Na'vi River Journey

[Rich M]

Is this ride a must do fast pass or can it be managed with standby. Wondering if I should have two FOP FP or if I need to have one for the river one.

 

[launchpad15]

I believe it is manageable without a FP, especially if it is early. I would suggest 2 FOP FP because it is that awesome! Going back in November (rode it in June) and we are doing two FOP FP.

 

[Klayfish]

You can't have 2 FoP FP+ on the same day, unless you get it as a 4th. We never tried it standby, but when we were there it had only been open for 6 weeks. Lines aren't quite as long now, at least that's what I've heard...we're heading back down in 5 weeks, we'll find out soon enough.

 

[pitpat]

I'd keep both FOP FPs and do Navi at opening.

https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/animal-kingdom-pandora-rope-drop-to-navi-river-journey-10317/

 

[Rich M]

Sounds good. I have booked the 2nd FOP and will do Navi at rope drop. We just wanted to make sure what went on Navi since the baby can go on it.

 

[Dakota731]

Do you get wet?

 

[mesaboy2]

Do you get wet?

No.

 

[erionm]

Do you get wet?

No.

 

[Catvondita]

You can definitely manage without a fast pass and honestly it's not worth a fast pass. Its pretty and has a very impressive animatronic but its not really worth doing more than once unless it has a really short wait. I've waited 45 minutes for it when it was the first 2 weeks into opening and that was in the evening. The second time I went on it was also in the evening and it was a half hour.

 

[Kenzientysmom]

I would also stick with your 2 fast passes for FOP. As others have said, Na'vi can be handled stand-by and in my opinion, it is underwhelming.

 

[Rich M]

Thank you. We just want to go on anything that the baby can ride on.

 

[marauder]

Personally I wouldn't do it without a Fast Pass because it is very underwhelming. I did it via FastPass. I couldn't imagine waiting more then say 20 minutes for this ride. I would suggest either rope drop it or FastPass it. Of course if you can get a FOP FastPass, that would be much better use of a FastPass. As someone who only had a 30 day window, a FOP FastPass was highly unlikely.

 

[StraightToDumbo]

I think it's funny when people say NRJ isn't worth a FP. The lesser attraction, the one you wouldn't wait long for is the one you SHOULD FP. In this case, I'd much rather wait in the FoP stand-by and FP NRJ.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Personally I wouldn't do it without a Fast Pass because it is very underwhelming. I did it via FastPass. I couldn't imagine waiting more then say 20 minutes for this ride. I would suggest either rope drop it or FastPass it. Of course if you can get a FOP FastPass, that would be much better use of a FastPass. As someone who only had a 30 day window, a FOP FastPass was highly unlikely.

FOP fastpasses have been popping up inside those 30 days and can be had fairly easily. We couldn't get one at 60 days but a week and a half before a bunch of new ones popped up and we could have got one for every day there for 12 people.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I think it's funny when people say NRJ isn't worth a FP. The lesser attraction, the one you wouldn't wait long for is the one you SHOULD FP. In this case, I'd much rather wait in the FoP stand-by and FP NRJ.

Not me. FOP standby would be long. NRJ is not. Fast pass the one that would take the longest to get through.

 

[marauder]

FOP fastpasses have been popping up inside those 30 days and can be had fairly easily. We couldn't get one at 60 days but a week and a half before a bunch of new ones popped up and we could have got one for every day there for 12 people.

When I was there at the end of August, I checked EVERY day for a FOP FastPass and I never saw one. I saw one for Navi almost every day of my trip, usually later in the day.

 

[Tigger's ally]

When I was there at the end of August, I checked EVERY day for a FOP FastPass and I never saw one. I saw one for Navi almost every day of my trip, usually later in the day.

Yeah, but evidently they expanded the FOP fastpasses in late September on because they have become more available.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I would only FP it if you can't secure FP's for FOP.

We went last Friday and the river ride had pretty long waits all day but we jumped in line at 5 minutes until closing time. It showed a 40 min wait but we waited just 20 minutes. My guess is that they inflate wait times at the end of the day to discourage people So, if the times are long all day, consider jumping in near park closing.

 

[otten]

How bad are the NRJ waits in the morning? We're going to be arriving at 9am on an am emh day (we aren't using EMH).

 

[bryanb]

I wouldn't give up a Flight of Passage FastPass for a Na'vi River Journey FastPass. After you ride FOP, there's a good chance you're going to want to do it again.

A few observations:
The NRJ queue is not as entertaining as the FOP queue. A very long part of the wait is in a very large room with many switchbacks. It's nicely decorated, but frankly gets boring after a while. When I did this attraction standby, it was about 40 minutes in the evening and it felt really long. I didn't like the ride that much, so for me the 40 minute wait wasn't worth it.
The FOP queue, on the other hand, is one of the most spectacular I've ever seen at a Disney park. There are many different rooms and each of them is beautifully decorated. It's worth going through the standby queue at least once (although I wouldn't give up a FP to do so... maybe if you choose to ride it again standby). I walked through this queue at an 80 minute wait and it felt long but entertaining.