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

[Accident]

I didn't ride, but my husband did. He was told to sit up straight. He did. And he was asked to lift his legs before he got.

The previews really helped them sort out what to tell people to do to get it to lock in.

 

[ethanwa]

For those of you that have done HP and now Pandora, how do the lands compare in the coolness factor of the lands and rides?

In my opinion, they both have equally impressive theming compared to the movies. But the Harry Potter lands have more details and are EXACTLY like the movie. Pandora is more themed towards being after the movies..... in a different time and place on Pandora. And since Avatar isn't as beloved as Harry Potter (by far), you don't quiet get the same "wow, I'm in a movie/book" feeling. But they both have that WOW factor.... just in different ways, if that makes sense.

If I had to chose to go to either Harry Potter or Pandora, and I could only chose one, I'd do Harry Potter. Fortunately for many of us, we can do both and they are both awesome.

Let's put it this way... both Pandora and Harry Potter are the most immersive areas in their respective properties (Disney / Universal), so they are both really high quality and you will be happy with both.

NOTE: I highly recommend giving Avatar a second watch before going to Pandora. It will make the experience fresh in your mind, even if you don't enjoy the movie all that much. You do NOT need to like Avatar to like Pandora. Enjoying the movie is not a requirement to enjoying the land. They are separate stories, timelines, etc.

As far as the rides, Flight of Passage is hands down better than any Harry Potter ride. The River Journey is not.... it's a one-time short ride that is beautiful, but not really anything incredibly special.

Just my opinion... others may think differently.

 

[Accident]

The problem is that this thread moves so quickly that a question easily gets buried 15 pages back very quickly. Some of us don't live on this thread and don't want to sift through 50 pages because we weren't on here for 12 hours.

When this thread got hijacked for awhile with people talking about fitting on rides it became useless to me and I avoided the whole thread for a couple weeks. Not interested enough to scroll through 100's of posts to find something relevant. Some of these policies and procedures are only good for the people that spend every waking moment on this message board.

Oh I hate how this forum has turned into lets merge everything.. I read less and less of it, I don't want to hunt for something and then hunt for anyone that answered it.. I hate catch all threads and to be honest, I'm coming to this forum less and less because of it.

 

[Planogirl]

Pandora might actually have an easier time impressing visitors than a Harry Potter or Star Wars type IP. Pandora isn't as likely to have hordes of devotees looking at things with a super critical eye. This is actually nice because it sounds like a visitor to Pandora can just take it all in without thinking much about accuracy.

I'm curious as to how people with bad knees or feet or whatever are dealing with FOP seating. I haven't seen much about that.

 

[dina444444]

Just got in line for FoP. Posted wait is 120 minutes but cast member at the end of the line is saying 210-240 min wait.

 

[cmarsh31]

Any word on the single rider line for FoP?

I shouldn't ride FoP. We have FPs for NRJ... but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that I did fine on Space & Thunder in Feb - ok, I did fine on Space, Thunder wasn't a good idea for my neck but it was ok. I skipped Star Tours. DH will never, ever, ride FoP and the kids aren't going to be with us... so if the single rider line is a good bet, I'm going to be awfully tempted to give it a go. I can handle smooth. I can't do the jerking around of Thunder, from all the reviews it sounds like FoP will be ok (and if not, heck, surgery is already scheduled for less than a month away

 

[Disneylover99]

The restraint has to get to that green part. The amount of wiggle room will depend on your belt size.

Does a CM push it up? Or does it automatically go up for everyone at the same time?

 

[dina444444]

Any word on the single rider line for FoP?

I shouldn't ride FoP. We have FPs for NRJ... but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that I did fine on Space & Thunder in Feb - ok, I did fine on Space, Thunder wasn't a good idea for my neck but it was ok. I skipped Star Tours. DH will never, ever, ride FoP and the kids aren't going to be with us... so if the single rider line is a good bet, I'm going to be awfully tempted to give it a go. I can handle smooth. I can't do the jerking around of Thunder, from all the reviews it sounds like FoP will be ok (and if not, heck, surgery is already scheduled for less than a month away

It's not open today.

