Wait times for FOP right before a 10:00pm closing?

[maryj11]

We are wanting to change our AK day, but that would mean losing our FOP FP. How bad are the waits right before closing?

 

[gap2368]

I have heard it is not that bad if you get in line right before closing. They do inflate the wait time so people will not get in line. Also this is one of the coolest lines as fair as thing to see.

 

[Carathryn]

I think it depends on the day. We got in line 10 minutes before park closing on Saturday, May 25 and waited 70 minutes. The posted wait time was 125. Granted this was over Memorial Day weekend so this could be a rare occurrence. I have tried this before and only waited 20 minutes during less crowded trips.

 

[gharter]

As said, it depends on the day. We have done it on several different days. We have waited 5 minutes and have waited over 30 minutes.
I would not believe the posted times near close.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Posted waits are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

Last June, we found a 110 minute posted wait just before close but we were in the 1st preshow in 17 minutes.

AK was open until 10:30

 

[mamamelody2]

I doubt it would be more than an hour and could be less. Don't believe the posted wait time, they want to discourage people from getting in the line. It is definitely worth an hour wait, and then when you come out the park has been closed for a while and there's nobody around. You can get some pretty cool "empty park" pics on the way out.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

It should move pretty fast because there are no fast passes at that time.

 

[maryj11]

Great thanks all! It shouldn't be to awful waiting considering that we have never seen the queue.

 

[denecarter]

Has anyone noticed a cutoff time for rider swap at the end of the day?

Thanks!

 

[maryj11]

The day we want to go has morning extra hours. I wonder if this will impact closing wait times ?

 

[Davey Jones II]

We got in line just before closing time last October, but I think closing time was 8 p.m. We were on the ride in about 45-50 min.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

The day we want to go has morning extra hours. I wonder if this will impact closing wait times ?

You're getting deep into our bag if tricks with this one. All of the guides will suggest skipping a park with morning EMH unless you are participating in the EMH. But we've found that the earlier guests arrive, the earlier that they will tire out (or get done) and leave. We've had some of our most efficient MK touring ever on the evening of an EMH morning. We've not done this at AK since Pandora opened so I can't give a first hand report for that park though.

 

[gorkt]

Josh at EasyWDW just did this last week and wrote a blog post about it.

https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...a-at-night-with-flight-of-passage-last-thing/

 

[maryj11]

Josh at EasyWDW just did this last week and wrote a blog post about it.

https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...a-at-night-with-flight-of-passage-last-thing/

Thank you! That helped me get a good idea of timing and wait time. I love easywdw!

 

[Davey Jones II]

You're getting deep into our bag if tricks with this one. All of the guides will suggest skipping a park with morning EMH unless you are participating in the EMH. But we've found that the earlier guests arrive, the earlier that they will tire out (or get done) and leave. We've had some of our most efficient MK touring ever on the evening of an EMH morning. We've not done this at AK since Pandora opened so I can't give a first hand report for that park though.

We will be shamelessly "borrowing" your strategy during our next trip, so thanks in advance!

I`m wondering how well that trick will work for DHS on EEMH days. Since people will show up before 6 a.m. to experience GE, those people will be long gone by the time evening rolls around. However, will there still be lots of people clamoring to get into the land in the two hours before closing time? Optimistically, I`m hoping that late evening will be a good time to visit GE, but we can`t be sure until we hear reports on these boards from people visiting during the first month of operation.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We will be shamelessly "borrowing" your strategy during our next trip, so thanks in advance!

I`m wondering how well that trick will work for DHS on EEMH days. Since people will show up before 6 a.m. to experience GE, those people will be long gone by the time evening rolls around. However, will there still be lots of people clamoring to get into the land in the two hours before closing time? Optimistically, I`m hoping that late evening will be a good time to visit GE, but we can`t be sure until we hear reports on these boards from people visiting during the first month of operation.

I’m afraid that Galaxies’ Edge is going to have it’s own level of crowded. It’s rare, but Disney will probably close that area well before closing time for a few months or more in order to get everyone out in a reasonable time.

 

[NWOhiogal]

I wonder if there are any Disney employees here who can tell us how they feel when guests run into the line 5 minutes before closing and they end up having to stay an extra hour to get everyone through? I mean, do they get any kind of overtime? Do they mind it, or do they hate it the way I hated it when I worked retail and a customer would come into the store five minutes to close and then browse for 45 minutes, and we couldn't tell them to leave because the manager wanted the sale??

 

[FCDub]

I wonder if there are any Disney employees here who can tell us how they feel when guests run into the line 5 minutes before closing and they end up having to stay an extra hour to get everyone through? I mean, do they get any kind of overtime? Do they mind it, or do they hate it the way I hated it when I worked retail and a customer would come into the store five minutes to close and then browse for 45 minutes, and we couldn't tell them to leave because the manager wanted the sale??

No one “stays an extra hour.” It’s understood that closing anything – a store, a restaurant, a theme park – doesn’t end at closing time. They don’t flick the lights off and head home.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I wonder if there are any Disney employees here who can tell us how they feel when guests run into the line 5 minutes before closing and they end up having to stay an extra hour to get everyone through? I mean, do they get any kind of overtime? Do they mind it, or do they hate it the way I hated it when I worked retail and a customer would come into the store five minutes to close and then browse for 45 minutes, and we couldn't tell them to leave because the manager wanted the sale??

We’ve been doing this for quite awhile, and we’ve never been stuck in a line for an hour after closing time. We do like to visit in the summer when the parks are open a little later than average though.

Our longest last minute wait over the past few years was 20 minutes at 7D the week it opened in 2014. Then we had a 17 minute wait at Flight of Passage last summer. Most last minute lines are much shorter.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I’m afraid that Galaxies’ Edge is going to have it’s own level of crowded. It’s rare, but Disney will probably close that area well before closing time for a few months or more in order to get everyone out in a reasonable time.

That`s possible, but we won`t know until we get reports from these boards and possibly from Disney, too.