use EMH to see FOP without a FP+?

[Babsy]

Is it a good idea to go early on an early EMH day to try to do FOP without a FP+? Would the crowds be lower at that hour (8:00 am)? Or is it better to go late in the day just before they close the line? I am trying to decide on the best strategy to do this early in the trip without the FP in order to see the queuing area. I am hoping to book a FP+ for later in the trip for a second ride, if possible.

You almost need to know where you are going to be every day on your trip, so you can plan rides, meals and FP's. Still trying togged the sequence right...ugh! Looks like we will get full use out of the express park to park transportation!! I am so glad that Disney has added this!

 

[DisBuckMan]

It may help a little, but I'm not sure it worth it. From my understanding, folks are showing up in line at the gates beginning at about 6am, so you're going to either be standing in line outside the gates before park opening, or standing in line at Pandora. At least the scenery is much better at Pandora.

AK opened 1 hour ago this morning, and the wait is already 120 minutes.

I would think that planning on staying late, late might help more than trying to be early.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

If you don't mind getting up early, arriving well before the park opens will always be the better strategy for minimizing wait time. However you have to weigh the time you spend outside the gate in the morning waiting against the time you would spend in line later in the day. Which works better for you...waiting 75 minutes outside the gate (when nothing is open and you aren't missing out on anything) in order to have a 10 minute standby wait; or waiting 60 minutes in line for the ride at a time when you could be doing other things. If you choose to ride at the very end of the day when you wouldn't be doing anything else anyway, maybe the 60 minute wait time beats the early arrival. On the other hand, if there are other things that you would prefer to do at the end of the day instead of waiting in line, then go for the early arrival.

 

[Shanti]

Is it a good idea to go early on an early EMH day to try to do FOP without a FP+? Would the crowds be lower at that hour (8:00 am)? Or is it better to go late in the day just before they close the line? I am trying to decide on the best strategy to do this early in the trip without the FP in order to see the queuing area. I am hoping to book a FP+ for later in the trip for a second ride, if possible.

You almost need to know where you are going to be every day on your trip, so you can plan rides, meals and FP's. Still trying togged the sequence right...ugh! Looks like we will get full use out of the express park to park transportation!! I am so glad that Disney has added this!

If you arrive an hour before morning EMH begins, that should help. Evening EMH are also going to have a long wait, because only Pandora is open in the evening. Or you could just try regular standby. From what I've read & monitored on wait apps, the lowest waits tend to be in the mid-afternoon, after the eager beaver morning people are done, and before the evening people show up. But you're going to wait an hour+ whenever you go.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

If you arrive an hour before morning EMH begins, that should help. Evening EMH are also going to have a long wait, because only Pandora is open in the evening. Or you could just try regular standby. From what I've read & monitored on wait apps, the lowest waits tend to be in the mid-afternoon, after the eager beaver morning people are done, and before the evening people show up. But you're going to wait an hour+ whenever you go.

This makes me laugh. (not to Shanti, but people who do this in general). Think about it. You don't have a FP time for FOP, so you need to do stand-by. You do not want a 60-120 min wait in the standby line. So what do you do? Get up extra early (losing sleep)...arrive at AK as early as 6AM for an 8AM opening. Wait around for 60 minutes or so, wait for them to let you in to start the walk to Pandora. I have heard they are letting the standy-by line start around 7:15ish for EMH. Once in that line..wait another 45 minutes for the ride to open.

People are standing around for 2 hours waiting to cause an automatic 60 min standby time right at ride opening. What happened to waiting for rope drop and then heading to the ride you want to ride the most 1st? Some of my favorite memories with the kids is rope drop and the race......

 

[Babsy]

It may help a little, but I'm not sure it worth it. From my understanding, folks are showing up in line at the gates beginning at about 6am, so you're going to either be standing in line outside the gates before park opening, or standing in line at Pandora. At least the scenery is much better at Pandora.

AK opened 1 hour ago this morning, and the wait is already 120 minutes.

I would think that planning on staying late, late might help more than trying to be early.

Wow! I never realized that people arrived so early! Looks like we will forgo the early attempt!

