Rope drop doesn't happen at AK?

[Jonfw2]

So are you saying Navi and FOP open before the rest of the rides? If I want to ride Navi, could I get there early, ride that, and then still technically be back to rope drop the other side of the park?

They won't actually start running the ride more than a few minutes before advertised park opening, but they will herd everyone who wants towards Pandora. If you DON'T want to go to Pandora, they will herd you towards a much smaller crowd towards Dino Land.

 

[disneygirlsng]

They won't actually start running the ride more than a few minutes before advertised park opening, but they will herd everyone who wants towards Pandora. If you DON'T want to go to Pandora, they will herd you towards a much smaller crowd towards Dino Land.

It probably depends on the day and how quickly they get everything going, but about a month ago we were let into the FOP queue, with the ride running, about 20-25 minutes before park open. And this was on an EMH morning.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I’m not planning to rope drop FOP, so is arriving at 820 and heading to EE okay timing?

So are you saying Navi and FOP open before the rest of the rides? If I want to ride Navi, could I get there early, ride that, and then still technically be back to rope drop the other side of the park?

Navi and FoP *only* operate as much as 45 minutes before scheduled opening (I think 30 is most common). There's nothing else open, not even Starbucks, before scheduled opening time.

So, an 8:20am arrival for a 9am open is well more than sufficient to ride NRJ with no wait, walk over to the next non-FoP attraction of your choice, and be among the first to ride that as well.

ETA: Tusker is open for PPO ADRs, and maybe some coffee kiosk on Discovery Island. When I traveled, my primary concern was the Starbucks, which is why I'm absolutely certain it won't open early.

 

[pacomom]

We're heading there next week and hoping to RD FOP on an EMH morning. So should we plan to get there at 7am? We would then shoot to leave our resort (POFQ) around 6am? We were unable to get a FP and are really hoping to ride so are pinning our hopes on RD.

 

[sharonabe]

So to rope drop HS SDD when the early morning magic hours are happening I would need to arrive how early? this is very odd.

If you're talking about regular EMH, then yes, you still want to be at HS at least 45 min before the scheduled opening time. They WILL open the turnstiles and start leading people back towards TSL.
If you're talking about the 6:00 a.m. hours starting Aug 29, then no one really knows. My guess is you could get there right at 6:00 and be fine. I just don't think that many people will be getting up that early AND it opens early EVERY day, so the numbers of people are dispersed a bit.

I'm with the people wondering if this unadvertised early opening for Pandora and TSL holds for EMH days, too? So arrive at 7am for an 8am EMH?

No later than 7:15. As Robo always says, better to be early than just one minute too late. That line for FoP and SDD builds very quickly and stays long all day.

We're heading there next week and hoping to RD FOP on an EMH morning. So should we plan to get there at 7am? We would then shoot to leave our resort (POFQ) around 6am? We were unable to get a FP and are really hoping to ride so are pinning our hopes on RD.

I would try to be there as close to 7:00 as possible.

 

[jsgrand0]

They were definitely RUNNING FoP WAY before park opening, cuz the line was constantly moving, even at 8:30, which was nice, to not have to wait til park opening as well.

We went to HS and were in line for SDD at exactly 9am, with an 85 minute wait already, so again, in our experience, they were not holding guests anywhere before RD, guests were already all around the park in line for rides. I was surprised.

Just to be sure I understand, at 8:20 on a 9:00 opening, people were already in line for FOP?, not just held on the bridge?

I’m not planning to rope drop FOP, so is arriving at 820 and heading to EE okay timing?

I'm with the people wondering if this unadvertised early opening for Pandora and TSL holds for EMH days, too? So arrive at 7am for an 8am EMH?

 

[yulilin3]

We're heading there next week and hoping to RD FOP on an EMH morning. So should we plan to get there at 7am? We would then shoot to leave our resort (POFQ) around 6am? We were unable to get a FP and are really hoping to ride so are pinning our hopes on RD.

It takes about 15 min from POFQ to AK if you're using your own vehicle