***Official*** Pandora: The World of Avatar Information Thread

[Geoff_M]

I'm behind, but I just heard a rumor that disney released information about passholder previews of pandora beginning in april...can anyone confirm this?

No information has been released, but WDWNT reported a rumor yesterday that Disney will "soon" announce a Passholder Preview over April 8-9. They said that it would be an event that would require pre-registration and Disney should announce it shortly.

I hope this is correct, as we fly home late in the day on the 8th!

 

[CounselorX]

Do we know if the avatar you create is something you view flying in front of you...like watching yourself fly on the banshee while simultaneously feeling what your avatar would be feeling? Does that make sense?

It should be first-person view. You'll see what your avatar sees, which would be the scenery of the ride and your banshee underneath you. The designing of your own avatar is probably just a way to make the queue interactive and to give you a cool picture.

 

[Anal Annie]

Even though people said why would they start tiering now I just had a feeling all along that they would initiate some form of tiering. No way they could just let everyone book both new rides at once. From the clips & previews I've seen I think it looks like the Nav'i boat ride has a much lower (therefore slower) ride capacity than the typical PoC or FEA boats so I'm betting that line will be long. And slow as in similar to TSMM which is a slow loader (although improved some with the new theater). Hopefully they've built this area for a large capacity crowd. I think the FoP ride will be the bigger draw for those seeking more action and I anticipate that will be the ride we gravitate to most. I really think for the first year or so both rides will have horendous stand-by lines but we WILL want to see the queues. I think for our trip this summer I'm sticking to my plan to have 2 mornings and 2 evenings for AK. We will want to do RoL plus Pandora (possibly more than once in a day). (Would be nice if they incorporated a single rider line in the new rides.) This way if we plan 2 and 2 and we hit rain or storms that rain out RoL we have a 2nd chance for that too. I also want to be sure to allow time for our usual morning Bloody's at the Dawa Bar after the safari, cocktails at the Nomad Lounge PLUS we'll want to try the food & drinks at the new Canteen. We've been waiting too long to short change our time for all this. I'm very excited.

(PS) thanks for the visual on why we need wipes for the FoP ride.

 

[HydroGuy]

OK so I am not used to FP+ booking being critical. I live in California, so do I absolutely have to be up at 4am tomorrow to get a Pandora FP for May 27th? I don't want to do it, but I can, I suppose

Also I already booked some EPCOT fastpasses for that day. I don't want to cancel them if I can't get the Avatar ones. But it seems like if I don't cancel now that might put a delay in booking. Are all of them likely to go in like 60 seconds?

I did not see an answer to your second question, but you will need to cancel all the FPs for parks other than AK to get AK FPs for May 27. Fortunately for you, if you cannot get an Avatar ride FP for May 27, it should not be hard to get the same or similar FP slots at Epcot back again.

It is not as bad for me in Colorado. 5AM tomorrow.

 

[CJN]

I've also read that you must book dining a day at a time as opposed to having access to the full 10 days. Not thrilled about this but staying anyway.

There seems to be conflicting reports about this. We're staying at Swan and once our window opened up I was able to book all of our ADRs as opposed to doing it on a rolling basis.

 

[HopperFan]

Even though people said why would they start tiering now I just had a feeling all along that they would initiate some form of tiering. No way they could just let everyone book both new rides at once. From the clips & previews I've seen I think it looks like the Nav'i boat ride has a much lower (therefore slower) ride capacity than the typical PoC or FEA boats so I'm betting that line will be long. And slow as in similar to TSMM which is a slow loader (although improved some with the new theater). Hopefully they've built this area for a large capacity crowd. I think the FoP ride will be the bigger draw for those seeking more action and I anticipate that will be the ride we gravitate to most. I really think for the first year or so both rides will have horendous stand-by lines but we WILL want to see the queues. I think for our trip this summer I'm sticking to my plan to have 2 mornings and 2 evenings for AK. We will want to do RoL plus Pandora (possibly more than once in a day). (Would be nice if they incorporated a single rider line in the new rides.) This way if we plan 2 and 2 and we hit rain or storms that rain out RoL we have a 2nd chance for that too. I also want to be sure to allow time for our usual morning Bloody's at the Dawa Bar after the safari, cocktails at the Nomad Lounge PLUS we'll want to try the food & drinks at the new Canteen. We've been waiting too long to short change our time for all this. I'm very excited.

(PS) thanks for the visual on why we need wipes for the FoP ride.

Many of us said it had to tier long ago, I think folks just were hoping it wouldn't and didn't see a bigger picture. Honestly they are lucky it's only tiering this way as the park could have handled more. You are absolutely right, no way they could open these two new and "innovative" rides to be scooped up at 60 days, every day. We all have to remember that the BULK of Disney guests are offsite and Disney depends heavily on their cash.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

The more I think on it the more I think we'll want to stand by each ride at least once. The the bigger strategy may be what is going to be the best time to do this? Opening, EMH, something else? Likely to be awful anytime, I guess.

2019

 

[pillow]

There seems to be conflicting reports about this. We're staying at Swan and once our window opened up I was able to book all of our ADRs as opposed to doing it on a rolling basis.

