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

[Dr.Mickey]

From a former skeptic: I had serious reservations about the selection of Avatar for a major expansion, but I hoped Disney would do a good job with it...

Pandora is unbelievable. Like many have said, the pictures don't capture the beauty. We visited twice in one day (afternoon and night) on a perfect AK rainy day last week. I think we took 30 minutes to casually walk to the entrance to FOP, because we stopped every 5 or 10 feet just to stare and take it all in. Wow. They have done an incredible job creating this world. We rode FOP with a fast pass, but we skipped the River Journey (only one AK day). FOP is very well done (although I still like a few other attractions better). It certainly is a worthy headliner. We didn't get to eat at the restaurant, but the meat smoker smelled delicious.

Our walk-through at night was unexpectedly amazing. I expected cool lighting effects, but we were blown away. I will say this - it is so dark that you probably do miss a lot of details by going at night. And maybe we are just getting old (I'm the same age as WDW), but we found it disorienting trying to find our step on several of the paths. I wouldn't be surprised if Pandora at night results in numerous slip and fall incidents.

All-in-all, I would say this is a home run for Disney, and it gives me hope for the upcoming Star Wars Land.

 

[disneybeautyfnp]

Now you're talking. And they are really cute. I've seen hundreds of them on guests shoulders and in boxes. It's a gold mine.

Please save me a blue one with the purple markings. i will be there in October so hopefully demand for these will die down by then.

 

[IndyJammer]

Has anyone had FP for 11-12 or 12-1 for FOP? If so what have the wait time been on the FP lines. Does Disney show anywhere what the FP wait time currently are

11:25 today! It is basically walk-on with FP - I almost want to do Standby to see the queue - but I don't want to see it bad enough for that wait! #nexttime

It took a full 33 minutes with preshows & such to ride it today - but I suspect one of the theaters was down. (I heard announcements that there were some technical difficulties and wait times may be longer than expected)

Also - No Banshees today. (I think we got Super lucky to get one last Friday!).

 

[Loopster]

Has anyone had a very small child ride FOP yet? Ie tall enough but very thin, extremely small waist/ narrow torso and very slim legs? I'm wondering if the restraints have gone tight enough and whether they have kid sized glasses?

My 6 year old is a string bean...barely 40 pounds with super skinny legs and he rode it just fine. He said he felt secure the whole time, and he was only holding on with one hand because the other was used to hold up the huge glasses. No child sized glasses.

However, a tip for people with hair long enough to put it in a ponytail...do that, and stick the sides of the glasses in between the pulled back hair on the sides. It helps hold them in place

 

[hammie59]

Is the single rider line open yet for FoP?

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Is there anything to do in Pandora from 11 to 1 EMH besides riding the two rides? I have two EMH nights scheduled and may need to rethink that, given the long wait times during those time periods. I don't plan to get in line for anything with a wait time of longer than 30 minutes, and it looks like I can expect both of them to have longer waits during EMH. I have two fastpasses for FOP and one for NRJ, so I will get to do both rides during regular hours. Are the EMH worth it still, to just wander around? Is there something else to do at AK during that time? I know that no other rides are open, but is it still cool to wander around the Tree of Life or the trails at that time?

 

[HydroGuy]

Is the single rider line open yet for FoP?

No. Rumors have been rampant they may never open it. But so far, no.

 

[Capang]

Is there anything to do in Pandora from 11 to 1 EMH besides riding the two rides? I have two EMH nights scheduled and may need to rethink that, given the long wait times during those time periods. I don't plan to get in line for anything with a wait time of longer than 30 minutes, and it looks like I can expect both of them to have longer waits during EMH. I have two fastpasses for FOP and one for NRJ, so I will get to do both rides during regular hours. Are the EMH worth it still, to just wander around? Is there something else to do at AK during that time? I know that no other rides are open, but is it still cool to wander around the Tree of Life or the trails at that time?

The rides are open, the satuli canteen, the place to get the lumpia and drinks is open and windtraders are all open. The drum shows go on and photopass places are up and running. The rest of the park is shut down. There really is no wandering. They have blocked off all but the trail from the entrance to ak leading to Pandora. It is very cool to sit and soak in the atmosphere and lines have not been horrible the last week or so during emh.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Is there anything to do in Pandora from 11 to 1 EMH besides riding the two rides? I have two EMH nights scheduled and may need to rethink that, given the long wait times during those time periods. I don't plan to get in line for anything with a wait time of longer than 30 minutes, and it looks like I can expect both of them to have longer waits during EMH. I have two fastpasses for FOP and one for NRJ, so I will get to do both rides during regular hours. Are the EMH worth it still, to just wander around? Is there something else to do at AK during that time? I know that no other rides are open, but is it still cool to wander around the Tree of Life or the trails at that time?

You might find the river ride with less than 30 min wait - we went on at around midnight and it was about 30 mins

Beyond that just enjoying the land, made gut have a drum show going on, stuff like that

 

[Cinderella94]

What have the evening EMH's been like? How long would one expect to wait for FOP?

 

[Cinderella94]

Yep, this is the norm for now. No idea how long this will continue. I would expect it to go on through the 4th, along with the rest of their expanded hours. Maybe even longer.

Any speculation as to how it will work when there's a morning EMH? On July 5, regular opening is 9:00 and EMH is at 8:00. Do you think resort guests would be let in early like that for the EMH?

