FOP at closing a good option or only rope drop?

[Kim Gillihan]

Any advice appreciated.. we will be at Disney 17, 18, 19th.. AK Day is 18th.. but our fast passes don't start until later in the day... so if we did rope drop there we most likely would hop somewhere else .. I usually plan so much better but it was a last minute trip..

Thanks!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Rope drop can be the busiest time of the day for this attraction. I checked Touring Plans recently and the wait time was up to 180 minutes shortly after the park opened and 30 minutes close to closing time. The shortest wait i’ve seen lately was 17 minutes late one evening.

Just keep in mind that posted waits are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

 

[Kim Gillihan]

Rope drop can be the busiest time of the day for this attraction. I checked Touring Plans recently and the wait time was up to 180 minutes shortly after the park opened and 30 minutes close to closing time. The shortest wait i’ve seen lately was 17 minutes late one evening.

Just keep in mind that posted waits are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

I am thinking we may have better luck doing it at closing.. our first day is a MK day.. but we can hop to AK before closing which is 8pm that night.. and just ride it! Get it out of the way.... get a cocktail and enjoy it while we wait! Thanks for that info..

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Disney clocks are on the same timing as I-phones if you’re cutting it close. Just don’t be late. They will close the line promptly at 8 pm.

 

[Kim Gillihan]

Disney clocks are on the same timing as I-phones if you’re cutting it close. Just don’t be late. They will close the line promptly at 8 pm.

got it!

 

[sbbobe]

From my wife's and I experience we have found rope drop to be the quickest way to ride FOP. At rope drop we had about a 20 minute wait. We, too, had heard about going at closing and the actual time to be less than shown wait time. Our experience was exactly the opposite. The wait time 15 minutes before closing was shown to be 60 minutes. Our actual wait time turned out to be 105 minutes.

 

[LiteBrite]

We did two very successful rope drops for FoP last month, and one fail. The two successful times we got to the parking lot one hour before opening (8am for 9am opening) and even though we weren't at the front of the pack, both times we walked without stopping all the way through the line and onto the ride - about 20 minutes from tapstile to ride.

The fail resulted from us arriving at 8:30, which meant that by the time we got to the bridge in Pandora, the cast member with the "end of line" sign was saying it was a 60 minute wait from that point. We didn't get in the line since we had achieved it twice before - we walked to the Africa rope drop instead and did a walk on for the safari, which turned out to be the best safari ever, with lots of animals out and very active.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

We have done both and end of the night was better for us. I think if you got to the park an hour before you’d be ok. We were there 3 weeks ago and got in line at 8:25 with a 9:00 opening and they told us it was 60 minutes from there. It ended up being 2 hours! We jumped in line one evening around 7:30 and only waited 1 hour and I’m sure you’d do better if you waited until closer to 8

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

From my wife's and I experience we have found rope drop to be the quickest way to ride FOP. At rope drop we had about a 20 minute wait. We, too, had heard about going at closing and the actual time to be less than shown wait time. Our experience was exactly the opposite. The wait time 15 minutes before closing was shown to be 60 minutes. Our actual wait time turned out to be 105 minutes.

I wonder if they had a theater go down or something.

 

[gharter]

Either option works. If you are going to do RD and the park opens at 9, you want to be in line (through security) by 8. They will open the park and let you in about 8:30 and walk toward Pandora and stop you before you enter Pandora. We were then walked into Pandora by a group of CMs. On and off FoP by 8:50. Then rode Navi. By 9:10, the standby line for FoP was 120 minutes. So, as others have said, if you do RD, don't be late.
Before closing has also been good. We've done that several times. In line about 10 minutes before close. Our wait has been 10-30 minutes. And you get to see Pandora lit up at night.

 

[Amelia :)]

If it’s a must do and your only day in AK I’d be inclined to say park closing is a bit of a risky strategy. The ride could break down, you could get stuck on another ride, you could get slowed down by a crowd. I’d go at opening. Then you can always go back at night for a second go if you love it.

 

[The Hendies]

I heard a while back that although there is not a single rider line, once you pass a certain point you MIGHT be a fill-in on a group that has an open seat. I'm doing a solo trip in January, and am hoping this is true.

 

[DavidNYC]

If closing is an option, I strongly recommend that especially if you have not gotten to experience the normal line yet which is really great (just not 3 hours great . . .) Got online 15 minutes before closing (after RoL) two trips ago. Posted wait was 80, on ride in about 40.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

If it’s a must do and your only day in AK I’d be inclined to say park closing is a bit of a risky strategy. The ride could break down, you could get stuck on another ride, you could get slowed down by a crowd. I’d go at opening. Then you can always go back at night for a second go if you love it.

My feeling is the opposite. I think there is a greater chance that a ride won't power up in the morning than it will break down in the evening. I would hate to arrive at a park really early just to find out that the first ride of the day isn't ready to operate yet. That happened to us this year at Cedar Point. Rope Drop at Disney is too crowded anyway.

We've only encountered a breakdown once late in the evening, which was at Islands of Adventure on Dudley Do Right a few years back. Guests in line were offered a free ticket to return another day. We haven't encountered a late night break down at a Disney park.

 

[JETSDAD]

My feeling is the opposite. I think there is a greater chance that a ride won't power up in the morning than it will break down in the evening. I would hate to arrive at a park really early just to find out that the first ride of the day isn't ready to operate yet. That happened to us this year at Cedar Point. Rope Drop at Disney is too crowded anyway.

We've only encountered a breakdown once late in the evening, which was at Islands of Adventure on Dudley Do Right a few years back. Guests in line were offered a free ticket to return another day. We haven't encountered a late night break down at a Disney park.

If it's not running at RD you still have the rest of the day to ride (whether you wait in line, get a FP, or come back at closing). If you go at closing and it's down you have no other options. If it's your only day at AK you'd be out of luck. Personally, I just use FP.

 

[Davey Jones II]

We got in line for FOP shortly before park close (5 or ten minutes before) and waited about 45-50 min.

 

[Mome Rath]

I heard a while back that although there is not a single rider line, once you pass a certain point you MIGHT be a fill-in on a group that has an open seat. I'm doing a solo trip in January, and am hoping this is true.

It's true, but the area where they pull certain sized parties is right before you load. So, it's shaved maybe 5 or 6 minutes off of our wait, but that's about it. Also, sometimes they want a party of 2, or 3 instead of a single. It all just depends on the loading.

 

[leahlefler]

We avoided rope drop since you have to be there 1 hour before park opening to make it work. We did the just-before-closing method and it worked pretty well. The posted wait was 180 minutes and we waited about 45 minutes. Definitely don't be late. They closed the chain across the line at exactly closing time and no one else was allowed in.

 

[ajfd]

Just keep in mind that posted waits are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

Our group saw this first-hand with Navi River two Sundays ago.
We had not been on it over two trips and because we didn't want to burn an FP.
As luck would have it we met up with another group for dinner at Tiffins.
We finished up at 7:45p for an 8p park close.
Walked over to Pandora, hit the three nighttime Photopass shots and noticed there was a posted 40 min wait on Navi River.

"It won't be that long."

We entered the queue at 7:58p.
And kept walking.
And walking.
And walking.
Right onto a boat.

When we got off the CM said we were the last riders of the night.
We didn't see any other guests the from the time we entered the queue until we were outside the attraction.

 

[OldSchoolReasons]

We rope dropped on 3/11 and waited an hour from joining the queue to riding. After that I never say it drop below 2.5 hours. I'd say rope drop.