Question re: Avatar FOP strategy for off site guests

[VandVsmama]

Hi everyone!

We are venturing out to WDW in June 2018 for a week! The first and only time I've been to WDW was in the late 70's when I was 5 years old and there was only Magic Kingdom. This will be a first ever visit for DH, ODD, and YDD (who are 11 and 9, respectively).

DH will be attending a work conference most of the week (Sun-3 pm Thurs) and we are not staying on site except for our last night, where the plan involves us spending 1 night at the Contemporary (it's a bucket list thing!).

Since for the bulk of our trip, we'll be off site guests, we'll be making FP reservations 30 days prior instead of 60 days prior. I don't expect that there will be any FP for either of the Pandora attractions at that point.

I've done some searching here on DIS Boards and I've read part of the Pandora mega-thread and it looks like the general recommendation is for you to be at the park gate for Animal Kingdom about 90 min before regular park opening.

I don't plan on going to AK on a day that has EMH if we're not at an on-site hotel.

I also don't want to wait in line for 3-5 hours for one ride. I don't think that's worth it. It will be just me & the 2 kids at AK. DH is going to do 3 days in the parks with us (with 1 of those 3 days being a partial day) and we're going to stick with Epcot and MK on those 3 days w/DH.

Ok, so here's my question...
AK regular park opening the entire week we're there (week of 6/10) is 9:00 am.
We'll probably be arriving by rental car. I can't find info on when the AK parking lots open.
Drive time from our hotel to the TTC will be ~ 20 min.
Should I plan on getting to the AK parking lot by 7:15-7:30 am?

Thanks in advance for everybody's help & advice!

 

[Mamabun]

I'm sure others can give you more details, but I think you can book fastpasses for your whole stay at 60 days before your Contemporary night - there's a rolling window thingy that happens after an onsite stay window opens. I've always done onsite/offsite split stays with my onsite stay first, but I certainly think it would be worth your while to check if you can make fastpasses for your whole stay on the day your Contemporary stay opens it up for you.

The parking lots are open 24 hours a day, I believe, so arrive as early as you like.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

Not to your questions, but as I understand it you could make FastPasses 60 days out from your Contemporary stay (even if it is your last day). If you have sufficient tickets, I believe you would be able to make FastPasses for all the offsite days at the same time. I have seen some FoP FPs available from time to time at 31-60 days out. If you check regularly once that window open, you might snag some FPs and not have to rope drop.

 

[kerry1379]

I know this isn't the norm, but I wouldn't give up on getting a fast pass even if you are limited to the 30 day window (though from the posters above, it sounds like you may not need be limited to that). I lucked out and got them on day 29 so it isn't impossible. You do have to check a lot though (I may admit to being a bit obsessive about that...).

 

[VandVsmama]

Not to your questions, but as I understand it you could make FastPasses 60 days out from your Contemporary stay (even if it is your last day). If you have sufficient tickets, I believe you would be able to make FastPasses for all the offsite days at the same time. I have seen some FoP FPs available from time to time at 31-60 days out. If you check regularly once that window open, you might snag some FPs and not have to rope drop.

The kids and I will have 5-day 1-park tickets and DH will probably have a 3-day 1-park ticket. Not sure yet which days we'll be at which parks yet. I do know that DH will go to the parks with us starting mid-afternoon on Thurs 6/14 and then he'll be with us the entire day on Fri 6/15. He'll probably also be able to do a partial day for the 3rd day if we fly back home on Saturday 6/16 instead of Sun 6/17.

I didn't think you'd be able to book FP's for one's off-site days 60 days prior to an on-site stay. I'm totally unfamiliar with how all of the resort hopping & booking FPs works for people!

 

[tinkerjo]

It is quite possible for the park hours to change a couple weeks out. As soon as they do that look for extra FP to be released ( we did this and was able to get 6 for 0830 AM. We also did rope drop one morning and was there 1 hour prior to park opening. We were one of the first people in line and were on and off before the park even opened. As far as Navi River goes, do not wait more than 10 minutes for it. It’s pretty but nothing special.

 

[disneylover102]

The kids and I will have 5-day 1-park tickets and DH will probably have a 3-day 1-park ticket. Not sure yet which days we'll be at which parks yet. I do know that DH will go to the parks with us starting mid-afternoon on Thurs 6/14 and then he'll be with us the entire day on Fri 6/15. He'll probably also be able to do a partial day for the 3rd day if we fly back home on Saturday 6/16 instead of Sun 6/17.

