just keep in mind that the posted wait times are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

 

[VeeHam]

We did EMH in Oct. We stayed at the Contemporary... unfortunately the bus service was severely lacking to AK. We were down waiting for a bus by 6:15. There were no AK busses until 7:15 (and only because I finally stopped the THIRD HS bus that was driving by without any passengers and said GET US A BUS), so we weren't there until 7:35 or so. However once inside, it was (fairly) organized chaos, and we were off the ride by 8:20. Technically between the busses and the rope drop stuff, we still waited 2 hours, but it didn't feel like it. More importantly, IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

Man, I really get annoyed when there isn't enough buses. We will probably drive to DW instead of fly so we will just drive to the parks.

If you’re interested in an alternate strategy, there have been several recent reports of 30 minute waits close to closing time. There have also been a few reports of guests being able to ride twice during the last hour of operation. This is something that definitely can’t be done in the morning.

Just keep in mind that the posted wait times are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

If morning doesn't work out, we will definitely do this.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

If morning doesn't work out, we will definitely do this.

Try both. At the end of the day, you’ll probably wonder why you spent so much time on it in the morning.

 

[KBoopaloo]

Managed to ride FOP twice this week without FP.

On Sunday (8 am AK opening) we got on a bus at Kidani Village at 6:42 am. We were off the ride by 8:52 and out of the park by 9:00 am. They let us through the turnstiles at about 7:30/7:40 but then had us wait at the bridge to Pandora until 8.

Tonight we got in line at 10:17 (10:30 closing time) and we were in the preshow room at 11:36. Posted standby wait time was 165 minutes when we got in line. Line moved the whole time so it didn’t feel like a long wait.

 

[Disney mac]

Are they still letting people line up at both entrances to Pandora? If so and you’re late, you may want to think about rope drop from the walkway by Lion King.

 

[Cayaco]

For people who have done RD, when they open the turnstiles are being running like mad to get to FoP or is it an orderly walk? I just saw an Epcot RD video and people were sprinting to get to Frozen, combined with a Calvary of people on motorized scooters and parents rushing with strollers.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Are they still letting people line up at both entrances to Pandora? If so and you’re late, you may want to think about rope drop from the walkway by Lion King.

Not while I was there in late January. The entrance from Africa was not open at rope drop.

 

[Ensusieasm]

For people who have done RD, when they open the turnstiles are being running like mad to get to FoP or is it an orderly walk? I just saw an Epcot RD video and people were sprinting to get to Frozen, combined with a Calvary of people on motorized scooters and parents rushing with strollers.

Yes, a few do run. I just power walked. Once they hold you back at the Pandora entrance, there is no running after that. On both a 9am and also an 8 am opening, I walked off FoP at 9:00 and at 8:10. In both cases the wait time had built to 3 hours by the time I got off the ride. I arrived at the park about 70 minutes before scheduled opening, but they opened the park about 45 minutes early on both mornings. They opened FoP and Navi 30 minutes early and the line walking into the ride never stopped long enough for me to even snap a photo.

 

[Nancy O]

Are they still letting people line up at both entrances to Pandora? If so and you’re late, you may want to think about rope drop from the walkway by Lion King.

What is the best route to get to FoP at rope drop? I assume there is a Robo map out there somewhere.

 

[Nancy O]

Found it.

DAK Path to Pandora (Guest Drop-Off spot in Guest Parking Lot: bottom right)
NOTE: "Express Bus Transportation" ended Aug. 23, 2017. It MIGHT return at some future date. Stay tuned.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I’m with @Babe the Blue Ox. My advice during a busy time would be to pop in line 30 minutes before Park close.

That way you’ll only miss 30 minutes of Park time, can avoid the stress and drama of the FOP dash, and after the official park closing time you won’t be up against FPs (which is true also for AM EMH).

Getting up early for AM EMH is one thing I do (sort of) happily at WDW because the advantage outweighs the negative IMO. But plotting and pushing and speedwalking and crowds and people and, well, you get it, is sooooo not something I want to deal with only one coffee in.

 

[Miffy]

In the meanwhile, when you have a spare few moments, go to MDX and try to get FP+s for that day. Just keep refreshing. You might be pleasantly surprised when you're able to score them. Just because you can't get them right now doesn't mean they won't appear. I've had a lot of success with this strategy. Including the day of. And the day before. And 40 days out.