Are predicted wait times for Flight of Passage accurate?

We will be in Animal Kingdom on Saturday, October 28st, predicted wait times for EMH at 8AM are 33 min and at 10AM just 36 min. Will they actually be that short? I have a FP for late in the day just wondering if we could go there first thing and then ride later in the day too…

Based on the anecdotal reports that I’ve read here, I doubt it. If you get there early enough to be at the head of the EMH crowds, then you may actually see lines les than 30 min (technically, the first 50 or 60 will have “no” wait) - but I have no idea how early you have to get to the park to be at the head of the EMH crowd… I just looked at Lines, and today at 10:00 the posted wait time was 170 min. As of noon, posted is 175 and TP “expected” is 145…

On a EMH morning in late September I was at Rope Drop and entered AK just before 8:00 AM. By the time we got to Pandora the line for FOP was already queuing back towards Africa. The line moved steadily as they opened up switchbacks inside the attraction, but we still ended up waiting about an hour. Hope this helps!

Thanks I appreciate it!

We were there last week and I believe the wait times are probably fairly accurate. On Saturday, Oct. 14, during the late morning, the wait time posted as 240 minutes (4 hours!). Crazy, right?

However, here is the secret: If you are “in line” even one minute before closing, they will let you ride. I found this tip from a cast member, who told us that it will cut your wait time to 1/4 of the average wait, which I believe is around 2 hours. Sure enough, my wife and I got to the entrance at 8:45 and we were on the ride in about 30 minutes or less. Here’s another tip, make sure you know where you are going at night. It is VERY dark and the signs are not lit. We took a couple false trails and almost didn’t make it by 9:00. We were only able to find the entrance by asking people.

It is a fantastic ride and should not be missed. However, it would be very scary for young children. My wife and I got a little queasy from motion sickness, but not enough to wish we could go back and ride it again. We watched the grandkids (4 all 4 and under) while we insisted that our adult children and spouses go back at night to ride. They were glad they did.

do you think the ride is too scary for a 8 year old?

That’s a good question. In my judgement, 10 and older is probably what I would suggest for my own grandchildren, and even then I would prep them beforehand. There are 2 things that make this particularly scary: 1) The ride is like a very aggressive roller coaster ride, with the feeling of free falling, dips, turns, and unpredictable twists. My wife and I both got a little motion sickness from this ride. Unlike Soarin’, your brain will not be able to tell your body that this is just simulator. It is that incredible. And unlike Soarin’, you will not be able to comfort your child if he or she is scared. You are basically riding a motorcycle-type contraption and not sitting next to your child. If your child starts crying, you will not be able to do much except hold out your hand. 2) I don’t want to take away any surprises for you, but there are computer generated visuals that might (read, probably will) scare a young child.

Here’s what I would do: You ride it first with your FP+, then see what you think. If you think your child can handle it, then take the 8 year old back just before closing and ride it. If not, at least you didn’t torture your child.

My 7 1/2 year olds who love Star Tours and Soarin absolutely hated it and were traumatized for days afterwards to the point where they were very hesitant about going on rides they already had ridden and loved because of it. But we ran into other kids around that age who loved it. It was my husband’s favorite ride. You can tell it is incredibly well done and appreciate how amazing it is, but if you can’t get past the intensity, you can’t really get to a place where you can actually enjoy it.

I am having a difficult time figuring out how long FOP will be with a FPP in the evening.
I made a personalized Touring Plan for my day at Animal Kingdom and it is estimating the wait to be about 10 minutes and the ride duration to be 6 minutes.
But from what I have heard the attraction is a lot longer than this because of the preshows.
What is a more reasonable wait and attraction time for a 6:15pm FPP at FOP on a crowd level 3 day?

I’m confused by the estimate that Touring Plans is making; I wish it was only going to take 16 minutes to do this attraction with FPP but most people that I have asked on the forums have told me it takes from 25-45 minutes with FPP. :slight_smile:

Plan for at least 30 minutes.

This is the first I’ve read about kids - who normally love Star Tours and/or Soarin’ - being traumatized by FOP. Has anyone else had that experience?

I can definitly see it. The ride is a lot more realistic. It is nothing like Soar in. I actually believed I was riding the banshee at times. You feel like you are falling hundreds of feet and it looks like you are going to hit your head many times.

Thank you.

I just showed my DD12 and DD9 the walk-through, loading queue, and then a POV on-ride video. I know it may “spoil” the experience, but my kids like to know what’s coming more than they like being surprised.

I explained that you guys said that the ride is much more intense than Soarin’. They are not huge coaster fans but after seeing and hearing all that, they said that they still want to try it!

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