Na'vi river ride question - and help please!

[purplejam]

We will be visiting wdw for 2 weeks in August (16th - 29th)

I have been making fast pass selections today but I have some questions and a potential dilemma regarding the na'vi river ride.

Firstly let me say I'm a total ride wimp - so for me I think I'm looking forward to this ride more than FOP (I know I can hear the audible gasps and slapping of foreheads all the way across the pond to England )

I have already booked morning fastpasses for FOP and na'vi river (on 2 separate days) but I'd really like to go on the river ride at night.

So here are the questions !

1) is it worth booking a night time fast pass for the river ride and thereby using up that days 'top fastpass' and stopping us being able to book any additional fastpasses for the day (as we wouldn't have used all 3 until too late to book any additional ones)
2) how long will the standby queue be in the evening
3) is it really worth bothering to see the ride in the dark

Also the day that I was hoping to do the nighttime ride is the day we have a dining package for ROL so I couldn't even try to see if that was a quieter time as I'll be watching the show.

Sorry for rambling - but I'm all fastpassed out today !!!

Many thanks

 

[erionm]

The Na'vi River Journey is an indoor attraction so riding at night will not change the experience.

 

[PrincessP]

1) It is an indoor ride like Its A Small World boat ride so I do not see any benefit to riding it at night rather than the morning. I wouldn't rework your schedule to ride it at night. Enjoy ROL.

2) The standby queue length is hard to guess at this point. It has been as low as 45 minutes, but can also be 2 hours, depending on day, weather, etc. and August is still 2 months away.

3) it will be dark inside the ride morning or night.....you will have no knowledge of the true (night or day) outside surroundings when riding, so no, I don't think it matters at all.

Have a great trip!

 

[LSUfan4444]

1) is it worth booking a night time fast pass for the river ride and thereby using up that days 'top fastpass' and stopping us being able to book any additional fastpasses for the day (as we wouldn't have used all 3 until too late to book any additional ones)

Yes, otherwise you can expect the standby wait time to be anywhere from "probably the longest you've ever waited for a theme park attraction" to "I hope they deliver some sort of MRE's because we've been in line over 3 hours already"

2) how long will the standby queue be in the evening

Impossible to say now but these attractions are literally setting records with their standby wait times. I would not expect anything less than 2 hours.

3) is it really worth bothering to see the ride is the dark

Its the only way you will see the ride. It is indoors and set at night. Whether you see the ride at 10 am or 10 pm it looks exactly the same.

 

[purplejam]

Thanks for the replies - I think I must have been getting confused (and it doesn't take a lot lol)

Thanks for clarifying that the river ride will be the same at any time of day

Maybe I'm thinking about the whole pandora land - could I have read that it's worth seeing that at night ? - I've got the words 'bio luminescent' stuck in my head - not really any idea what it means but hate to feel I might be missing out on something

I'm going to leave my fastpasses as they are - thanks for the help

 

[Liljo22]

Thanks for the replies - I think I must have been getting confused (and it doesn't take a lot lol)

Thanks for clarifying that the river ride will be the same at any time of day

Maybe I'm thinking about the whole pandora land - could I have read that it's worth seeing that at night ? - I've got the words 'bio luminescent' stuck in my head - not really any idea what it means but hate to feel I might be missing out on something

I'm going to leave my fastpasses as they are - thanks for the help

Havent been yet but from what others are saying in this thread, Pandora at night is nice but you miss the details of the land that you would see during the day. If you stay at AK until night fall then of course go through the land but no need to make the FP+ at night.

 

[peg110]

I think I must have been getting confused (and it doesn't take a lot lol)

I think the confusion lies in that the ride is the "Navi RIVER ride" and rivers are, generally speaking, not INDOORS.