I didn't think you'd be able to book FP's for one's off-site days 60 days prior to an on-site stay. I'm totally unfamiliar with how all of the resort hopping & booking FPs works for people!

When we went in August a couple years ago, we had a 1 night resort reservation for our 2nd night we were there. (We were there about 8 nights but only paid for 1 night at Disney) 60 days before our resort check in date, we could book FP+ for every single day until our check out date. We had 5 remaining days on our ticket (to use after the check out day). Exactly 60 days before each day we wanted to get Fastpasses for, it would let me get them. So, all you need for the 60 day window is a Disney hotel reservation for 1 night and that 60 day window opens exactly 60 days before the hotel check in date. I’m pretty sure I just made it more confusing, but in your case, since your Contrmporary reservation is the last night, 60 days before your check in there, you can get FP+ for all the days of your trip, even the nights you aren’t staying on site.

Now to answer your actual questions... 7:15-7:30 is a good time to get there, assuming the park actually opens at 9. It looks like for this month, they changed AK park hours to open at 8 every day, and if they do that for this time of year, I’m guessing they will in June. Park hour changes are very frequent and usually happen the month before. (So keep watching in May for June park hour changes) By the way, the TTC is not the same thing as the AK parking lot. The TTC is where you can ride a monorail to Magic Kingdom and Epcot (you can also get a ferry to MK and also a bus to MK sometimes) I was actually recently wondering the same thing about AK parking lot opening time and what I heard is it never closes. I don’t know if that’s true. Just always make sure you leave when you plan and that everyone in the group is ok with leaving that early. We always get to the park a little later than I would hope (still early enough usually) because some family members aren’t quite as committed as I am to be the first person on a ride lol!

 

[disneylover102]

It is quite possible for the park hours to change a couple weeks out. As soon as they do that look for extra FP to be released ( we did this and was able to get 6 for 0830 AM. We also did rope drop one morning and was there 1 hour prior to park opening. We were one of the first people in line and were on and off before the park even opened. As far as Navi River goes, do not wait more than 10 minutes for it. It’s pretty but nothing special.

How long did it take after park hours changed for FP+ times between 8-9 AM to become available?

 

[VandVsmama]

When we went in August a couple years ago, we had a 1 night resort reservation for our 2nd night we were there. (We were there about 8 nights but only paid for 1 night at Disney) 60 days before our resort check in date, we could book FP+ for every single day until our check out date. We had 5 remaining days on our ticket (to use after the check out day). Exactly 60 days before each day we wanted to get Fastpasses for, it would let me get them. So, all you need for the 60 day window is a Disney hotel reservation for 1 night and that 60 day window opens exactly 60 days before the hotel check in date. I’m pretty sure I just made it more confusing, but in your case, since your Contrmporary reservation is the last night, 60 days before your check in there, you can get FP+ for all the days of your trip, even the nights you aren’t staying on site.

Now to answer your actual questions... 7:15-7:30 is a good time to get there, assuming the park actually opens at 9. It looks like for this month, they changed AK park hours to open at 8 every day, and if they do that for this time of year, I’m guessing they will in June. Park hour changes are very frequent and usually happen the month before. (So keep watching in May for June park hour changes) By the way, the TTC is not the same thing as the AK parking lot. The TTC is where you can ride a monorail to Magic Kingdom and Epcot (you can also get a ferry to MK and also a bus to MK sometimes) I was actually recently wondering the same thing about AK parking lot opening time and what I heard is it never closes. I don’t know if that’s true. Just always make sure you leave when you plan and that everyone in the group is ok with leaving that early. We always get to the park a little later than I would hope (still early enough usually) because some family members aren’t quite as committed as I am to be the first person on a ride lol!

Thank you for all of this info!

Now I understand what you guys were saying in the previous replies...that getting FP for Pandora FOP might not be totally hopeless.

If regular park opening for AK changes from 9 am to 8 am, then my kids are totally fine with being at the parking lot at 6:30 am. We are normally up pretty early every day for school anyway.

 

[VandVsmama]

And in the summer, in Arizona we're basically on Pacific time zone, so we'll be used to being up early. The kids & I plan on doing rope drop each day we're at a park.

 

[WaterLinds]

How long did it take after park hours changed for FP+ times between 8-9 AM to become available?

