BREAKING: Bob Iger announces opening date for Pandora!

[DisneyCAL]

We are going mid-late August and will only be focusing on MK and Epcot. I wasn't at WDW the first couple of months that 7DMT first opened.....how did that effect crowds at the other parks? Should I expect higher crowds at MK and Epcot because more people are coming to see Pandora or will it be the same or less because most visiting will spend more time at AK?

 

[MrInfinity]

Last summer I was caught up RoL drama. That said, I'm a little apprehensive that Pandora will roll out as promised, but heck anything is possible, right?
I don't know anything about Avatar/Pandora, but both attractions sound interesting. I know we'll have to ride standby...we are staying at SOG this July so at 30 days out we can kiss FP+ goodbye.
Looking at the bright side, with everyone's attention on Pandora, all of the other attractions may be walk-ons.

Yep! With around 1/3 (assuming the tier-model) of fast passes going to the new rides, there will only be 2/3 as many fast passes going to the other rides. Fewer fast passes mean faster line movement altogether. Unless... increased attendance at the park offsets any benefit... so... I don't think it'll be perceptibly less busy elsewhere in the AK.

 

[Tonyz]

Feels like we've been waiting for decades! So freaking excited that it's gonna be ready for my September trip.

 

[siestakeys04]

I saw the news too so excited I love the movie.

 

[Willow1213]

My husband and I are definitely looking forward to the opening of pandora. We arrive on the 29th, and are staying at AKV. We normally only spend 1/2 day in AK since our son hasn't had the patience to sit through the stage shows yet, that might change this time. I'll do my best to keep up on fast pass bookings, as I'm assuming the 2 attractions will not be available for fp at the 60 day mark.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

You are definitely not the only one. I've never seen Avatar, and feel kind of... meh at the idea of a whole land devoted to it.

My wife and I both did not care for the movie. And, I doubt many under the age of 18 have seen this movie (it is PG-13 and came out 8 years ago). With families with young children being Disney's target audience, I never understood why they would choose this IP.

This is how I am approaching this:
The final land at AK was supposed to be Beastly Kingdom. This new land is just that; but instead of dragons and unicorns, we have mythical creatures from another planet.

If the rides/theming (and show?) is well done, we'll enjoy the addition.

In terms of draw, they could have completely made up a new "planet" with all new creatures, and I think it would have had the same draw.

But, they wouldn't have had JC's money.

 

[viluvsdisney]

This may sound silly - is the Pandora river ride an outdoor/outside ride? Trying to understand if the effects are better at night?? I'm a clueless on what to expect. Thanks

 

[SgtTibbs]

Just noticed, the park hours for DAK have been updated. They are now 9am-10pm when I arrive in early June.

 

[Dug720]

At this point with the announcement they are killing Wishes, Pandora and ROL are the only things keeping me from changing my August trip to a cruise.

But I swear if they announce they're doing anything to Illuminations between now and then, I will rethink that.

 

[Farro]

At this point with the announcement they are killing Wishes, Pandora and ROL are the only things keeping me from changing my August trip to a cruise.

But I swear if they announce they're doing anything to Illuminations between now and then, I will rethink that.

Wow, I'm the very opposite of this. With every new announcement I'm even more happy we booked a trip in October!

And I would LOVE if they changed up Illuminations - seen it one too many times at this point.

 

[Greggieb]

Will miss the opening by about a month. Going in mid April. Oh well all that means is I have an excuse to book my next trip.

 

[Dug720]

Wow, I'm the very opposite of this. With every new announcement I'm even more happy we booked a trip in October!

And I would LOVE if they changed up Illuminations - seen it one too many times at this point.

IMHO it's too many changes at once.

 

[MrInfinity]

With every new announcement I'm even more happy we booked a trip in October! And I would LOVE if they changed up Illuminations - seen it one too many times at this point.

I'm in change overload right now. Today alone just lopped F! out of our plans and half a day at HS so we can have more down time, since-- AK got extended on both days... Swapped out my Tiffins for the ROL Package, changed the flow of the park day, penciled in the Harambe Parti (noticed this while researching ROL) and Carnivale leading up to ROL. Updated park hours to 10pm, Moved my FP+'s around, and tweaked out our MK days with the Happily Ever After. This is after finalizing some DVC plans for Sep in which we got into the perfect VGF studio in under 7 months. It's a good Disney-Day. \/

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

IMHO it's too many changes at once.

No kidding.

Don't forget we also have the closing of Disney Quest (we're going in Aug, so missing that)

Then there's the new ride in Typhoon Lagoon that replaced Shark Reef, another change for us (we loved Shark Reef)

And, DS 5 picked the Jake option at Pirate's League from the Disney site. I recently found out it's been gone a year now (broke his little heart), but it's still listed on the Disney web site!

 

[rteetz]

This may sound silly - is the Pandora river ride an outdoor/outside ride? Trying to understand if the effects are better at night?? I'm a clueless on what to expect. Thanks

Visitpandora.com

No kidding.

Don't forget we also have the closing of Disney Quest (we're going in Aug, so missing that)

Then there's the new ride in Typhoon Lagoon that replaced Shark Reef, another change for us (we loved Shark Reef)

And, DS 5 picked the Jake option at Pirate's League from the Disney site. I recently found out it's been gone a year now (broke his little heart), but it's still listed on the Disney web site!

Actually Shark reef is still there just closed. The new raft ride Miss Adventure Falls is going in a different location. The ride opens in March.

 

[fla4fun]

I am kind of glad my May trip ends on the 20th. I'll be getting out just before all the hoopla starts. I wasn't a fan of the movie Avatar, so I'm not sure if I will be a fan of the Pandora area of AK. But since AK isn't as much about Disney IP as the other parks, it may still be interesting. I'll wait and check it out during cooler weather in either December or January though, because AK is always hotter than the other parks in the summer, and having larger than normal crowds there won't help.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Actually Shark reef is still there just closed. The new raft ride Miss Adventure Falls is going in a different location. The ride opens in March.

Then how come it closed?

 

[WEDWDW]

Will Pandora also have an entrance from the Harambe Theatre District in addition to the Discovery Island entrance?

 

[rteetz]

Then how come it closed?

Operating costs, maintenance stuff like that. It was too much work to keep it open.

 

[bookgirl]

The Social Media Moms Conference is happening now and they got a behind the scene Tour of Pandora. I imagine there will be some info from their social sites if you follow any of them.