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

[robinb]

I was just able to grab fastpasses for flight of passage for 9:50am on Nov 12. We have a lunch reservation at beaches and cream at 11 before we have to leave to catch our flight home that afternoon. Do you guys think it's possible to make both the fastpass and lunch reservation? How long do people typically have to wait to get on the ride with a fastpass?

You will be cutting it very close. I would arrive 5 minutes early for your FP (there is a 5 minute early grace window) and then bolt out of AK. It's a long walk from FOP out to the front of AK to catch an Uber/Lyft. Then it's a good 15 minutes to the Beach Club and another 5-10 walk to Beaches and Cream. Unless B&C is a family tradition that can't be skipped, I would eat somewhere else just because I would not want to be so stressed and running my last day.

 

[housemartin71]

You will be cutting it very close. I would arrive 5 minutes early for your FP (there is a 5 minute early grace window) and then bolt out of AK. It's a long walk from FOP out to the front of AK to catch an Uber/Lyft. Then it's a good 15 minutes to the Beach Club and another 5-10 walk to Beaches and Cream. Unless B&C is a family tradition that can't be skipped, I would eat somewhere else just because I would not want to be so stressed and running my last day.

I would try arriving even earlier than 5 mins and just explaining the situation. The CMs at the gate have discretion to let you in early or late.

 

[Mousemommy1]

As an aside... our whole party thought this actor was... odd. Kind of off-putting. Couldn't help but think they could have gotten a better actor. Perhaps it's just us.

I agree, and if he said "uhm" one more time I was going to scream, lol.

Overall, I think the FOP pre-show is too long. Not sure how everyone else feels about that. But I loved the ride.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I'm looking for anyone that has experienced rider swap at rope drop. My 2 year old can't ride and I don't want to end up in the back asking for a rider swap card. Internal rider swap is what we are hoping for. Anyone have experience with this?

I'm not sure what you mean, but we got the rider switch card outside as we entered the FP queue.

 

[robinb]

I'm looking for anyone that has experienced rider swap at rope drop. My 2 year old can't ride and I don't want to end up in the back asking for a rider swap card. Internal rider swap is what we are hoping for. Anyone have experience with this?

You cannot baby swap internally if your child is not tall enough to ride. Sorry. A too short child will not be allowed inside the queue. You will have to ask for the rider swap card where the official queue starts.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I agree, and if he said "uhm" one more time I was going to scream, lol.

Overall, I think the FOP pre-show is too long. Not sure how everyone else feels about that. But I loved the ride.

I agree on all counts!

 

[greg9x]

Guess a lot of people here don't deal with 'Tech' types a lot..... The actor was good for the part he was playing.
Enjoyed him more than the usual 'Look at me, famous actor pretending to be someone else, but everyone knows it's me...' pre show videos.

 

[marciemi]

Guess a lot of people here don't deal with 'Tech' types a lot..... The actor was good for the part he was playing.
Enjoyed him more than the usual 'Look at me, famous actor pretending to be someone else, but everyone knows it's me...' pre show videos.

Agree! Maybe I'm biased a bit because I had two of my kids graduate from MIT, but he just seemed like a lot of their friends. A bit awkward but still somewhat of a sense of humor. I also feel the same way about the famous actors - like we couldn't watch the Mission Space preshow without someone saying "Lt Dan!" So it just feels "right" to me.

 

[FourLeafClover]

Hi everyone! I am finally back from my trip and wanted to do a brief report!

My whole family loved Pandora! We did rope drop on Fri 8/25. Arrived at the turnstiles at 7:45. Waited about 25 minutes until they started letting people in. It really is a bit crazy with many people running, but we just walked purposefully until held at a second point. Very organized with the CMs and crowd control. We were routed into the line, bypassed the whole queue and straight onto FOP. Off the ride a few minutes past 9.

The ride is AMAZING. I will admit, I expected it to be good, but I thought there was probably some hype... I was wrong it is unbelievable. So well done! We all LOVED it - as soon as it was done, I said - I get why people wait 2 hours for this - worth it!
We enjoyed the rest of the park for a few hours, had lunch, then decided to go back and wait in the standby line for 2 hours (turned into 2.5 with brief technical difficulties). The queue is quite lovely as well - so much detail. We had nice conversations with fellow guests while waiting and the CM told me that it takes 3 hours to get the ride up and running each morning - to turn everything on and make sure each seat is running properly!

