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

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I personally wouldn't get there 2 hours early because the time/cost benefit isn't that much higher vs getting there one hour early. But I'd MUCH rather wait 2 hours pre-park opening than wait 2 hours for one ride during rope drop. It's not about the amount of time you wait. It's the amount of park time you waste. I'd rather wait 3 hours in the middle of the day than 90 minutes at RD, because you can't get that RD time back.

I don't disagree. I would need to hear WAY MORE accounts that getting there 1hr early actually translated into a big difference in rope drop wait times before I'd plan to do it, personally. But I would never wait 2hrs before opening. We'll know more in the weeks ahead, so I'm keeping my ears open before setting any AK plans in stone.

It'll be interesting to see how waits shape up. Those for NRJ have run really close with KALI so far... I wouldn't have expected that. I grabbed screenshots of MDE multiple times yesterday where FoP standby waits were 90min. Still a lot up in the air, IMHO, from a planning perspective.

 

[wareagle57]

I don't disagree. I would need to hear WAY MORE accounts that getting there 1hr early actually translated into a big difference in rope drop wait times before I'd plan to do it, personally. But I would never wait 2hrs before opening. We'll know more in the weeks ahead, so I'm keeping my ears open before setting any AK plans in stone.

It'll be interesting to see how waits shape up. Those for NRJ have run really close with KALI so far... I wouldn't have expected that. I grabbed screenshots of MDE multiple times yesterday where FoP standby waits were 90min. Still a lot up in the air, IMHO.

An hour definitely makes a difference. It can make a big difference at the other 3 parks too. I don't like getting there any later than 45 minutes before. Take DHS for example. Being there 50 minutes early likely means you are towards the front of a turnstile and will walk straight onto TSMM or RnR. Get there 30 minutes early and you are standing back at the ticket booth behind 50-75 people just in your line. By the time you get to RnR you'll be waiting a good 20-30 minutes, all the while the lines everywhere else are building too.

Magic Kingdom with no interest in Pan or 7DMT at RD is the only park where I don't really think it matters. You can stroll in 5 minutes before the welcome show and still get on any of the mountains with basically no wait.

 

[Ferrentinos]

Any thoughts of extending the 8am openings past July 4? We are planning to go twice before the 4th and once or twice after it.

 

[notnothin]

We are flying in tomorrow morning. Originally I was planning to go straight to AK and get what we could done before heading to Pandora for our 620 FOP fp. Now that I see that the other rides we are interested in have been included in the 11-1emh I'm thinking of going to another park and heading to Ak in time for our fp and hanging around through emh(we are onsite). From the latest reports it seems that's a less crazy time of day. Is this a good plan?

Are the other attractions included beyond 05/29? I thought that offering was only available from 05/27 - 05/29 and following that it would be Pandora only during EMH.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Have people seen the Disney Tourist Blog's Pandora strategy? Tom recommends at RD to first do Nav'i River Journey-that would be a miniscule wait and you could probably be out in 10 minutes. Then heading to FoP. Does that seem like a good idea? Or would the amount of people in line in those 10 minutes really cause a huge backup?

I'm trying to decide for our trip (not until Sept, so at least some of the early crowds will have started to lighten up). I originally thought we'd do am-EMH with FoP first, then Nav'i. But this idea is starting to make sense. If we were one of the first in line we would end up rushing through the queue. If there was more of a crowd in front of us, we could really enjoy it. We would also plan on getting a FP for FoP for that morning, as I would expect we want to ride it twice.

 

[wareagle57]

Have people seen the Disney Tourist Blog's Pandora strategy? Tom recommends at RD to first do Nav'i River Journey-that would be a miniscule wait and you could probably be out in 10 minutes. Then heading to FoP. Does that seem like a good idea? Or would the amount of people in line in those 10 minutes really cause a huge backup?

I'm trying to decide for our trip (not until Sept, so at least some of the early crowds will have started to lighten up). I originally thought we'd do am-EMH with FoP first, then Nav'i. But this idea is starting to make sense. If we were one of the first in line we would end up rushing through the queue. If there was more of a crowd in front of us, we could really enjoy it. We would also plan on getting a FP for FoP for that morning, as I would expect we want to ride it twice.

I've thought of that, but I really think most people will be heading to FoP and it will add up quickly. I would expect to be looking at an hour wait at 8:15. But only time will tell. If you can be among the first few rides on FoP, I think you will definitely have a much shorter wait ahead of you at NRJ.

 

[wareagle57]

Are the other attractions included beyond 05/29? I thought that offering was only available from 05/27 - 05/29 and following that it would be Pandora only during EMH.

That's what I thought too. But earlier in this thread someone posted a link to a TP article that sounded like they would remain open.

 

[notnothin]

I've thought of that, but I really think most people will be heading to FoP and it will add up quickly. I would expect to be looking at an hour wait at 8:15. But only time will tell. If you can be among the first few rides on FoP, I think you will definitely have a much shorter wait ahead of you at NRJ.

I would agree with you here. Those first few minutes to enter a reduced FoP queue are precious. I would consider FoP twice and then standby NRJ.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Get there 30 minutes early and you are standing back at the ticket booth behind 50-75 people just in your line.

Agree, but 50-75 people spread throughout a park -- or even a couple of rides -- does not make a big difference. Certainly not enough to make arriving 60min vs 30min early worth it. Not in my experience for RnR or most others.

