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

[capegirl]

Disney made one critical error in the design of FoP. If the attraction can hold 5 hours of guests,where are the restrooms? None! What is a parent to do with children who need to go? I am 71 and visiting in October. I don't think I could wait that long let alone a 7-8 year old.

It's a Disney endurance test. When nature calls the line gets shorter.

 

[lorenni]

FEA offers Rider Swap. Babies who are sleeping are not allowed on the ride so Swap passes have been given out.

If the sleeping baby rule is true for NRJ, then the Rider Swap will apply.

ETA: This is from undercovertourist.com
"Na'vi River Journey has no height restrictions or similar warnings. Guests must transfer from wheelchairs/EVC's to the ride vehicle. Rider switch will be offered."

For consideration, we had Peter Pan FP and the baby was sleeping, and they would NOT allow rider swap nor would they give us replacement FP. So I would not count on it for any ride without a height requirement.

 

[rteetz]

A few other thoughts on Pandora while they're on my mind...

Tossing coins into rivers and ponds at the parks is a pet peeve of mine, but seeing it happen in Pandora felt extra disheartening. The stream at the entrance of NRJ is filled with them! Don't pollute Pandora!

At FOP, while everyone was fascinated by the avatar in the tank, I was giddy about the other little lab experiments on the desks - ferrofluid, iron filings, vibration tube. Seeing real science and physics used to tell a theme park story is amazing. It really makes you think about how strange and mysterious our own world is, and I'm sure it will turn guests of all ages on to science. Hollywood movie themes aside, when I saw those experiments, that's when I said "this land is a success." <- Disney, if you expand Pandora, more of this please!

I thought the same thing about the coins. I can understand a fountain or something but this is a stream in a beautiful setting. Throwing coins in there is just not good.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

A few other thoughts on Pandora while they're on my mind...

Tossing coins into rivers and ponds at the parks is a pet peeve of mine, but seeing it happen in Pandora felt extra disheartening. The stream at the entrance of NRJ is filled with them! Don't pollute Pandora!

At FOP, while everyone was fascinated by the avatar in the tank, I was giddy about the other little lab experiments on the desks - ferrofluid, iron filings, vibration tube. Seeing real science and physics used to tell a theme park story is amazing. It really makes you think about how strange and mysterious our own world is, and I'm sure it will turn guests of all ages on to science. Hollywood movie themes aside, when I saw those experiments, that's when I said "this land is a success." <- Disney, if you expand Pandora, more of this please!

I thought the same thing re: the coins - I couldn't believe how quickly people were already throwing coins in the Rivers their (although I know at least for small world they collect the coins and donate them to charity - I assume they will do the same here)

 

[Lost Yeti]

Since the lines for Pandora are so long. Are you able to bring a toddler to just wait on line with you and then exit with another parent or is there a a room nearby where the parent can wait and then swithc?? I know the answer is probably no but considering how long the lines are it would make it easier if we could all be together..anyway just a thought.

with a fastpass how long are the waits????

You can ask for a rider swap pass before entering the queue. One adult waits in line alone while the other waits outside the line with the toddler. Once the first adult gets off the ride, he/she hands the rider swap pass to the second adult who then can enter the fastpass line while adult 1 stays with toddler outside the line.

My wife and I have done this several times already and it works well. The longest wait we've had with a FP has been ~45 minutes, but most of the time it has been less than 20.

 

[JDUCKY]

Disney made one critical error in the design of FoP. If the attraction can hold 5 hours of guests,where are the restrooms? None! What is a parent to do with children who need to go? I am 71 and visiting in October. I don't think I could wait that long let alone a 7-8 year old.

Two restrooms in the area. Trade off holding spots in line or ask people behind ya to hold the spot

 

[ArielSRL]

So, I kept up with this thread fairly well until I left for my trip on Saturday...so I have missed quite a bit.

We are headed to AK in the morning but we won't be going into Pandora until about 10am or so. A few questions: how has parking been? Can I still get a spot around 8:15 or 8:30am? Has there been a line into Pandora the last few days? My Dh and ODS have FoP FP but my YDS and I do not. We were planning to grab a rider swap pass. If there is a line, will they only let the 2 of us with FP in without waiting in the line?

Thanks, in advance!

 

[dina444444]

So, I kept up with this thread fairly well until I left for my trip on Saturday...so I have missed quite a bit.