I will say, Navi River Journey is dull after FOP, there is no story line but it is pretty. The animatronics of the shaman is incredible, but that is about all there is to say.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories about RD and FOP!!!! I hope you all get a chance to experience it!!!

 

[flav]

I was wondering exactly that. I did not get a FP for FoP and will keep trying.

However, as the day approaches if still without FP, I'll have 3 choices:
1) Rope drop for FoP and cancel 8AM ADR at BOG
2) Go to AK in the afternoon and wait a long while
3) Try entering FoP before park closure thus missing the MK fireworks

And I am wondering if this is all worth it.

I decided to not ruin my first day at Disney World (on this trip) by rushing through AK rope drop on a morning when there will be tons of people attempting the same since the 5k runDisney starts and arrives in the AK parking lot that day... Plus, I do not want to get hurt the day before running the WnD challenge.

So I moved my other AK fastpasses to the afternoon and will wait for FoP if the line is not crazy. It will give me time to rest in the shade. Also, I am sure my first impression on Avatar will be more positive.

If that doesn't work and I think it is worth it, I will attempt again at park closure the next day, this way I'll see Pandora at night.

 

[mara512]

I decided to not ruin my first day at Disney World (on this trip) by rushing through AK rope drop on a morning when there will be tons of people attempting the same since the 5k runDisney starts and arrives in the AK parking lot that day... Plus, I do not want to get hurt the day before running the WnD challenge.

So I moved my other AK fastpasses to the afternoon and will wait for FoP if the line is not crazy. It will give me time to rest in the shade. Also, I am sure my first impression on Avatar will be more positive.

If that doesn't work and I think it is worth it, I will attempt again at park closure the next day, this way I'll see Pandora at night.

We were there yesterday an the wait time was consistently 120 to 180minutes. People rushing to get there it was crazy. We had a pass for 635 and although we missed the lab I was ok with that. From entrance to exit I think it was only about 35 minutes.

 

[rteetz]

Interested to see how well the land survives the storm.

 

[Aljo]

Who has seen Pandora both at night and daytime? Should both be experienced? Which did you like better?

 

[housemartin71]

Who has seen Pandora both at night and daytime? Should both be experienced? Which did you like better?

We saw it for both. They're very different. I probably liked day time a little better because you can see more of the details but would make a point to see both. The nighttime lighting is more subtle but still worth seeing.

 

[rteetz]

Who has seen Pandora both at night and daytime? Should both be experienced? Which did you like better?

Both are unique I recommend seeing both. Daytime shows more details though.

 

[rteetz]

Flight of Passage was a walk on tonight...

 

[ThistleMae]

Who has seen Pandora both at night and daytime? Should both be experienced? Which did you like better?

Definitely both. You can see way more during the day as far as details and the overall land. Night time is quite dark, but so beautiful. You wouldn't want to miss either.

 

[AngiTN]

Who has seen Pandora both at night and daytime? Should both be experienced? Which did you like better?

That's like asking which kid a parent likes better. They are both fabulous and so different you really must see both.
A lot of people talk about how dark it is to see things at night. Maybe they aren't taking time to let their eyes adjust? If you don't, it is indeed too dark to see much but the longer you spend the more your eyes adjust and the more you can see. At least that's been my experience after 4 or 5 trips through at night.

 

[AngiTN]

Interested to see how well the land survives the storm.

Surely they had a hurricane in mind when it was built. The size may be to it's advantage, the small area could well be naturally protected to some degree from the winds by the larger structures around it so the small plant structures are intact, or impacted minimally. At least that's my hope. If they didn't take this in to consideration when building, well, that's a very expensive screw up

 

[AngiTN]

Guess a lot of people here don't deal with 'Tech' types a lot..... The actor was good for the part he was playing.
Enjoyed him more than the usual 'Look at me, famous actor pretending to be someone else, but everyone knows it's me...' pre show videos.

Agree! Maybe I'm biased a bit because I had two of my kids graduate from MIT, but he just seemed like a lot of their friends. A bit awkward but still somewhat of a sense of humor. I also feel the same way about the famous actors - like we couldn't watch the Mission Space preshow without someone saying "Lt Dan!" So it just feels "right" to me.

This is exactly how I saw his portrayal. I do deal with tech types, both engineers (married to one of those) and with my job, where we install IT infrastructure for both structured cable and fiber. I've seen the instructors come in to teach classes and they are exactly like this guy.