Off of avatar by 9:15

[hannymom]

i just wanted to share our avatar experience. We were there yesterday. We got to the park at 8:00 (park opened at 9). At 8:20 they started letting people through. We were close to the back of the line before it opened. Once we got through the line we never stopped walking until we got on the ride (preshow). They obviously started running before 9. It was so worth getting there an hour early!!

 

[goofyintoronto]

i just wanted to share our avatar experience. We were there yesterday. We got to the park at 8:00 (park opened at 9). At 8:20 they started letting people through. We were close to the back of the line before it opened. Once we got through the line we never stopped walking until we got on the ride (preshow). They obviously started running before 9. It was so worth getting there an hour early!!

Awesome! Glad it worked out. Its a good tip for those wanting to ride it without a FP. Me, I rode it once. Great ride. Sadly, it makes me nauseous so im not in a hurry to ride it again. Bummer, cause its great!

 

[NH-to-FL]

i just wanted to share our avatar experience. We were there yesterday. We got to the park at 8:00 (park opened at 9). At 8:20 they started letting people through. We were close to the back of the line before it opened. Once we got through the line we never stopped walking until we got on the ride (preshow). They obviously started running before 9. It was so worth getting there an hour early!!

Wonderful! Being early to rope drop works! They really did open Pandora early for you. What a great way to start the day.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Touring plans has a video on YouTube where they have Len testa and the others enter MK at different times (RD, then 15 minute intervals after) then see how long the wait for 7DMT is for each of them. It was interesting how just entering the park as soon as 15 minutes after it starts can add so much time to your wait. I know you’re talking about FoP but it’s a similar concept.

 

[gharter]

We had a similar experience last week. Arrived before 8. At 8:30, they let us go through the gates and then everyone "walked" back to Pandora and were stopped a little after Tiffins. At 8:40, CMs walked us back to FoP or Navi. Had a 5 minute wait for FoP and then walked on Navi. Out by 9:15 and the FoP wait was 90 minutes +.
Made arriving early so worth it as you mentioned. Similar experience at HS and TSL.

 

[mwheatley]

Thanks for sharing this. We are headed down the first week December. AK is our first park day in the parks, so we plan to RD for a 9 AM opening to do FoP. Our hope is that an early bed time will allow for an early morning. Its nice to hear that its possible to get through the line relatively quickly when showing up an hour early. I worry that as more people catch on to the need for an early arrival (I'm one of them; we strolled into AK last year around 10 AM) it will only push the required arrival time earlier.

I think I might push for getting to AK at 7:30 and show up with a box of donuts to share with others waiting.

 

[JohnneeO]

Touring plans has a video on YouTube where they have Len testa and the others enter MK at different times (RD, then 15 minute intervals after) then see how long the wait for 7DMT is for each of them. It was interesting how just entering the park as soon as 15 minutes after it starts can add so much time to your wait. I know you’re talking about FoP but it’s a similar concept.

That is because when they open a ride early, before official park opening time, there are NO FP+ riders. All of the riders initially come from the standby queue, until the first FP+ window opens.

 

[mwheatley]

After reading and posting in this thread I opened MDE and, after refreshing a few times, found a 10:40 AM FoP FPP. We are 30+ days out. I put this here for future readers; don’t give up on FPP.

 

[Babs1975]

Did any of you do Navi without a fp right after doing FOP at rope drop? That's our plan and we are hoping it's similar to your experience...being off FOP by 9:15 at the latest. Then head to Navi. I have a fp later for FOP so we csn ride it twice. Easywdw recommended not getting a fp for Navi at this time as you can ride them both at rope drop. Hoping they're right!

 

[LandonDunes]

i just wanted to share our avatar experience. We were there yesterday. We got to the park at 8:00 (park opened at 9). At 8:20 they started letting people through. We were close to the back of the line before it opened. Once we got through the line we never stopped walking until we got on the ride (preshow). They obviously started running before 9. It was so worth getting there an hour early!!

I was right there with you. The wait was nothing. It wasn’t even in our plans. We decided the night before to give it a shot and it worked perfectly. We went into the preshow before 9:00.

 

[Jrits]

Is the Navi wait time exaggerated at rope drop also?

 

[Katie Dawn]

Is the Navi wait time exaggerated at rope drop also?

Navi is a walk-on (no wait) if you can be anywhere in the group waiting for them to drop the rope going into Pandora. Enjoy!

 

[Jrits]

Navi is a walk-on (no wait) if you can be anywhere in the group waiting for them to drop the rope going into Pandora. Enjoy!

Is it usually walk on still if you RD FOP first?

 

[Katie Dawn]

Is it usually walk on still if you RD FOP first?

I'm not sure. On both of our AK days we rode Navi at Rope Drop then left Pandora (had FOP FPs for later) so I don't know what the line looked like a little later. I would imagine lots of people who do FOP first head over to Navi next but I don't know how the lines would look. Maybe someone else who knows will comment!

 

[CinderellaDream]

Is it usually walk on still if you RD FOP first?

Navi was not a walk on after FOP but the wait was not bad today - maybe 20ish minutes. We arrived at AK later than I planned and got in the back of the FOP standby line by 8:30. It was backed up all the way past the bridge headed to Africa. However, the line really moved fast and we were off FOP and in line for Navi by 9:30. So even though we arrived a little late, we rode both Pandora rides with no FP and were on our way to the rest of the park before 10:00.

 

[dmband]

We had a similar experience last week. Arrived before 8. At 8:30, they let us go through the gates and then everyone "walked" back to Pandora and were stopped a little after Tiffins. At 8:40, CMs walked us back to FoP or Navi. Had a 5 minute wait for FoP and then walked on Navi. Out by 9:15 and the FoP wait was 90 minutes +.
Made arriving early so worth it as you mentioned. Similar experience at HS and TSL.

So you saved 15 mins?
As a night owl and not a morning person I am not sure it's worth getting up early to save 15 mins.
Might be better for me to try the show up near closing time and hoping the wait time sign is not correct

 

[ForMyBoys]

So you saved 15 mins?
As a night owl and not a morning person I am not sure it's worth getting up early to save 15 mins.
Might be better for me to try the show up near closing time and hoping the wait time sign is not correct

I assume you are comparing the 90 min wait time to the 8am-9:15 time noted.

However, since the 75 min included the time it took to get into the park, walk to Pandora AND ride the ride the time savings is well in excess of 15 min.

 

[WaterLinds]

So you saved 15 mins?
As a night owl and not a morning person I am not sure it's worth getting up early to save 15 mins.
Might be better for me to try the show up near closing time and hoping the wait time sign is not correct

Plus that 75 minutes was mostly before Park open, so time that couldn’t be used on any other ride or attraction. Someone arriving at the park at 9 and facing the 90 minute wait is giving up 90 minutes at other attractions.

But it definitely depends on your internal clock, too. The closing time trick similarly puts most of your waiting time outside of Park hours, and if you’re naturally a nigh person that could well work better for you.

 

[gharter]

So you saved 15 mins?
As a night owl and not a morning person I am not sure it's worth getting up early to save 15 mins.
Might be better for me to try the show up near closing time and hoping the wait time sign is not correct

Another fan of getting there before RD.
So yes, we did wait 60 minutes before the park opened. However, we were back on FoP about 8:45 and off Navi about 9:15.
While nearly everyone headed into the park was headed to Pandora, we had no lines at EE or over at Safari.
We also rode FoP near closing, so were able to go twice in one day.
While YMMV, for us it was well worth it.