The other thing is, if you arrive right at RD, you can get a ton of other stuff done rather than heading towards FoP. SO many people think “FoP or bust” and head there right away and get in line, regardless of what it says. If you’re willing to be patient, even aside from the chance at a day-of FP, the line will be about the same and you will have made much better use of the morning.
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That’s my fear! I’ll never be forgiven if I drag everyone over there early and it doesn’t work out 
Many have advised me that we’ll love FOP so much we’ll want to do it twice but I worry we’ll get stuck at the back of the rope drop pack (I’m not going to be someone pushing others out the way!) and if we don’t get off by just after 8 (EMH) it’ll throw the rest of our touring plan and we’ll get stuck in longer queues for everything else…
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It does seem to be a trade-off. Shorter everything else and one long line or get the big one over with and have to pay with longer lines on everything else.
The thing is, what if the afternoon crowds get bigger, not smaller? What if my day is the anomaly day when everyone who RDed it also have FPPs and want to ride again? It’s that ‘what if’ that makes me crazy.
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Brian of Touring plans, did a video of getting to ride FOP without a FP. If you want to save a lot of time, watch the video because he shows how fast the line builds up. For a busy park day, with a 9am RD. This is what he was able to do.
Took bus and got to the park at 750am. Went thru the check and then into the park. He was in the first about 20% of the people going there, which was most of the people. He kept walking and walking and got to the enterance and the cue, than on the ride and off the ride walking back towards the Navi River ride and it was 858am. He rode Navi and then did a video showing the line as he walked it. It went all the way to Africa and back. He sat down and had a pastry and coffee and it was I believe 930am. He has said, watch the video and show it to those that have a hard time getting up in the morning.
Here is the link to that video.
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FYI my husband is 6’4” and had no trouble at all. We rope dropped it (following the same plan we saw in the video posted above) and also had a FP for it later in the day!
Good video. Thanks.
DH is 6’1", but has some girth to him, just not pooh sized girth. I hope it will be okay.
I am 6’1", not small, I fit the last time but think it would be too tight this time. I weighed, I believe 250 and did make it with some help from the CM
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Oh! Another question… DH is afraid of heights. I know you don’t actually go anywhere on FOP, but with the VR headset on, will he feel like he is? Can he just close his eyes if he starts to freak out?
I have issues with motion sickness. Some people have reported they don’t have problems. I can not ride EE. For FOP, I wore 2 sea bands, on on each wrist and I still had issues with it, at times I had to close my eyes so I could make it thru it. Hardest part is when it makes you feel like you are diving down and spinning. That is very hard for me. For me, this was a one and done ride. I didn’t get sick but was out of sorts for a little bit.
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Stories like that make me wonder if it’s worth it. I hope it is.
My wife is not small and she loves the ride.
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My mother is afraid of heights. She enjoys some coasters like 7DMT, Space Mountain and Big Thunder because the track is not exposed. Splash is great too; she closes her eyes on the big drop. That said she does NOT enjoy Soarin. She prefers to skip it. We did it on our last trip as a whole family (it was an advance FPP selection) and she spent the entire ride gripping the seat with her eyes closed. However, she really enjoyed FOP. She said she closed her eyes during the most intense parts, but she absolutely wants to do it again.
During Soarin you are physically lifted up high in the air while during FOP you are securely enclosed on your ride banshee apparatus. I think that makes a difference to my mom’s height fear.
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Yes, these videos are great aren’t they! We have friends who did this twice during a trip just before Easter 2018, once they were on and off FOP very promptly but the second time they were in a queue for over 2 hours!
I guess it’s the unknown variables that @Ariadne mentions that make me worry. Also it’ll be our second day and first rope drop so I’m not sure how long the buses will take etc.
I’ve also read lots of reports on another forum of people feeling ill on FOP and I did wonder whether it’s safer to ride on our FP at the end of the day for the first time, rather than at rope drop when any side effects could impact our touring for the rest of the day. My head is buzzing with variations of touring plans at the moment!
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If worried about the bus, you could always take a lyft or uber
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I was worried that I would feel motion sickness on FOP or Soarin but didn’t. There’s no falling sensation on Soarin. FOP is more of a diving feeling than a free-fall, which is what terrifies me the most. So I was prepared to close my eyes, but never needed to. (There is also a barrel roll moment which can be a little intense.) And it’s not a VR headset. Just 3D glasses, so maybe that will feel more normal?
Hope that helps. This sort of thing is so personalized. i would recommend starting out with Soarin or even Star Tours to see.
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We’ve done Soarin’ and Star Wars in the past with no problems. But that’s sitting comfortably in a seat, not on a ‘bike’ which could feel more like the real thing, which, I suppose is the intent.
Gotcha. Yeah I can see that being different. If I was in your situation, I’d probably try for the same day FP drop at 3:01 or 5:01 to get a later FOP time (or pre-book a later FP time) and be prepared to scrap the rest of the day if I felt ill.
It’s an AMAZING ride. Knowing how good it is, if you told me that I would feel sick the rest of the day, I think I’d still ride it again and just try to close my eyes a little and see if that helps. The bike seat doesn’t move that drastically, so closing your eyes should fix the problem. But of course, closing your eyes also means you miss the ride. 
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There is also the option of riding FOP at park closing. Jump in line 5-10 minutes before closing so you are not wasting park time. See this forum thread: FOP at Park Closing?
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I would totally do this but we RD and stay all day. DH is done by dinner and we head out for some much needed hot tub time.
Yeah, I definitely would not do this on a RD day. I did want to throw it out there as another option (especially when I saw mention of teens).
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