 

[1st*toright]

We were there last week, and I would say it is worth seeing the land both at night and during the day, if you are going to be in the park for both. Makes no difference to the ride experience, but all the glowing stuff is cool. That said, if I had to pick only one time, I personally would go during the day - the detail in the design is more evident during the day, the "vibe" of Pandora is more pronounced at night, but you can't see all the detail. We were there on a really rainy day, so wait times were as low as they've ever been for the Pandora rides - got in line right around 9pm (skipped ROL to do this) and FOP was an hour wait, then got in line at about 10:15 for NRJ and it took 10 mins. I think there is a dip in wait times generally around the time ROL happens - when day guests are doing ROL or heading out and people coming for EMH aren't there yet. People were absolutely streaming into Pandora at about 11:15 when we were leaving the park.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks for the replies - I think I must have been getting confused (and it doesn't take a lot lol)

Thanks for clarifying that the river ride will be the same at any time of day

Maybe I'm thinking about the whole pandora land - could I have read that it's worth seeing that at night ? - I've got the words 'bio luminescent' stuck in my head - not really any idea what it means but hate to feel I might be missing out on something

I'm going to leave my fastpasses as they are - thanks for the help

Both rides are totally indoors so the experience on the rides will be the exact same no matter the time of day/night

the land itself does vary as there is a bioluminesence effect that happens at night. However, you can't see all the intricate detail put into the land during the night - it really is two very different experiences and I highly suggest you try to see the land both during the day and at night

So, in summary: Go to Pandora both in the day and at the night, but for the land itself - it doesn't matter when you actually go on the rides

 

[BillFromCT]

We will be visiting wdw for 2 weeks in August (16th - 29th)

On an unrelated to Pandora note, how were you able to make fastpasses already if you don't check in until 8/16? I check in 8/15, and my fastpass day isn't until Friday.

 

[purplejam]

On an unrelated to Pandora note, how were you able to make fastpasses already if you don't check in until 8/16? I check in 8/15, and my fastpass day isn't until Friday.

The short answer is I don't know !!! Actually I think I do - we are staying onsite for 3 weeks checking in on the 12th August but only having 14days of park tickets (those Brit enticing 14 day passes lol) we are having our first park day on 16th August. So it's 60 days today to our check in day of 12th august.

I was however surprised that I could book fastpasses up to and including 26th August - 3 days left to book.

 

[AllieBoo]

We went last week and visited Pandora during the day and at night, and I have to say it is much cooler looking at night. Everything is glowing, and just very pretty.

 

[Blue32]

Without having ridden either pandora rides, I will say that I still prefer riding dark rides in the evening. My eyes are adjusted to the dark much better then, and I can see more details in the indoor dark rides then. Now is it that much different to hold off on using a FP until then while limiting yourself to additional FP's? Probably not....for me.

 

[allsaintsatx]

I have no advice for you, but I just wanted to say that I am in total solidarity with you on your wimpy ride choices. We have 3 nights planned at AK and I basically had to force my family to at least try FOP once! They would have been totally fine with riding Navi river 3 times instead! AK is one of our favorite parks and I'm starting to think it's because there's only one rollercoaster for us to avoid and we can wisely use our fast passes on nail biters like the Finding Nemo musical and the Safari.

 

[joyjoy]

AK is one of our favorite parks and I'm starting to think it's because there's only one rollercoaster for us to avoid and we can wisely use our fast passes on nail biters like the Finding Nemo musical and the Safari.

Awesome.

 

[allsaintsatx]

Awesome.

Ha! Sad but true! Our "thrill ride" is Dinosaur!

 

[joyjoy]

Ha! Sad but true! Our "thrill ride" is Dinosaur!

Oh, that's pretty thrilling. We call that hideousness that jumps out at you the "OhMyGodasaurus".

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Sorry to hijack but do you get wet on this river ride

 

[wdwrule]

Sorry to hijack but do you get wet on this river ride

No not at all.

 

[peg110]

Sorry to hijack but do you get wet on this river ride

Not a Hijack.... It's on topic with the thread!

Glad you asked though, because I wanted to know too.