Rope drop at AK?

[meryll83]

If I'm not able to get FP+ for FoP, I guess my Plan B is to go to AK for rope drop.

Any advice on doing this? e.g. how early, where to stand, which route to take once in the park etc.

 

[pitpat]

http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/animal-kingdom-pandora-rope-drop-with-9am-open-72517/

 

[meryll83]

Thanks!

 

[meryll83]

So it sounds like being there an hour and a half before opening is required (although whether an EMH morning would improve this I'm not sure).
What time do the buses start to run?

 

[elaine amj]

Early - you should have no problems using buses.

if you get there a bit later, plan to stand on the far right. They open additional bag check lines there (using temp tables). We were behind about 25-30 people when we arrived. Stood on the far right and shortly afterwards, additional bag check lines opened and we scooted over and were second in line for bag check. From there, we made it to 3rd in line for the tapstiles.

If you make it through bag check line fine but there is a long line for tapstiles, choose the line on the far left. They will eventually open the pre park open breakfast tapstiles to the general public and if you are paying attention, you can scoot over.

RD is very doable but helps to be strategic and be able to walk fast afterwards too. Alternative is entering the line at park closing. My DD entered at 9:26pm (for a 9:30pm close). The sign said 90 mins. She waited 45 mins.

 

[meryll83]

I think we might actually try and go with no bags, so do we just wait in the middle if we do that?
Ready to motor once they let us in!

 

[Spencer Wright]

Absolutely do not bring a bag. Security at AK moves at a glacial pace.

 

[EEEEE]

I think we might actually try and go with no bags, so do we just wait in the middle if we do that?
Ready to motor once they let us in!

Definitely go no bags. I rope dropped last week and the no bags line was just let right in with no check at all. I got there about an hour before and was about 50 or 60 on line for no bags and was on the ride right at the official open time. The CMs will guide you to Pandora and once in there they will split the crowd with FOP to the right and Navi to the left.

 

[elaine amj]

I think we might actually try and go with no bags, so do we just wait in the middle if we do that?
Ready to motor once they let us in!

Yep. my DD went in through the no bag line (she was about 50 people back) and got through faster than I did (2nd in the bag check line). To be fair, i had a lady with a giant backpack in front of me and my own purse had a lot of zippers. My DD snagged us a spot 3rd in line at the tapstiles.

 

[iujen94]

All things (that is, the lines) being equal, is it a better strategy to be at the left side or right side (or center) of the tapstiles?

 

[NH-to-FL]

Any advice on doing this? e.g. how early, where to stand, which route to take once in the park etc.

Here is my rope drop experience to Pandora:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/first-visit-to-pandora-8-4-17.3623699/

All things (that is, the lines) being equal, is it a better strategy to be at the left side or right side (or center) of the tapstiles?

My experience is that it depends more on how quickly you can walk (run) from the tapstiles to the Pandora rope.

 

[EEEEE]

When I rope dropped the only option was to go left after the tapstiles. They opened the security line about 30 minutes before park opened and started letting people through the tapstiles. They had a rope line set up at the bridge over the river so basically the race is to get to that rope line as quick as you can. We waited there for about 10-15 minutes and then they walked the whole rope line to Pandora. Once in Pandora they directed people to the left for navi river and to the right for FOP.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

An alternate strategy is to wait until later in the evening when the line gets short. We find this option to be a more efficient use of our time than trying to fight through the masses in the morning.
Here's an example from FoP earlier this week:

At 9:30 am, the posted wait was 210 minutes with an actual wait of 240.

At 9:30 pm, the posted wait was 60 minutes with an actual wait of 30.

 

[iujen94]

They had a rope line set up at the bridge over the river so basically the race is to get to that rope line as quick as you can. We waited there for about 10-15 minutes and then they walked the whole rope line to Pandora. Once in Pandora they directed people to the left for navi river and to the right for FOP.[/QUOTE

So is it better to be at the right side of the Pandora rope line? I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but I figure every second will count!

 

[vikkil70]

We went to AK last Friday and did RD. We arrived at the park by bus at 8:05. It took us about 5-10 minutes to get through bag check,they had several lines open and security was moving fairly quickly. By the time we got through bag check they were opening the tapstiles. We were pretty far back at the tapstiles but it did not take too long, we got lucky and got in a line with no one having finger scan problems (a first for the trip, lol) Since my dad does not walk too fast we did not race to the Pandora rope. They dropped that rope about 8:40-8:45, it was an orderly walk back to Pandora and the line for FoP. When all was said and done we were done with FoP and in the gift shop around 9:30AM. Totally worth trying to get out of the room and the park early. Good luck!