Is this realistic for Pandora?

[MagicPlanningMom]

The Avatar additions at AK have given me some struggles with my trip planning. Our Fastpass booking opens tomorrow, and I know I'll have to take what I can for FoP, but I was hoping to knock out Pandora first thing in the morning. If I were able to get an FoP FP for 9:30, could we possibly do Na'vi at rope drop, followed by FoP and make it to Tusker House for a 10:30am reservation? We're planning for Tuesday, August 22nd, with Monday the 21st as a back up. Any advice from those who have experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Alpineslide]

My family and I were there on Memorial Day for an early 7:00 am EMH opening. We arrived at Ak at roughly 6:15 am.
Once we got into the park we went directly to FOP. Afterwards we went into the Windtraders store and bought a couple banshees for my boys. We then waited in line for roughly 30 minutes to ride the Navi River journey. I think we finished all that around 8:30 am and that was Pandoras opening week. We did all that without using a fast pass.
If your early risers and get there 30 minutes before rope drop I don't think you'll have any trouble.

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

My family and I were there on Memorial Day for an early 7:00 am EMH opening. We arrived at Ak at roughly 6:15 am.
Once we got into the park we went directly to FOP. Afterwards we went into the Windtraders store and bought a couple banshees for my boys. We then waited in line for roughly 30 minutes to ride the Navi River journey. I think we finished all that around 8:30 am and that was Pandoras opening week. We did all that without using a fast pass.
If your early risers and get there 30 minutes before rope drop I don't think you'll have any trouble.

Thanks! That's very encouraging!

 

[finedice]

A lot depends on your length of stay - You can get FPs for FoP on day 60, but will likely be afternoon. for 64 days, I was able to get FoP for 10:15, and after that point - days 67 and 69, virtually all times were open. That was for mid Aug, which should be a little bit more busy than when you are going. I'm not sure if you are 60 or just 30 days out...

I want to ride it 6 or 7 times - and will RD it a few, followed by repeats with FP, with NRJ a quick second attraction after FoP at RD.

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

A lot depends on your length of stay - You can get FPs for FoP on day 60, but will likely be afternoon. for 64 days, I was able to get FoP for 10:15, and after that point - days 67 and 69, virtually all times were open. That was for mid Aug, which should be a little bit more busy than when you are going. I'm not sure if you are 60 or just 30 days out...

I want to ride it 6 or 7 times - and will RD it a few, followed by repeats with FP, with NRJ a quick second attraction after FoP at RD.

I'll be 64 days out, so hopefully I'll at least get something without having to swap park days. We're planning the whole day at AK, but I'd like to avoid backtracking if I could, but not a deal breaker. I'd still rather do that than swap days since it messes with my ADRs, etc. Definitely plan on trying for it first at 7am tomorrow.

 

[finedice]

You surely will - at 64, late Aug, should have your pick of times if the group is not huge...

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

You surely will - at 64, late Aug, should have your pick of times if the group is not huge...

Feeling slightly optimistic. We're a group of 5, but I could also do groups of 2 and 3 and overlap times if needed.

 

[mtemm]

When I booked our fp 60 days out (63 for our ak day) the earliest I could get either pandora ride was 11:40. I was disappointed at first because my plan was rope drop the other pandora ride, do fp one, explore pandora, then head out to rest of park. But now I'm actually happier it worked out like it did. We still plan to rope drop Na'vi, but will head out of pandora right after and hit the rest of AK while wait times are hopefully still low(ish). When we do head back to pandora for our fp we can then take our time in pandora before heading out for a mid day break.

My point is you may need to go to plan b, but be willing to see it as possibly a positive.

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

When I booked our fp 60 days out (63 for our ak day) the earliest I could get either pandora ride was 11:40. I was disappointed at first because my plan was rope drop the other pandora ride, do fp one, explore pandora, then head out to rest of park. But now I'm actually happier it worked out like it did. We still plan to rope drop Na'vi, but will head out of pandora right after and hit the rest of AK while wait times are hopefully still low(ish). When we do head back to pandora for our fp we can then take our time in pandora before heading out for a mid day break.

My point is you may need to go to plan b, but be willing to see it as possibly a positive.

Exactly what I ended up having to do. We'll rope drop Na'vi then hit Everest, etc. until our 10:35 ADR. Got a FoP Fastpass at 2:10pm, so we shouldn't have to rush back too soon and the reports I've seen show the area to be a little less crowded in the afternoon than morning so we can look around and take in more. Hope we both have good luck with the plan!

 

[FSU Girl]

I'm curious what you were able to go for FOP. I'm there for three days and the only time available was on our third day at 6:15pm which is too late we will have already left. There was nothing our first two days which was really disappointing.

 

[eeyore81]

We were there on June 2. We got to AK about 30 minutes prior to opening. We had a FP for Na-vi from 8:30-9:30. They opened the lines just a few minutes before 8. We went directly to FoP. We were done with FoP and at the FP entrance for Na-vi at 9:28. It was stressful but we got it done.

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

I'm curious what you were able to go for FOP. I'm there for three days and the only time available was on our third day at 6:15pm which is too late we will have already left. There was nothing our first two days which was really disappointing.

I don't remember exactly, but there were several times starting around 12:30pm. That was with clicking on my Fastpass link at exactly 7am and going immediately to the day I wanted FP for AK. Within a few minutes when I was trying to modify, it was already 2pm or later. Sorry you couldn't get your time

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

We were there on June 2. We got to AK about 30 minutes prior to opening. We had a FP for Na-vi from 8:30-9:30. They opened the lines just a few minutes before 8. We went directly to FoP. We were done with FoP and at the FP entrance for Na-vi at 9:28. It was stressful but we got it done.

That's encouraging too. As of now I do have the afternoon fastpass for FoP, so we'll be able to ride it at least. We are planning to do rope drop, so if we're early enough to be near the front of the pack we may try FoP standby at rope drop as well, followed by Na'Vi. From what I've heard I think my family would love to do FoP more than once, but we'll just have to see what happens.

 

[Indio]

Try this - when you go to select your FP, instead of clicking on Morning or Afternoon, try entering a time - like 9am. We were there Memorial Day week and were able to find a lot more fastpasses by entering a time instead of the AM/PM blocks. We did this when we initially booked our passes at 60 days out, then we did the same thing in the parks for our 4th, 5th, 6th etc passes. We had a group of 12 and were able to get a LOT of fastpasses!

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

Try this - when you go to select your FP, instead of clicking on Morning or Afternoon, try entering a time - like 9am. We were there Memorial Day week and were able to find a lot more fastpasses by entering a time instead of the AM/PM blocks. We did this when we initially booked our passes at 60 days out, then we did the same thing in the parks for our 4th, 5th, 6th etc passes. We had a group of 12 and were able to get a LOT of fastpasses!

Thanks. I generally clicked "additional times" (not sure the exact wording) and was able to see several times as well, but will definitely try selecting an exact time as well, especially for those 4th and more FPs.