I found myself having to make a short notice, brief trip down to our winter home in Davenport. I could not pass up the opportunity to take a few hours and make my first visit to Pandora. No FP+, just a quick rope drop visit. I arrived at the AK parking booth this morning at 7:20am only to find no one there to check my AP card and ID. So I just drove into the lot and was directed to park in row Dinosaur 32. There were about 16 cars there before me.
I walked towards the park and joined up with a few folks strolling in from the resort buses. At 7:30am I found myself in the second row of folks waiting at the “No Bag” security line. I would guess there were about 60 people waiting, most in the bag check lines. A few minutes later they started letting us in and l made my way to the AP line. I ended up behind two families. I probably would have been first in line if I hadn't stopped at the rest room on the way. I enjoyed some nice conversations with my fellow pass holders while waiting.
About 8am they started letting us into the park. My old knees aren’t quite as good as they once were so by the time I got to where they were holding people headed towards Pandora I was in about the 6th row of the crowd. It was now about 8:12am and it was amazing to watch the crowd build in behind us. In spite of the sun being behind some thin clouds it quickly got very steamy with the crowd pressed together and surrounded by the lush AK landscape.
A bit after 8:30am they started to walk the crowd slowly towards Flight of Passage. There was the expected jostling as the crowd narrowed down into the Pandora walkways. I have to say that the landscaping of Pandora was impressive. Though it was hard to appreciate while in the midst of the crowd.
As others have noted, the rope drop crowd does not go through all of the standby queue. But what I saw was very well done. As we got close the CMs directed us to rows from which they were filling up the first pre-show. I was about four back in the left row when they stopped taking people. Then they put out a call for a single rider. That was me! I became Number 16.
The two pre-shows were well done and set the stage for what was coming. Then it was on to the ride. The motorcycle like seat fit me fine but most importantly didn’t bother my somewhat tender back.
And then we were off! The ride is very impressive. With the Imax 3D, the physical motion, and the special effects it is very immersive. Almost too much for me. I had to focus my visual attention carefully. Once I focused on “follow the ride leader” I was OK. The visuals in the ride are incredible. The special effects really add to the “real life” feeling. What a ride!
I then headed off to find the Navi River entrance. On the way I passed the FOP entrance and noted it was only 9:01am and the standby wait time was posted as 150 minutes.
When I got to Navi River the wait was posted as 30 minutes but it turned out to be nowhere near that long. I was back out in Pandora by 9:17am. Navi River was well done but after FOP it was not quite as impressive. There are certainly plenty of details to see. I suspect it will take a few rides to appreciate it.
After Navi River I wandered around Pandora for a bit to see more of the landscaping. Extremely detailed and well done. As I left Pandora I noted that the FOP line stretched almost all the way back to Tiffens. Being early to rope drop is the way to go.
I continued to wander over to Africa. I thought about taking a Safari but the wait time was 25 minutes. I considered it but remembered that I had other, non-Disney things to do today. Plus the sun was getting stronger and my northern conditioned body was starting to feel the heat. But I had accomplished my goal, to visit Pandora. Well done Disney! I’ll be back in the winter.
I walked towards the park and joined up with a few folks strolling in from the resort buses. At 7:30am I found myself in the second row of folks waiting at the “No Bag” security line. I would guess there were about 60 people waiting, most in the bag check lines. A few minutes later they started letting us in and l made my way to the AP line. I ended up behind two families. I probably would have been first in line if I hadn't stopped at the rest room on the way. I enjoyed some nice conversations with my fellow pass holders while waiting.
About 8am they started letting us into the park. My old knees aren’t quite as good as they once were so by the time I got to where they were holding people headed towards Pandora I was in about the 6th row of the crowd. It was now about 8:12am and it was amazing to watch the crowd build in behind us. In spite of the sun being behind some thin clouds it quickly got very steamy with the crowd pressed together and surrounded by the lush AK landscape.
A bit after 8:30am they started to walk the crowd slowly towards Flight of Passage. There was the expected jostling as the crowd narrowed down into the Pandora walkways. I have to say that the landscaping of Pandora was impressive. Though it was hard to appreciate while in the midst of the crowd.
As others have noted, the rope drop crowd does not go through all of the standby queue. But what I saw was very well done. As we got close the CMs directed us to rows from which they were filling up the first pre-show. I was about four back in the left row when they stopped taking people. Then they put out a call for a single rider. That was me! I became Number 16.
The two pre-shows were well done and set the stage for what was coming. Then it was on to the ride. The motorcycle like seat fit me fine but most importantly didn’t bother my somewhat tender back.
And then we were off! The ride is very impressive. With the Imax 3D, the physical motion, and the special effects it is very immersive. Almost too much for me. I had to focus my visual attention carefully. Once I focused on “follow the ride leader” I was OK. The visuals in the ride are incredible. The special effects really add to the “real life” feeling. What a ride!
I then headed off to find the Navi River entrance. On the way I passed the FOP entrance and noted it was only 9:01am and the standby wait time was posted as 150 minutes.
When I got to Navi River the wait was posted as 30 minutes but it turned out to be nowhere near that long. I was back out in Pandora by 9:17am. Navi River was well done but after FOP it was not quite as impressive. There are certainly plenty of details to see. I suspect it will take a few rides to appreciate it.
After Navi River I wandered around Pandora for a bit to see more of the landscaping. Extremely detailed and well done. As I left Pandora I noted that the FOP line stretched almost all the way back to Tiffens. Being early to rope drop is the way to go.
I continued to wander over to Africa. I thought about taking a Safari but the wait time was 25 minutes. I considered it but remembered that I had other, non-Disney things to do today. Plus the sun was getting stronger and my northern conditioned body was starting to feel the heat. But I had accomplished my goal, to visit Pandora. Well done Disney! I’ll be back in the winter.