We are headed to AK in the morning but we won't be going into Pandora until about 10am or so. A few questions: how has parking been? Can I still get a spot around 8:15 or 8:30am? Has there been a line into Pandora the last few days? My Dh and ODS have FoP FP but my YDS and I do not. We were planning to grab a rider swap pass. If there is a line, will they only let the 2 of us with FP in without waiting in the line?

Thanks, in advance!

You should be completely fine with parking. I never had an issue parking last week with the 5 days I was AK and each was arriving at different times. I went on the 28th and arrived around 9:15am and there was plenty of parking at that time.

 

[hiroMYhero]

So, I kept up with this thread fairly well until I left for my trip on Saturday...so I have missed quite a bit.

We are headed to AK in the morning but we won't be going into Pandora until about 10am or so. A few questions: how has parking been? Can I still get a spot around 8:15 or 8:30am? Has there been a line into Pandora the last few days? My Dh and ODS have FoP FP but my YDS and I do not. We were planning to grab a rider swap pass. If there is a line, will they only let the 2 of us with FP in without waiting in the line?

Thanks, in advance!

Hi Renee, no one has mentioned any parking problems lately. There's also been no mention of lines into Pandora at that time of the morning.

For FP: If there is a line to enter Pandora, go to the FP line and explain you are planning to use Rider Swap. With that info, you'll be allowed in with the guys.

 

[wilkeliza]

Disney made one critical error in the design of FoP. If the attraction can hold 5 hours of guests,where are the restrooms? None! What is a parent to do with children who need to go? I am 71 and visiting in October. I don't think I could wait that long let alone a 7-8 year old.

Are there many other theme parks with bathrooms in lines? I can only think of one I've ever been to. Yes the queue can be that long but heck I waited 5 hours in a comic con line and did not get to take a bathroom break. It was pretty much a known that getting in line with a wait like that meant go before and drink as little as possible until you were done.

 

[ArielSRL]

You should be completely fine with parking. I never had an issue parking last week with the 5 days I was AK and each was arriving at different times. I went on the 28th and arrived around 9:15am and there was plenty of parking at that time.

Hi Renee, no one has mentioned any parking problems lately. There's also been no mention of lines into Pandora at that time of the morning.

For FP: If there is a line to enter Pandora, go to the FP line and explain you are planning to use Rider Swap. With that info, you'll be allowed in with the guys.

Thank you so much!

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I'm in the standby queue for FOP right now and I'm really impressed. We used the FP queue during the preview I came to.

The wait time went from 15 to 45 to 75 while I waited in line to get in line. Oh well, I'm committed to this now!

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I waited 35 even though 75 was posted when I entered the queue.

I looked around some during the ride and it was really cool to see how the whole room moves around. I'm really impressed with this ride. I'd wait an hour for it, and for me, that's saying something.

 

[AngiTN]

There is a nice feature about the line that I hadn't noticed being mentioned. It's part of the intention of the design, at least I assume it is.
They designed it so that the weaving and length of the line, and the load ratio, work together so that you never stand for any length in one spot.
It's continually moving along, baring any outages at least. Outages changes things but if all theaters are operating correctly you never really stop moving along the line. You aren't rushing along so you can see things but you also don't just stand so it doesn't feel like you are in line as long as you are. At least that is how we felt during our 2 trips through the FP line, one during regular morning open and one during EMH
Something about just standing in line for 2 hours and inching along feels worse than continually moving for 2 hours.

 

[RedSox68]

There is a nice feature about the line that I hadn't noticed being mentioned. It's part of the intention of the design, at least I assume it is.
They designed it so that the weaving and length of the line, and the load ratio, work together so that you never stand for any length in one spot.
It's continually moving along, baring any outages at least. Outages changes things but if all theaters are operating correctly you never really stop moving along the line. You aren't rushing along so you can see things but you also don't just stand so it doesn't feel like you are in line as long as you are. At least that is how we felt during our 2 trips through the FP line, one during regular morning open and one during EMH
Something about just standing in line for 2 hours and inching along feels worse than continually moving for 2 hours.

