Flights of Passage Strategy - Try to ride at Rope Drop or wait until 45 minutes before closing time?

[CableKC]

I'm debating whether we should try to make it to Rope Drop at AK and make a mad dash to Flights of Passage early in the morning or just go on other rides and just wait it out and jump into line 45 minutes before the park closes.

For those that have gone at Rope Drop, how long did you end up waiting from the time that you entered the front gate to the point where you started the ride?

Are we talking about 2 hours from Front Gate entry to when you start the ride?

or

Is it a shorter wait time?

If I go this route, it maybe a long wait to ride.....but then I have the option of riding it again later before close.

I would suspect that if we just skipped Flights of Passage at Rope Drop and got there but decided to ride everything else, there would be less wait times at all the other popular rides and I could just wait it out until the close of the park to ride Flights of Passage.

Does anyone have any thoughts on which is best time to ride FoP ( Rope Drop or at Closing )?

 

[mco65]

Hum, been at least 2 years since i rode FoP.. Jul 2019..

As i recall, we rope dropped 2 days and were quickly on the ride... i am sure we didn't get to the gate more than 30 minutes before they opened up and we started the trek to Pandora... I believe we rope dropped and FP FoP... hard to remember that far back but i do remember the Rope Drop..

I have never ridden FoP at closing or anytime other than Rope Drop or using a FP.

 

[Kingdome8]

We did it in June. We walked straight to FOP and didn’t stop until we got to the ramps that split levels. Was great. This was first year we were committed to rope drop since no fast passes.

 

[jbrinkm]

https://touringplans.com/animal-kingdom/wait-times
You could check this out for a few days and see how rope drop compares to park closing.

 

[CeCe0906]

How fast do you have to walk to FOP at rope drop to not usually have a significant wait? I'm just not a fast walker anymore, I mean I will walk with purpose, not just lollygag along, but don't want to get mowed down by the throng. My granddaughter really wants to do Safari early in the morning; may just work my way back there and forget about Pandora for later. She will have a DAS pass and can get a return time for FOP later in the day. I don't want to trigger anything if rope drop is a loud packed situation and ruin the rest of the morning.

 

[Nick6300]

Historically, I think last ride like a few min. before close would be less total waiting. We rope drop (and last ride) every park, each day. I'm usually the very 1st person in line at FoP, but had to wait approx an hr (or longer) before park opened to do so. The latest I've ever arrived at taps, and still been the very first person, is 45 min. before opening (when they used to let you in around 30-45 min early). If you arrived just before park opening, I'd guess that your wait would typically be around an hr. I've never done that, but that's just based on typical posted wait times when I'm off the ride, minus a bit for inflated wait estimate.

I've waited longer than an hr. using last ride at FoP, but that was more when it was new. Posted time at last ride will generally be inflated to discourage you from entering.

 

[WDW Traveler]

Haven't ridden since Oct 2019, but since we were off property that trip we did not have a FP+ so we were standby. The beginning of the day was over 90 minutes so I checked the wait times periodically throughout the day and at about 11:00am or so it said the wait was down to about 50 minutes. We walked over (kind of briskly lol) and were on and off the ride within about 35 minutes. Not sure if it was luck but worked out well for us just looking for a shorter wait time on the app. Good luck!

 

[Neener16]

We are here now. We took a 645 bus to animal kingdom from the Yacht Club. If we had waited another 15 minutes, I believe the wait would’ve been at least an hour. We fortunately were on the first flight for FOP. We were done by 8:10, and the line was already ridiculous. I do not see the times going down at the end of the day. We were at Nomad Lounge yesterday at about 5:30. The wait was still 2 hours. Unless they are exaggerating the wait time, it is no longer a good strategy to wait to the end of the night. Just my opinion.

 

[brockash]

How fast do you have to walk to FOP at rope drop to not usually have a significant wait? I'm just not a fast walker anymore, I mean I will walk with purpose, not just lollygag along, but don't want to get mowed down by the throng. My granddaughter really wants to do Safari early in the morning; may just work my way back there and forget about Pandora for later. She will have a DAS pass and can get a return time for FOP later in the day. I don't want to trigger anything if rope drop is a loud packed situation and ruin the rest of the morning.

Use the DAS later.

 

[Nick6300]

We are here now. We took a 645 bus to animal kingdom from the Yacht Club. If we had waited another 15 minutes, I believe the wait would’ve been at least an hour. We fortunately were on the first flight for FOP. We were done by 8:10, and the line was already ridiculous. I do not see the times going down at the end of the day. We were at Nomad Lounge yesterday at about 5:30. The wait was still 2 hours. Unless they are exaggerating the wait time, it is no longer a good strategy to wait to the end of the night. Just my opinion.

.

Everything seems very busy this summer. But FoP, I've noticed, is back to commanding the longest wait times. Been seeing posted 120+ even at night. There was a weird period last year where river journey was posting longer wait times.

Our personal preference is to rope drop FoP, since the majority of the waiting is outside of park hours, and we're early risers. Like many, we typically park hop from AK, since other parks are open later, and last ride another headliner. If Pandora was open at night again, it might be tempting to be at AK at night.

 

[KristaZ]

We always rope drop FoP, in large part because we just can't make AK a whole day anymore to get to park closing to ride it later. With that being said, we're always on the first bus from the resort (usually between 6:30 and 6:45 depending on the resort), one of the first in the park, and generally make the first ride - we went twice in the last couple of weeks and both times it started running at 8, but they were letting people into the park by 7:15 and holding people at the bridge to Pandora. All in all from arriving at the park to getting on the ride, we wait about an hour. We're also fast walkers, which helps because as soon as they start letting people in, many people literally run - it's the only park I ever see that happen, but it seems to happen consistently. And just as an example of how critical it is to get there as early as possible, my brother in law was not as dedicated as us and didn't believe us when we said we needed to be out the door at 6:30am. He ended up on the second bus to the park from the resort and arrived around 7:30, went right to Flight of Passage, and had about an hour wait after park opening (so 90 minute wait total).

