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

[Dan Murphy]

The photopass photographer in Pandora told me they don't do magic shots there. When did that start? I've see lots of them online. Maybe I need to try again another time?

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...opportunities-in-pandora-the-world-of-avatar/

 

[ErinsMommy]

What is the approximate wait time to ride Navi River standby in the morning vs. afternoon? How long about is the ride?

 

[MaC410]

Has anyone enjoyed Pandora at night so much that they ended up going back a second time during the same trip? We have a nicely sized 9-10 day trip planned and only have AK on the plan once. We aren't sure if we should leave some flexible days so we could go back to AK at night if we happen to like Pandora that much.

 

[AngiTN]

Has anyone enjoyed Pandora at night so much that they ended up going back a second time during the same trip? We have a nicely sized 9-10 day trip planned and only have AK on the plan once. We aren't sure if we should leave some flexible days so we could go back to AK at night if we happen to like Pandora that much.

Yes, we went back 3 times to see Pandora at night

 

[MaC410]

Yes, we went back 3 times to see Pandora at night

Oh nice! Unless I'm hearing/understanding wrong it seems like Pandora gets very very crowded at night since other parts of the park closes. Was it really that crowded? Did you actually get to go on any of the rides? Or did you just keep going back to take in the atmosphere?

 

[AngiTN]

Oh nice! Unless I'm hearing/understanding wrong it seems like Pandora gets very very crowded at night since other parts of the park closes. Was it really that crowded? Did you actually get to go on any of the rides? Or did you just keep going back to take in the atmosphere?

It's not fair to compare it to what I experienced
They had the rest of AK open during my week and they were still controlling access to Pandora much of the time so it wasn't crowded at all.
We did both, go on rides and just wander around

 

[Flutter-butter]

Hi everyone! I just booked a trip in August and I'm excited to see Pandora.

Do you recommend that I try to get there right away at "rope drop" or if I should try to see it during the evening Extra Magical Hours. I don't have a Fast Pass because I booked my trip too late. I'm staying at Old Key West.

 

[Darcy03231]

Trying for that elusive FOP FP+ and looking for advice on how often you check back in MDE. Are there particular times of day? Also, I assume you check by trying to modify the Navi River FP and see if any FOP are listed. Any other tips? We're a group of 6, but I'm checking availability for 1 to see if any are open. We'll be in AK on 8/25 & 26. I saw a bunch of FP opened up on late Fri night but then by Sat they were gone. Does that happen often?

I couldn't get FoP fast-passes at my 60 day mark. I checked several times a day. Usually early morning, late morning, lunch time, dinner time and before I went to bed. At my 42 day mark in the late evening (around 11 pm) I was able to get two for the first night we're there in the 8:20-9:20 pm window. I wonder if some opened up because people cancelled at their 45 day mark and it took a day or so to get released back into the system. Other people reported getting theirs that day too.

 

[lsbryant]

I couldn't get FoP fast-passes at my 60 day mark. I checked several times a day. Usually early morning, late morning, lunch time, dinner time and before I went to bed. At my 42 day mark in the late evening (around 11 pm) I was able to get two for the first night we're there in the 8:20-9:20 pm window. I wonder if some opened up because people cancelled at their 45 day mark and it took a day or so to get released back into the system. Other people reported getting theirs that day too.

I think asking my question put some kind of Disney magic in the air because this morning at 6:20am pacific time, I was able to find 4 FOP passes for our first day. So 4 of the 6 of us have 5pm FP for FOP. Still deciding if we should rope drop/stand by for the ride anyway or if we should rope drop/stand by Na'vi and then go over to Kilamanjaro Safari while the crowds are still in Pandora. Our first 2 days are AK with the 2nd one being AM EMH: will that be "easier" to rope drop FOP on that day? Thanks for the good vibes...

 

[wdhinn89]

I couldn't get FoP fast-passes at my 60 day mark. I checked several times a day. Usually early morning, late morning, lunch time, dinner time and before I went to bed. At my 42 day mark in the late evening (around 11 pm) I was able to get two for the first night we're there in the 8:20-9:20 pm window. I wonder if some opened up because people cancelled at their 45 day mark and it took a day or so to get released back into the system. Other people reported getting theirs that day too.

I think some people just try to get FOP fastpasses for everyday they can and then once they settle their itinerary, they cancel what they don't need.

 

[DanielNYC]

The mob starts moving very slowly at this point as those up ahead all stop on the bridge over the waterfall to take a picture.

So it sounds like it's not possible to walk past the folks taking pictures?

 

[vinotinto]

8:15 AM: Announcement is made advising that we are invited into the Animal Kingdom and we should spend time exploring all of the wonderful animals in the Oasis until the rest of the park opens. Sure... all of these people got up at the crack of dawn so their families could spend an hour studying the habits of the roseate spoonbill. Tapstyles were opened and people started to be let in. It took us about 3 minutes to get through the tapstyles. We walked up through the Oasis and over towards Pandora. Quite a few runners zig-zagging through people as if the alien invasion had started and they were trying to escape.

8:35 AM: Rope dropped at Tiffins. Headed across the bridge among stampeding BGT. Everyone excited! Make it across the bridge into Pandora only to be stopped right on the other side of bridge by wall of cast members. False Start penalty.

8:39 AM: Wall of cast members starts moving with crowd in tow. At fork in the road 99.95% of crowd follows the cast member holding the "Flight of Passage Line Starts Here" sign off to the path on the right. Three very strange guests break left at the fork to follow the lonely cast member holding the "Na'Vi River Journey Line Starts Here" sign. She seemed very excited to see them.

