How do you handle 8 am AK opening?

[DWFamilyof6]

our Animal Kingdom day (3 weeks away) just changed from 9 to 8 am opening. We already have FOP FP for late am. What would you do? Still rope drop EE as planned. Go for Pandora at 8? Is their a better strategy? We’ve never done an 8 am opening.

 

[cakebaker]

I’d shoot for being there 45 min to an hour before opening. I’d ride Pandora, then head to other rides while everyone runs to FOP. I’m hoping the extend hours on our trip!

 

[DWFamilyof6]

I’d shoot for being there 45 min to an hour before opening. I’d ride Pandora, then head to other rides while everyone runs to FOP. I’m hoping the extend hours on our trip!

That's what I'm leaning toward. I didn't realize they would move the hours to earlier opening this close to the date.

 

[cakebaker]

I’ve seen them do it day of, especially on closing times.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

I’ve seen them do it day of, especially on closing times.

Really?! That is wild. Actually, I would like a later closing for that day.

 

[cakebaker]

Really?! That is wild. Actually, I would like a later closing for that day.

It’s been a while, but we’ve been in the Mk when they announced a later closing. The down side is, it’s usually when it’s a wall to wall crowd they weren’t expecting.

 

[randumb0]

sleep in

 

[gharter]

I would still get there 45 minutes before opening and ride FoP at RP. Then use my FP.
It is that good. Twice may not be enough. You can come back near closing. Pandora at night is amazing.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

sleep in

ha ha! That would be my families vote.

 

[PPFlight75]

If I had a FP for FOP, I would get there early and go to EE and ride a zillion times, then use my EE FP and FOP FP. But, we really love EE! We have done the crazy morning crowd rush for FOP but only when we did not have a FOP FP.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

If I had a FP for FOP, I would get there early and go to EE and ride a zillion times, then use my EE FP and FOP FP. But, we really love EE! We have done the crazy morning crowd rush for FOP but only when we did not have a FOP FP.

If I had a FP for FOP, I would get there early and go to EE and ride a zillion times, then use my EE FP and FOP FP. But, we really love EE! We have done the crazy morning crowd rush for FOP but only when we did not have a FOP FP.

I'm so torn. I have a feeling at 8am the rest of the park will be so quiet. Very Very tempting just to settle for FP FOP and knock out the rest of the park. I wish I knew what it was like on such an early morning opening.

 

[epcotobsessed]

I'm so torn. I have a feeling at 8am the rest of the park will be so quiet. Very Very tempting just to settle for FP FOP and knock out the rest of the park. I wish I knew what it was like on such an early morning opening.

I have been there a few times for an 8am opening - the entire non-Pandora part of the park will be basically deserted until 9am, and still very light crowds until about 10am. It is great to ride things multiple times in a row. That said, lining up early for an extra ride on FOP is totally worth it. It is, by far, the best ride in all of the parks.

 

[Mome Rath]

Since you asked what I would do; I would get there around 45 min to an hour early, head to FoP first, then head to NRJ, then out to the rest of the park until your FP's for FoP. lol I go to the Monday EMH, which means an 8am opening when I can; love it! But, I love FoP much more than the rest of the rides so, I aim for multiple FoP rides. It is just truly up to you.

 

[JulieV2222]

What do you NOT have FP for? Keep in mind many things aren't open until 9 or even 10. We did an 8am EMH in august. Strangely I had FOP Fast passes and not Safari so we got there at 8, headed for the Safari leisurely, rode that, and checked out the gorillas before heading to EE with no wait and meeting Pocahontas. By this time it was maybe 9:30 (since Safari takes awhile). Then we did Dinosaur with minimal wait, Triceratops spin thing (only people there), and Boneyard when it opened (great pics with Pluto too!) before heading to FOP to use FP, followed by lunch at Satuli. Later used FP for Lion King and Kali and LEFT the park for a lovely afternoon of swimming and relaxing later.

 

[WaterLinds]

Really?! That is wild. Actually, I would like a later closing for that day.

Our AK day last year got extended by an hour in the evening a month out, then an hour in the morning the week after that, then a week before they extended closing again, and then the day of it got extended again. (I may not have that all totally right, but it was a lot of changes, including one pretty last minute and one day of!)

It was wall to wall people, though, we got done what we wanted but cancelled our plans to wander and casually take things in, it was unpleasantly crowded. So it’s a be careful what you wish for situation!

To answer the original question, it was 7 am EMH whe we went, and we started with Navi since we had FOP FPs. We didn’t rope drop EMH, we walked through the park gates maybe 7:15 or so, and at that point there was maybe a 15 minute wait for Navi—but if you want to do that at rope drop you can at least do a more casual rope drop than the FOP crowd.

 

[PPFlight75]

I'm so torn. I have a feeling at 8am the rest of the park will be so quiet. Very Very tempting just to settle for FP FOP and knock out the rest of the park. I wish I knew what it was like on such an early morning opening.

You are right. The rest of the park will be way more quiet than Pandora and you can get a lot done. Do you want to ride Navi? Id so, going at RD would be good so can at least do that with minimal wait. Do you want to ride FOP more than once? Then again I would head to Panndora. Otherwise I would head in to the rest of the park and knock out Dinosaur, EE, etc or anything else you are missing a FP for. We are good with one ride on FOP with FP so we always pick EE at RD but it depends on what you want to do.

 

[DCLPrincess]

I'm planning to go at 8am for EMH, anyone know how long the wait usually is for FoP at that time? I've never done stand by only FP.

 

[Mome Rath]

I'm planning to go at 8am for EMH, anyone know how long the wait usually is for FoP at that time? I've never done stand by only FP.

For an 8am opening try to get there around an hour early (around 7am). If you do that, then you basically just have the time it takes to line up, walk the line, and get into the load area. The line builds rapidly after rope drop, so if you were to get there right at 8am you would be looking at a long wait.