Should my son waste his time standby for FOP? (Updated!!!!)

[CAS239]

Is he forced to ride the bus provided? If not then I'd recommend he gets an earlier bus or Ubers to the park with his friends.

By the time he gets to the park it'll likely be a 120+ min wait. It's 8:45 am right now and FoP is at 150 min wait.

Everyone's different and I think FoP is an amazing ride, but I wouldn't wait more than about 45 min for any ride.

 

[aggiedog]

We were in the same situation last week, on a high school trip. If he needs to arrive at the park with the group and can't control arrival time, the line at that point may be VERY long. He may not even have enough time before they leave for the next park. The wait was 4+ hours last week. Several HS boys stood in line, only to have to leave before even making it into the "main" part of the line.

Only he can decide if it's worth that risk, but I know our kids were pretty bummed.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Does he have to take the shuttle or can he use Disney transportation to get there earlier?

Exactly if he wants to ride it there are plenty of options to get there.

I would at least - breathtaking ride

 

[OhhBother]

I would cancel the MK FPs and use refresh to get FOP the night before. He could also grab morning FPs for the safari and Kali or Dinosaur. Then, he could pick up additional FPs in the afternoon at MK.You can grab day-of FPs for most anything in MK fairly easily (with the possible exception of PP and SDMT).

 

[JadeDarkstar]

lyft or uber to the parks early and rope drop that sucker

 

[elaine amj]

I would cancel the MK FPs and use refresh to get FOP the night before. He could also grab morning FPs for the safari and Kali or Dinosaur. Then, he could pick up additional FPs in the afternoon at MK.You can grab day-of FPs for most anything in MK fairly easily (with the possible exception of PP and SDMT).

I agree. But it is a lot harder with a group of friends. At this age, it basically will be whatever the group decides.

My DD17 goes to Cedar Point every year with her youth group without me. We have had annual passes there and she knows how to tour the park without too many lengthy waits. But when there with the other kids she just resigns herself to waiting for hours in line and accomplishing maybe 3-5 rides in one day. It's just the way it is sometimes with a group.

I have one friend who doesn't like the way I tour parks much. Even though he didn't wait in line with us, he HATES walking past rides with no lines to beeline it for the headliners with rapidly developing lines. Different ways of touring.

 

[Micca]

Too bad they couldn't get the shuttle for an earlier pickup, probably too late to change that now?

 

[mom2rtk]

He may not even have enough time before they leave for the next park. The wait was 4+ hours last week. Several HS boys stood in line, only to have to leave before even making it into the "main" part of the line.

That was my concern, and would be the worst possible outcome.

 

[sscamarogirl2000]

I would skip it if i only had a 1/2 day and no fastpasses. I know this is a super unpopular opinion but my family just wasn't impressed with it. We rope dropped it and it was cool but my kids (26, 19, and 14) said they wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes for it again. We were off the ride by 9:03. They like EE more and stood in line multiple times for it. We did everything and left the park at 3.

 

[aggiedog]

That was my concern, and would be the worst possible outcome.

''

It's a real possibility. We are veteran WDW peeps, touring plans, etc. But when going with a group, unless everyone buys into your plan, you move at the slowest common denominator. It can be infuriating without a zen like acceptance of your situation! So, if he can't get there very close to opening at the latest, I'd bag it and have fun doing things instead of just standing in line (and maybe even not riding the ride ultimately.)

 

[fractalpotato]

I would cancel the MK FPs and use refresh to get FOP the night before. He could also grab morning FPs for the safari and Kali or Dinosaur. Then, he could pick up additional FPs in the afternoon at MK.You can grab day-of FPs for most anything in MK fairly easily (with the possible exception of PP and SDMT).

This seems like a terrible idea. It's one ride! You're advocating giving up several rides at a known busy park as the second park of the day to maybe not waste their entire time at the first park of the day? Instead of getting several rides done in both parks and missing this one ride that isn't going anywhere?

I don't understand, were they handing out free cars on FoP for a while or something? It's a really cool ride but come on here.

Matt

 

[PollyannaMom]

We've been to Disney 5 times as a family so he's ridden everything else in AK a bunch of times.

Then for him, it might make sense to "waste" time in the FOP line. It was the coolest ride I've ever been on! But the final decision depends on a lot of other factors:

How much he likes the rest of AK - I personally love the trails and the animals, so if I only had a half day, I wouldn't want to miss everything else for one thing. But cool rides might be the priority for him.

What the others want to do - If he's going with kids who have never been to AK, they'll likely want to see more of the park than one thing. (But I'm assuming the group will be splitting up, so maybe there are kids to go with either way.)

What time they have to leave - I wouldn't get in the line if I would be cutting it all close. In my opinion, "actually riding FOP" is worth giving up a bunch of other stuff, but "almost getting to the ride and having to bail" isn't.

 

[mamaofsix]

I think probably one of the most important things to tell your son is that the posted wait time for FOP when he gets there is NOT ACCURATE. Have him download the tp wait times ap before he goes so that he has a more accurate estimate of the actual wait time. If they walk up and the board says 180 minutes, obviously they won't wait. If the actual wait time, however, is 90 minutes - that might be a game changer for the group.

 

[mommyboys3]

Unfortunately he says he has to take the scheduled transportation. It's Disney transportation but because it's such a large group (220 + kids) they have their own buses. He's helping organize the trip because he's treasurer of his class but he has no say in logistics. Teachers who go on this trip every year have it all planned out. He knows the teachers well & they like him so I told him to ask about a smaller group getting to the park on their own earlier but he is a rule follower to a fault & doesn't like to make waves.

The most important thing to him is just to have fun with his friends. Going on EE several times with friends who have never been before is more fun to him than waiting for FOP. So unless there is a total fluke that day & FOP is only 30-45 minute wait I doubt he'll ride it. He plans on checking wait times just in case though.

Thanks for the replies. After his trip, I'll report back just in case it might help anyone else.

 

[glamdring269]

Yeah they need to figure out how to get to the park earlier. They're losing so much time in efficiency.

Tell him to spin it like it's a class experiment in logistics. We'll go earlier and track our progress vs. the rest of you. We can then quantify the results and make a presentation on our findings. One teacher/chaperone can come suffer with the rest of us while you guys get an extra hour of sleep.

 

[mommyboys3]

My son was able to get to AK this morning a little early. He texted me at 9:10 that he was off FOP already. He said it was amazing. So happy he was able to get on. I don't know any other details (what time he got there, if they let them in early, did they sprint back there). I don't want to bug him with questions. I just wanted to let anyone who may be bummed about not getting a FP for FOP that rope drop is possible.

 

[Mome Rath]

My son was able to get to AK this morning a little early. He texted me at 9:10 that he was off FOP already. He said it was amazing. So happy he was able to get on. I don't know any other details (what time he got there, if they let them in early, did they sprint back there). I don't want to bug him with questions. I just wanted to let anyone who may be bummed about not getting a FP for FOP that rope drop is possible.

Awesome, definitely sounds like he found a way to get there early, so glad he liked it!

 

[glocon]

That so great! And thanks for letting us know- how fun!!!!!

 

[AngiTN]

Glad the found a time to ride. Hope the rest of his trip was a success too.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Kids can be very industrious when they want to be lol.