Standby for FoP @ ropedrop

[hicksnichols]

DH and I couldn’t score a FP for FoP. We are going to the parks Aug 24&26. Should we chance standby at rope drop? When we were there in February standby at rope drop was 2 hour wait. Is it still that bad?

 

[Alesia]

If you get there 90 minutes before rope drop and head directly there, there won't be much of a wait. If you show up right when the park opens, expect a 3 hour wait

 

[VandVsmama]

We were at AK on Friday 6/15. Park closing was at 10:30 pm that day. We got in line for FOP at 10:20 pm. Posted wait time was 120 minutes. We got on the ride at the 52 minute mark.

 

[rdaky]

We just did rope drop for FOP on an EMH morning earlier this month. Granted, we were at the back of the line so it was 8:05 by the time we got to the end of the line for FOP. We waited about 45 minutes. I think that rope dropping on an EMH morning helped us. I have no idea what a regular 9am opening rope drop looks like. I do know that by the time we got off of the ride, the line was over 2 hours long.

 

[baozi]

Depends on how you define "rope drop". Theoretically if you are the first in the line then there is no wait.
I once arrived around 7:30AM on a moderate day crowd wise, and finished the ride around 9:00AM. While it is still a long wait, it is not part of the (paid) park time...

 

[Haley R]

Could you ride it at the end of the night instead?

 

[Haley R]

We were at AK on Friday 6/15. Park closing was at 10:30 pm that day. We got in line for FOP at 10:20 pm. Posted wait time was 120 minutes. We got on the ride at the 52 minute mark.

Dang that still seems pretty long for getting in line 10 minutes before park close.

 

[gharter]

We have ridden it several times near park closing and its usually been about a 30 minute wait or less.
If you are going to do RD, you probably need to be there at least an hour before opening.
Keep checking for FPs, they do become available.

 

[diana13]

We did RP about 5 times in May during our visit. We never waited long. Key is to get there least 30 mins before official opening time. One time we were even off the ride 5 mins before official opening time. Not sure if they are still doing this, but they were letting people in the area before official opening time. The days we went at 7:15 with opening at 8:00 was a breeze and after FOP, we went straight on River with no wait.

 

[LauraLap]

I think with the park closing now at 8:30pm in August the wait will be longer at close, right?

 

[rentayenta]

I think I'd rather wait at the end of the night with a cocktail in hand. Rope drop sounds maddening for FOP.

 

[juuuliebeth]

I rope dropped in October. I got there before 8am for a 9am opening. They opened the tapstiles around 8:30. We were held in front of Pandora until at least 8:40 or 8:45. I was off by 9:05am. I was probably one of the first five groups on the ride. It takes time to wind around the queue and go through the pre-show. I was off NRJ a half hour later. Later in the day, both waits equaled almost five hours. Arriving at 7:45am-ish was a time investment that paid off really well.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I think with the park closing now at 8:30pm in August the wait will be longer at close, right?

Maybe, but I doubt the park will close at 8:30 in August. It is too soon to know that, they have been updating hours around the 15th-17th-ish of the month before.

 

[NH-to-FL]

If you arrive 75-90 minutes before official park opening you will be near or at the front of the crowd headed towards FoP. Here is a link to my rope drop FoP experience last August:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/first-visit-to-pandora-8-4-17.3623699/

As others have noted, you can also do the end of the day. I am a morning person and for some reason don't mind the rope drop wait. And in August I prefer to be waiting during the coolest time of day.

 

[WDWAurora]

We just did this with EMH. It is important to note that pandora is opening before real opening time. We were later than I intended (crew couldn’t get up after water parks the day before!), so got there maybe at 7:30ish. Crowds were already making their way to the ride. We were almost back at Africa in line, and got on in about 45min. We had a FP for later, so this was my method of getting us on twice. It seemed to work well for us.

 

[KrisM]

We were at AK on Friday 6/15. Park closing was at 10:30 pm that day. We got in line for FOP at 10:20 pm. Posted wait time was 120 minutes. We got on the ride at the 52 minute mark.

We did that the very next day, 6/16. We got in line at 10:20 or so as well. Posted was 170 and we ended up waiting 115 to get on. Definitely shorter than posted but not what I was expecting at all.

 

[Bri036]

Rope dropped this morning with the plan to arrive at 7 for an 8am EMH. Actually arrived closer to 715 we were maybe 10 to 15 people deep to get into park. Didn’t run but walked briskly to FOP. Had no wait to speak of and was on Na’vi River by 820. Finished all of Pandora, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, and Everest by 930. Hit Lion King at 10 and left for Homecomin’ via Lift at 11 as the crowds were pouring in
Edit
When we arrived it was posted at 60 minutes but as said earlier virtually no wait. Actually waited longer for safari with fastpass

 

[Cynergy]

We RD this passed Sunday 6/24. We took the bus from ASMo and got to the park at 710. We were about 15 people back of the tapstyles. They started letting us in around 735-740 and we walked briskly (As fast as DD7 could handle without running or jogging) and rode and were back out front by 817. We rode Na'vi with a posted wait of 10, was closer to 5 and then explored Pandora until 855 and rode FoP again with a 900 FP+. We were back out front again by 925. Being able to ride FoP twice and Na'vi once by 930 was worth getting there early, though I wanted to get there even earlier.

 

[KenHutch]

We had a fastpass on 6/4 when we were there but the 8 year old wanted a 2nd ride. We went back there about 2 hours before closing. The app time was 120+ minutes, the time at the ride was 90 min and it took us 42 minutes.

 

[marcais]

We had a fastpass on 6/4 when we were there but the 8 year old wanted a 2nd ride. We went back there about 2 hours before closing. The app time was 120+ minutes, the time at the ride was 90 min and it took us 42 minutes.

That long before closing?

I wonder if that will become a thing? If word gets round that getting in line 15 mins or so before closing gets you a short wait then people who might have joined 2 hours before closing will put off doing so, and so the wait time around then drops.

We have a RD planned for our first AK day in August, and an early afternoon FP booked for our 2nd AK day, so a late run at the end of that 2nd day was on the cards. Now I have to think about whether it would be better to get in line at 7:15 or so for a 9:00 close, or leave it till 8:45.

Dilemmas, dilemmas.