Like being in a traffic jam -- as long as you are continually moving forward, it doesn't seem so bad

 

[BuckeyeBama]

There is a nice feature about the line that I hadn't noticed being mentioned. It's part of the intention of the design, at least I assume it is.
They designed it so that the weaving and length of the line, and the load ratio, work together so that you never stand for any length in one spot.
It's continually moving along, baring any outages at least. Outages changes things but if all theaters are operating correctly you never really stop moving along the line. You aren't rushing along so you can see things but you also don't just stand so it doesn't feel like you are in line as long as you are. At least that is how we felt during our 2 trips through the FP line, one during regular morning open and one during EMH
Something about just standing in line for 2 hours and inching along feels worse than continually moving for 2 hours.

If there are any problems at all, you do a lot of standing in one spot. My feet were killing me after one particular time through the queue because of this. But I agree that the queue is set up in a way that allows this to be minimized if there are no issues with ride loading.

 

[Gina Starr]

There is a nice feature about the line that I hadn't noticed being mentioned. It's part of the intention of the design, at least I assume it is.
They designed it so that the weaving and length of the line, and the load ratio, work together so that you never stand for any length in one spot.
It's continually moving along, baring any outages at least. Outages changes things but if all theaters are operating correctly you never really stop moving along the line. You aren't rushing along so you can see things but you also don't just stand so it doesn't feel like you are in line as long as you are. At least that is how we felt during our 2 trips through the FP line, one during regular morning open and one during EMH
Something about just standing in line for 2 hours and inching along feels worse than continually moving for 2 hours.

I noticed this too at least for the first half of the line. I was thinking to myself how it was great that we were constantly moving when we all of a sudden stopped. I'm not sure exactly what happened but my guess is at least 1-2 theaters went down because we were at a stand still for a while and our 100 minute wait turned into about 180. Even after we started moving again it wasn't at a steady pace so I'm guessing they had a backlog of FP people they had to get through

 

[ThistleMae]

I've been following this thread since the first post. I'm beginning to think I may not be able to get a FP for FOP because we are staying offsite. Kenny the Pirate indicated it is unlikely that anyone will be able to get a FP at 30 days out for this particular ride. A couple of folks in here said to try at 7 a.m. on your 30 day mark. Somewhere else I read you can book your FP+ starting at midnight on your 30 day mark. I would hate to miss this ride, since I don't get down to Florida that often. I can't stand in line for 3-5 hours, I just can't (knee issues). I will keep trying everyday, throughout the day when the time comes. I'm trying not to get discouraged but I also want to prepare myself....I may not get a FP+.

 

[poison ivy]

I've been following this thread since the first post. I'm beginning to think I may not be able to get a FP for FOP because we are staying offsite. Kenny the Pirate indicated it is unlikely that anyone will be able to get a FP at 30 days out for this particular ride. A couple of folks in here said to try at 7 a.m. on your 30 day mark. Somewhere else I read you can book your FP+ starting at midnight on your 30 day mark. I would hate to miss this ride, since I don't get down to Florida that often. I can't stand in line for 3-5 hours, I just can't (knee issues). I will keep trying everyday, throughout the day when the time comes. I'm trying not to get discouraged but I also want to prepare myself....I may not get a FP+.

That does seem like a challenge. Good luck.

I'm thinking I may not have any luck getting a FP+ at 60 days with a short trip planned. If many are finding them at Day 4 of their trip when the window opens up this will cut me out of the loop with a 3day stay.

In any event, we'll rope drop if we can't get anything either.

 

[JessRose]

I've been following this thread since the first post. I'm beginning to think I may not be able to get a FP for FOP because we are staying offsite. Kenny the Pirate indicated it is unlikely that anyone will be able to get a FP at 30 days out for this particular ride. A couple of folks in here said to try at 7 a.m. on your 30 day mark. Somewhere else I read you can book your FP+ starting at midnight on your 30 day mark. I would hate to miss this ride, since I don't get down to Florida that often. I can't stand in line for 3-5 hours, I just can't (knee issues). I will keep trying everyday, throughout the day when the time comes. I'm trying not to get discouraged but I also want to prepare myself....I may not get a FP+.

Even without a FastPass+, you can ride without a 3-5 hour wait if you plan ahead. We arrived about 45 minutes before park opening and were within the first 100 people on the ride. We "walked on". We rode a total of 4 times that day, our shortest wait was the first ride that morning.. It was extremely difficult for me to avoid taking pictures of the queue and just keep moving, but it was worth doing so.