 

[AngiTN]

Any speculation as to how it will work when there's a morning EMH? On July 5, regular opening is 9:00 and EMH is at 8:00. Do you think resort guests would be let in early like that for the EMH?

Not so far. EMH is working more on time, so to speak. Not 30, 45 min ahead of posted opening time.

 

[AngiTN]

Is there anything to do in Pandora from 11 to 1 EMH besides riding the two rides? I have two EMH nights scheduled and may need to rethink that, given the long wait times during those time periods. I don't plan to get in line for anything with a wait time of longer than 30 minutes, and it looks like I can expect both of them to have longer waits during EMH. I have two fastpasses for FOP and one for NRJ, so I will get to do both rides during regular hours. Are the EMH worth it still, to just wander around? Is there something else to do at AK during that time? I know that no other rides are open, but is it still cool to wander around the Tree of Life or the trails at that time?

Even when the rest of AK was open during EMH when Pandora first opened, the trails were closed. Now, the only thing open is Pandora.
I would at least reconsider the 30 min rule for lines. That is our rule too. But we eliminated it for FoP and don't regret it at all. EMH is a good time to spend time in the line as there isn't much else to do, so you aren't wasting your time, especially if you have it down for 2 nights. Spend 1 night exploring the land, looking at the details, because there are a lot of them. Then explore the FoP queue at least one EMH evening.

 

[wareagle57]

Not so far. EMH is working more on time, so to speak. Not 30, 45 min ahead of posted opening time.

Every report I've read says they open the turnstiles around 6:15 when the park opens at 7 for EMH, so I'm curious what you mean by this.

 

[Cinderella94]

Not so far. EMH is working more on time, so to speak. Not 30, 45 min ahead of posted opening time.

Got it, thanks! And I'm sure they wouldn't let the non resort guests in early, during the EMH, right?

 

[Cinderella94]

Every report I've read says they open the turnstiles around 6:15 when the park opens at 7 for EMH, so I'm curious what you mean by this.

I would love if this were the case!

 

[AngiTN]

Every report I've read says they open the turnstiles around 6:15 when the park opens at 7 for EMH, so I'm curious what you mean by this.

Then that's a change from the week we were there. They did not open that early on EMH mornings. Well, take that back. I guess they did open turnstiles but we were then held in the Oasis till closer to 7:00 for them to scan our bands for EMH. It was not like the mornings where they open at 8:00 where people are already on rides as much as 30 min early

 

[Dockside]

So this morning my 60 day fastpass window opened (for Sunday August 13th). Was on at 7am on the dot to make reservations, FoP fastpasses were all gone. Grabbed a Na'vi River Journey FP and Rivers of Light. Interestingly, the RoL FP'es were gone by around 7:30 am this morning. I went on the Touring Plans site and they say there were no FP available for August 13th as of 6:51 am (i.e. gone before my 60 day window opened). Also FoP FP's are gone for August 14th (tomorrow's 60 day window) according to touring plans.

I was surprised as I had been following the FoP availability on touring plans and I thought they were available at least 57 days before. But perhaps things are changing a bit or I am visiting at a busy time.

I was able to get FoP FP's for later in our trip (about 64 days out) when we plan to park hop back into AK.

Probably interesting to keep following this, but if you want FoP FP's you may need to plan for a day later in your trip (if you are staying on site).

 

[wareagle57]

Then that's a change from the week we were there. They did not open that early on EMH mornings. Well, take that back. I guess they did open turnstiles but we were then held in the Oasis till closer to 7:00 for them to scan our bands for EMH. It was not like the mornings where they open at 8:00 where people are already on rides as much as 30 min early

Can you point me to any claims of people riding at 7:30 for an 8:00 opening because I haven't seen that either. Admittedly I haven't seen every post on this thread, but since opening I have tried to keep up with every new page and reports of RDs.

Other than the first couple days after it opens, it seems both opening procedures are about the same, with non-EMH days being let in a little earlier (relative to park opening time obviously) than EMH days. But it seems both EMH and regular park days start something like:
15 minutes after, begin letting guests into the park. Hold at Tree of Life for 10-15 minutes. Hold at Pandora bridge for 10ish minutes. Walk guests to rides 15-20 minutes before the top of the hour, with guests actually boarding the ride within 5 minutes of park opening. Guests who head towards might be getting on 5-10 minutes earlier than guest heading to FOP, I'm not sure.

Again, this is all gathered from second hand accounts and I could be wrong. I would like to know if I am.

 

[AngiTN]

Can you point me to any claims of people riding at 7:30 for an 8:00 opening because I haven't seen that either. Admittedly I haven't seen every post on this thread, but since opening I have tried to keep up with every new page and reports of RDs.

http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/animal-kingdom-pandora-rope-drop-touring-strategy-round-two-61117/

From the post linked

Squeezing through towards Avatar Flight of Passage at 7:28am or about ten minutes earlier than the rope drop I covered about ten days ago.

• Disney is making a conscious effort to get things going earlier in the morning and to increase capacity/efficiency at the Pandora rides. Expect to be let into the Park by 7:20am and on your way into Pandora by 7:35am with a regular 8am open.

So maybe not on the ride at 7:30 but entering the ride queue at 7:30. Sorry, I wasn't quite specific enough.