Morning EMH at AK

[Bowen9475]

We will be at AK on Saturday July 22. They have morning EMH from 8-9. Our plan is to be at the park by 7:00. We have not been able to get FOP FP so we hope to be able to ride at rope drop that morning without the wait being too awful. What are our chances for this working out? What are waits like with morning EMH at AK?

 

[Robo]

We will be at AK on Saturday July 22. They have morning EMH from 8-9. Our plan is to be at the park by 7:00. We have not been able to get FOP FP so we hope to be able to ride at rope drop that morning without the wait being too awful. What are our chances for this working out?

What are waits like with morning EMH at AK?

5-65 minutes, depending on all sorts of variables in timing etc.

 

[Bowen9475]

Anyone with experience in doing this? Early morning EMH at AK and FOP?

 

[MidgeD79]

We were at WDW from 6/24-July 8. We went to AK 2x at rope drop. Both times the wait for FoP was about an hour. I did not go on it, but the kids said it was worth the wait.

 

[Robo]

Anyone with experience in doing this? Early morning EMH at AK and FOP?

Did you not like my answer?

 

[wdw&sonny]

Did you not like my answer?

Although Robo's answers are concise and accurate (almost always)...
I'll add some words to placate you.
I, too, am interested in this as I am planning for upcoming trip.
1. I have read numerous threads in the past few weeks of people asking/answering same question. Generally, those who arrived 1 hour before park opening and were near the front of the pack, and walked quickly to the attraction, had little wait at FoP (aside from the 1 hr. waiting for the park to open).
2. I have tracked and charted wait times since Pandora opened (yup, way OCD). Within minutes of park opening (0-15 min), waits have been posted from 5-180 minutes, with an average of 76 +/- 52 (SD) (a.k.a what Robo said...highly variable.)
3. Interestingly, aside from park opening and very late closing, the shortest wait is actually at 2:00 PM with an average of 115 min.

I hope you get to ride.

 

[wareagle57]

As Robo said, there are too many variables to answer for certain. But if you're there an hour before and you know what you're doing, there is a very good chance you'll be on and off the ride in under 30 minutes.

We arrived at 6 for a 7am opening. We hit a snafu of bag check not opening until nearly 6:40, meaning a couple hundred people without bags got in before us, despite arriving much later. If you go without bags, this won't be an issue. Then, since we were not at the front of the pack, we couldn't all get at the front or near the front of the line at various turnstiles, meaning we had to wait for each other to scan and get in before we could start walking towards the tree of life. The bigger group you are with, the more difficult it will be to walk fast and prevent others from passing you. Despite all of this, and a sitting on the ride about 5 minutes while they fixed someone's seating in another room, we were off the ride by 7:20 and walked onto NRJ.

Of course a latter opening means more people willing to get there early.

 

[stink]

I will be there on Sept 16th, EMH starts at 8 AM. I have a FP for AFP 9:55-10:55. When we arrive at EMH we plan on riding River Journey ride, than exploring Pandora till our FP time at 9:55 AM. Do you all think we need to arrive at the park at 7 AM ?

 

[rg35]

I will be there on Sept 16th, EMH starts at 8 AM. I have a FP for AFP 9:55-10:55. When we arrive at EMH we plan on riding River Journey ride, than exploring Pandora till our FP time at 9:55 AM. Do you all think we need to arrive at the park at 7 AM ?

The wait for Na'vi River Journey will not be nearly as long as FoP at rope drop. Personally, I don't think you will have a long wait if you do not arrive an hour before opening.

One other thing worth noting is that there's not really enough to see and do in Pandora to fill the nearly two hours between park opening and your FP+ window for FoP.
If you get to the park early enough, you may want to ride FoP once at drop, ride Na'vi (perhaps multiple times if time allows), and then ride FoP again at 9:55 using your FP+. I would play it by ear and be fluid with your plans depending on your arrival time and the wait times for FoP. Grabbing some snacks at the Satu'li Canteen could be another option for you to kill some time.

We had an 8AM park open (no magic hours), the park was open early with FoP already operating, but Na'vi not starting until 8. I think we waited about a half hour for Na'vi simply for the ride to open and basically walked on once the ride opened. We rode again immediately afterwards with about a 20-25 minute wait. Our FP+ for FoP was 8:45.