Should I can my Na'vi River Journey morning FP+ (and do rope drop) for an afternoon Flight of Passage

[exnihlio13]

Prefix to my situation:
My party May 14th will be my wife and I, our 10 year old son who's stoked for Flight of Passage and my 8 year old daughter who, although she enjoyed Soarin' is hesitant about FoP due to 3d glasses and riding on something. So there's a good chance she bails on FoP. We were last at Disney before Pandora opened (although we were there last May so we were aware it was coming and the kids were excited)

My 60 day window opened but I didn't get online until closer to 8am and ALL Flight of Passage mornings were all taken so I grabbed Na'vi River Journey for the morning and figured either:

-We could rope drop FoP..especially since we'll have Extra Magic Hours for Animal Kingdom that day​

-We could clear all our fastpasses for that day (our last is Jungle cruise at 11:10) and then keep an eye our for FoP fastpasses as they come​

-We could rope drop River Journey and FP+ an evening spot with FoP (although I'm not keen on locking in my 3rd fastpass for after 6pm and not being able to book any other FP+s for the entirety of the day.​

My concerns is whether FoP might be a bit overwhelming as a first ride of the day for the 10 year old and the 8 year old may be braver to try it after she's warmed up with a few other rides.

So the main questions being:
-Do FoP fastpass+ passes pop up fairly frequent in the afternoon during weekdays? Is this ride so popular that if I don't lock in a FP+ now we may miss it?
-Is Na'Vi River Journey fairly easy to rope drop (especially with extra magic hours) compared to Flight of Passage where I imagine "bigger kids" may well be running to the ride?

Thanks

 

[BoarderPhreak]

I would definitely get FP for FoP and hit Na'Vi on rope drop.

 

[Master Yoda]

Yes.

 

[Mainahman]

We rope dropped River Journey, and walked right on first thing in the morning. Id get the FOP, and rope drop River Journey.

 

[exnihlio13]

I would definitely get FP for FoP and hit Na'Vi on rope drop.

Even if it locks my FP+ 4th choice until after supper though?
I mean I'll keep an eye out for earlier FoP but may have missed the window at this point.

*edit* Ugh...looking at 7:55pm or 8pm at this point for FoP.
I'd likely be better to just wait for FP+ windows to open up in the afternoon at this point.
I figure the plan will now be to ropedrop FoP and ask for Rider Switch. That way only two of us will be waiting and one of us can Rider Switch fastpass+ later in the day and we'll have a better idea if the 8 year old would dig it or if the 10 year old gets to ride again. And if not then the other adult can just go on their own.

 

[exnihlio13]

We rope dropped River Journey, and walked right on first thing in the morning. Id get the FOP, and rope drop River Journey.

Ok cool. This was the feedback I was after. I figured a rope drop for River Journey would be far less...competitive.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Even if it locks my FP+ 4th choice until after supper though?
I mean I'll keep an eye out for earlier FoP but may have missed the window at this point.

My opinion is that you can't take any chances with FoP. Without a FP, you're facing some long lines. It's the single hottest ride at AK, and FP will be in high demand and will eventually run out.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

What are you doing here? You should be over refreshing the page looking for a FoP FP pretty much whenever you can get it. Build the rest of your schedule around that.

Incidentally, you don’t have to “clear“ your fast passes until after you find that one. The system will ask you to cancel something else while you book it.

Anecdotally, when we got ours, we couldn’t get one early in the morning the first day they were available, but we got one around one in the afternoon the same day. ( i’m referring to the times I was sitting home able to book the fast pass, not the time of day of the fast pass itself.)

 

[exnihlio13]

What are you doing here? You should be over refreshing the page looking for a FoP FP pretty much whenever you can get it. Build the rest of your schedule around that.

Incidentally, you don’t have to “clear“ your fast passes until after you find that one. The system will ask you to cancel something else while you book it.

Anecdotally, when we got ours, we couldn’t get one early in the morning the first day they were available, but we got one around one in the afternoon the same day. ( i’m referring to the times I was sitting home able to book the fast pass, not the time of day of the fast pass itself.)

