Skip FOP? Will I regret it?

[otten]

I have a dilemma. We’re going to WDW with my family (husband and daughters 6 and 3.5) and my MIL. I’m trying to figure out what to do about Animal Kingdom. If we do FOP it would have to be fastpass which I think we can get if we move our AK day by a few days. The trouble is my youngest will be too short to ride and my oldest won’t want to. We can do RS so that all the adults get a turn and I guess I’d get Navi fastpasses for the girls and an adult but I’m not sure if FOP is worth not being able to have everyone do NRJ?

So I’m leaning towards just getting fastpasses for everyone to ride NRJ but will I really regret missing FOP? We'll be back in 2019 so I'm thinking about waiting until then.

 

[randumb0]

I would do NRJ as in your case it seems like more people would get enjoyment out of it

 

[AllEar2017]

FOP is a million times better than NRJ! Assuming you are going to be together for many days I can't imagine it being an issue to split up on this one ride. I think you could even just get one FP for FOP (may be wrong here) and everyone could ride using the rider switch. Then only one adult misses NRJ which is not exciting at all!

 

[Newcastle]

I think you would only regret it if you had ridden it before. Since you haven't had a chance to try the ride yet, you really won't know what you're missing so I think you'll probably be fine to wait until 2019 if that works better for your family

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Agree with Newcastle, if you haven't ridden it yet you don't know what you're missing, and you can save it for later. However FOP is infinitely better than NRJ and I honestly won't be riding NRJ again. Total waste of my time. However, it sounds like people in your party can't/won't ride FOP anyway? In that case I'd fastpass Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur. If they're not rides people I would do the festival of the lion king or another show.

 

[loves to dive]

I also agree with Newcastle, can't miss something you have never had. Unlike MusicalAstronaut, I don't think FoP is all that but did love NRJ, I was there in Sept. and skipped FoP but rode NRJ twice, once with the FP and then later in the evening when it was basically a walk on. I've ridden FoP twice, both times with my son because he loved it but when he isn't there, nope no need to ride it.

 

[jump00]

We went in July and my dh raved about this ride (so did I)- I'm so glad I had a few FP's for this. It was a tough sell to get him to come back - we had been doing Universal the last 6-7 years in a row. Now our adult kids want to go as a family - because we have talked about how amazing the land of Pandora is.
Don't miss this!!! Have a great trip.

Jump

 

[JessicaW1234]

I think the adults should ride FOP if you can get FP. We went with DS, DD, DH and grandparents. It was everyone's favorite ride, especially the GP's!
Navi was just ok, I think you will regret not trying FOP.

 

[Indio]

I think the adults should try to ride. It's great!!

 

[cmorris303]

We LOVED it and can't imagine going again and not going on it, but if we hadn't gotten fastpasses we most likely would have skipped it and I'm pretty sure our vacation would've been just as great. If it's already feeling like too much then just do NRJ and have a blast. If you feel like missing it is going to haunt you, then make it work and ride FOP.

 

[Willlyb]

If I were you, I'd force your oldest to ride FOP with you and some of the other adults. Then, I'd ride it again with the RS you get for your youngest being too short. Then I'd probably consider riding it one more time via the standby line.

It's that great.

 

[otten]

Thanks for all the options.

It sounds like I'm unlikely to regret missing NRJ as the one who sits it out so maybe that's the route we take.

 

[hetzeltj]

I was planning on skipping it when i was there in September and i even had a FP for it. I walked into the Pandora area and was completely underwhelmed. For 1 i did not like avatar so I already had a negative opinion going in. 2) The pandora area was just so crowded all i wanted to do was leave. On the way out I complained about how i didnt like the Pandora area all the way back to AKL. Once we got there we had dinner at boma and talked to some people and they said we had to go back and do the ride. Our FP was at 6 so after dinner we went back and did it. As much as i didnt like the Pandora area I liked FOP. It really was pretty amazing and If you have a FP for it I would say it is a must do. It really was fantastic. Our bartender at AKL before dinner said that Pandora and the rides in it are a test run on things they want to do in Star Wars Land. After riding FOP I cannot wait to see what they have in store for Star wars land.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

We're skipping it. Not only are we both Pooh-sized, but my sister suffers from vertigo. A double whammy.

Neither one of us is up to the hoops you have to jump through as a plus-sized person to fit the test vehicle, as well. Lean forward, arch your back, go up on tiptoe...all in front of the public? We just decided to give it a miss for all the above reasons. I understand that most who ride it love it, but as we haven't even seen Avatar I think we can safely do without it. We *are* doing Nav'i River Journey, though-just for something to do in Pandora, but if it's packed to the gills I'm outta there. My anxiety can't take being packed in like a sardine.

Man, did I just ramble on or what...

 

[srwarden1928]

We rope dropped NRJ, and had no problem doing so. There was really no reason not to ride it standby at 9 am.
FOP, OTOH, is so amazing it is hard to describe. People compare it to other rides, but there is just no comparison. If there actually is a do not miss, this is it.

 

[otten]

We rope dropped NRJ, and had no problem doing so. There was really no reason not to ride it standby at 9 am.
FOP, OTOH, is so amazing it is hard to describe. People compare it to other rides, but there is just no comparison. If there actually is a do not miss, this is it.

How quickly does the line for NRJ build? We won't be getting there until 9am on a day the park opens at 8am for emh. One option I'm considering is that I do NRJ standy first thing when we arrive while the rest ride KS standby. I plan on getting FP for KS as well but my youngest is going to want to do it twice. But will the line already be really long by then? Then later on we'll use FP and rider swap for FOP and FP NRJ for the little kids and an adult.

 

[fractalpotato]

So, I've seen a lot of people worried about missing FoP and thinking their trip is ruined if they miss it. I rode it once and I loved it, but here's the thing. All (or nearly all) the reasons you loved Disney World before are still there. It's not as if they stopped being fun and enjoyable because there is something new. Enjoy your trip! Don't worry about FOP. Come back in 2019 and enjoy it without the huge craze surrounding it.

Matt

 

[wonderstruck88]

We're not planning on doing it on our trip next year. It's he first trip with our kids and a similar situation to yours - our youngest is too short and our fearful is more fearful and won't ride without his little brother, haha. We're choosing to just focus on stuff we can do as a family (with some exceptions - I absolutely can't go to Disney and not ride Soarin! But with FOP I won't know what I'm missing, so we're using our Fastpass on the River Journey.) The other stuff will still be there when we come back with taller kids!

 

[Tomh]

Summer 2015, we didn't even go to AK. This summer we went, son (and I) fell in love with FoP. The 14 year old son as proclaimed that he wants to ride FoP twice next year, even if that means spending two full days in AK. In the 10 years that we have visited Disney World, we have never spent more than one day in AK, and many years we were don and out of there by 5, or even 4 in the evening. That is how good FoP is, at least to us.

I would say for sure the adults should give it a go. It truly is unlike any other ride experience in Disney World, or anywhere else that I have been for that matter.

 

[Kenzientysmom]

FOP is absolutely amazing...you need to try it at least once.