Flights of Passage without a fastpass - first thing in AM or last thing in PM?

[marielynn724]

We are going to AK our first full day (arriving the day before), so naturally FP+ for FoP were already gone for that day. This is our only AK day, so it's our only chance to ride FoP... what's the best strategy for avoiding an insane line? Rope dropping first thing, or wait until right before park close? We're staying at the Fort Wilderness Cabins, so it'll be a long haul arriving to AK from our cabin in the morning. I was thinking of using Lyft just so we could arriving at AK early enough.

 

[Lumpy1106]

RD for us, but that said, we rarely stay until close (and we are not alone) so that's a good option too. Disney transportation is fine - get there an hour early.

 

[Sara_H]

From what I've heard, if you can get there at least 45 minutes to 1 hour before rope drop then you might be able to do FOP without crazy lines. If not, then I've heard evening is better...I've read that they often exaggerate the wait times at the end of the night.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I would say you need a 90 minute before opening arrival or be prepared to have somewhat of a wait in the morning, and if that doesn’t sound pleasant or doable plan for the end of the night ride.

Don’t forget about the refresh method as well, you still can possibly grab one day of.

 

[cassie58]

Jumping in line at end of night is most recommended as wait times will likely be lower than posted, and since FP will end, line will keep moving. If doing at RD, you need to arrive at least an hour early to be closer to front of pack when they open(sometimes 10-15 min early). Taking Uber/Lyft is good strategy to not have to get up as early to wait at bus stop. And of course take note in case it is EMH morning, or they add hours in the weeks before so regular opening is moved up.

 

[Mome Rath]

If it's not over a holiday then rope dropping would net you both Pandora rides. Get there an hour early and ride FoP first, then hop on NRJ. Don't let the long line fool you as they line people up at the ride they wind them through the FP queue and it seems a lot longer than it actually is (many people leave the line when they shouldn't). The biggest "issue" at the end of the night is that you don't know how long you will actually be standing there, which is fine if you don't mind a longish wait. Also, if you ride in the morning, you may decide you want to ride again, which gives you all day and the right before close option to ride again.

 

[kylenne]

An 8am vs 9am opening makes a huge difference to the rope drop experience for FOP. The earlier regular park open or AM EMH starts, the less stressful it is. Either way as long as you get there an hour prior to open, you'll basically walk onto it.

 

[DavidNYC]

100% - end of evening! Done both - no comparison in terms of ease and stress levels! As an added bonus, at park close you go through the full queue which is cool. At rope drop you often bypass the regular queue (or at least you used to).

Last time we did it it was posted wait of 80 - we were into the pre-show room in about 40.

Rope drop Na'vi if you'll be at AK full day. If you're in the park 10-15 minutes before rope drop (as opposed to over an hour), you'll walk right on Na'vi or have minimal waits.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

On our last visit, we found an actual wait of 17 minutes at FoP just before a 10:30 pm closing. The posted wait was 110 minutes, but is was pretty easy to tell that it was way overinflated.

We find late nite touring to be a much more efficient use of time than arriving early and waiting for the park to open.

 

[cjlong88]

When you ride FoP at park close, you're essentially waiting outside of the regular park hours, and therefore aren't wasting any park time. You also get to experience Pandora at night with much lower crowds as you exit.

Park close gets my vote!

 

[bowtie7]

My experience with rope drop from a late August visit with a 9 am open. Left All-Star Movies a little before 7:30 am (yes buses run that early) and was at the front entrance by 7:40 am with many people already arrived. Was about 10 persons back from the entrance gate, note all the entrance gates had about that number of people. I don't remember exactly when they let us though the gate but I think it was about 8:15 to 8:30 am. You have to move very quickly to stay at the front of the crowd, this would be difficult for a large group. We were held just past Tiffins Restaurant just before the bridge to Pandora. At about 8:45 the huge crowd was slowly walked into the land, Flight of passage to the right, River Journey to the left (basically everyone goes to flight of passage). We were walked a very long way down the path out of Pandora (to Africa) before being turned around and walked back to the main entrance and through the main line (though none of the extra switch backs). It was a lot of walking. At one point I was able to count people and I was about 150 back in the line at this point, which had taken a very determined effort to stay at the front of the line. Basically continued to move until in the first pre-show area. Off the ride just before the offical 9 am open. Was able to walk on to River Journey with no wait and off boat and on way to Africa section by 9:10--at this point the line was huge, going almost all the way to Africa, certainly way over an hour and with fast passes starting to be used probably much more.
In Africa section was able to ride the Safari with about a fifteen minute wait (with only one side loading). Off just in time to slip in to the 10 am Lion King show.
Amazing to be able to do 3 major rides and a show by 10:30 am, worth the effort to arrive that early and stay so focused on staying ahead of the crowd. But even 10-15 minuted later or not staying ahead of the crowd would have made a huge difference in wait times.

