Pandora RD strategy? (No FPs)

[MelSettle]

Sometimes I read RD to FOP can still lead to 2 hour waits. With 2 kids (1 who's too small to ride FOP and 1 who may not want to ride it), I don't really want to do that when they can be instead be exploring the rest of AK. However, I also read what you experienced, where the wait might be 30 minutes if you RD.

Do the wait times for FOP really fluctuate this much when you RD? Is it more based on when you arrive at AK (e.g., if you arrive 90 minutes before AK opens, you'll be off the the ride in the first 30 mins, but if you arrive 15 mins before AK opens, expect there to be a huge line where you might have to wait 1-2 hours)? Do EMH days make a difference?

Our AK date is Dec 19 (hours are 9am-8pm) and is a non-EMH day. I book our FPs tomorrow but already know FPs for FOP are already gone for my AK day. I'm trying to figure out if I should book a 10am FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris (basically aim to try to do RD for FOP beforehand and then make a beeline to KS), but if that's unrealistic, then I'll just skip FOP altogether and do a 9am FP for KS.

What do you think?

It's really hard to say, our experience was that the line moved super quick and the wait time wasn't anything near what was posted. I only had my oldest daughter who is 10 with me so she was fine with the wait and with the mob scene. I think it would have been stressful if I would have had my littles with me. The mob was basically all trying to get to FOP. Once we got to FOP they organized us into a line that was only 2-3 people wide but getting to FOP was just this huge crowd of people all trying to get to the same place.

 

[disney144]

Here’s my rope drop plan:
- wake up when i feel like it
- go to park and see where rope drop happened (there may still be blood, sweat and tears on the floor)
- enjoy the parks many great attractions (EE, dinosaur, safari, etc)
- just before closing, ride FOP with a much shorter wait!

 

[CanuckGirl78]

Here’s my rope drop plan:
- wake up when i feel like it
- go to park and see where rope drop happened (there may still be blood, sweat and tears on the floor)
- enjoy the parks many great attractions (EE, dinosaur, safari, etc)
- just before closing, ride FOP with a much shorter wait!

Lol! It sounds like a great plan! Unfortunately, with two little ones who usually go to sleep by 8:30pm, we're leaving AK around 7:30 back to POFQ for bath time & bedtime! It's all part of the magic of being a parent where their needs supersede our wants!

 

[mamamelody2]

Here is a picture of the line waiting to get into pandora at 8:35. It was a mob for sure. But, I just checked the timestamp for the picture I took of my daughter once we got off of the ride and it was 9:28. Keep in mind, the wait time posted was 210 min which was not the case at all. The line really moved very quick. We never stayed in the same place for more than a minute. When we rode it again later that afternoon with a much short line and wait time posted (135 min) , the line moved VERY slow and we sat in the same place for up to 10 minutes and it took a good 2 solid hours to ride.

View attachment 277899

This picture gives me anxiety!

 

[twebber55]

Touring plans is telling me to RD N'avi and then do FOP second. I think justification probably is that FOP is going to be a 45 minute wait whether we do it first or second it seems, but N'avi is showing a super short wait at RD.
Is this fairly accurate or touring plans is off and in reality that FOP line is going to be 2 hours when we get out of N'avi? (Friday the week before Thanksgiving, they are estimating the park at like a 3 out of 7)

Basically what's the fastest way to ride the 2 without FPs? I could be convinced to skip N'avi altogether if that makes everything work better! There were FPs available for N'avi this morning (30 days) but all late afternoon/evening and we are leaving early for a 630 resort dinner res. And of course none available for FOP!

no
RD for FOP but get there 45 minutes to an hour before opening
ride NRJ
then have the rest of the park to yourself for a about an hour

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Here’s my rope drop plan:
- wake up when i feel like it
- go to park and see where rope drop happened (there may still be blood, sweat and tears on the floor)
- enjoy the parks many great attractions (EE, dinosaur, safari, etc)
- just before closing, ride FOP with a much shorter wait!

Perfect plan. Fortunately, not many follow this plan which keeps the late night lines the shortest of the day.

The early mornings are by far the busiest time of the day for these attractions.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Lol! It sounds like a great plan! Unfortunately, with two little ones who usually go to sleep by 8:30pm, we're leaving AK around 7:30 back to POFQ for bath time & bedtime! It's all part of the magic of being a parent where their needs supersede our wants!

Those kids may surprise you. My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "One more time Daddy" all the way.

Even when they were little, we always found it much easier to let them stay up late than to make them get up early.

 

[Steather]

On Sunday October 8th, we waited 2hours and 45 Minutes for FOP. It was well worth the wait. All day the lines were busy and the wait went up to 4 hours. The Navi River I would wait an hour for tops.

 

[CanuckGirl78]

Those kids may surprise you. My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "One more time Daddy" all the way.

Even when they were little, we always found it much easier to let them stay up late than to make them get up early.

