One evening or two to see ROL & Pandora at night?

[TeresaNJ]

If I go to the 8:15 showing of ROL, and the park closes at 9, will I be able to walk into Pandora after the show if it's still before 9pm to walk around a bit enjoying the night lighting, as the park thins out? Trying to decide if I need two evenings at AK, one to see ROL, and one to spend some time in Pandora to see the night lighting, or if I can do it in one evening. What do you all think?

 

[CAS239]

You won't have enough time to fully take in Pandora in that one night. It's not huge, but there's so much detail to check out

If doing two days would mess up any plans then I'd decide between RoL or Pandora. In that case I'd choose Pandora

 

[TeresaNJ]

You won't have enough time to fully take in Pandora in that one night. It's not huge, but there's so much detail to check out

If doing two days would mess up any plans then I'd decide between RoL or Pandora. In that case I'd choose Pandora

We'll be doing Pandora several times during the day, and our FPs for FOP & NRJ are during those days, so do you still feel we wouldn't have enough time to just walk around checking out the lighting?

Edited to add, I've seen ROL before and really love it. It will be my husband's first time seeing it though, so I don't want to skip it. If I have to do two nights I will.

 

[spankswife]

We just did both in one night and it was great! We had been in Pandora in the day to take in the details, so at night it was more of a walk through to see the lights.

Also, when are you going, the sun is about to set earlier soon...

 

[TeresaNJ]

We just did both in one night and it was great! We had been in Pandora in the day to take in the details, so at night it was more of a walk through to see the lights.

Also, when are you going, the sun is about to set earlier soon...

We're be there September 13-21. Landing at 5:30 pm on the 13th. Going to AK the following morning, the 14th, and have FOP FP. We'll be switching over from POR on Saturday, the 16th, to Kidani, so will be going to AK that morning, and have NRJ FP that morning. Also planning on going to AK on Monday evening, the 18th,and Wednesday morning, the 20th. My original plan was to go to AK Friday night, the 15th, which is my birthday, to see Pandora at night, but I really don't want to have my birthday dinner at AK. I was hoping I could do ROL on Monday night, with a FP that I have, and see Pandora lit up, but don't think I'll have enough time to hoof it over to Pandora before the park closes since ROL is at 8:15 that night. I think sunset is at 7:27 that evening.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I think if you go through Pandora during the day then come back after ROL you will be fine depending on what time the park closes. We were a little underwhelmed with Pandora at night. The only way I can describe it is if you have solar garden lights and a week of clouds & rain the lights are dull this is how Pandora looked to me. After all the hype I was expecting more. It was so much better during the day even in the rain.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I think if you go through Pandora during the day then come back after ROL you will be fine depending on what time the park closes. We were a little underwhelmed with Pandora at night. The only way I can describe it is if you have solar garden lights and a week of clouds & rain the lights are dull this is how Pandora looked to me. After all the hype I was expecting more. It was so much better during the day even in the rain.

Thanks for the input. I think the only thing I'm concerned with is whether I will be able to get over to Pandora after the 8:15 ROL show in enough time where they'll still let people in to walk around. If worse comes to worse, maybe I'll switch my MK evening on Wednesday the 20th for AK.

 

[magical-me]

I think if you go through Pandora during the day then come back after ROL you will be fine depending on what time the park closes. We were a little underwhelmed with Pandora at night. The only way I can describe it is if you have solar garden lights and a week of clouds & rain the lights are dull this is how Pandora looked to me. After all the hype I was expecting more. It was so much better during the day even in the rain.

I second this. i was expecting it to look amazing, but kinda disappointed. i was hoping for me.

i'd go RoL. that was AMAZING.

 

[WDW4us2006]

I'm going to respectfully disagree! It's so funny how everyone has a different opinion lol. We just did this last week - saw ROL at 8:45 with a 9:30 park close. Ran to Pandora after the show, had abut 20 minutes. NOT enough time at all. The Photopass picture we have from the nighttime shot in front of the huge waterfall is my favorite of the trip - worth the line. Give yourself more time. We loved it.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I'm going to respectfully disagree! It's so funny how everyone has a different opinion lol. We just did this last week - saw ROL at 8:45 with a 9:30 park close. Ran to Pandora after the show, had abut 20 minutes. NOT enough time at all. The Photopass picture we have from the nighttime shot in front of the huge waterfall is my favorite of the trip - worth the line. Give yourself more time. We loved it.

This sounds exactly like the scenario we'll be facing. I'm pretty convinced I'll need two evenings. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[glorfindel_k]

We're going in 3 weeks, and just to be safe, planned 2 nights because of this exact concern. I think it's just better to be safe than sorry.

 

[TeresaNJ]

We're going in 3 weeks, and just to be safe, planned 2 nights because of this exact concern. I think it's just better to be safe than sorry.

After reading some of the replies, I totally agree. I wish it were otherwise, but, oh well!

 

[disneydreamer781]

I think if you go through Pandora during the day then come back after ROL you will be fine depending on what time the park closes. We were a little underwhelmed with Pandora at night. The only way I can describe it is if you have solar garden lights and a week of clouds & rain the lights are dull this is how Pandora looked to me. After all the hype I was expecting more. It was so much better during the day even in the rain.

Just came back from WDW and DH and I felt the same about Pandora at night. Pretty much underwhelmed. DH actually held his nose which I thought was pretty harsh but even though I didn't think it totally stunk, I wasn't that impressed. It's not very big so it doesn't take all that long to view it. Even though I'm not a proponent of Pandora I really wanted to like it but it just didn't do anything for me. Absolutely nothing! Unfortunately, didn't get to see ROL and that appeals to me more than Pandora. We did get to do the Safari that evening though and that was great! Saw so many animals just before sunset. Even hyenas for the first time! Loved our Safari guide! I think his name might have Justin or Jared or something like that and he was amazing and very funny! So it wasn't a total waste.