Yeah I'm keeping my eye out for sure. I'd rather not have to muscle to FoP at rope drop (even if it is at 8am).
If I can manage to snag FoP before lunch I'll be all over it and then we can Rider Switch as needed.
Otherwise we'll ropedrop and Rider Switch and only 2 people will need to do the long wait and the other adult can go back later in the day with the FP+ rider switch ticket.

 

[Mainahman]

Ok cool. This was the feedback I was after. I figured a rope drop for River Journey would be far less...competitive.

yea it was far less, in fact we all kind of chuckled at the loooong line for FOP at rope drop as we walked right by them all and got on river Journey.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

If you don't get what you can, when you can - you end up seeing this in MDE (FP are all gone):

 

[exnihlio13]

I've grabbed 6:45 for all 4 of us (since we were planning to just quick service a meal) for now just to ensure we're locked in and will definitely have the opportunity and will do refresh sessions from time to time to see if I can shift it up to the afternoon or ideally morning.
Might still head there at EMH rope drop standby and if we can walk in then I can do Rider Switch and cancel my evening passes and likely grab a River Journey for later in the day.
Or I may just go with the River Journey rope drop since the 8 year old *really* wants that and I think it'll be a good way to start the morning.

 

[exnihlio13]

yea it was far less, in fact we all kind of chuckled at the loooong line for FOP at rope drop as we walked right by them all and got on river Journey.

Gotcha
I dig that plan. A bit of an easier point of entry for everyone to be sure. I guess booking a later fastpass for FoP also gives us an excuse to check Pandora in the evening.
Thanks everyone!

 

[Mainahman]

Gotcha
I dig that plan. A bit of an easier point of entry for everyone to be sure. I guess booking a later fastpass for FoP also gives us an excuse to check Pandora in the evening.
Thanks everyone!

Pandora at night is breathtaking. Ill post some in my trip report when i get to the day we did a late night visit to catch rivers of light. We were not interested in FOP, as the motion would make my daughter and wife Sick, and i wasnt doing it alone. The rope drop allowed a really quick river journey ride, and to the Safari for a small wait too.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Navi River isn't even worth the initial rope drop.

For Rope Drop if you are in the front, you can do FoP then walk over to Navi River with a 0-10 minute wait.

Well, yeah... Certainly true. But good to do at least once, if you haven't yet. Otherwise; hard pass.

 

[exnihlio13]

Navi River isn't even worth the initial rope drop.

For Rope Drop if you are in the front, you can do FoP then walk over to Navi River with a 0-10 minute wait.

Doubtful we'd be in front with an 8 year old and 10 year old but we'll likely be in the throng and will let everyone else Mad Max to FoP.
I went with booking the evening FoP and we'll just casually stroll up to River Journey at 8am rope drop and avoid the competition. We've got Safari and Rapids booked with our other FPs and will likely just take turns single rider-ing Everest (or if may just be me. The wifes not keen on backwards coasters)
I know it's a River Journey pretty short ride but I think the immersion will go over big with the kids and then we can scope out the rest of Pandora a bit before the real crowds flood in at 9am.

 

[exnihlio13]

Pandora at night is breathtaking. Ill post some in my trip report when i get to the day we did a late night visit to catch rivers of light. We were not interested in FOP, as the motion would make my daughter and wife Sick, and i wasnt doing it alone. The rope drop allowed a really quick river journey ride, and to the Safari for a small wait too.

We're hoping to check our Burudika as well that night but I think having the FP for FoP @ 6:45 should allow us to check out the early evening Pandora luminescence and then head over to Burudika for the 7:30 performance.

 

[Mainahman]

its breathtaking and id definitely find time to see it!

 

[CoreNovawarAMM]

Gotcha
I dig that plan. A bit of an easier point of entry for everyone to be sure. I guess booking a later fastpass for FoP also gives us an excuse to check Pandora in the evening.
Thanks everyone!

Pandora in the evening is phenomenal!! Especially if anyone in your party wears white or a neon color that day...
Have fun with your trip!!

 

[CoreNovawarAMM]

Well, yeah... Certainly true. But good to do at least once, if you haven't yet. Otherwise; hard pass.

Definitely not worth more than around a 20 min wait max for Navi River Journey. I’m glad I had a FP for it, and could walk by the 105 min standby line. I pity those people who had to wait that long for a little boat ride.