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

[ThistleMae]

Not sure if people are still tracking things like this (been in WDW since last Saturday and haven't checked the DIS during that time), but I wanted to give a report on our timing during the rope drop rush to FOP.
Yesterday, Saturday July 8, was morning EMH at Animal Kingdom - EMH starting at 8:00.

6:25 AM: Got down to the bus stop at Beach Club. Looked at the screen of scheduled bus arrivals and saw that AK didn't have any time listed at all. A Magic Kingdom bus was scheduled to arrive a few minutes later and it did so while we were waiting.
6:30 AM: We called an uber. We wanted to be at the front of the pack, the screen still didn't have an arrival time scheduled, and we were done with waiting.
6:45 or 6:50: Arrived at Animal Kingdom. Two other families were waiting outside of bag check when we arrived. There was one Security officer standing at a table and she told us that they weren't ready for guests yet. We did see many CMs arriving to work. We also saw many busses pulling out of the AK parking lot (for what I imagine is their first run of the day) during this time.
Around 7:15: Bag check opened. I'm terrible at estimating but there was a pretty decent crowd behind us at this point.
7:40: Park opened. We were let in and held at the entrance to the bridge leading up to the tree of life.
7:53ish: About 10 CMs walked the crowd back to Pandora. I didn't really know where I was going so I don't have a better way to describe this, but one family deviated from the crowd to try and use an alternate route to FOP than the route that the CMs were using to walk us. We met up with them when they were going down a few stairs on the pathway and were made to wait behind the row of CMs anyway.
Not sure exactly what time we entered the ride room but I texted a friend "Done now" at 8:20 A.M. We also got to skip the second half of the first pre-show, because we were the first ride of the day in that room and the CM said we could save the time. We were in the front of the pack (maybe 15-20 people in front of us) this whole time.

Hope this helps someone! We were very anxious and wanted to make sure we got there as close to first as possible. We had ridden the ride once earlier in the week with a FP and didn't have another one, but wanted to experience it again. I'm so glad we got up that early - it was very worth it.

ETA: When we got off the ride, we walked down the way toward Festival of the Lion King and the line was all the way down at the drink cart right on that pathway in front of FOTLK. A CM was standing there holding an End of the Line sign and told someone that the line was one mile long from that point.

I am sure that had we waited for a bus, we would have been in the middle of that crowd of thousands and spent an hour waiting.

Wow, you did good. I wonder why the line for Lion King was so long? That's kind of scary.

 

[wenpop]

Just got my FP for FOP, all the morning hours were gone, but luckily I wanted afternoon.... How long is the wait with a fast pass after lunch?

 

[ThistleMae]

I didn't see a thread for this anymore, so I wanted to throw this out. I'm 6-3, 356, 50-inch pants, and I didn't fit. Made it to the simulator room, but no go after a minute or so of trying. I did fit the test vehicle outside.

The CMs were very nice, made it seem like the machine was broken so I wouldn't be embarrassed in front of my kids, replaced all of our FPs (even though the kids rode). But that's my size story, and wanted to let others know that there is a line, and I was over it.

All in all, Pandora was very cool. At least as well themed as HP with very neat details. I think WDW would have been better served, though, just to make up their own planet or even solar system, because the Avatar world seems quite limiting.

And the music show was long, condescending and dumb. But the drinks were good

I know, no one is talking about this anymore, now that many people have been on the ride. You are the first in a very long time. And...the fact that you did fit on the test vehicle is very interesting. It would be good to know if others have had this issue. I'm glad the CM's were so diplomatic. Thanks.

 

[ucfknight]

Wow, you did good. I wonder why the line for Lion King was so long? That's kind of scary.

That is strange. I guess silly people will be silly. That show runs like 9 or 10 times per day almost every hour for the entire time the park is open. Why waste low-wait ride time waiting in line for a show that will take place (with lower waits) many more times that day?

 

[AngiTN]

And the music show was long, condescending and dumb. But the drinks were good

What music show? RoL? Drum circle in Pandora? Trying to figure out what could be condescending about either. Or long

Wow, you did good. I wonder why the line for Lion King was so long? That's kind of scary.

That is strange. I guess silly people will be silly. That show runs like 9 or 10 times per day almost every hour for the entire time the park is open. Why waste low-wait ride time waiting in line for a show that will take place (with lower waits) many more times that day?

PP misunderstood the post. The line for Lion King wasn't long. The line for FoP stretched back nearly to the Lion King theater. That's the way they steer the line when it exceeds the queue

 

[ucfknight]

PP misunderstood the post. The line for Lion King wasn't long. The line for FoP stretched back nearly to the Lion King theater. That's the way they steer the line when it exceeds the queue

That makes much more sense. Carry on.

 

[mesaboy2]

Just got my FP for FOP, all the morning hours were gone, but luckily I wanted afternoon.... How long is the wait with a fast pass after lunch?

It is unusual for FP waits at any normally operating FP attraction to exceed 15-20 minutes, FOP is no exception.

 

[ThistleMae]

That is strange. I guess silly people will be silly. That show runs like 9 or 10 times per day almost every hour for the entire time the park is open. Why waste low-wait ride time waiting in line for a show that will take place (with lower waits) many more times that day?

I know....weird. My plan would be to duck in when it's like 150 degrees in the shade...LOL!

 

[ThistleMae]

That makes much more sense. Carry on.

