Avatar without a FP+ and not much time??

[wildekatza]

Ok. So we decided, last minute as usual, to head to WDW for 2 days next week. Yay us!!! Just us parents, no kids. Again, Yay, us!!! I have tried for 2 weeks day and night to get FP+ for AFOP and haven't seen bubkiss!!! Boo us!!

We are doing the MK after hours based on Craig and Kylie's video on Thursday then Friday AK all day, flight out Saturday. Boooooo us!!!

My original plan was rope drop to score a seat on AFOP but I am wondering if during the day if single rider is an option or just as long of a wait. DH STINKS at rope drop plans. He usually drags us to the gate at 5 mins.til. Boo us! So I need to have a fall back on plan just in case. I have rented a car because we are staying at The Dolphin and their buses don't start until 30 mins prior to park opening PLUS they are currently not running out of there at all but only at the Swan. Boo us!!

Suggestions other than leaving the bag rat behind?

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Too bad you can't squeeze in a MNSSHP with all that BOOing.
If you can't do rope drop (and by that, I mean getting to AK 75 minutes prior to park opening) then get in line for FOP 15 minutes before the park closes. And have a super trip!

 

[wildekatza]

Too bad you can't squeeze in a MNSSHP with all that BOOing.
If you can't do rope drop (and by that, I mean getting to AK 75 minutes prior to park opening) then get in line for FOP 15 minutes before the park closes. And have a super trip!

Thanks, Disdresming!!
I figure the MK After Hours tix are the same as MNSSHP, no? Or are you saying the latter gets me into AK with low numbers???
I thought it was a plus we were going on low attendance days (green days on WDW planning calendars) . I mean, we come in at noon on Wednesday and leave Saturday so feasibly I could try Wednesday if it has a lower crowd that day than Fricay, I just wouldn't be able to do my rope drop scenario. Lol

 

[wildekatza]

Lol...disdreaming...just got the MNSSHP joke..slow on the uptake today.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

get in line for FOP 15 minutes before the park closes

This. And keep in mind the posted wait time will likely be significantly higher than your actual wait time.

 

[FCDub]

There is no single rider line for FOP, for the record.

 

[gharter]

FoP does not have a single rider line. If you can't do FP, then either RD or the end of the day are your best options. IF you do RD, you need to be there 45 minutes before park opening time.
After hours and MNSSHP are totally different. After hours is a limited number of people allowed in the park, short lines, but no extra activities. Haven't done this so can't comment on whether its worth it or not.
MNSSHP starts at 7, has a special parade, fireworks and stage shows. Also special meet and greets, trick or treating for the kids. A lot of fun.

 

[HopperFan]

Ok. So we decided, last minute as usual, to head to WDW for 2 days next week. Yay us!!! Just us parents, no kids. Again, Yay, us!!! I have tried for 2 weeks day and night to get FP+ for AFOP and haven't seen bubkiss!!! Boo us!!

We are doing the MK after hours based on Craig and Kylie's video on Thursday then Friday AK all day, flight out Saturday. Boooooo us!!!

My original plan was rope drop to score a seat on AFOP but I am wondering if during the day if single rider is an option or just as long of a wait. DH STINKS at rope drop plans. He usually drags us to the gate at 5 mins.til. Boo us! So I need to have a fall back on plan just in case. I have rented a car because we are staying at The Dolphin and their buses don't start until 30 mins prior to park opening PLUS they are currently not running out of there at all but only at the Swan. Boo us!!

Suggestions other than leaving the bag rat behind?

He's really going to stink after being up for MK After Hours (which is great).

No single rider line.

Keep trying for FP+, even trying for one at a time with overlapping times at some point.

If River Navi' comes up, take it. Sometimes it can be easier to change that to FoP than to get FoP to roll up randomly.

Try the day of, it's happened, it's possible. Just keep refreshing that app. Never give up.

No kids? just buck up. Hit the potty then get in line. The SB line really has some cool elements and a perfect day to do it.

Go at the end of the night ... but honestly I'd do my best to do during the day because you might want to repeat at end of day.

 

[Mome Rath]

You have 3ish options, because there's no single rider. lol

1) Get to the gate early for rope drop, about an hour early.
2) Get in line right before close. As long as you are in line before time for the park to close, they will let you ride. The wait times have been reported to be inflated, so for example, it will be posted 120 minutes and you only wind up waiting an hour.
3) Try to keep refreshing on your actual AK day for a FP.

Or

4) Just go ahead and do standby. I hear the line is really cool.

 

[Christine]

We could never get a FP for FoP during our stay last month. We ended up doing FoP three times by going to AK before park closing (generally 30 minutes or so) and riding.

On your AK day, just plan on staying late or have dinner there or something and do the ride at closing. It's worth it.

 

[bwang123]

This Summer, we got to AK 30minutes before park opening and was in line and off of FoP in ~30minutes.

