Animal Kingdom Rope Drop question

[Diasmom]

Hoping for some advice. My daughter, 13, and I will be going to Animal Kingdom on August 25, an EMH opening of 8 am. We both have some crowd anxiety and I was wondering how oppressive is the wait for FOP if we could arrive about 7 am. We would like to go but not if it means running or throwing elbows. We have a Navi fast pass at the end of the night and a ROL breakfast dining reservation for Tusker House. Our other fast passes are for late pm for Expedition and the Safari. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Robo]

If you arrive before the gates open, if you go in and stay WITH the crowd, it will be, well, crowded.

You could step to the side and let hundreds of others go on ahead.
But, if you DO that, you will be letting the “early advantage” go.

 

[Mome Rath]

My mother and I did exactly what you are talking about. They will let you into the tapstiles at AK, and then go join the crowd at the entrance to Pandora. We stayed with the crowd, but stayed to the side and walked purposefully (FoP crowd is usually a bit to the right, as NRJ is a bit to the left). We didn't see any running or shoving, there was just a lot of people walking. There have been reports of elbows and such, but I think if you just walk steadily and stay over, it'll be ok. There's a lot of people for sure, but the CM's seemed to handle it well when we went. Also, just so you know, the line will look long even early, that's ok, they line everyone up and herd everyone into the FP return line, so it seems a lot longer than it is. We saw people giving up and leaving but they needed just to stick with it.

 

[DaniMoon]

My mother and I did exactly what you are talking about. They will let you into the tapstiles at AK, and then go join the crowd at the entrance to Pandora. We stayed with the crowd, but stayed to the side and walked purposefully (FoP crowd is usually a bit to the right, as NRJ is a bit to the left). We didn't see any running or shoving, there was just a lot of people walking. There have been reports of elbows and such, but I think if you just walk steadily and stay over, it'll be ok. There's a lot of people for sure, but the CM's seemed to handle it well when we went. Also, just so you know, the line will look long even early, that's ok, they line everyone up and herd everyone into the FP return line, so it seems a lot longer than it is. We saw people giving up and leaving but they needed just to stick with it.

This has been our experience as well. We walk at a fast pace, but off to the side so those who are faster can pass us. We have never been pushed or elbowed. We may not have been first, but we walked through the line and made it through the ride in 20 and 30 minutes the two times we did it.

 

[Jpmoore]

How early are they letting people in now a days? Are they still opening the gates a little before, or right at opening time?

 

[KateP85]

I did this with my 5-year old last Tuesday; the park opening was 9am, and they let us in at about 8.15am, and then held us at Pandora until about 8.30am. The actual walk to Pandora was fine, but the line to get into AK was hot and crowded and my 5-year old hated it. Standing at the entrance to Pandora was pretty uncomfortable too, and the man behind me was stood so close that he kept standing on the back of my flip flops. Some people had obviously also skipped their morning shower to get rope drop. We suffered through it once to make it to FOP, but I'm not in any hurry to do it again.

 

[monkyby87]

We did rope drop just a few days ago for FoP. Our experience was very much like the other posters have said. There was a huge crowd, but it went fine. Park opened officially at 9, but we were done with FoP about 8:55 even.

 

[Erik the Red]

If I already have a Fastpass for the Avatar rides, what should be my rope drop strategy?

 

[Robo]

If I already have a Fastpass for the Avatar rides, what should be my rope drop strategy?

When they allow guests to go into the park, head directly to Expedition Everest, or Dinosaur, (which will be the OPPOSITE direction from Pandora.)
Or, head to Safari (staying to the edge of the crowd that is hurrying to Pandora.)

 

[Erik the Red]

When they allow guests to go into the park, head directly to Expedition Everest, or Dinosaur, (which will be the OPPOSITE direction from Pandora.)
Or, head to Safari (staying to the edge of the crowd that is hurrying to Pandora.)

View attachment 343181

Thanks!

Is it possible to rope drop safari, dinasaur and everest in the first two hours ?

 

[Robo]

Thanks!

Is it possible to rope drop safari, dinasaur and everest in the first two hours ?

It can be.
If you go to Everest first, you can likely ride it 2-3 times, then Dino is nearby.

