Hi everyone! I'm not a Cast Member, but I was invited by one to one of the previews this week. I want to tell you about my experience with the preview and my impressions of the land. I understand that these opinions are my own. If you've trudged through 15 pages of people worrying about if they'll fit on FoP or not, I hope that you'll find this post a nice change of pace.
To start, I was not at all excited for Pandora. I have no connection with the movie, and I've grown tired with simulated attractions. This past week of seeing overwhelming review pour in with countless people proclaiming FoP as the "best ride ever" got to me. The hype was real. My preview was at 9AM and I found it difficult to sleep the night before, I was so excited.
My group arrived at the park at 7:45 AM. There were separate park entry touch points blocked off for this preview. We were the first group in line, and were told we would be let in at 8:15 and would receive a "Fastpass" for FoP.
At 8:15, we were let into the park and told to go wait by the Tree of Life. Nobody led us over there. It was essentially "figure it out!" When they told us to meet by the Tree, we were actually supposed to line up by the FastPass+ kiosks. Several groups behind us had gotten there first, and were now in front of us in line. So much for being first. We were held here until about 8:55.
We were then brought forward to the entry bridge of Pandora. The Cast Member in our group showed her confirmation e-mail and we were let in. I don't recall his ID being checked. It seemed a bit insecure in that regard, but I wasn't paying attention that closely.
At the temporary gate to Pandora, we talked to a friendly Cast Member who was the first of many to tell us about all of the issues Flight of Passage has been having. Essentially, the ride is not able to run for more than an hour without breaking down or needing a rest period. Almost every Cast Member we asked would tell us essentially the same thing.
As we entered, we were given a "FastPass" with a 15 minute window for FoP. It's not so much a FastPass as it is a ticket to ride. We were told that they are only given to the first 400 people that enter. For anyone else, it's tough luck. Our ticket was for 09:00 - 09:15.
Flight of Passage
We arrived at FoP and were directed through the FastPass line. There is nothing interesting to look at in the FastPass line. We were held at merge for about 5 minutes, and directed to a long hallway afterward (similar to Soarin') where we waiting another 10. I don't believe they were finished with opening procedures.
At 9:15, we began the pre-shows. This has been posted online - feel free to watch it for yourself. The guy playing the part of the "scientist" is awful. the dialogue is atrocious. At one point I believe he says something like "Because of science, you'll be able to feel like you're flying!" Very specific. Also note that the screen is in a small room and is not elevated. It's at the far end of the room where people are standing two by two. If one larger person is in front of you, you won't see the screen (but joke's on them because they probably won't get to ride, anyway). What's even more odd is that the pre-show begins by saying something like "Can everyone see me on the screen?" Many people replied, "No."
Moving onto the ride. It was finally happening. We placed our belongings in the bins behind us, put on our "goggles", sat down on our Tron bikes and looked forward at a wall. Looking down at the screen on the vehicle, I could see a live feed of my own face, with a camera very flatteringly pointed up at my chin, as the computer transferred me to my Avatar. Finally, there was a strobe light, and I watched the wall lift up to reveal a giant screen, a la Soarin'.
There was no moving forward toward the screen. I was on the 1st floor, toward the far corner. I had to look up and to the right to look toward the "center" of the screen. At all times, I was very aware that there was a ceiling above me. If I looked up and right slightly further than the screen, I could see all of the other rows of people riding.
So much for "no bad seats". I was very much off-centered and could tell. At some points, I even got double vision in the 3D because I wasn't looking straight on. Oh well.
The ride mechanism itself is pretty cool. If you look behind you, you can see how much the theater moves. You're in a row of people, in a room, and it feels like the room is moving to a 3D video. I found it very hard to suspend belief enough to not be aware of this.
And the movie content itself? Nothing happens. Much like Soarin', you're just taking a ride. There is no conflict, no dialogue, and really no music. And you can very much tell it's CGI. It doesn't even look as good as the movie, which came out almost a decade ago. It looks like a smoother, higher resolution PS4 game.
The drops that people mentioned on here are more like gentle dives. Nothing overly thrilling. Nothing jerky like Star Tours. Gentle, like Soarin', but with more dramatic movement.
Overall, it's a fun ride, no doubt. It just isn't what people have been saying it is. It is not a "game changer". It does not top The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man for best 3D attraction (opinion). It's basically Jimmy Fallon ride on bikes. It's just OK. Lower your expectations and try to enjoy it for what it is.
The attraction broke down soon after we rode, and was own for most of the time we spent in the land.
The standby queue is incredible. It was open for people to freely walk through. It is very much like the queue in Journey to the Center of the Earth in Tokyo. I imagine Disney knew that people would be spending a lot of time in there, so they made it great.
River Journey
After FoP, we went to River Journey. It was a walk on, and Cast Members were allowed to ride as much as they wish. We were also told that we were free to stay in the land after our allotted time, and that nobody would be kicked out. Disney should have let more people enter the land, and kept FoP limited, because the River Cast looked bored.
I don't know what to say about River Journey, besides that I think that it is the worst attraction in WDW. It is visually pleasing, the shaman animatronic is cool, but that's it. There is no story. The ride blurs together as one scene - it all looks the same. The projections are very easy to identify and differentiate from the live action scenes. It's short. Unless you've spent the last 7 years obsessing over Avatar, then you probably have no emotional connection to this world.
I'd love to stand by the exit of the ride and hear people's reaction when they leave. I imagine many people will be confused and disappointed.
The Land
As you can see from the pictures that are out there, the land itself looks great. In my opinion, it looks better in pictures.
Pandora is small. It somehow feels smaller than Camp Minnie Mickey. The centerpiece is beautiful, but that's about the only impressive part. Otherwise, it's a bunch of trees and plants. There are some fun interactive elements that I'm sure the kids will get a kick out of. Overall, it's not as interesting as Diagon Alley, and not anywhere close to being on the same level as Tokyo Disney Sea.
Those small islands that are supposed to look like they're miles away? The effect doesn't do it for me. And it probably doesn't help that when you come into the parking lot, you see that they're about 2 feet tall and hanging by wire to a show building. It makes it more difficult to suspend belief.
Food
The chicken bowl was great. It's nice to see Disney stepping up their Quick Service game here. The non-alcoholic apple/pear drink was disgusting. Avoid that.
Overall
Pandora is a nice edition to WDW, but I urge you to set reasonable expectations. FoP is a fun ride that I believe people will be very disappointed in because of the 6 year wait and expecting something that it's not. River Journey is a disaster.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions.