 

[figmentfinesse]

I’ve never ropedropped FOP, but had a great experience getting into line a few minutes before closing. 30 minutes to preshow, beautiful night views of Pandora and finally getting to see the real (and amazing!) queue.

 

[Marshel]

If you go for rope drop, consider using the Minnie vans, a little more expensive, but they'll let them come to your cabin, lyft or uber you're going to have to get to the Outpost Depot to meet the driver.

 

[Surgie2]

Would it be easier to drive than hire a ride? I think AK is one of the easiest parks to get to, park, and walk to the entrance, especially early in the morning, (MK, otoh, we always Uber to Contemporary and walk).

When we RD FoP, we arrived at the parking lot at 7:30am for a 9:00 park opening. We were 5th in line at our tapstile. Because of the procedure they have for FoP (unless it changed) we were let through the tapstiles by 8:20 and walked slowly escorted by a CM to the next waiting area. We did FoP and were off the ride by 9:05.

We are morning people and normally don't stay until park close. We like getting our "waiting" done before the park is open so we aren't missing out on any attraction time so that's what works for us. A cup of coffee in hand and chatting with others makes the time pass quickly.

 

[Lashed34]

Every post about RD for FOP are very positive about how the CM walk people through so that there isn't a mad scramble to get to the ride. So sad they can't do this at all the parks for the big rides (thinking Hagrids here).

 

[Christine]

Did both and end of evening will always be what I choose from now on. I did RD a few weeks ago, got there an hour early, and apparently wasn't early enough. We had the whole "going into Africa" line with the extra switchbacks added and we got stopped there. It would have been fine if we were walking through it but the line stopped moving at that point and was a very slow "inching" at that point. We did give up.

Turns out this was the Friday before Veteran's Day and it looked like AK ended up getting some record crowds that day. So there's that. I've always had good experiences with the end of evening ride. I'm not a person who stays until park close so that was a new thing for me. But I generally have a car with me, so I did whatever I wanted during the day, went out to diner, etc. , then drove over to AK about 30 minutes before park close, parked, entered the park walked over, got in the line and had about a 30 minute wait. Did that 3 separate times.

 

[sWDWcopeland]

Choose between getting up early, waiting at the park for 90 minutes, fighting to stay towards the front of the pack, and then making your way to the ride to hopefully make it on at the beginning of the line OR waiting till 5 minutes before the park closes, getting in the very small line, using those few minutes to talk about all the fun we've had that day, easily getting on the ride, slowly meandering back to the park entrance looking at all the incredible details of the park at night with very few people around......
As you can tell, we always ride it at park close, even if we've already ridden it during the day. There's just something special about slowly leaving the park after riding the best ride. The stress of waiting 90 minutes in the AM and struggling to keep our place at the front of the pack is just too overwhelming for us.

 

[DisneyRobin]

We are going to AK our first full day (arriving the day before), so naturally FP+ for FoP were already gone for that day. This is our only AK day, so it's our only chance to ride FoP... what's the best strategy for avoiding an insane line? Rope dropping first thing, or wait until right before park close? We're staying at the Fort Wilderness Cabins, so it'll be a long haul arriving to AK from our cabin in the morning. I was thinking of using Lyft just so we could arriving at AK early enough.

What day are you going?

 

[Surgie2]

The stress of waiting 90 minutes in the AM and struggling to keep our place at the front of the pack is just too overwhelming for us.

Wow that is too bad...not our experience two times at all. No one seemed to be pushing ahead in any of the tapstile lines that I could see - certainly not ours. People were generally friendly and orderly. Yes, there were people who "ran" once we were out of range of the CM escorts but no big deal to us...we were still on and off the ride very efficiently. Would love to try park close someday.

 

[kaitlin-n-mom]

What is the latest time you can get in line for FOP when the park closes at 8pm? We have Navi River Journey FP's at 7. Wondering if we will have time jump in line for FOP after NRJ.