8/16 A Morning at AK, FoP and Navi, no Fast Passes

[jsmla]

I heard about the incredible deals people were getting on Hotwire and booked a last minute trip ($95/night at POFQ, woo hoo!) for August 13-19. I was thrilled to be going back to my happy place but resigned to missing trying any of the new Pandora rides. Some heavy duty stalking of MDE scored a FP for Navi River Journey but Flight of Passage wasn't happening.


My trip has been great fun so far. I visited AK on my arrival night, used my Navi FastPass and wandered around enjoying the Animal Kingdom after dark. Unfortunately a 6:00 AM flight (and a 2:30 AM wake up!) meant I just couldn't make the late EMH and the FoP lines never fell below two hours while I was there, oh well.

Anywho, I had an early night last night and was awake before 6:00 AM. I had read the reviews on easywdw and decided to give an early arrival at AK a try. I already had FPs for this evening at Hollywood Studios so it was going to be Standby or bust. I jumped into my clothes, made a snack breakfast to go, grabbed my Magic Band and was at the POFQ stop by 6:29.



I love the new times boards at the bus stop. An AK bus was due at 7:04 so I sat and had my breakfast while I waited.




A bus pulled up right on time and I was its only passenger. By 7:24 I was first in line at the bag free line. Security opened bag check at 7:30 and a few minutes later I was first at the turnstile. The wait wasn't too bad. It was shady and the heat of the day had yet to hit. By 8:00 the line stretched well past the ticket booths.

@

At 8:20 we were let through the turnstiles and began the trek over to Pandora. Since I was solo I was able to stay near the front.

@

By 8:37 the crowds stretched back as far as I was able to see.



At 8:40 we were walked behind a rope to the entrance of a FoP. It was very civilized until we actually entered the queue. There two young men began pushing their way through those of us up front. One of them actually grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me aside! I was too shocked to do anything, they pushed the young family I had let in front of me too. I truly couldn't process it. What kind of healthy 20 something man pushes aside kids and old ladies in order to get ahead by maybe five people for an amusement park ride? I still can't believe it! My DS is 32 but aid I caught him doing anything like that he'd still get an earful from his Mom!



I entered the preshow area at 8:52 and was off the ride by 9:05. I checked the wait time on my way out (9:09 AM) and the wait was up to two hours.

After Flight of Passage I was able to ride:
Navi River Journey (18 minute wait)

Expedition Everest (walk on/single rider)



Dinosaur (15 minute wait but was closer to 30 due to a stoppage.)



11:00 Finding Nemo show

It was a fabulous morning and, IMHO, well worth the early rising. I won't spoil FoP for those who haven't yer had the chance to ride it but it's FREAKING AWESOME! I don't enjoy the Fantasy/SciFi genres and have never seen the movie but I loved, loved, loved this ride!

I hope this helps anyone out there who may be trying to decide if the early arrival is worth it. It definitely was for me. I will say though, don't commit half way. With a 7:25 arrival (and no bag) I was at the front of the hordes. Folks who arrived at 8:00 ended up tightly packed in a vast sea of sweaty humanity.

 

[mindeola]

Sounds like you made it work! Love your timeline.

 

[anniemae]

Sounds great! I saw a photo of people in line for FOP and I almost passed out. It was shoulder to shoulder people as far as you could see. It was worse than anything I have ever seen at Christmas or Easter. You must have been ahead of it.

 

[JLeeLovesDisney]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I wasn't able to get a FP for FOP either, so we are debating whether to get there before rope drop, wait in line for hours, or just skip it until the next time we go in December. Still haven't decided lol.

 

[FourLeafClover]

Thanks for the report! We are going to AK next Friday and plan to RD for FOP (we have FP for EE, etc. later in the morning). I'm aiming for a 7:30 arrival time

 

[tseitel]

Can you tell me if I will still be stuck in that bottleneck if my plan is to head to right to Dinosaur upon park opening?

 

[jsmla]

Can you tell me if I will still be stuck in that bottleneck if my plan is to head to right to Dinosaur upon park opening?

If you mean you're headed to Dinosaur first then you'll be in the PPO crush at the turnstiles. After that you'll probably have it pretty easy. It would have been less than 10 minute's wait at 10:30(ish) this morning if it hadn't stopped for some mysterious reason.


