Animal Kingdom questions, mostly Avatar related

[daisyx3]

On our 4 night stay last March we skipped AK, but I would like to check out the Avatar stuff on our 5 night stay this March, and we have not been to AK since 2014 (it is, admittedly, our least favorite and in the past we have been done by noon). We like Expedition Everest the most. The Safari is OK, and I don't like the Nemo show at all, although I do like FOTLK.
Which of the Avatar rides is harder to get a FP for? Is it hard to get both if I get on right at midnight at 60 days? Does either ride have motion sickness reports? (I do the weaker side of Mission Space and totally avoid simulator rides like Star Tours).
Or, since neither one of us has been able to stay awake for the whole Avatar movie, should we just go later in the day and catch Rivers of Light?
Daisyx3

 

[Spencer Wright]

Your life is not complete until you do Flights of Passage, and that tends to have a much longer line as opposed to River Navi, like sometimes double the length.

My mother is in the same boat as you in terms of avoiding rides with lots of motion and loves Flight of Passage.

 

[jkh36619]

Your life is not complete until you do Flights of Passage, and that tends to have a much longer line as opposed to River Navi, like sometimes double the length.

My mother is in the same boat as you in terms of avoiding rides with lots of motion and loves Flight of Passage.

I humbly disagree. FoP is just yet another 3D Sim ride. EE is still the best ride in AK. But to each their own.

 

[sdomino11]

Side note, but the FP window no longer opens at midnight (much to the annoyance of we night owls). It's now 7 am.

 

[Minniedap]

You would need to be on at 7am at 60 days to get Flight of Passage. It is more intense than Star tours. My favorite but I also enjoy the Orange side of mission space. You can only fast pass one ride in Pandora. We rope dropped NRJ with no wait.

 

[Klayfish]

On our 4 night stay last March we skipped AK, but I would like to check out the Avatar stuff on our 5 night stay this March, and we have not been to AK since 2014 (it is, admittedly, our least favorite and in the past we have been done by noon). We like Expedition Everest the most. The Safari is OK, and I don't like the Nemo show at all, although I do like FOTLK.
Which of the Avatar rides is harder to get a FP for? Is it hard to get both if I get on right at midnight at 60 days? Does either ride have motion sickness reports? (I do the weaker side of Mission Space and totally avoid simulator rides like Star Tours).
Or, since neither one of us has been able to stay awake for the whole Avatar movie, should we just go later in the day and catch Rivers of Light?
Daisyx3

Animal Kingdom has a whole different vibe than it did in 2014. I agree that it used to be my least favorite park, but that has changed. I really like it now, especially at night. They've got a really cool family fun "street party" vibe going.

As noted, FP+ window opening is 7am, not midnight.

I also have never seen Avatar, and have zero desire to do so. However, I've been on both rides and thoroughly enjoyed them both. FYI, you can't FP+ them both at the same time, they're in a tier together and you can only pick one. Without doubt, FoP is the one to FP+, as the line is much longer. If you can handle Soarin', you can handle FoP as far as motion sickness goes. It's a fantastic ride, it makes Soarin' look stone age. Loved it. Na'vi River Journey is also really cool, we enjoyed it. It's a slow boat ride, but has a lot of neat things to see. The area is worth seeing at night, it's really neat.

Rivers of Light is certainly subjective. But for my $.02, as much of a WDW fan and apologist as I freely admit to being, I give it a 5 on a 1-10 scale. It's so-so. I'd see it again, but wouldn't go out of my way for it.

 

[KittyKitty]

Which of the Avatar rides is harder to get a FP for? Is it hard to get both if I get on right at midnight at 60 days?

Fast passes start at 7am, Eastern time. I had to get online at 4am here in Seattle. Pick your last park day for AK and Flight of Passage fastpass. Most guests are not getting them till 4th day on. I got a 3pm FP on my 4th day.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

For whatever it's worth, I do fine on Soarin' but had my eyes closed for roughly half of Flight of Passage. Even still, it was worth the FP+ and was incredible. That area must be seen at night, very cool vibe.

 

[elaine amj]

You would need to be on at 7am at 60 days to get Flight of Passage. It is more intense than Star tours.

It is more intense than Star Tours but less motion-sickness inducing.