I've read conflicting reports too. Will keep my fingers crossed.

 

[IrishNYC]

I'm glad this is how the tiering worked out, just as I was hoping for. It's bad enough I have to tell DD she's not getting a FP+ for TT if she wants to ride FEA, but she'd be crushed to not have a FP for EE, and there was no way I was chosing that over any Pandora ride.

 

[WEDWDW]

It will be all the resorts that get extra magic hours.

Yes,WDW Resorts' Guests/Swan and Dolphin Resorts' Guests/Shades of Green Resort Guests and Golden Oak Residents will be able to take a Midnight Banshee ride!

 

[rteetz]

2019

Maybe not even then. If an avatar sequel comes out in 2019 that might renew interest in the land making it popular again.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Maybe not even then. If an avatar sequel comes out in 2019 that might renew interest in the land making it popular again.

I was figuring when Star Wars Land opens it might slow the roll of Pandora. It would go from "insane" down to "very crowded".

 

[AngiTN]

OK so I am not used to FP+ booking being critical. I live in California, so do I absolutely have to be up at 4am tomorrow to get a Pandora FP for May 27th? I don't want to do it, but I can, I suppose

Also I already booked some EPCOT fastpasses for that day. I don't want to cancel them if I can't get the Avatar ones. But it seems like if I don't cancel now that might put a delay in booking. Are all of them likely to go in like 60 seconds?

Yes, you will need to book at 4:00 AM on the dot (provided the website doesn't crash)
And you won't need to cancel the Epcot FP, until you know if you can get AK ones.
The FP system will alert you that you have existing FP at another park. You will click to Keep this Guest (or however they word it) and continue. If you confirm the AK FP it will replace your Epcot FP. If you don't, it will leave your Epcot FP alone

 

[capegirl]

We will not be going until July, but I'm excited for all of you who will be making FP+ reservations tomorrow morning.
Best of luck to you, and hopefully MDE will behave itself!

 

[mnmhouston]

Good luck tomorrow everyone. I have until end of July to figure it all out!! Phew...

 

[IrishNYC]

I'm certainly glad I have until mid-July to strategize touring AK.

 

[FireflyTrance]

It is not as bad for me in Colorado. 5AM tomorrow.

If I woke up at 5am I would stay up, but waking up at 4am there is the possibility of being able to go back to sleep and get another hour or two of sleep

Yes, you will need to book at 4:00 AM on the dot (provided the website doesn't crash)
And you won't need to cancel the Epcot FP, until you know if you can get AK ones.
The FP system will alert you that you have existing FP at another park. You will click to Keep this Guest (or however they word it) and continue. If you confirm the AK FP it will replace your Epcot FP. If you don't, it will leave your Epcot FP alone

Thank you for clarifying this! It would be horrible to wake up at 4am, not get anything for Avatar, and then also lose my Frozen fastpasses and possibly not be able to get them again.

 

[mrzrich]

OK so I am not used to FP+ booking being critical. I live in California, so do I absolutely have to be up at 4am tomorrow to get a Pandora FP for May 27th? I don't want to do it, but I can, I suppose

Also I already booked some EPCOT fastpasses for that day. I don't want to cancel them if I can't get the Avatar ones. But it seems like if I don't cancel now that might put a delay in booking. Are all of them likely to go in like 60 seconds?

Your Epcot FP will not get canceled until you confirm your AK Fastpassess. When you try to book at a different park the site will say "Hey, you already booked at a different park!" you choose "Continue with this guest" and proceed. If the Fastpasses you want are not available, choose "Start Over" you do not lose your Epcot FP until you "Confirm" your AK FP.

I did not see an answer to your second question, but you will need to cancel all the FPs for parks other than AK to get AK FPs for May 27. Fortunately for you, if you cannot get an Avatar ride FP for May 27, it should not be hard to get the same or similar FP slots at Epcot back again.

It is not as bad for me in Colorado. 5AM tomorrow.

See above. Cancelling ahead of time is simply not necessary

 

[CAS239]

OK so I am not used to FP+ booking being critical. I live in California, so do I absolutely have to be up at 4am tomorrow to get a Pandora FP for May 27th? I don't want to do it, but I can, I suppose

Also I already booked some EPCOT fastpasses for that day. I don't want to cancel them if I can't get the Avatar ones. But it seems like if I don't cancel now that might put a delay in booking. Are all of them likely to go in like 60 seconds?

I would set an alarm, wake up at 3:50am, make the FP's, then back to bed

 

[DrummerBoy523]

OK so I am not used to FP+ booking being critical. I live in California, so do I absolutely have to be up at 4am tomorrow to get a Pandora FP for May 27th? I don't want to do it, but I can, I suppose

Also I already booked some EPCOT fastpasses for that day. I don't want to cancel them if I can't get the Avatar ones. But it seems like if I don't cancel now that might put a delay in booking. Are all of them likely to go in like 60 seconds?

how are you going to get a FP+ tomorrow for 5/27. That's way longer than 60 days out.