 

[yulilin3]

Cast member does it

Does a CM push it up? Or does it automatically go up for everyone at the same time?

 

[Accident]

Does a CM push it up? Or does it automatically go up for everyone at the same time?

Cast member does it

On the ride a castmember goes person to person to lift it up?

ok they changed the seats, in preview we were told the restraints are coming up and everyones went up together and they came around to check they locked and help those who didn't.

 

[rastuso]

All the people waiting to get in Pandora people were not Avatar devotees! They were people who were excited about a new land (any land) opening. And now with the spectacular reviews coming out - this land will stay popular. FoP is getting AMAZING reviews. The word of mouth will be strong for that one. And now perhaps people will quit saying Animal Kingdom is a half day park.
If the movies coming out aren't successful, it won't change the popularity of Pandora. The movie wasn't the draw here.

Of course it won't stay as crowded as this week, and thank god for that!

Yet I read endless posts of people saying they don't go to Universal because they don't have a connection to Harry Potter.

similar immersion it all depends what type of environment/setting you like urban or natural. FOP is in the same category as Forbidden journey and Gringotts

FJ and Gringotts, especially FJ, are absolutely unique rides with state of the art technology seamlessly connecting real sets and video portions.

FoP is Soarin,, which is just Back to the Future, with a different seat platform. 30 year old ride tech, really.

Soarin has an inexplicable fan base. I'd assume because it's not very aggressive, so grandma can ride with her 5 year old grandson. And it's cheap enough they can add a third auditorium a decade after it opens to deal with the crowds, but get no advertising power from the money.

J

 

[yulilin3]

Oh, did they have Special Edition maps?

No special map. Just regular ak map with the floating mountains in the cover

 

[PetePanMan]

What is "IP"? I have gone back multiple pages and can't find.

 

[Cinderella94]

What is "IP"? I have gone back multiple pages and can't find.

Intellectual property.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The problem is that this thread moves so quickly that a question easily gets buried 15 pages back very quickly. Some of us don't live on this thread and don't want to sift through 50 pages because we weren't on here for 12 hours.

When this thread got hijacked for awhile with people talking about fitting on rides it became useless to me and I avoided the whole thread for a couple weeks. Not interested enough to scroll through 100's of posts to find something relevant. Some of these policies and procedures are only good for the people that spend every waking moment on this message board.

But if you ask a question and someone responds to your post you gets a notification and when you click on it it brings you right to that post with the response/answer

All the people with knowledge of Pandora are hanging out in this thread and best chance for them to see your question

 

[yulilin3]

On the ride a castmember goes person to person to lift it up?

ok they changed the seats, in preview we were told the restraints are coming up and everyones went up together and they came around to check they locked and help those who didn't.

I thought we were talking about the test seat outside

 

[yulilin3]

Does a CM push it up? Or does it automatically go up for everyone at the same time?

To clarify
The test seat is checked by a cm
Once inside the ride the restraints come at the same time and if there's a problem a cm will come and adjust

 

[CAS239]

Oh, did they have Special Edition maps?

Yes. They had maps that were thicker paper and glossy. Very nice maps

 

[wilkeliza]

For those of you that have done HP and now Pandora, how do the lands compare in the coolness factor of the lands and rides?

Here is my take having done both. Universal with HP has done a phenomenal job at capturing moments. However my nerdy/geeky heart has some issues with the fact that dragon is perched on the top of the bank. It instantly makes me know exactly what moment in time the whole area must be. It has to be pre-battle of Hogwarts HP world.

The other side is better but also still feels like it very much lives in early HP universe. It is hard in the land for me to know Dragon Challenge is around if not during the 4th book and FJ is similar.

In reverse Disney has done a great job in creating something that is timeless. Nothing is specific to a time or moment in the Pandora franchise and is so far out from the movie that the characters aren't important.

So for me while HP is an amazing experience I do take issue with the "moments" Universal chose to highlight instead of having a timeless approach.

 

[dina444444]

Yes. They had maps that were thicker paper and glossy. Very nice maps

The maps I grabbed this morning have a texture to them and are not the usual gloss.