Planning to arrive at AK Thursday, May 16 (crowd level 6) rope drop at 7:15. Going directly to F of P. TP App says 39 minute wait which is based on 7:30 entry of course. QUESTIONS: Firstly, 39 minute wait at 7:30? Really? Secondly, what wait if at rope drop by 7:15?
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That is probably accurate if you are not arriving until 7:15. We typically catch the first possible bus to AK and are close to the front of the group. However, that means we are usually arriving 45 minutes (if not earlier) before rope drop. The AK RD crowd will grow quickly once the 30 minute mark hits and the vast majority will be heading to FOP. Walking the que alone takes quite awhile and depending on the RD crowd level, I’d say 39 minutes is probably accurate.
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I believe you will need to arrive closer to 6:30, regardless of CL, to be in the front of the line. At 7:15 the line could already be long, inside the park.
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I just looked at my day in December text messages from a day when there was a CL 5-6. A friend got to the taps at 7:20 and was off by 8:10. So that was 40 minutes from getting in lines at the taps to the gift shop after the ride. She was a single rider, so she may have been called up a little faster than the normal wait.
When I arrived at 7:10 the taps were definately backed up and the line was growing. There is a building in the middle of the line, and a lot of times people don’t go around the building and get in those lines, so that is one strategy .
I hope this helps!
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Seems to the consensus. So I guess it is ILL again. Wanted to see everything in queue but 40 minutes and getting behind the crowd curve just not worth it for us. THX FOR COMMENTS EVERONE!
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This is always my same thought process as well. 
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Just did this on 5/1. Arrived at 6:45 and was about four back from the taps. They opened the park at 7:20 and it was a speed walk back to the ride and then they wind you through the land and into the queue. I was off the ride at 7:55. It was kinda neat to see the full queue, I’ve always done LL before.
With a larger group, or slower walkers, or if you just don’t like being jostled or feeling stressed, I’m not sure I’d recommend the RD route.
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And don’t forget - people ahead of you in line will always have problems tapping in and will slow down the line.
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If EE starts at 7:30 and you don’t arrive until 7:15 you’ll be way behind the crowds. For a 7:30 EE we arrived at AK at 6:50. So yes you’ll have at least a 40 minute wait for FOP.
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Just for the record - our 40 mins included the preshow and riding the ride. So that is a good 15 minutes of that time. The rest of the time was walking, with very little standing still until the room before the preshow., which is agter the ILL merge.
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The wait time includes the preshow.
Trust the touring plan. I am still amazed how accurate they are, and when they aren’t accurate, it’s usually for unforeseen circumstances like ride breakdowns or weather.
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Yesterday, we were the first ones in line for security around 6:30, which didn’t open until 6:50. We took the first bus from ASMU.
The scans opened at 7. We were held at the front until 7:30. While we were not the first in line for the ride after everyone pushed and shoved their way around, we were off the ride by 7:54. We walked the entire queue and didn’t stop until assigned a line.
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We think the bus got to ASMU around 6:15.
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Yes love TP. However, 39 minutes went to 16 minutes with Crowd Level change 6 to 5. Is not that a bit inconsistent?
There has also been a shift to believing people when they say they will be in the front of rope drop. Those rope dropping predictions have decreased. There used to be a lot of comments “I told TP I would be there and they still say a 30 minute wait”. Unfortunately, things happen and even a 5 minute delay can impact that short wait time.
Repeat this mantra:
“Trust the plan. Trust the plan.”
Trust the plan for rope drop if you are in fact at that park one hour before EE. If your definition of “rope drop” is to arrive at the entrance when EE begins, that person will be very disappointed.
100% true! The software assumes you are through the tapstyles at opening, so you need to be arriving at the parking lot 45 minutes before opening (or over an hour to the TTC if going to MK), in line at the tapstyles at least 30 minutes if walking, or on the first bus out from your resort. Also, if going to HS, you should plan on adding another 30 minutes to that if you qualify for early entry because that park often opens to resort guest 30 minutes before the posted early entry time (which is awesome because you get a full hour before dayguests are allowed in!)
The Unofficial Guide and the preset plans on Touring Plans specify in greater detail how early to get to each park.
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Is this true for all of HS? I have found this true for RISE but not Toystory Land. At HS, the scans open 30 minutes before EE.
We can walk to RISE by 8:10ish, walk the entire queue, and get on the ride. We can finish RISE before EE officially begins, which gives another 35 minutes or so to get on other rides before the park opens.
But if we start EE in Toystory Land, we can walk all the way to the entrance of the ride but we were always held at the entrance of the ride (TSM) until about 5 minutes fore EE. This normally gave us 2 rides on TSM and a ride on ASS before the park opens.
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