Quickest route to Avatar

[disneyfor5]

So our main mission is to get to the Avatar ride as quick as possible once we get into animal kingdom. (As I realize that's what most people are probably doing). Does anyone have the quickest route to get to the line and also any tips for me? Would be greatly appreciated!

 

[imbatman]

There's really only one route. And everyone takes it.

 

[CarolynFH]

If you’re entering at park open, just follow the crowd! If not, just keep left when you see the Tree of Life and take the first left turn - Pizzafari will be on the corner. Cross the bridge and watch for signs directing you to the end of the line for Flight of Passage. Enjoy!

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Yep. You're going to #15 so either pack a machete or follow the crowd.

 

[MarkS2112]

Go the direction 95% of people go which is left. Just an FYI that fop is not having 3 hour lines anymore. So go right and do more and then come back to Fop because wait will be manageable.

 

[jimmymc]

Stay to the left after entering the main gate and just keep to the left until you're in Pandora. You'll have cast members directing you at the entrance.

 

[holden]

Enter the park and follow the people who go left.

 

[gharter]

Agree there is only 1 route. Entering the park you can go right or left, but they merge together and after that, there is only 1 route.

 

[LSUfan4444]

My biggest piece of advice is to recognize when you get there if you are truly in the front of the rope drop or are you there around rope drop. If you're not one of the first couple hundred people in the park and the standby wait time is already built past Satuli Canteen just skip it, do River Journey then head to Safari.

 

[finedice]

If you want to successfully rope drop FoP, you should be at the gate no less than 45 minutes prior to park opening (unofficial), be no more than 15 people back at one of the turnstile lines, and really speed walk / light jog to the holding area. It is not for the faint of heart, but totally worth it if you make the effort!

This is the view behind us from the (second) rope / holding area at the bridge into Pandora after unofficial opening time. We were off the ride 20 minutes later and the standby was over 3 hours when we finished.

 

[Rockmtn]

This appears to be pre COVID correct?
This is at the above poster.

 

[Upatnoon]

It's not the route, it's getting to the park as early as possible, well before the opening.

If you fail to make the first wave, you might be better off doing other attractions and coming back later in the day.

 

[finedice]

This appears to be pre COVID correct?
This is at the above poster.

Yes, for sure. However, I doubt the pre-opening rush has changed aside from the percentage of people and distancing. This was 2 weeks before covid closure. Just saying be early and be quick, or you will wait. This was also EMH, so only resort guests...

 

[subtchr]

Yes, for sure. However, I doubt the pre-opening rush has changed aside from the percentage of people and distancing. This was 2 weeks before covid closure. Just saying be early and be quick, or you will wait. This was also EMH, so only resort guests...

It's actually very different. Disney is not allowing crowds anything like this to build anywhere.

If AK is officially opening at 8, The parking booths open at about 7:15, and Disney transportation starts running to the park a few minutes before that. The temp check, security, and park entry are immediately open as guests arrive. It's a smooth flow. They can walk directly to Pandora. The attraction may not be operating right away, but guests enter the socially distanced queue and wait for it to start operation, if that is the case.

Of course it is still ideal to arrive 45 minutes early, as you wrote, to take advantage of this easy flow! When we visited, we rode once as a walk on and then immediately again with about a 10 minute wait.

 

[LSUfan4444]

really speed walk / light jog to the holding area.

Im going to wholeheartedly disagree here....speed walking past a half dozen families won't have a significant impact on the wait time at all. If your within the first hundred or so people in the park, being the 50th person on the attraction will not have any significant experience than the 99th person. The difference is being the 100th person or the 1200th person and speed walk/jogging won't have any impact on that.

It's the equivalent of driving 15+ mph over the speed limit to only beat someone to the same red light you'll both be waiting at.

 

[dmband]

How long is the typical wait?
point being, if one rope drops but needs to be there 45/60 mins early to get on in a short wait once inside - how much time did one really save?

 

[Sarahslay]

How long is the typical wait?
point being, if one rope drops but needs to be there 45/60 mins early to get on in a short wait once inside - how much time did one really save?

I get to AK around 30-45 min before RD each time and walk on the ride (without speed walking), when we get off the ride the line is ALWAYS close to 1.5-2 hours long. It builds quick in the morning and then dies down a lot later in the day. My husband and I got there early, rode it, and sat with a coffee and breakfast outside Creature Comforts watching the FOP line that was snacking past us towards Africa. Last month the line snaked over around in front of the Festival of the Lion King theater by about 15 minutes prior to official RD time. We were able to ride all the rides by lunch time, and then could have gone and done them all over again. If we had waited in the longer line that wouldn't have happened and all the other rides would have had longer lines by the time we were done.

 

[Upatnoon]

How long is the typical wait?
point being, if one rope drops but needs to be there 45/60 mins early to get on in a short wait once inside - how much time did one really save?

There is no "rope drop" as they start letting people in early and open the ride early. It's more of a question of how early you can get to the park -- when the busses start running and when they let you in the parking lot.

 

[hkp1042]

Are all of the parks doing “rope drop” like this now where you can go in as soon as the parking booths open?

 

[nkereina]

We did this in October. We opted to take Uber from CBR to avoid bus waits and arrived at AK around 8:25am for a posted 9am opening. The parking lot was open. There was a bit of a line at temperature screen, but we were inside and heading towards FOP by 8:45am. I'm not sure exactly what time the park opened, it was already open by the time we got to the gate. When we got to FOP, the socially distanced line extended well past the bridge in an area I didn't even know existed. The CM holding the wait time sign showed a 45 minute wait. We timed it and it was about 35 minutes by the time we got to the pre-show area. Some commando people may find that to be too long of a wait, but we were satisfied with this timing. Waiting a little longer in the queue is no different than waiting at the gates anyhow.

Another thing to note is what time the parking lots open - we were told roughly 45 minutes prior to park opening. This means you can't get in via your own car or via Uber any earlier than when the lot opens. Buses will be even later. If you are driving yourself, you can arrive early and line up at the books, but if you're taking Uber, many Ubers will not want to wait much longer than a few minutes. Just logistical things to consider while you're planning.