Rope Dropping Na'vi During Spring Break

[creampuff]

Hello, long time Disneyland traveler here but first time ever to Florida and to WDW. We will be headed into AK next Wednesday (4/24) and just wondering about realistic times we should be arriving before the park opens at 0900 for Na'vi?

We already have our FP for FOP at 1435, so I am not going to try to brave the RD for FOP. However, since we don't have a fastpass for Na'vi, I figure we should try it at least once. What is a reasonable time to get there before park opening during the crazy spring break crowd next week, if I want to keep my wait for Na'vi under 15 to 30 minutes?

thanks in advance

(side note: With Disneyland I noticed with Max Fastpass and travelling during non-peak times, we were able to maximize our time there even with the huge crowds during "slow" times. We really just went with the ebb and flow of Disneyland. I never needed to overplan, but just had a general strategy. LOL, I notice with this upcoming WDW, that is not the case. I have my google docs/spreadsheet out and am mapping out each day. I am not a "go go go" we have to go type of person, nor a type A personality, but I certainly do notice there is much more planning when it comes to WDW)

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Just be sure how to make and refresh your FP+ and even during a busy time, you will have many options of attractions to choose from.
Get to AK by 8:30 and you should have less than a 20 minute wait for NRJ. HOWEVER, FOP is amazing and you might want to do it twice. If feeling up for the early morning, get in the AK security line at 7:15-7:30. You should be able to do FOP first and then NRJ with a low wait.

 

[Anchored]

On a regular day I would say 8:30. For Spring Break I would probably be trying to line up closer to 8:00 since they will let you into animal kingdom typically around 8:30

 

[Sara_H]

I would try to get there at least an hour early. Last time we were there they opened the Pandora area about 45 minutes before the park opened. Like you, we had a FP for FoP for later in the day so we let the masses go to FoP while we walked onto Na'vi. We then explored Pandora a little then headed to Dinosaur and rode that twice as well as the other rides in the Dino area before the park even opened. (Granted it was not Spring Break when we went)

 

[gharter]

Agree with getting there about an hour before park opening. They will let you in about 8:30 and you can "walk" over to the entrance to Pandora where they will stop you until about 8:40, then walk you into Pandora. The majority of the line will be headed to FoP, so Navi should be walk on. Then you can go walk on to just about any other ride you want for the next 30 minutes or better.

 

[soniam]

1 hour has been our experience too.

 

[bdiddy]

We were just there a few weeks ago and the crowds were so crazy and we rope dropped it. Got to the park at like 7:45-7:50. Was EMH with an 8 openingS We were in and at the rope like 1-2 min before 8 and went right there. Was a 5 min wait. When we got off it was 15 min. We almost got in line again but didn’t. By the time we walked around Pandora and checked it all out and walked back by it was up to 60 min. I think you’ll be fine if you go right there.

 

[lovethesun12]

We got there last year about 20 min before park opening. Headed straight for it and it was a walk on. Personally I find when they have a 15-20 min wait posted at Disney it's never really that long; it takes almost that amount of time to navigate through the line.

 

[mamaofsix]

If it's just for Navi and not FOP, 30 minutes before RD is plenty of time.