Please school me on PPO Akershus and mad dash to FEA

[Mrs~Incredible]

Hi friends!

We are headed to the world in 10 days! I have been unsuccessful in securing a FEA FP (though I keep trying). We do have an 8:15 am Akershus on the wednesday of our trip. Here are my questions:

1. Is recommended arrival time at the Epcot gate 7:30?

2. Once we make it back to Akershus, do they take you in order of arrival or by reservation time? I have heard both things

3. We wouldn't want to rush/miss princesses but wouldn't want to squander a chance to get to FEA before the masses. I know we should settle our check with the server early. What time should we plan to leave there? Will it be enough time to see everyone? Will it be enough time for the parade? (Definitely would want to meet the characters, but ok to miss the parade). What is the drop-dead time to get out of there?

How is this working out for all of you?
I would love to do it and get to FEA but a rushed stressful meal isn't worth it to me. We may just have breakfast and worry about FEA another time, but if it's a good opportunity then I'd like to make it happen.

Also, are there still a lot of people not showing up for their morning ADR? What do CMs do with them? I presume they are walking around Norway- do they hold them somewhere or move them along?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Here's a recent thread with some strategy:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/fea-standby-lines-at-rope-drop-these-days.3538578/#post-56334109

 

[hiroMYhero]

That one is the most current ^, but here's another:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/akershus-ppo-fea-e-a-meet-and-greet-update.3532964/#post-56215177

 

[smallworld101]

I was there on Wed. We had reservations at Akershus at 8:20 for 2. They took us in early, we were seated randomly it seemed, maybe because we were a table of 2 I'm not sure, but we got in before our reservation time. Took our pic with Belle and then were seated. We saw a few princesses, ate, and were out of there by 8:45. We didn't rush. We just figured we would just go wait in line at Frozen, so we head out and they already had the ride running and were letting people in. So we hoped on with no wait, rode the ride, and literally rode it again. We didn't even have to get back in line, they just let us hop back on. So we rode twice. By the time we got off the 2nd time the crowds were coming in. I had a FP for 11 already booked in case the morning one didn't work out. We had a guest arrive and we added them at guest services to our FP at 11, and we we hoped on again at 11. So we rode it 3 times. It was great! We were at Epcot by 7:30-ish if I recall right.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

I was there on Wed. We had reservations at Akershus at 8:20 for 2. They took us in early, we were seated randomly it seemed, maybe because we were a table of 2 I'm not sure, but we got in before our reservation time. Took our pic with Belle and then were seated. We saw a few princesses, ate, and were out of there by 8:45. We didn't rush. We just figured we would just go wait in line at Frozen, so we head out and they already had the ride running and were letting people in. So we hoped on with no wait, rode the ride, and literally rode it again. We didn't even have to get back in line, they just let us hop back on. So we rode twice. By the time we got off the 2nd time the crowds were coming in. I had a FP for 11 already booked in case the morning one didn't work out. We had a guest arrive and we added them at guest services to our FP at 11, and we we hoped on again at 11. So we rode it 3 times. It was great! We were at Epcot by 7:30-ish if I recall right.

Awesome thanks!!!! Very helpful Intel