Completely changing AK plans?

I’m considering completely rearranging our first day in AK. Sigh.

Currently we have a 8:20 breakfast at TH, FP for the Safaris at 9:15 and Pandora FPs split between NRJ and FOP at 1:15 and 2:35. I’m hoping to be able to bump up our FOP FP when/if SD FPs drop but don’t want to count on it. I had originally hoped to break for the Poly around 3 with dinner at CG @ 7:30.

Well…now we’ve switched dinner to 5:40 @ AP. So I think we either need to plan to leave the park closer to 1 or just plan to stay and leisurely stroll around AK and take the bus to WL for dinner.

So now I’m wondering if it would be best to move our TH breakfast later (there’s a 10:45 slot available) and try to RD Pandora, which would give us the ability to leave AK earlier if we want to and not have to miss out on FOP.

I’m nervous trying to RD FOP with the kids and their little legs. Don’t want to get trampled! It would likely be myself, my dad, DD8 and DS6 who attempt to RD while my mom, DD4 and DD2 head to Pandora also but at a more leisurely pace. If my mom and the littles aren’t “walking with purpose” and not at the queue when we are will they still issue a RS pass for my mom to ride once we are done? Or will they require her to be physically present? In October they issued myself and DD8 a RS for Soarin’ while we were outside with the littles asleep in the stroller but I know FOP tends to be a different animal with regards to RS.

Thoughts? Is it fine as is or should I change stuff around? Should I just stop messing with all of my plans?

Could anyone offer any recent experience regarding FOP RD? Manageable with kids?

Do you have extra FPs? How do you have both FOP & Navi? Or do you mean some of the party is doing one and some the other?

To rope drop FoP without too much of a wait you will need to be at the park an hour before park opening. Can you realistically plan to do that?

And yes, everyone wanting to do the rider switch needs to be there, so it can be added to their band. So if Mom wants to ride in the second group, then she will need to be there. So will the little ones otherwise they won’t give a RS in the first place.

I RD FOP at the end of October and it was calm and orderly. No trampling or anything. I was not with littles but there were plenty of strollers. I would be willing to do it again with kids. We were nowhere near the front either (middle of the pack) as we arrived about 30 minutes pre open. We were off by 927 on a 900 open although the ride started slightly before 900.
My experience RDing SDD the day before was not nearly as pleasant! I think has to do with more paths open to get there but then everyone from both directions hits the bottleneck to get through the arches to TSL and then a free for all once you get to TSL. But we waited only a couple minutes to ride so that was good.

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I have recent experience with RD at AK, but not with young kids or FOP. It was an EMH day that we RDed. We got there about an hour ahead. DD16 went ahead to be at the front of the pack, as we would only slow her down (we are handicapped). This was Christmas Eve. She rode the ride and got out about the same time we got out of NRJ. That means there there was a bit of a delay. I can only think that she wasn’t at the very beginning. Someone helped Gregg up the big hill toward Pandora (he was in his wheelchair), and I was walking with the walker. If we had been faster, we’d probably have been at the beginning of the crowds. Overall, RD on a less busy day should still work.

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We RD’d FOP in Oct-2018. We arrived an hour-ish before park opening on a lower crowd level day. We were the last row of people with a foot on the bridge, within the first hundred-ish to ride FOP, and exited the ride around park opening time. Personally, I wouldn’t do it with a stroller or older parents. If a member of my party could’t fast walk/slow jog on their own feet and I already had FP secured for FOP, I would most definitely just use the FP and forego the stress of RD.

This is what I’m planning on. That way the two little girls will have something to do while waiting on us. I moved our NRJ FP back to line up with our FOP FP time.

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We were planning on getting there around 7:45-8 anyway for our TH ADR. Definitely doable.

That is encouraging at least!! My fear of the reports of SDD RD lead me to buy tickets to EMM. :grimacing:

The more I think about it the more I lean toward avoiding the madness. Lol. My parents are for sure able to walk quickly and I have lots of memories of my dad making us run through Six Flags at opening time to beat the crowds. He has, however, aged out of what he calls the “hurry sickness” and I think he would balk at me trying to get him to hustle to keep up with the pack. :roll_eyes:

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You might be surprised at how age has affected your parents without realizing it. Disney will definitely push a body to it’s limits with walking.

We had a short four days to do it all and a tight schedule with no FP for FOP. We actually did the single file PT jog from the turnstiles to the bridge, to the amusement and annoyance of many :rofl:

And hey y’all! We are Okies BTW. I’ve spent many a hot summer day on that blistering asphalt at Six Flags Over Texas!

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Oh man. Me too! And after going to Disney and Universal prior to visiting Six Flags last summer I’m sorry to say I’m no longer in love with it. Also perhaps my age catching up to me. :wink:

We just spent NY in Broken Bow! Loved it!

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