So cute!! I can totally see my 2yo DD doing that. She's already a bit of a night owl and thrill seeker. My 5yo son however likes his sleep routine. By 9pm he will have glazed eyes and look barely awake, and these are in party settings where he would have plenty of his friends all running around and playing!

 

[CanuckGirl78]

On Sunday October 8th, we waited 2hours and 45 Minutes for FOP. It was well worth the wait. All day the lines were busy and the wait went up to 4 hours. The Navi River I would wait an hour for tops.

Ouch! Was that with rope drop too??

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

On Sunday October 8th, we waited 2hours and 45 Minutes for FOP. It was well worth the wait. All day the lines were busy and the wait went up to 4 hours. The Navi River I would wait an hour for tops.

I checked the 8th on Touring Plans and it was a very typical day at AK.

The park opened at 9 and the FOP line was 220 minutes by 9:15.

To contrast, the posted wait time at 8:45 pm was 75 minutes. Based on Disney procedures, the actual time was likely less than half of that.

I can't believe that people still think that rope drop is the best option for this ride. It's simply not true. It's by far the busiest time of the day.

 

[Steather]

Ouch! Was that with rope drop too??

No, this was around lunch time. We ate breakfast at Tusker House at 8:25, the wait was crazy when we got out. So we took advantage of every other ride, the lines were so short with everyone at Pandora. We rode Dinosaur twice.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i'm rope dropping one day the earliest I can and I plan to be an hour at least early.

 

[Carla1183]

Oh man! I'm kind of thinking we'll get in, dump our stroller, each hold

I checked the 8th on Touring Plans and it was a very typical day at AK.

The park opened at 9 and the FOP line was 220 minutes by 9:15.

To contrast, the posted wait time at 8:45 pm was 75 minutes. Based on Disney procedures, the actual time was likely less than half of that.

I can't believe that people still think that rope drop is the best option for this ride. It's simply not true. It's by far the busiest time of the day.

The park closes at 8 the day we are there. So again...not an option! unless we drop our 625 dinner res, but even then it'd be riding at 730p, not 845. If it was open later we could possibly consider going back after dinner.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

The park closes at 8 the day we are there. So again...not an option! unless we drop our 625 dinner res, but even then it'd be riding at 730p, not 845. If it was open later we could possibly consider going back after dinner.

Just trying to help. I just can't, in good conscience, recommend that someone get in a line that is potentially 8 times longer than it could be later in the day.

 

[Carla1183]

Just trying to help. I just can't, in good conscience, recommend that someone get in a line that is potentially 8 times longer than it could be later in the day.

I really do appreciate it! do you think it'll be worse at RD then say, 4p? We really need to leave park by 430, so open to any time 8-430 that would work. I know prob not any good time!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I really do appreciate it! do you think it'll be worse at RD then say, 4p? We really need to leave park by 430, so open to any time 8-430 that would work. I know prob not any good time!

I checked yesterday as an example. The park opened at 9 and the posted time was 180 minutes by 9:10. The busiest hour of the day was 9 to 10 am, then the waits started to trend downward for the rest of the day. At 4 pm, the posted wait was 115. The low point yesterday was 65 minutes at 5:30 pm. The posted wait right at closing time was 80 minutes, but this was likely exaggerated and the actual wait was more likely 30-40.

This is a very typical pattern for this attraction. Park opening is by far the busiest time then waits decrease slowly throughout the day.

 

[jimandami]

To add on to this question/scenario...if EMH is at 8 am, still recommend an hour before? Is there really gonna be a mob at 7 am?

Yes, there is. We arrived this week at AK around 7:15 for an 8:00 AM EMH morning and there were at least 200-300 people ahead of us at the gate. They only had 2 lanes of turnstiles open, and they started letting us in around maybe 7:25? We were then held at the bridge for a while, and then were allowed to advance to just outside Pandora. Once they actually opened the ride, we steadily moved through and were off the ride and leaving AK at 8:45. However, there were tons and tons of people behind us and the posted wait time when we entered the actual queue was 110 minutes and that was before 8:00 AM still. It was absolutely a mob scene. The funniest part to me was when we were leaving AK (we had gone over just to ride FOP again and then headed to Epcot) was there were people actually running to the ride at 8:45....with a posted wait time of something like 240 minutes!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I checked the 8th on Touring Plans and it was a very typical day at AK.

The park opened at 9 and the FOP line was 220 minutes by 9:15.

To contrast, the posted wait time at 8:45 pm was 75 minutes. Based on Disney procedures, the actual time was likely less than half of that.

I can't believe that people still think that rope drop is the best option for this ride. It's simply not true. It's by far the busiest time of the day.

Thank you for posting this. We are so accustomed to MUST RIDE AT RD. But I've been stalking wait times and noticing the same patterns you pointed out.

 

[BigredNole]

To add on to this question/scenario...if EMH is at 8 am, still recommend an hour before? Is there really gonna be a mob at 7 am?

To answer this, it is yes. We had an 7AM EMH this Summer. We got there are 5:45AM. At 6:30AM, there were probably 4,000 people waiting to get in.