AK in less than 1 day!

[HalfGlass]

Okay all, first time visiting Pandora this May. I know I’ve been posting a bit about different topics, so I really appreciate everyone who has helped out, because it truly has been wonderful!

I have 1 day to do AK (Tuesday, 5/8, Crowd Level is a 4/10), and we are torn since we are staying offsite, but want to do both Pandora (Flight of Passage, River Journey), but also see Rivers of Light. We are really trying to avoid going to park at Rope Drop, because we know we will be totally dead after two full days at the parks beforehand without a breather (especially for my friend who is new to all things Universal/Disney). Essentially, this trip to AK is for me since I’m a theme park nerd, but he’s along for the ride, so I’m trying to keep that in mind when scheduling this.

I was told FastPass is our friend, but after doing some searching online, all I see is that everyone, even at the 60 day mark for those staying onsite, are still having issues getting FPs. So, we obviously don’t want to wait 2+ hours for FoP and 1.5-2 for RJ since that will be sucking our day up (not to mention my friend will not be up for it since he doesn’t like Avatar and will be a little “theme parked out” by this point in the trip). I think I can convince him to do one ride with a crazy wait, but not two consecutively.

As mentioned, we really want to stay for Rivers of Light….but to be honest, I can’t see us getting there at 8am and staying in the park until 9:30pm for the show.

Any suggestions? And I’m over worrying about getting FPs 30 days out? Or do you all have any other recommendations for a way to make this work?

 

[JungleSkip]

Sad to say, but you're not going to get FP for the Avatar rides. It's just not going to happen. I also think not getting there at rope drop is a mistake if you don't want to spend way too much time waiting in Flight of Passage's line.

 

[HalfGlass]

Sad to say, but you're not going to get FP for the Avatar rides. It's just not going to happen. I also think not getting there at rope drop is a mistake if you don't want to spend way too much time waiting in Flight of Passage's line.

So is Rivers of Light worth skipping then? I just can't see us staying there for 13 hours, especially since we aren't animal lovers or anything. We will want to do the rides, safari, festival of the lion king, and that's about it.

 

[JungleSkip]

So is Rivers of Light worth skipping then? I just can't see us staying there for 13 hours, especially since we aren't animal lovers or anything. We will want to do the rides, safari, festival of the lion king, and that's about it.

I haven't seen RoL personally, but I've not heard good things

 

[rhino4evr]

my advice...GO at rope drop. Do Flight of Passage, but not river journey, then do the rest of the park. You should be able to see most of it by 2pm. Go back to the hotel and take a nap/rest. Then go back at night...River Journey should still have a long wait, but it won't be AS bad, as middle of the day. Stay for the night show. Leave.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Keep refreshing for FOP Fastpasses. I was able to book Fastpasses for Sunday last night by refreshing for about 5-10 minutes. I've also seen Fastpasses for both rides pop up on the same day. If you don't feel like refreshing constantly or aren't lucky, waiting in standby is the only option.

 

[JoeCamel]

Keep refreshing for FOP Fastpasses. I was able to book Fastpasses for Sunday last night by refreshing for about 5-10 minutes. I've also seen Fastpasses for both rides pop up on the same day. If you don't feel like refreshing constantly or aren't lucky, waiting in standby is the only option.

Have any of the smart kids come up with an app that does this? I work online where it used to be the way to get more work to refresh and all the smart kids had routines that would refresh and lock open query's

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Have any of the smart kids come up with an app that does this? I work online where it used to be the way to get more work to refresh and all the smart kids had routines that would refresh and lock open query's

Mashing F5 is my method

 

[UNIrd]

Eh, it might not be so bad. Pandora will have been open for a year by then. Disney might actually finally have all the theaters open so capacity could be better. You're going on a non-peak Tuesday. I think you'll be fine in the afternoon.

 

[Miketheboss]

Advice from personal experience:

You have to make sure it’s not an Extra Magic hour morning that day if you’re considering going in the morning. If it is, it might be pointless getting there at rope drop. You might be able to grab a fast pass for river journey. As soon as you are 30 days away from your trip, check FP+.

I went for the grand opening and I was at AK from 6am to closing. I walked right on FOP, no wait because I rope dropped. I rode FOP again in August and waited 160 minutes. It went by quick for me. I thought it was worth the wait.

Rivers of light is nice but if you miss it don’t kill yourself over it.

Edit:

I just checked the AK website and it is an extra magic hours morning.

 

[Skubersky]

Same day FastPass is your friend, I can almost always get 2 for FoP after a few dozen refreshes in MDE. Otherwise hit Pandora in early/mid afternoon, standby usually drops to an hour.

 

[Nick]

Sad to say, but you're not going to get FP for the Avatar rides.

You can always get FP for the ride day of. Literally every day.

 

[HalfGlass]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! You've all been extremely helpful.

My friend and I are not early risers and at the end of the day, it's a vacation, so we don't want to be stressed. It sounds like going late morning, but checking MDE earlier to try and snag fast passes day of is our best bet.

I'm sure Rivers of Light isn't great, but my friend hasn't been to a theme park since he was a kid. Since Universal has no night shows at the moment, it might be our only chance to see one during our trip, so a later day (and possible dusk safari) appeals way more than rope drop.

 

[rhino4evr]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! You've all been extremely helpful.

My friend and I are not early risers and at the end of the day, it's a vacation, so we don't want to be stressed. It sounds like going late morning, but checking MDE earlier to try and snag fast passes day of is our best bet.

I'm sure Rivers of Light isn't great, but my friend hasn't been to a theme park since he was a kid. Since Universal has no night shows at the moment, it might be our only chance to see one during our trip, so a later day (and possible dusk safari) appeals way more than rope drop.

I think you missed the part that it's an "early park hours" day for hotel guests. As an off-site guest, you are basically going to be an hour behind the opening of the park. So going at "off site" rope drop may not get the same results. I would aim at hitting Pandora later in the evening, hopefully crowds won't be as bad by then.

 

[JungleSkip]

You can always get FP for the ride day of. Literally every day.

I went a few weeks ago and couldn’t :shrug:

 

[rhino4evr]

I went a few weeks ago and couldn’t :shrug:

yeah, I mean it's possible you can get lucky, but you would also just be staring at your phone all day hitting "refresh" instead of you know, enjoying the actual theme park.

 

[twebber55]

my advice...GO at rope drop. Do Flight of Passage, but not river journey, then do the rest of the park. You should be able to see most of it by 2pm. Go back to the hotel and take a nap/rest. Then go back at night...River Journey should still have a long wait, but it won't be AS bad, as middle of the day. Stay for the night show. Leave.

completely agree with this
and dont forget to eat at satuli

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Same day FastPass is your friend, I can almost always get 2 for FoP after a few dozen refreshes in MDE. Otherwise hit Pandora in early/mid afternoon, standby usually drops to an hour.

In Kubersky We Trust

 

[Nick]

yeah, I mean it's possible you can get lucky, but you would also just be staring at your phone all day hitting "refresh" instead of you know, enjoying the actual theme park.

Normally I check on the car ride over. Later in the day there's normally freed up passes for at least NRJ and if you are a party of 1 or 2, FoP is perfectly viable to get.

It's just not going to always be waiting for you, so unfortunately you do need to check more than once. When having a meal at Sautul'i or something is the perfect time to check while in the park.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

The only ride I haven't seen Fastpasses pop up for after refreshing for a while is SDMT. Granted, I only just got my AP last week, but I've still seen Frozen and the Avatar rides pop up several times on different days.