If you don't mind getting up early, arriving well before the park opens will always be the better strategy for minimizing wait time. However you have to weigh the time you spend outside the gate in the morning waiting against the time you would spend in line later in the day. Which works better for you...waiting 75 minutes outside the gate (when nothing is open and you aren't missing out on anything) in order to have a 10 minute standby wait; or waiting 60 minutes in line for the ride at a time when you could be doing other things. If you choose to ride at the very end of the day when you wouldn't be doing anything else anyway, maybe the 60 minute wait time beats the early arrival. On the other hand, if there are other things that you would prefer to do at the end of the day instead of waiting in line, then go for the early arrival.

Good point about waiting time before entering for EMH. I haven't done EMH in years - way back then you just walked on into the park when you arrived.

If you arrive an hour before morning EMH begins, that should help. Evening EMH are also going to have a long wait, because only Pandora is open in the evening. Or you could just try regular standby. From what I've read & monitored on wait apps, the lowest waits tend to be in the mid-afternoon, after the eager beaver morning people are done, and before the evening people show up. But you're going to wait an hour+ whenever you go.

Hmmm - great advice!! Thank you. So, it would seem moving to the AK mid afternoon is the best time to try. We could keep an eye on wait times via Touring plans, perhaps, and go if/when the wait is about 60 - 75 minutes (if we are lucky). I don't mind up to an hour, but prefer not to wait much longer than that. I suppose that we can just do the FP ride this trip and wait for a later trip to do the queue (plus ride, of course).

This makes me laugh. (not to Shanti, but people who do this in general). Think about it. You don't have a FP time for FOP, so you need to do stand-by. You do not want a 60-120 min wait in the standby line. So what do you do? Get up extra early (losing sleep)...arrive at AK as early as 6AM for an 8AM opening. Wait around for 60 minutes or so, wait for them to let you in to start the walk to Pandora. I have heard they are letting the standy-by line start around 7:15ish for EMH. Once in that line..wait another 45 minutes for the ride to open.

People are standing around for 2 hours waiting to cause an automatic 60 min standby time right at ride opening. What happened to waiting for rope drop and then heading to the ride you want to ride the most 1st? Some of my favorite memories with the kids is rope drop and the race......

LOL! We do strange things sometimes, for sure! Yes, and I too, remember the rope drop race....perhaps not fondly, but it was memorable.




Thank you, everyone for the great replies!!!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Wow, I can't believe people are showing up at 6 for an 8 am rope drop! My DH and kids would kill me if I dragged them out of bed for that, especially when it's hot! I was trying to create a plan using the Touring Plans website but I can see they're not accounting for those 2-hour before RD crowds.

Question though - are the crowds in general at 8am in Pandora not too bad? Can you enjoy the scenery more than you would at 9 when it opens to the general public? If you get to the turnstiles right at 8, how long will you wait for Navi River Journey?

 

[oktxregulators]

I am currently at POP and have done EMH at AK on Saturday (opened at 7 am) and HS today (Sunday). My family and I are starting to think EMH in the morning is not worth it. More and more people are arriving earlier and earlier and running like the days of old. I don't mind waiting in a que but I'm not going to fight someone or race someone to save 1 minute.

 

[Wish Upon A Starbucks]

Has anyone tried to ride FOP shortly before regular closing? We are going to the river of light show at 9:15 in August. Park is open til 10 then 10-12 EMH. We were thinking if getting in line around 9:30 after ROL. Anyone tried that?

 

[brucefan]

We went to AK last Monday to try and ride FoP stand by as we did not have a FP. We got to the park about 6:50 and they had started letting people in already. We walked back to the ride and got in line. We waited about 50 minutes which I thought was ok. I was amazed at all the people just pouring into the area and getting in the stand by line after us

 

[jlnten17]

We went to AK last Monday to try and ride FoP stand by as we did not have a FP. We got to the park about 6:50 and they had started letting people in already. We walked back to the ride and got in line. We waited about 50 minutes which I thought was ok. I was amazed at all the people just pouring into the area and getting in the stand by line after us

was this for an 8 or 9am opening?

 

[Cuchman]

Do you folks think that the EMH pre-open wait times will change with overall park crowd levels? We are going to be there the first week of September. If I want to do EMH for AK for a 9am opening (8 EMH) I was hoping (wishful thinking?) that I might still have some success riding fop by getting there at 7:30. As long as my waits have a chance of being under an hour I'll be happy.