 

[wildekatza]

I am sorry. I stand corrected. I misread another site stating that there was single rider for FOP and there isn't. Well, there goes my 2nd strategy. I won't much want to ride with Mr. Pricklepants if he doesn't get me there at least 1 hour before rope drop. He can actually get up on time after little to no sleep, but if YOU need him to do it for YOU, it is kind of like a toddler when you tell them to wear the matching outfit. Because YOU told them to wear that, they are going to wear 2 different shoes and a polka dot shirt with striped pajama bottoms...I blame his mother for this....

So now the question is this: We usually make it to WDW about 2xs a year but due to the FP+ stuff , we have been opting to do DL instead in California simply because we normally know about 2-3 weeks ahead that we have a few days to travel and do Disney. I made reservations for the RoL dinner because we hadn't seen the RoL yet (haven't seen any of Pandora yet) so am I correct in assuming I should skip the RoL show for the FoP ride instead? The park will close right after the RoL, correct? T here is only one show that evening and the park closes at 8:30. I think the show is at 8:05pm. My gf told me it was a must see, but seating position is everything on this. I can skip it or get "lesser seats" if it comes down to getting to ride the FoP.

 

[wildekatza]

He's really going to stink after being up for MK After Hours (which is great).

No single rider line.

Keep trying for FP+, even trying for one at a time with overlapping times at some point.

If River Navi' comes up, take it. Sometimes it can be easier to change that to FoP than to get FoP to roll up randomly.

Try the day of, it's happened, it's possible. Just keep refreshing that app. Never give up.

No kids? just buck up. Hit the potty then get in line. The SB line really has some cool elements and a perfect day to do it.

Go at the end of the night ... but honestly I'd do my best to do during the day because you might want to repeat at end of day.

Okay, so I got the River Navi' right away and there are still a lot of those available. Are you saying to keep clicking my River Navi' fastpass choice to see if the FoP pops up as a choice to switch to? Disney sure stinks if they are doing that instead of showing the actual FP available.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Go to FoP close to park closing. It is way better to see Pandora late at night anyway, as dark as possible.

They stretch the wait time estimates at night. We got online for Slinky, posted at 210 minutes, 90 minutes before closing. It was a 65 minutes actual wait. Walked on TS Mania 10 minutes before closing. Posted wait was 45.

 

[wildekatza]

Go to FoP close to park closing. It is way better to see Pandora late at night anyway, as dark as possible.

They stretch the wait time estimates at night. We got online for Slinky, posted at 210 minutes, 90 minutes before closing. It was a 65 minutes actual wait. Walked on TS Mania 10 minutes before closing. Posted wait was 45.

Why do they try to discourage people from riding by posting inflated wait times? My gf told me they also hype up the rides (her guess, not fact) with limited FP+ availability (say they hand out 100 FP+ for a ride normally, but a new one they are only going to hand out 50) to ramp up the level of excitement to ride. Grrrr…. Just do everything legitimate Disney! LOL

 

[HopperFan]

Okay, so I got the River Navi' right away and there are still a lot of those available. Are you saying to keep clicking my River Navi' fastpass choice to see if the FoP pops up as a choice to switch to? Disney sure stinks if they are doing that instead of showing the actual FP available.

It's weird but we have found having a FP+ in the same tier we seem to have an easier time switching to another same tier ... than if we were just looking without any comparable booked. We pick up Frozen every time in Epcot practically walking straight in even though there are long SB lines. Same has happened at DHS and AK top tiers. Not the same at MK since no tiers.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Why do they try to discourage people from riding by posting inflated wait times?

Because the CMs want to go home at some point

 

[wildekatza]

I assumed that they were doing this all day long though, the inflated ride wait times and not just at close? I know we get in line all of the time for rides and it will show that it is a 60 minute wait and we are on and off before the 60 minute wait time. It also works the other way, too. We have gotten in line when it says 60 minutes and waited well OVER an hour so I guess it all depends on when the last person with the timer necklace came through before you got in line.

 

[wildekatza]

It's weird but we have found having a FP+ in the same tier we seem to have an easier time switching to another same tier ... than if we were just looking without any comparable booked. We pick up Frozen every time in Epcot practically walking straight in even though there are long SB lines. Same has happened at DHS and AK top tiers. Not the same at MK since no tiers.

I am def going to try this. It seems like the Navi River ride isn't as popular or at least no one gets the FP+ for it this "far out" from next week. It still pops up all day long for that day.

I also just asked DH and he is willing to use another one of our "NO EXP" tickets to go to AK a day earlier (the same day we are doing the After Hours MK next week) so he won't have to get up after only 4 hours of sleep. So I will have 2 shots at getting to ride the FoP at least once.

 

[Sysyphus]

Last Tuesday we got to park gates just before 9am and wait time was already 120 by the time we got to AFOP. After our afternoon ROL FP posted wait down to 95 so we joined, and it was pretty accurate... as luck would have it a heavy shower arrived just as we got to the indoor part of the line, and had stopped by the time we got off the ride