So since a member of our group is not staying on property they were not able to get a FPP for FOP. The rest of the group has a FPP since we were able to reserve 60 days out. What is the best strategy for her to ride FOP? Does it make the most sense to get there for RD? What has been people’s recent experiences with going directly to FOP at rope drop? Does it make more sense to wait to see if she can snag one during one of the FPP drops? TIA!
When we were there a couple weeks ago, we arrived at 8:10 and they were already letting people into the park and Pandora was running. So for rd, you have to be there really early. If you’re not at the front of that group (like if you show up at 8:45 and get in line), that will be the longest line at FOP all day.
The same day drops (11:01, 1:01, 3:01, and sometimes 5:01… I believe) are another good option, especially since you’re just looking for 1 ticket. (or 2 so she can ride with a friend.) The other option that many recommend is getting in line right before closing, but then the rest of the group doesn’t really have anything to do.
Thanks! So basically going for RD doesn’t make sense unless you are there an hour before.
Yes. Although you could use that hour nicely riding Navi (not worth the long wait it gets) and getting Tree of Life photos. And actually FOP is such a good ride, that if I had a FP, I’d still rd it so I could ride it twice.
We get up early anyways, so rd just makes sense for us.
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RD will obviously work and then you can use the FPPs later. Also note we saw a load of 30 day FoP fast passes drop on Saturday so keep looking out for those.
There was a sneaky idea in the latest Backside of Disney podcast where they mentioned encountering a group who’d got given a restroom pass on FoP and they noted that if someone with a FPP got one, but then went out and went back in with their FPP but the friend without it used the restroom pass that might work. But it was just conjecture.
FWIW, here is what we experienced in early December, for a 9am opening with 8am EMH.
7:15 arrived via Minnie Van
7:20 at the first tap (crowd not as bad as I expected, but it did fill up fast behind us with “bus people”)
7:30 they open the flood gates and we’re in - we walk, many run
7:32 at the 2nd tap to make sure we’re ok for EMH - we walk again, many continue to run again
7:37 get in line for FOP stand-by
7:44 going inside
7:56 ready to be de-contaminated
8:13 exiting the ride
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Thanks for the tips! I keep checking to see if any become available. Trying to use a restroom pass would be too stressful for me to pull off. I am a rule follower at heart 
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Yes I agree, I just mention it as they happened to discuss it this week.
Thanks for this information! It would work out for me if we did rope drop and then I can use the FPP to ride it again. Did you happen to ride Navi right after FOP? Curious what the wait was for that at 8:15.
Back in September-2018 we were able to get FPP for FOP on our last day in the parks (day 7) at 9:20am. Wife, 2 kids, and I. We then added my MIL to the party and could not add that FPP for her.
tl;dr
Rope Drope and attempt to “wiggle/worm” the other party if all else fails on the FPP day.
You’ll enjoy a second ride on FOP, without a doubt.
All of the below is based on the recommendation to keep attempting to find a pass. Read on if you must leave it to fate…and 
to 
We decided to rope drop on an EMH day (8:00am) on day 2 in the parks. Arrived at park 60-75 minutes before opening (7:00am ish). Worked great and were on and off the first round of riders, on to Navi, on to Safari, on to, on to, on to…
On days 3-6 we had another person join us for some touring off and on, a Disney Employee/Cousin, but I don’t believe that truly mattered. He was able to join us on FPP rides every time we asked but would have been ready to wait even he could not have.
Cousin said politely, quietly, and with no expectation of it being granted:smiles "Hi, is it ok if I join my out of town family members? smiles
Cast Member: “Yes/Sure/Ok”…or nothing but a smile and a green light…note he never claimed to be an employee or have any power/deserved anything.
It happened so often and without fail that my introverted self decided to try to get MIL on FOP, her favorite ride of the trip, a 2nd time even though our employee-family member was not touring with us.
Me: smiles “Hi, the four of us have FPP, but we added grandma to the room later. Is it ok if she joins us?” smiles
Cast Member: “Sure.”
Employee family member notes:
- Never assume it will work. It always a win if it does.
- The more real FPP you have the better the odds.
- Don’t even try it with more than 1 “free-rider”, that starts to try the patience of cast members.
- Smile
- Don’t be loud about it, don’t make trouble for the cast members who could get heat from others for being nice to you.
Caveat: We were there in late September…Smaller crowds all around. Our longest wait all week was to meet Chewy (25 minutes), and likely much easier for cast members to pepper us with pixie particles
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We had a brief delay before heading right to Navi (one daughter wasn’t feeling good), so I don’t know exactly.
But, I think we had about a 30 minute stand-by wait for Navi from 8:30 - 9:00
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I just did RD for FOP at a 9AM opening. Arrived 7:30, in by 8:10. Let into Pandora about 8:20. In line 8:25. We were off the ride by 9:55.
I would hate to put someone through that all by themselves. So if the group isn’t going to RD together maybe everyone tries for the 11:01 drop. All can modify, she can add and then everyone can ride together?
I just did this with my three kids last week. Similar to @cjandres experience. Got there around 7:20, let in at 8, held on the bridge til 8:30. Off the ride at 9. The line for Navi was way too long. And then I was modifying FP in groups of two and got overlapping FoP for both groups around 2:30 to be used at 4Ish. We really wanted to do Navi with a FP and that was harder for me to get, FoP actally showed up a few times while I was refreshing for NRJ.
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I watched a touringplans video where Brian showed how to get FOP without FP.
Animal Kingdom had a Park Opening of 9am. He was staying at AoA and took the bus. the bus showed up at 7:39am and he was at AK about 7:50am. He went thru went thru the bag check and then was let in. He was in about the first 20percent of the people there. He went to where he was guided to and kept following. To make a long story short, he walked out of FOP at 8:57am and then decided to check on Navi River Ride. He went on that and was done, I believe it was 9:17am. He then showed a video of line. The line had a 3 hour wait and it wasn’t even 9:30am. The line for FOP reached all the way to Africa and back.
If you can’t get FP+ for FOP, he stressed this is the best way to do it. This was on the Saturday and was supposed to be pretty crowded. Here is the link to the video. Hope this helps.
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We would definitely do it with her! I would prefer to go to Navi since we have a 10:30 am FPP for FOP but maybe at least one of us can go to FOP with her.
They just dumped a load of new FPPs for FoP, SDD and SDMT for March, get them while they’re hot!
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=835236
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Thank you for posting this, @SimonUK - I was able to go onto my friends’ MDE and got them a KS FPP for AK. She’s so happy. I “gave up” It’s Tough to Be a Bug… 
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ugh! I totally missed this. Darn work!