It seemed pretty instantaneous, although I don't know for sure when they announced the park hour change. For one of them I snagged FPs before I even got an email from touring plans telling me the hours had changed--I just happened to be online checking for FPs and suddenly there were some!

 

[Jimbeaux28]

Any chance you can get your Contemporary stay moved up to the first night you are there?

The earliest I was able to get a FOP fastpass for my visit in the middle of April ( a much lower crowd level than June) was at 5:00pm on the second to last day we are in the park.

The quicker you open your 60 day window, the better chance you have to get a fastpass.

With that said, the queue for FOP is amazing so if you have to rope drop the ride, it will keep you entertained.

Best of luck!

 

[VandVsmama]

Any chance you can get your Contemporary stay moved up to the first night you are there?

The earliest I was able to get a FOP fastpass for my visit in the middle of April ( a much lower crowd level than June) was at 5:00pm on the second to last day we are in the park.

The quicker you open your 60 day window, the better chance you have to get a fastpass.

With that said, the queue for FOP is amazing so if you have to rope drop the ride, it will keep you entertained.

Best of luck!

It is very unlikely that we'll do the Contemporary stay at the beginning of the trip. We really want to end the trip with that.

 

[tinkerjo]

How long did it take after park hours changed for FP+ times between 8-9 AM to become available?

It took quite a few days, but I think a fellow diser had to call customer service and “remind them” just keep a close eye on it. I would think they will push park opening to 8am. If you don’t get them and are willing to rope drop it don’t worry. You get to see so much more of Pandora walking through the standby line, even off everyone is walking at a hurried pace

 

[tinkerjo]

Btw- if you get to the park that early, I find the gate attendants aren’t working yet and you won’t have to pay to park. Not a guarantee, but there were 2 days this week when we drove to the parks early that there was nobody at the gates taking money( we stayed onsite so it was free for us anyway, but this has happened in previous trips also)

 

[disneylover102]

Btw- if you get to the park that early, I find the gate attendants aren’t working yet and you won’t have to pay to park. Not a guarantee, but there were 2 days this week when we drove to the parks early that there was nobody at the gates taking money( we stayed onsite so it was free for us anyway, but this has happened in previous trips also)

Don’t you have to have a parking pass at the front of your car though?

 

[tinkerjo]

I know we have been offsite guests and come through so early ( we have always been 1 hour before rope drop people) and there would be nobody manning the gates. We would sit there for a minute or two looking around before pulling through and we would get to the parking attendant and parked without incident. It’s not like we were trying to pull a fast one or anything. They just don’t man the gates that early

 

[Princess_Lisa]

Don’t you have to have a parking pass at the front of your car though?

I've never got one as a Passholder, so don't see how they would enforce that. I think they give them to offsite guests so they can reenter. My understanding is you can use it to leave the parking lot and come back or to park at a different park without having to pay a second time. On a side note, I have run into the same thing from time to time when I show up a few hours before closing...no attendants.

 

[maalca23]

Thank you for all of this info!

Now I understand what you guys were saying in the previous replies...that getting FP for Pandora FOP might not be totally hopeless.

If regular park opening for AK changes from 9 am to 8 am, then my kids are totally fine with being at the parking lot at 6:30 am. We are normally up pretty early every day for school anyway.

That is great. I can tell you we did Rope drop on two EMH days at AK last week. Arrived a little before 7am. We were off FOP by 8:06 and 8:04. If they just change the park hours this will work for you. If the change is an EMH add then it is only available to resort hotel quests, meaning if you are not yet checked into your onsite hotel, then EMH won't benefit. I hope this makes sense.

 

[DavidNYC]

Having just got back from a trip this weekend, I'm now firmly in the camp of going right at park closing if you don't have anywhere else you have planned that night. On Sunday night, we got in line for FoP at 8:45 pm and was at the merge point by 9:15 (posted wait was 80 minutes - so under half posted time from getting in line to pre-show).

Rope drop is an option but it's absolutely nuts. Closing is great if you haven't seen Pandora at night as well.

(On a side note - we had a FP for the early FoP show and sitting in the theater waiting for show to begin I decided to see if we could get an Everest FP before we hit FoP - and lo and behold - a FoP FP showed up for 8:10 for a party of 5! So it's rare but does happen. We were lucky enough to do our 8:10 FP and looped around to do standby as we had never experienced the normal queue which is really well designed.)