Maybe for a new ride like with 7DMT or FoP, but that's because the people in front of you will be way more than that for a 30min difference in arrival time. But not at every park all the time for headliners like RnR like I read your post to suggest.

I guess experiences vary!!

 

[Disney_traveler]

@beesly @lovethattink
I was just going off a map. I now know one of the "shops" is a face paint kiosk.
And I saw pongu and satuli as the "eateries".

 

[yulilin3]

@beesly @lovethattink
I was just going off a map. I now know one of the "shops" is a face paint kiosk.
And I saw pongu and satuli as the "eateries".

remember page one has all the info by subject

 

[NaughtyDog]

One thing to keep in mind re: crowds at the parks, specifically Pandora, for the next week.

Annual passholders with the silver pass will be blocked out for the summer starting Monday June 5th. I'm sure many of those passholders may try to squeeze in a visit to Pandora before their summer blockout. A new expansion that everyone wants to see combined with an impending blockout, end of the school year, and coming off of a major holiday makes me think this week will a little more crazy than next. That being said, the crowd reduction from the blockout will eventually be canceled out by the usual increase in attendance during the summer. I think those vacationing the week of June 5th will hit a little sweet spot in crowd reduction. If I had any other pass, I'd shoot to visit Pandora that week.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I'm one of those silver passholders, so I've never been in the parks to see if this is actually the case. It has always just been a theory of mine.

I hope you are wrong but I fear you are right as I'm one of those Silver AP holders going for my last trip before my pass expires and I want to see the new attractions.

 

[JerseyJanice]

@Lesley Wake I haven't seen the blog you speak of, but it's too soon to decide on a strategy for a trip in September. I'm sure that Disney's schedule is still fluid and will change, maybe more than once, between now and then.

I'm going in September myself and all I've done is target the days to try for our FoP Fast Passes because I think those will become really difficult to get. I figure everything else will fall into place.

 

[lovethattink]

I forgot to take a picture of it, but there is a sign at Satu'li that says something to the effect of tables only for Satu'li food.

 

[rteetz]

4:30PM EST MDE update

NRJ 105 minutes
FoP 130 minutes

 

[cmarsh31]

Are the other attractions included beyond 05/29? I thought that offering was only available from 05/27 - 05/29 and following that it would be Pandora only during EMH.

That's what I thought too. But earlier in this thread someone posted a link to a TP article that sounded like they would remain open.

I've decided posting this link is my "official" job.
http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/0...ing-extra-magic-hours-disneys-animal-kingdom/

*eta* I have only what I've read to go on - I guess we'll find out more tonight.

 

[notnothin]

I've decided posting this link is my "official" job.
http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/0...ing-extra-magic-hours-disneys-animal-kingdom/

*eta* I have only what I've read to go on - I guess we'll find out more tonight.

I selfishly hope it continues as we arrive on Thursday.

 

[cmarsh31]

I selfishly hope it continues as we arrive on Thursday.

Me too. My AK night is 6/2. Although the availability of FP for the 11:30 ROL on 6/2 gave me hope.

 

[wareagle57]

Agree, but 50-75 people spread throughout a park -- or even a couple of rides -- does not make a big difference. Certainly not enough to make arriving 60min vs 30min early worth it. Not in my experience for RnR or most others.

Maybe for a new ride like with 7DMT or FoP, but that's because the people in front of you will be way more than that for a 30min difference in arrival time. But not at every park all the time for headliners like RnR like I read your post to suggest.

I guess experiences vary!!

50-75 people PER line. I don't know how many turnstiles there are exactly, but there are at least a dozen or more. So that's more like 500-1000 people in front of you. I think it's fair to say 1/3 of them are heading to RnR and 1/3 are heading to TSMM. If you are a single guest it might be easy to worm your way up for positioning in the holding area before RD. But otherwise you are looking at 4-5 groups getting into the RnR preshow before you.

Not to mention the closer you cut it, the more likely it is that you will get delayed at bag check, meaning when you thought you would be getting there 30 minutes early you are actually getting there 15 minutes early and they have already been letting guests in for 15 minutes. Have a mishap in traffic or something else slow you down by 5-10 minutes in the morning like missing an exit or a resort bus being late? It pays to be early.

If you go all the time and it doesn't matter to you much, sure being at the back of the RD line probably isn't a big deal most of the time. But it definitely can be. I think it's well worth planning on getting there an hour early vs 30 minutes. Especially if you have huge variables like other people in your party that aren't as reliable at getting ready on time. With DHS or Epcot/MK this strategy could be considered a very good idea. But with Pandora I would consider it a necessity.

 

[wareagle57]

I've decided posting this link is my "official" job.
http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/0...ing-extra-magic-hours-disneys-animal-kingdom/

*eta* I have only what I've read to go on - I guess we'll find out more tonight.

I would love it if this was true, but the page was updated a couple weeks before Pandora opened, around the same time I read the official announcement that they would be open for opening weekend only.

Looking at Disney's official list of attractions and operating times for today, it shows NRJ and FOP as open from 11-1 during EMH. It does not do the same for any other attractions unfortunately. I would LOVE to know if Pandora was too crowded or lines were so long I could only do one ride during EMH, that I could head over to Everest to ride to my heart's content, but that sadly does not seem to be the case. From an operational standpoint it makes sense though. Even for opening weekend it sounds like the rest of the park was extremely empty. It would be cool to see for sure, but I doubt with a park as large and as dark as AK, Disney wants guests wandering around in the park like that.