 

[luv2cheer92]

I definitely wouldn't get in line 45 min before closing, more like 5, max 10 minutes.

 

[Nick6300]

We always rope drop FoP, in large part because we just can't make AK a whole day anymore to get to park closing to ride it later. With that being said, we're always on the first bus from the resort (usually between 6:30 and 6:45 depending on the resort), one of the first in the park, and generally make the first ride - we went twice in the last couple of weeks and both times it started running at 8, but they were letting people into the park by 7:15 and holding people at the bridge to Pandora. All in all from arriving at the park to getting on the ride, we wait about an hour. We're also fast walkers, which helps because as soon as they start letting people in, many people literally run - it's the only park I ever see that happen, but it seems to happen consistently. And just as an example of how critical it is to get there as early as possible, my brother in law was not as dedicated as us and didn't believe us when we said we needed to be out the door at 6:30am. He ended up on the second bus to the park from the resort and arrived around 7:30, went right to Flight of Passage, and had about an hour wait after park opening (so 90 minute wait total).

I think the running is because of the Oasis being more hidden, not as open as the other park's entrances, and no one leading you until after being held at Tiffins/Pandora bridge (vs. think about all of the CMs at entrance of HS as you walk to Sunset Blvd).

I try to follow the rules and walk until someone tries to run by me, and then I think about getting up super early, and all of the time I waited in line to be in front of the pack and the competitiveness gets the better of me and I run past that person. I think the fact that I compete in road races factors in too. I recall this man and his kids running together (talk about setting an example) past everyone. I was doing my speed walking in front when they ran by. As I passed them back, I could hear the man exclaim how competitive I must be for daring to pass him back. I still think it's funny that I turned and told him "you might as well follow the rules and walk, because if you run again, I'm just going to pass you anyhow."

 

[CableKC]

I definitely wouldn't get in line 45 min before closing, more like 5, max 10 minutes.

I only suggested 45 minutes before because I'm having dinner at Tiffins at 6pm and expect that it would take us time to eat dinner and then walk over to FoP.

The park closes at 8pm. Do you mean to get in line around 5 to 10 minutes before the park closes....like sometime after 7:45pm?

I'm trying to remember if they do some type of a cutoff time for allowing people to get into line.

 

[CableKC]

We always rope drop FoP, in large part because we just can't make AK a whole day anymore to get to park closing to ride it later. With that being said, we're always on the first bus from the resort (usually between 6:30 and 6:45 depending on the resort), one of the first in the park, and generally make the first ride - we went twice in the last couple of weeks and both times it started running at 8, but they were letting people into the park by 7:15 and holding people at the bridge to Pandora. All in all from arriving at the park to getting on the ride, we wait about an hour. We're also fast walkers, which helps because as soon as they start letting people in, many people literally run - it's the only park I ever see that happen, but it seems to happen consistently. And just as an example of how critical it is to get there as early as possible, my brother in law was not as dedicated as us and didn't believe us when we said we needed to be out the door at 6:30am. He ended up on the second bus to the park from the resort and arrived around 7:30, went right to Flight of Passage, and had about an hour wait after park opening (so 90 minute wait total).

Do you mean that you were at AK between 6:30am to 6:45am ( which means that you're at the bus stop around 6:15am )?

or

Do you mean that you were on the bus stop at your resort between 6:30am to 6:45am ( which means that you'd probably get to AK by 7:15am )?

I'm staying at AoA. I'm gonna have to figure out when the 1st bus leaves the resort to go to AK.

 

[CableKC]

Thanks to all that have responded. I will ( of course ) have to "play it by ear" based off of how my kids and ( most notably ) Wife is when it comes to waking up super early. I am going to lean towards making a run at FoP at Rope Drop ( if I can wake them up in time ). I think it will be hectic, but I will have the option to go on it in the morning and then again at night after dinner ( if we are up to it ).

 

[anomamatt]

Rope drop requires a significant time commitment before the park opens. Getting in the line 5 minutes before park close can be (is often) glorious and requires no additional wait time.

 

[Pooh's World]

How fast do you have to walk to FOP at rope drop to not usually have a significant wait? I'm just not a fast walker anymore, I mean I will walk with purpose, not just lollygag along, but don't want to get mowed down by the throng. My granddaughter really wants to do Safari early in the morning; may just work my way back there and forget about Pandora for later. She will have a DAS pass and can get a return time for FOP later in the day. I don't want to trigger anything if rope drop is a loud packed situation and ruin the rest of the morning.

You need to be at the front of the line at the main gate and then brisk walk.

Obviously if you can jog or sprint when the cast members aren't looking you will be first.

 

[Pooh's World]

Do you mean that you were at AK between 6:30am to 6:45am ( which means that you're at the bus stop around 6:15am )?

or

Do you mean that you were on the bus stop at your resort between 6:30am to 6:45am ( which means that you'd probably get to AK by 7:15am )?

I'm staying at AoA. I'm gonna have to figure out when the 1st bus leaves the resort to go to AK.

In general you want to beat the first bus either by car or uber.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I only suggested 45 minutes before because I'm having dinner at Tiffins at 6pm and expect that it would take us time to eat dinner and then walk over to FoP.

The park closes at 8pm. Do you mean to get in line around 5 to 10 minutes before the park closes....like sometime after 7:45pm?

I'm trying to remember if they do some type of a cutoff time for allowing people to get into line.

Yep. There is no line cut off, you could walk up a minute before closing and they would let you in.