FoP is in my opinion the best ride ever. It's amazing and just gets better with each ride (I rode it maybe 4-5 times lol). I should add that I am a coaster fan and it doesn't give me the adrenaline rush of real coasters - for me, it is a relaxing ride immersed in a beautiful world. For my non-coaster, height-fearing SIL, it is an intense ride she can only handle by looking at her ride companions semi-regularly to get a break. My father loves coasters - but still has to close his eyes a few times during some of the extreme drop sequences. For what it's worth, both my father and SIL feel this is their favourite ride in WDW by far. And even though she rode it with FPs a couple of times during our two week trip, my SIL still asked to wait in standby on our last AK night. She went right at closing and waited about 45 mins. She was willing to wait up to 90-120 mins.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

On our 4 night stay last March we skipped AK, but I would like to check out the Avatar stuff on our 5 night stay this March, and we have not been to AK since 2014 (it is, admittedly, our least favorite and in the past we have been done by noon). We like Expedition Everest the most. The Safari is OK, and I don't like the Nemo show at all, although I do like FOTLK.
Which of the Avatar rides is harder to get a FP for? Is it hard to get both if I get on right at midnight at 60 days? Does either ride have motion sickness reports? (I do the weaker side of Mission Space and totally avoid simulator rides like Star Tours).
Or, since neither one of us has been able to stay awake for the whole Avatar movie, should we just go later in the day and catch Rivers of Light?
Daisyx3

If you aren't a big fan of AK, but want to do Pandora, you can still make AK a 1/2 day park IMHO (at least, we did in August!). My suggestion would be to FP+ FOP (if you can get it), EE and ROL (or get an ROL dining package to free up an extra FP+) and schedule the FP+ for later in the day and just spend the afternoon/evening in AK. We've done the safari so many times that we aren't interested any more and don't do the shows anymore either (though you could definitely fit FOTLK in with an afternoon 1/2 day plan). In August, we showed up at about 3:30 pm, rode Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl standby, did EE with FP+ (my DS9 then rode it 3 more times using single rider), went to Pandora for FOP and Nav'i (standby for Nav'i was about 60 minutes at that point) and a dinner at Satul'i and then used our last FP+ at ROL. We took some time that evening to watch the Tree of Life as well.

 

[daisyx3]

Thanks for all of the feedback! I will make sure I get to work early enough to get on at 7AM when my FP window opens in January and that FoP is my first try.

 

[loves to dive]

As far as getting sick from FOP it really depends on your tolerance level. Soarin doesn't bother me a bit, Star Tours makes me a little queasy. FOP made me a little queasy but less than Star Tours. I didn't enjoy the ride since I was constantly struggling trying to keep the glasses on and having to take deep breaths and kind of look away. My son gets a little queasy on Star Tours and it's bit jerky for him, he loved FOP and it didn't bother him at all. It really depends on your personal tolerance level. I won't ride it again without my son, just not worth being uncomfortable for since I didn't find it the wow experience everyone else seems to. I love Navi, everything about it. I would FP FOP is that's the ride you want to ride, waits can be hard even at rope drop.

 

[Spencer Wright]

As far as getting sick from FOP it really depends on your tolerance level. Soarin doesn't bother me a bit, Star Tours makes me a little queasy. FOP made me a little queasy but less than Star Tours. I didn't enjoy the ride since I was constantly struggling trying to keep the glasses on and having to take deep breaths and kind of look away. My son gets a little queasy on Star Tours and it's bit jerky for him, he loved FOP and it didn't bother him at all. It really depends on your personal tolerance level. I won't ride it again without my son, just not worth being uncomfortable for since I didn't find it the wow experience everyone else seems to. I love Navi, everything about it. I would FP FOP is that's the ride you want to ride, waits can be hard even at rope drop.

One thing beneficial to those with motion sickness is that FOP 'stops' a couple of times so you can take in the world of avatar.

 

[elaine amj]

As far as getting sick from FOP it really depends on your tolerance level. Soarin doesn't bother me a bit, Star Tours makes me a little queasy. FOP made me a little queasy but less than Star Tours. I didn't enjoy the ride since I was constantly struggling trying to keep the glasses on and having to take deep breaths and kind of look away. My son gets a little queasy on Star Tours and it's bit jerky for him, he loved FOP and it didn't bother him at all. It really depends on your personal tolerance level. I won't ride it again without my son, just not worth being uncomfortable for since I didn't find it the wow experience everyone else seems to. I love Navi, everything about it. I would FP FOP is that's the ride you want to ride, waits can be hard even at rope drop.