LOL!

 

[WDWRook]

Is there a consensus on the FP+ plans for AK now? I know we hope to FP FOP (or boat ride if we cannot) and rope drop the boat ride. What about ROL? Is that still considered a must FP+ attraction? Or, can we FP+ for Safari and say River Rapids and then stand by for ROL (or try to score some same day FP+ elsewhere?) I read elsewhere that many attractions are now easy on standby, like Dinosaur. Note: our kids are too young and chicken so EE isn't on the list.

We have been to WDW twice in the last two years, but this year we have six in our party (vs four). Crossing my fingers I can get FOP for all six of us.

 

[ThistleMae]

Does the line for FOP keep moving along or is there a lot of standing in one place? Bad knees, worse when just standing still.

 

[AngiTN]

Does the line for FOP keep moving along or is there a lot of standing in one place? Bad knees, worse when just standing still.

We got in line when it was way back there on the path to Lion King. Our total time was just under 2 hours and in all that time we probably stopped moving 5 min. At least until we got to the merge point with FP riders, where you are divided in to two lines and then sorted to rooms. We really never stopped

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Is there a consensus on the FP+ plans for AK now? I know we hope to FP FOP (or boat ride if we cannot) and rope drop the boat ride. What about ROL? Is that still considered a must FP+ attraction? Or, can we FP+ for Safari and say River Rapids and then stand by for ROL (or try to score some same day FP+ elsewhere?) I read elsewhere that many attractions are now easy on standby, like Dinosaur. Note: our kids are too young and chicken so EE isn't on the list.

We have been to WDW twice in the last two years, but this year we have six in our party (vs four). Crossing my fingers I can get FOP for all six of us.

Consensus seems to be to get the FP for FoP b/c even if you do standby for it to see the queue you will want to ride it more than once

as for RoL, seems like there has been very little room for standby most shows o people lien up very early for it - so if it is something you really want to do I suggest FP or dining package for it

 

[Amy Hammack]

Can anyone confirm if any rides beyond Pandora have been opened during EMH? I have heard Everest, Dino, etc were opened occasionally in the past. If the rides are open, will they show up in MDE? Thanks!

 

[gometros]

I'm sure this had been asked before, but I couldn't find it. Is there a baby swap for FoP?

 

[hsmamato2]

Oh my! That sounds like ,if we want to get there early,on an EMH day, we're going to have to uber over ..... ugh!

 

[randumb0]

I'm sure this had been asked before, but I couldn't find it. Is there a baby swap for FoP?

If you're referring to the child swap tickets, then yes

 

[pigletto]

I am feeling a little bit better about our FP plans now I guess. I had been disappointed to not get a fastpass for our only AK day but we are going to use AM EMH hour and get there at the crack of dawn and ride it at rope drop. Then we plan to ride Navi River Journey . Shortly after we have a FP for river journey again.
I did have a FP for both Safari and Kali but opted to give up Kali and make one for ROL. I know that hangs up our ability to make fast passes for the day but it's important to us to see ROL as we never have before. There's nothing else that I will die if I don't ride, and I won't mind indoor lines in the afternoon.
I really debated on this strategy but I think it's the only way to guarantee seeing and doing what we want.

 

[kurts mom]

6:30 AM: We called an uber.

Does uber pick up right in front of the resort

 

[Music City Mama]

Just wanted to tell about my Pandora experience on Tuesday, July 4th.

It was a regular opening day at 8:00 a.m. The plan was to arrive by no later than 7:10, but we didn't get the car parked until around 7:20. It was around 7:30 when we got through the bag check/turnstiles -- we walked over to the Pandora bridge where they were holding everyone until maybe 7:45 (not 100% sure on times). We were definitely at the back of the "early pack", but we only waited in the standby line for FoP for just under 60 minutes.

The plan was to now ride NRJ in the standby line, but for some reason, the ride was down the whole morning, so we never got to ride it. When we came back that night, the standby was 60 minutes, and I just didn't want to wait that long for it.

However, we also had a 9:00-10:00 FP for FOP, so I'm glad we got to ride it twice, but still wish that we got to experience NRJ.

The land... it really is beautiful. We came back that night after being at MK, and while it was cool, I preferred the daytime. I loved walking into the land from Africa at night and hearing all the sounds -- it was especially neat because there weren't that many people around.

The only thing we had food/drink-wise was the blueberry dessert from Satu'li Canteen and we all liked it. At Windtraders, they were sold out of banshees, but we knew that would probably be the case.

As far as FoP, I think this is a good description from a poster a couple of pages back:

We all loved FoP, and I was smiling the entire time. But I don't think it's the greatest ride ever like it's been hyped by some. At the end of the day it was just a simulator ride. A very good simulator ride, but just a simulator ride.

I agree with this, although we all really liked it a lot, too. I'm prone to motion sickness and while one spot made me a little lightheaded for a second, it didn't make me feel "nauseous", and there were no lingering effects after getting off the ride. My DH commented that he felt like the air blown on you is like concentrated oxygen and that's part of the "feel good" sensation you get on the ride. I told him I hadn't seen that mentioned anywhere, but it was an interesting thought. I also agree with the reports that the queue moves fast and the time flies compared to other ride queues. I think it's the best ride at Disney right now, but not necessarily better than a couple over at Universal.

Overall, I think Disney did a really good job with the land and I'm glad we got to experience it.