To help plan Opening Day Pandora visit...

[btr2trvl]

anyone who went opening day/week to New Fantasyland can you share your experiences?

 

[CAS239]

Be there early. Be there early. Walk fast. And just prepare for waits.

Hopefully when it gets closer we'll get a feel for fast pass options for it. But be prepared for Animal kingdom to go with tiers so you'll have to pick and choose between Pandora rides.

We were there opening day for 7dmt. Got there early and got on the ride after about a 30 min wait. The line behind us was insane. People that got to the line even just 1-2 min after we did were probably looking at close to a 2 hour wait

 

[Adreana]

I plan on trying to go opening as well. If there are 8 am EMH what time do you recommend being at the gates?

 

[Brer Chump]

You can also ask those who planned for the River of Light premiere months before the announced opening

 

[spankswife]

We will be there that weekend, but originally going to AK on 5/26. We are going back in the fall too. Should I skip the massive crowds and keep AK on 5/26? Is there any pre opening? Thoughts or advice?

 

[KimK2006]

I have been trying to figure this out, too. We will be in parks 5/24 - 5/28. Before the Pandora announcement, we had planned to got to AK on the 27th because it was AK morning EMH. I, now, keep going back and forth on this. On one hand, the whole park will be more crowded due to the opening. On the other hand, if we can get there before the EMH park opening, it is probably a better time to go than waiting until the 28th when it is not a morning EMH. I am leaning towards keeping as is and making sure we are there early for the morning EMH opening. Thoughts?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We will be there that weekend, but originally going to AK on 5/26. We are going back in the fall too. Should I skip the massive crowds and keep AK on 5/26? Is there any pre opening? Thoughts or advice?

Soft openings are always possible. We stumbled upon the 7DMT soft opening the year it opened and were lucky enough to ride. However, there are no FP+ for soft openings, so if you happen to be there, be prepared to jump in a line and wait if you want to ride. I actually thought about going opening day, but we already have a trip planned for late August, so I think we are going to skip the opening and see it in August when, hopefully, the crowds will have died down just a little bit.

 

[dkrauss]

It's new so it will be crazy................Since we aren't going to WDW until late June it will be interesting to see how the crowds work themselves out. My wife and I are looking forward to our late June visit.........not sure that we'll get to do/see everything. Fortunately we're back again in November........hopefully by then the initial hoopla will have died down . One thing I know for sure............the summer is going to be quite busy at AK!

Doug

 

[CAS239]

Area of Pandora will likely be insane for the first year it's open. If you're going anytime this year I'd recommend being among the first for rope drop.

And those on site should definitely take advantage of AM EMH

 

[rontu78]

The last day of our trip is May 27 (which also happens to be my birthday. What a present!) We're going to try it but don't know how successful we might be. I would assume Fastpasses will be gone almost instantly. If that's the case, which of the two new rides should we try for? We are extra magic hour eligible, but of course we don't know if these rides will be open during extra magic hours, right?

 

[FireflyTrance]

We will also be there on opening day 5/27 which is the end of our trip. I actually wish it was opening sooner because now the only days we can go are 5/27 or 5/28. I'm sure both days will be insane.

Now I'm thinking a hopper pass might be best. We could go on 5/27 for the EMH and then go to another park after.

 

[FireflyTrance]

I've never done EMH at AK, how does it work? Do they let you in to the front of the park before the park actually opens? How early before park opening can you arrive? Will the Disney bus transportation get you there early enough, or is it better to drive over?

 

[yulilin3]

Now you got me thinking because NFL has 2 entrance/exit points but Pandora will only have one, the bridge from Discovery Island. I wonder if they will have someone checking capacity like when Wizarding World of HP first opened.
It will for sure be packed, all day, best bet is to go at park opening

 

[CAS239]

I've never done EMH at AK, how does it work? Do they let you in to the front of the park before the park actually opens? How early before park opening can you arrive? Will the Disney bus transportation get you there early enough, or is it better to drive over?

It's just like any other park with AM EMH. On site guests get in to the park 1 hour before off site guests. You can arrive as early as you want as the parking lots really never close..I'd recommend being there about 45min-1 hour prior to when you are entering the park. The Disney transportation will get you there ahead of time. I personally prefer driving myself everywhere though as I don't like the usual long waits I find with Disney buses

 

[mnmhouston]

Following. Traveling end of August so will be watching the trends...