OTOH, Safari has the possibility of running longer (even much longer) than the "usual" 20+ minute run time.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We have never done rope drop. Ever. This year (in 4 weeks) we decided on an early night back at the resort so we can finally rope drop MK! I am both excited and nervous! But ... We will NOT head to 7DMT or Space. We are going to Frontier land and gonna hit BTMRR and Splash and work our way back and hit JC (FP) and the flying carpets before our early lunch at The Plaza. We already have 6 FP+ booked for the day (CLFP) plus 2 ATFP so I'm not worried about rushing with the crowd to fantasy land.

 

[GenGen22]

I did this with my 5-year old last Tuesday; the park opening was 9am, and they let us in at about 8.15am, and then held us at Pandora until about 8.30am. The actual walk to Pandora was fine, but the line to get into AK was hot and crowded and my 5-year old hated it. Standing at the entrance to Pandora was pretty uncomfortable too, and the man behind me was stood so close that he kept standing on the back of my flip flops. Some people had obviously also skipped their morning shower to get rope drop. We suffered through it once to make it to FOP, but I'm not in any hurry to do it again.

Was this during an EMH? And how much before park opening do you suggest getting to the gate for RD? We need to do this in December as we will only be able to get a FP for either FOP or Navi and we want to do both so, RD it is.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Thanks!

Is it possible to rope drop safari, dinasaur and everest in the first two hours ?

We’ve never done rope drop, but just a few weeks ago we went on a Safari then twice each on Dinosaur and Everest in about an hour during the evening. The early Rivers of Light performance was in progress during this time.

The mornings aren’t as efficient as the evening, but I would imagine that you could hit those three attraction at least once each in less than 2 hours.

 

[Mome Rath]

Was this during an EMH? And how much before park opening do you suggest getting to the gate for RD? We need to do this in December as we will only be able to get a FP for either FOP or Navi and we want to do both so, RD it is.

Right now, EMH has been at 8am, regular park open has been at 9am. For a regular open, get there at 8am, or for EMH 45-60 min early. The "best" time is to get there an hour early. We were on the bus at 7 for an 8 am EMH open, and we were done with both FoP and NRJ by just after 9am. They held us at Pandora until about 7:45, and then led us back to line up for FoP.

 

[LMHB]

If you find crowds oppressive, or if your daughter is small (or you are), I would not recommend it. We did rope drop last mid-December and it was the almost the worst crowd experience we have ever had , mobs of people, so many people! The only worse mobs at Disney I have experiences are while waiting for Lights, Camera, Action, and while departing from Fantasmic . The line was hours long even going at rope drop. Our party of six had a hard time staying together during the crush. A man with a stroller kept pushing it into my ankles. I really feel they should require people to park strollers before those crushes like that. It is really not the best place for a small child, anyway (in that huge crush of people). A poster above mentioned early people skipping showers, that sounds pretty awful, too!

I have seen recently that you have a better chance of getting on FOP very late at night. We will try that next time.

 

[NYIrunDisney]

IF you guys aren't fans of crowds, rope drop to get to FOP isn't going to work for you. As you've read in other posts, it's still going to be busy. Not aggressive but still very busy.

 

[Marshmelo]

If I already have a Fastpass for the Avatar rides, what should be my rope drop strategy?

You won’t be able to have a fast pass for both rides. They are in a tier together of which you can only choose one. You will need to plan to rope drop the one you don’t get the FP for or plan to get in line right at park closing.

 

[Erik the Red]

You won’t be able to have a fast pass for both rides. They are in a tier together of which you can only choose one. You will need to plan to rope drop the one you don’t get the FP for or plan to get in line right at park closing.

I'm doing a full day and a morning half-day in order to get a fastpass at both rides and avoid the chaos !

I heard the rest of AK is quite dead compared to Avatar at RD.

 

[TigerLaw]

i would check out easywdw website regarding Animal Kingdom openings. He's got a great description of how things work at what time and pictures too so you can see what the crowds look like. One basic point he makes is that if you can get a FastPass for flight of Passage it's much easier to deal with the crowds if you're just going straight to River Journey. Hope this helps