Avatar Flight of Passage - is it all that?

[mom2rose&john]

I enjoyed it but I would never wait more than 40 minutes max. So glad I was able to get a FP+!!

 

[Miffy]

Yes, FoP is all that. But you don't need to wait in line for 3 hours if you plan properly. FP+ it, rope-drop it (others have posted their strategies), or get in the standby line close to closing. The wait times near park closing are always exaggerated.

If you can't book your desired day/time at the 60- or 30-day mark (depending on where you're staying), then keep trying. I've scored FP+s for FoP with fewer than 30 days before the booking. It's also quite possible to book it the night before or even the day of. I've had FoP as my 4th FP+ many many times.

 

[NickC]

It's a cool ride for sure, but, personally, I wouldn't wait more than 45 minutes for it. My wife loves it, so she might push to wait 60-80 minutes. I'd be fine waiting that long for the family, but only if they go on it's a small world 2x to make up for it.

 

[Seoulbro]

Best ride I have ever been on. Like others have said, I wouldn't wait more than an hour. Fastpass it or Rope drop it.

 

[DisneyOma]

I don't really consider waiting for the park to open part of waiting for the attraction since I would be doing that regardless of what my first stop in the park would be and it isn't eating up park time. Also, we use that time to eat breakfast.

I like to eat breakfast sitting down, LOL! Do you really go an hour or more before any of the parks open? Why?

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

I love rides, and I didn't think FOP was that amazing. I would wait 45 minutes for it max.

 

[Jennasis]

It's worth a 30 minute wait tops. But then again, that's our max wait for any ride.

 

[IluvMGM]

Well, after reading how it was the greatest ride in the history of rides and then actually riding it....no. To me it was Soarin' on a motorcycle. Basically my expectations were super high based on what everyone was saying and so I was disappointed. It was cool, yes. Would I wait in line for a long time? No. I think we did it twice with fast passes and skipped our 3rd fast pass.

 

[HopperFan]

I will say never give up on FP+. I was there today. At 3 pm after Everest, decided to go next door to Nemo Standby so got on MDE to change my Nemo FP+ to something else. Multiple times came up for FOP, so I booked that.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

Granted we had scheduled fast passes and even scored same day afternoon fast passes during our last trip but....this is my favorite ride at wdw. I’m literally in tears by the end of the ride over its beauty. I can’t even describe it, but for me, it’s an amazing, immersive experience.

I was moved to tears the first time I rode it with my daughter, when I glanced over at her face and saw such joy... Now I'm getting a little verklempt just thinking about it.

It is really a highlight.

 

[Alesia]

I like to eat breakfast sitting down, LOL! Do you really go an hour or more before any of the parks open? Why?

We usually get there about an hour before the park is scheduled to open (which is really more like 30 minutes before the park actually opens.) I've done the math and it saves us about 3 to 4 hours of waiting over the course of the day. We never wait more than 30 minutes for anything and even that is rare. It's almost always less than 20 minutes.

Having a large, sit down breakfast just makes my family sluggish and miserable for half the day. We generally just have a muffin or something while waiting for the park to open and then an early lunch around 11:00 or so

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Like most things at Disney, I think it's doing at least once to decide for yourself how you feel about it. Like most things at Disney, though, it's also worth strategizing to avoid a 3+ hour wait for that privilege.

Personally, having done it once I don't consider it an absolute must-do for my next trip apart from my general desire to ride (almost) every attraction at the parks. My issue is that I just have a really hard time suspending my disbelief for motion simulators (my own fault; I studied them as a senior thesis project and deliberately broke the illusion for myself on so many rides to see how they were done that it's just habit now). It's a very advanced, very cool motion simulator, but at the end of the day you're just sitting in a moving seat in front of a big screen (and a seat that doesn't easily accommodate diverse body shapes to boot--I think that was a bad move). I prefer rides that physically move through real space. I know that sounds really negative...I don't hate this ride and I don't consider it a waste of time, I just would much rather spend my time on something with a ride vehicle that moves through real physical space. But I've only ridden it once, so maybe I'll change my mind when I ride it again. I just don't see it becoming a favorite of mine, and if anything I think all the hype made it worse for me.

This is the best post I’ve ever read describing the ride.

I may be a bit more negative, in that I think of it as a fancy motion simulator that still made me as motion sick as any of the others. Beautiful? Transformative? I had read these amazing reviews and was ready to be blown away but nope.

I did like the little detail of the banshee breathing though.

 

[only hope]

I’m in the minority. There’s few things at WDW that I dislike more than FOP (and Navi is one of them). The technology is impressive though. I think it’s boring. There’s no plot or dialogue, you’re just looking around. I enjoy looking up/down/sideways at the simulators moving more than I like watching the film. Even with a fp it takes a long time, about 20-25 minutes, because of the boring preshows with a bad acting. I only ride it to keep people company, and only with a fastpass. It is possible to get fp the evening before or the day of with persistent, constant refreshing.

I preferred Camp Minnie-Mickey. I loved the atmosphere. The only thing I like about Pandora is the excellent canteen food, but they eliminated my favorite base option.

 

[CAQDaddy]

Ok I keep reading about Avatar Flight of Passage and FP+ and how difficult it is to get, how long the lines are even 10 mins after park opening, lines up to 3hours......So in reading all this and thinking why would someone spend 3 hours in a line for what it is it, 5mins? I could think of lots of other things to do in that time, is it all that and worth the crazed reputation it now has?

I think it's the best ride in all of WDW, but I wouldn't wait three hours for any experience.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Now that the OP has returned to confirm the family has been holding FPs for this ride, closing.