Otherwise-
Ha, ha! You so funny!

 

[vinotinto]

Wow! Those pictures are scary!

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Thanks for your review. I am at POP Century right now (but jealous of you being at our favourite resort POFQ-nice to hear you got a great deal there. We like Pop a lot, but would do POFQ if it were included with discount offers). We are going to AK on Sunday (no EMH) with a 9:00am opening. Do you think that if we get there at 8:15 and want to ride Navi River Ride at Rope drop that we will be ok? We have FoP fastpasses for 9-10am and thought we'd do river ride at rope drop then use FP+for FoP. TIA!

 

[jsmla]

Thanks for your review. I am at POP Century right now (but jealous of you being at our favourite resort POFQ-nice to hear you got a great deal there. We like Pop a lot, but would do POFQ if it were included with discount offers). We are going to AK on Sunday (no EMH) with a 9:00am opening. Do you think that if we get there at 8:15 and want to ride Navi River Ride at Rope drop that we will be ok? We have FoP fastpasses for 9-10am and thought we'd do river ride at rope drop then use FP+for FoP. TIA!

I rode FoP first and then went to Navi. It had a 20 minuted posted wait and it was just under that. At rope drop I'd guesstimate that 90% of the people there were headed for FoP.

If you do rope drop follow the masses but stay to the left for Navi, most go to the right for FoP.

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

Were you still being sent through the FP+ line at a certain point, or were you able to walk through the entire queue?

Thanks for the report--glad you seemed to have a great morning!

 

[Eastern]

wow $95/night at POFQ that's amazing

 

[TNGirlwCamera]

I can't get over the pushing. Ridiculous. Sounds like a fun day though!

 

[jsmla]

Were you still being sent through the FP+ line at a certain point, or were you able to walk through the entire queue?

Thanks for the report--glad you seemed to have a great morning!

I'd never done either line before but we skipped all of the queue areas with the special stuff like the blue guy in the tank.

 

[HandsofReiki]

Well, I've been in a similar position, so know how shock and awe can just make you not even know what to do when something so inconceivable happens!

I imagine all you could do would be report them, but then you'd probably have lost your spot.... and the good news is the universe always wants to balance out. As my husband says, "it's not our job to make them better people."

So, do strollers count as bags? what about baby carriers? soft ones like ergo?

We are staying offsite on AK day and thinking about ubering over even though hotel offers shuttle... just in case (read same easywdw blog)...

 

[jsmla]

Well, I've been in a similar position, so know how shock and awe can just make you not even know what to do when something so inconceivable happens!

I imagine all you could do would be report them, but then you'd probably have lost your spot.... and the good news is the universe always wants to balance out. As my husband says, "it's not our job to make them better people."

So, do strollers count as bags? what about baby carriers? soft ones like ergo?

We are staying offsite on AK day and thinking about ubering over even though hotel offers shuttle... just in case (read same easywdw blog)...

I almost said something when they pushed the kids aside. I was at the front upon entering the line but let a young family go ahead of me because the kids were so excited to be first. We didn't stop or anything that would excuse passing us by. It was bad enough that those idiots shoved me. I was totally shocked when they pushed little kids aside!

 

[jabrabu]

For an early magic hour day at AK (8am opening), at what time should I arrive to rope drop FoP? Is it easier on those mornings since only people staying on Disney property get in early? Is FoP running at 8am on those days?

 

[DeterminedOne]

Great advice. Thank you. The mass of people heading toward the ride looks scary. Thanks for getting that pic.

 

[jsmla]

Great advice. Thank you. The mass of people heading toward the ride looks scary. Thanks for getting that pic.

I had pix of how quiet it was at 7:30 compared to 8:00 but they're too large(?) to load. It's definitely worth the 30 extra minutes. It wasn't that bad where I waited, later arrivals were squashed together and in the sun. I always had shade and acceptable personal space. That kind of stuff is important to me.

 

[jsmla]

Well, I've been in a similar position, so know how shock and awe can just make you not even know what to do when something so inconceivable happens

Not to mention that there were a whooole lot (thousands, many, many, many) of sweaty people bearing down on us. This is not a line to dawdle in while you ponder the injustices of life.

Still, it was pretty unbelievable.