Very entertaining post. Thanks for the laughs!

I guess I now need to plan to get there early, but not too early. I want to see the queau.

 

[ruthies12]

So here's my dilemma- my 4 yo is just now exactly at 44 inches on my measuring tape at home. So come October (our trip is in 80 days) she may or may not be tall enough for FOP depending on how exact their measuring device is compared to mine.

Whether she is or isn't tall enough, I think she might be scared. She watched a youtube video and she says she wants to "ride the dragon" but this is a kid who is generally not a big thrill seeker. Took her 3 times to warm up to small world on our last trip last year. On the other hand, she just went off the diving board at the pool for the first time and she's been scared of that before now, so she is getting braver.

Will they let us do child swap if she is tall enough but just too scared? If I fp it and we go all the way to getting on the banshee before she chickens out, will they let me get off with her and then let us childswap so that I still get to experience it even though I'll have already "used" my fp?

but once the restraints are in place we are stuck aren't we? I'm very worried that she'll freak out during the ride and I won't be able to comfort her since we are on separate banshees.....

but I know my 8 year old will absolutely love this ride and there is no way she will want to wait two hours. It sounds like river journey is the easier one to rope drop and since we are going to AK on our 6th day of our trip I should have a decent chance of getting fp for fop.

sorry for the rambling. any advice would be appreciated. Just really have no idea what to do on this one!

 

[ucfknight]

So it sounds like it's not possible to walk past the folks taking pictures?

It is in the queue line, so the path is only about 2 people wide at that point.

 

[JuneChickie]

 

[Darcy03231]

I think some people just try to get FOP fastpasses for everyday they can and then once they settle their itinerary, they cancel what they don't need.

That could be the case too. I'm just happy I could get them for one of the days of our two day trip. I had pretty much given up hope and resigned myself to getting up for EMH rope drop and waiting in line for an hour to an hour and a half. DH finally agreed to go back after 27 years and I wasn't looking forward to telling him he had to stand in line that long to see the one thing we were going for.

 

[Lesley Wake]

So here's my dilemma- my 4 yo is just now exactly at 44 inches on my measuring tape at home. So come October (our trip is in 80 days) she may or may not be tall enough for FOP depending on how exact their measuring device is compared to mine.

Whether she is or isn't tall enough, I think she might be scared. She watched a youtube video and she says she wants to "ride the dragon" but this is a kid who is generally not a big thrill seeker. Took her 3 times to warm up to small world on our last trip last year. On the other hand, she just went off the diving board at the pool for the first time and she's been scared of that before now, so she is getting braver.

Will they let us do child swap if she is tall enough but just too scared? If I fp it and we go all the way to getting on the banshee before she chickens out, will they let me get off with her and then let us childswap so that I still get to experience it even though I'll have already "used" my fp?

but once the restraints are in place we are stuck aren't we? I'm very worried that she'll freak out during the ride and I won't be able to comfort her since we are on separate banshees.....

but I know my 8 year old will absolutely love this ride and there is no way she will want to wait two hours. It sounds like river journey is the easier one to rope drop and since we are going to AK on our 6th day of our trip I should have a decent chance of getting fp for fop.

sorry for the rambling. any advice would be appreciated. Just really have no idea what to do on this one!

To prepare her, I would continue to watch videos and make sure she really understands what it is all about. Because you are going later in the trip there will be plenty of time to gauge her reactions to other more thrilling rides. Make sure she goes on Soarin and Star Tours and doesn't freak out. I would still get FoP FPs and you can always reassess later in your trip.

The Disney website says Rider Switch is "If your child does not meet the height restrictions or a Guest does not wish to board a particular attraction". I would expect the CMs would be absolutely happy to do RS for a 4-yr old who barely meets the requirements.

 

[ruthies12]

To prepare her, I would continue to watch videos and make sure she really understands what it is all about. Because you are going later in the trip there will be plenty of time to gauge her reactions to other more thrilling rides. Make sure she goes on Soarin and Star Tours and doesn't freak out. I would still get FoP FPs and you can always reassess later in your trip.

The Disney website says Rider Switch is "If your child does not meet the height restrictions or a Guest does not wish to board a particular attraction". I would expect the CMs would be absolutely happy to do RS for a 4-yr old who barely meets the requirements.

You know I was thinking the same thing- it would have to be one hard hearted cast member to refuse a rider swap to a family with a 4 year old who is scared right?

Well it looks like my decision was made for me, DH watched a video of it and does not think he can ride it. He has a prosthetic leg and the knee does not bend all the way so he has a hard time fitting on things that don't have a lot of leg room- for example he can't ride Mine Train just because his leg won't fit into the car.

so we've decided he and the 4 year old are going to skip it together. me and the 8 year old are going to rope drop FOP and then we are going to fp river journey so we can ride that all together along with my parents who are joining us in the afternoon.

thanks anyway for the input!

 

[mnmhouston]

any thoughts or insight on extending extra magic evenings beyond mid-August?

 

[nas1861]

I wish I could remember exactly where we found the one we got. I can't. Not that it would mean they would be back there again either. They could well move around. I would just make sure to ask any you find in Pandora if they can do one.

Oh, and the one we got was done at night

Went back to exact spot next day and they were doing the banshee magic shots. Must have been the photographer.