Pandora--Riding without a fast pass

[nevergrowup826]

What also can happen sometimes if you are at a resort with several bus stops, the bus can fill up at the first stops and head to the park without ever getting to your stop.

that's why i never will stay at those resorts! its a deal breaker for us.

 

[Love_the_Mouse]

There are no breakfast reservations that give you an advantage for Pandora.

Oh no!! An 8:00a Tusker House reservation wouldn't work? I considered booking it and then hopefully be in line for FOP by 8:50a.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Oh no!! An 8:00a Tusker House reservation wouldn't work? I considered booking it and then hopefully be in line for FOP by 8:50a.

No, it would put you behind the crowds

 

[KBoopaloo]

I did both arriving early before park opening and getting in line just before park close on my last trip (3/29-4/4) and if I were doing it again, I would probably do getting in line before park close but both worked really well. We got on a bus at Kidani at 6:42am on an 8:00 am opening day and we were walking off FOP at 8:52 am. Still a good amount of waiting but nearly none of it was spent in the line, most of it was spent outside the gates and then at the entrance to Pandora. I am not a rope dropper at all so it was a unique experience for me.

When we went at night, the posted wait time was 165 minutes when we got in line (about 15 minutes before park closing) and we waited about 75 minutes so less than half the posted wait. The line kept moving pretty well the whole time. It was an 11:00 pm park close though so we did not get back to the resort until very late. Good luck!

 

[SeeDisney]

just get to the parks early.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

For anyone still looking for a more efficient alternative, Touring Plans reported waits as low as 16 minutes for FoP about an hour before closing time last night.

 

[ginny65]

For anyone still looking for a more efficient alternative, Touring Plans reported waits as low as 16 minutes for FoP about an hour before closing time last night.

I doubt this will work for us on May 16 because I just learned that is a special ticket event evening for DVC members and so you know they are going to be flogging the park that evening at AK. Boo hoo. I sure wish I would have been aware of that prior to scheduling what day we will be at AK.

 

[1234lucky]

I went last week on a night with a ticketed event so nighttime riding was out (and we wanted to see Rivers of Light). We arrived at 7:40 for a 9 am opening. Key was to make it before the Disney buses which seemed to be ariving around 8. We weren’t the first in line but once they opened the gates were halfway/three quarters of the way back on the bridge and waited there for a while until close to park opening (maybe 8:45?). We were off the ride by 9:10. I think they had people riding before 9 based on the number of people ahead of us.

It was a 4/10 day per Touring Plans. One great thing is that everyone went to Fop first. So Na’vi, Everest, and Kali were walkons until around 10. We got on both Everest and Kali twice after doing FOP first thing.

 

[Nimbus]

Arriving to the park 60-90 min early might seem like just transferring the wait to an earlier time (thus saving little time), but remember, a lot of that time will be spent doing things you would have to do anyway. It will take you a good 20-30 minutes to get from the bus stop to the queue, so you aren't really "waiting" for the ride for 60-90 minutes. Simply walking through the empty queue takes several minutes more. So again, relatively little time is actually spent waiting.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

I doubt this will work for us on May 16 because I just learned that is a special ticket event evening for DVC members and so you know they are going to be flogging the park that evening at AK. Boo hoo. I sure wish I would have been aware of that prior to scheduling what day we will be at AK.

Yes, the DVC event is a private ticketed event. The park will close to the public I believe at 6:00pm.

 

[fractalpotato]

I haven't personally had to do this, but there is a video on YouTube by Brian from Touring plans called "Riding Flight of Passage with No wait" that may help. From the research I have done for my own trip this year (if I cannot get FP+), it seems like one of the best strategies is to get to the park quite early so you can be one of the first people queued up at the turnstiles and will be able to be one of the first groups to FoP when you are let into the park. After that since most people are wanting to ride FoP, the wait for Na'vi is still pretty short after you ride FoP. I have also read where some people are having luck jumping into line close to the park close with little waits (30-45 min).

I find this trend of advertising it as "No wait" when you line up before park open to be really infuriating. It's not no wait! You're still waiting one to two hours for the ride, you're just doing it before the park opens. Yes, it is objectively better than wasting park time, but it's hardly no wait, and getting up and out that early on vacation is a pretty annoying thing too. Just a pet peeve! Especially since most of the time I find the waits in AK not that bad, so waiting 2 hours before open to avoid waiting in the park doesn't seem as valuable.

Matt

 

[ginny65]

The park will close to the public I believe at 6:00pm.

Are you kidding me?!!! This is our one and only park day, and they are going to close it three hours early? No way! We had better get to stay and see Rivers of Light!!

 

[Duck143]

I doubt this will work for us on May 16 because I just learned that is a special ticket event evening for DVC members and so you know they are going to be flogging the park that evening at AK. Boo hoo. I sure wish I would have been aware of that prior to scheduling what day we will be at AK.

We're planning on AK that morning. What event is this that night and how did you learn about it?

 

[ginny65]

We're planning on AK that morning. What event is this that night and how did you learn about it?

I learned about it on another post. Take a look at the recent posts regarding EMH's changing for AK

 

[Duck143]

Are you kidding me?!!! This is our one and only park day, and they are going to close it three hours early? No way! We had better get to stay and see Rivers of Light!!

There is no mention of the park closing early or any sort of event scheduled for May 16th on the Park Hours calendar.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

There is no mention of the park closing early or any sort of event scheduled for May 16th on the Park Hours calendar.

AK closes at 9 that night, an hour earlier than the rest of that week.

 

[ginny65]

AK closes at 9 that night, an hour earlier than the rest of that week.

So on the nights they have the Midnight Magic events, they don't close the park to regular guests early?

 

[lovetotraveltx]

So on the nights they have the Midnight Magic events, they don't close the park to regular guests early?

I was under the impression they did close early for moonlight magic?

 

[lovetotraveltx]

I just checked the details. It says DVC members can enter for free starting at 7:30 but it doesn't officially start until 9:30, so after the Animal Kingdom Closes.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Are you kidding me?!!! This is our one and only park day, and they are going to close it three hours early? No way! We had better get to stay and see Rivers of Light!!

Sorry, looks like Park is still open until 9:00. It will just get busier at 7:30 as DVC members that are going to the event can start entering the park without a park ticket at 7:30