While the rest of us loved FOP, my DH didn't. Usually he enjoys motion simulators and loves Soarin. Not sure what is wrong with him lol! He does get queasy easily although he said he was fine. However, he had no interest in riding again and one time, we even had to waste a FP+ because he preferred to sit outside and wait for us.

 

[Davey Jones II]

What time do they close the lines for the Pandora rides? Ten minutes before closing? Exactly at closing time?

On days with early magic mornings at AK, what kind of lines can you expect for Na'vi River, if you get there around rope drop? We have three fast passes for FOP, but I mistakenly booked two of them on days when there will be early magic mornings. I'm not at all sure we will make it there that early!

 

[Spencer Wright]

What time do they close the lines for the Pandora rides? Ten minutes before closing? Exactly at closing time?

On days with early magic mornings at AK, what kind of lines can you expect for Na'vi River, if you get there around rope drop? We have three fast passes for FOP, but I mistakenly booked two of them on days when there will be early magic mornings. I'm not at all sure we will make it there that early!

I am not able to answer that question specifically, however one tip is to do your best to avoid bringing a bag to AK. The security there is extremely slow; and the hoard which pores through the no bag line is like one of those horror story black Friday clips when Wal-Mart opens.

 

[AliceNDinah]

Glad I did FOP, but for me, that's a one and done. Certainly not---in my opinion--the best ride ever. It really messed with my stomach, LOL. SOOOO glad to get off that one!!!!!! Give me Tower of Terror (or even Small World, ha) any day.

 

[JessicaW1234]

On our 4 night stay last March we skipped AK, but I would like to check out the Avatar stuff on our 5 night stay this March, and we have not been to AK since 2014 (it is, admittedly, our least favorite and in the past we have been done by noon). We like Expedition Everest the most. The Safari is OK, and I don't like the Nemo show at all, although I do like FOTLK.
Which of the Avatar rides is harder to get a FP for? Is it hard to get both if I get on right at midnight at 60 days? Does either ride have motion sickness reports? (I do the weaker side of Mission Space and totally avoid simulator rides like Star Tours).
Or, since neither one of us has been able to stay awake for the whole Avatar movie, should we just go later in the day and catch Rivers of Light?
Daisyx3

Hi ! I echo other posters- get FP for FOP for latest day in your trip that you can go to AK. I get motion sick sometimes but had no issue on FOP. We went on an EMH morning & rode Navi & EE with little/no lines & no FP; FP'ed the safari in the morning, had FP @12 for FOP & raft ride after lunch; was able to get 4th FP for another ride on raft ride after that!
We did not stay for Rivers of Light(read lots of reviews on here saying they didn't love it) so it was a 3/4 day - we were done by 3ish.

 

[elaine amj]

What time do they close the lines for the Pandora rides? Ten minutes before closing? Exactly at closing time?

On days with early magic mornings at AK, what kind of lines can you expect for Na'vi River, if you get there around rope drop? We have three fast passes for FOP, but I mistakenly booked two of them on days when there will be early magic mornings. I'm not at all sure we will make it there that early!

Exactly at closing time. When we went, AK closed at 9:30pm. My DD entered the line at 9:26pm. At exactly 9:30pm, they closed the line. She had a 45 min wait (sign said 90). The waits are usually less the closer to closing you enter the line. This applies to all rides all over WDW (except for the few that shut earlier in the evening). I have entered plenty of lines on the dot at closing and been able to walk on super popular rides this way. It works great over at Universal too - I walked into an empty bank two nights in a row at Escape from Gringotts!

 

[Anthony1971]

FOP was amazing as far as simulators go makes even the other popular one at Islands of Adventure look dated which was also is still a good simulator.
Make sure you are comfortable sitting on a low bike with your knees bent.... there are restraints on your back and legs not tight but they are there... they also do tickle your stomach sort off... as I said it is an amazing ride and not scary in any way but I can see some people getting annoyed by the sitting position, restraints and tickle...but worth a one time even if you feel this may bother you..