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

[Capang]

No more banshee. Again. They do have a few plush ones, though

 

[ChrisFL]

I visited Pandora last Sunday. Full disclosure, I wasn't really anticipating the land as I didn't think it was the best IP decision made by Disney. I've also been more of a fan of Universal's recent theme park attractions.

Having said all of that, the land is very well done...the food is great....but the one thing I HAVE to talk about is Flight of Passage. Realize that I had woken up at 6AM to go to the parks (went to DAK later in the day) and due to the lines, didn't actually get on the ride until about 10PM. I was exhausted and tired and it was raining outside, but since I have AP blackout dates coming up, this would be my last chance until August.

The wait time was listed at 40 minutes at the time (it was going WAAAAAY down in a short while, so I think they were opening more theaters).

I expected a Soarin' type of ride. I got SO MUCH MORE. I got off the ride and told my friend who was on this adventure with me that I would need some time to process what I had just experienced. It was waaaay above and beyond Soarin' and pretty much any Universal attraction lately as well.

Whether you like the idea of Avatar and Pandora or not, what the Imagineers have done is...in my mind, created the closest thing we can get to the feeling of flying like a bird....or banshee. It seemed with "flight simulators" for a long time that we were stuck with the same basic mixture of things to simulate flying, and often they do that by simulating being in a spaceship, car (back to the future), or hangglider-ish thing in Soarin'

What they did here was remove the bumpiness and thrill by way of simulated g-forces in other attractions, enhanced all of the "known" effects that simulators have by a factor of 10 and made it just pure, smooth FUN.

After this ride I was thinking back to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which has similar elements in the attraction, but that one leaves me feeling dizzy and nauseous because of the way it's done for thrills and the video quality /ride motion isn't great.

This ride made me re-think what is possible for screen-based attractions which many of us have lamented as being everywhere and not breaking boundaries.

FOP has really, really broken through that for me. I wish I could have jumped back in line and tried again that night...but I'll definitely be back in August and bringing anyone else with me.

The ride isn't 100% perfect, people have complained about the 3D glasses and size issues, but if Disney can sort those things out....I highly recommend anyone who likes simulators at least a little bit to try this out, even if it's a 3 hour wait.

 

[SgtTibbs]

I'm in Pandora on my cell and haven't read the entire thread recently, so if I'm repeating my apologies.

The back entrance to Pandora closed with the main park at 11pm. They were checking magic bands for EMH to enter Pandora after 11

And they are out of shoulder banshee again

 

[Capang]

I'm in Pandora on my cell and haven't read the entire thread recently, so if I'm repeating my apologies.

The back entrance to Pandora closed with the main park at 11pm. They were checking magic bands for EMH to enter Pandora after 11

And they are out of shoulder banshee again

Hi! Me, too!

 

[SgtTibbs]

Hi! Me, too!

Funny I don't see you.

 

[Capang]

So I sent the family back to the resort and stayed in Pandora. Rode Fop and I get it now. I was a skeptic. I get it now.

 

[Capang]

Funny I don't see you.

In line at Navi. Felt guilty about riding fop again without the fam. Enjoy the land!

 

[SgtTibbs]

In line at Navi. Felt guilty about riding fop again without the fam. Enjoy the land!

I'm going on a river voyage.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Can you get in line at fop right up till 1am?

 

[Capang]

I'm going on a river voyage.

Me, too! Very, very soon!

 

[SgtTibbs]

Don't believe the posted wait time. They are underestimating.

I've been in line 20 min with a 25 posted time and I am a long long way from a boat

30min, just entered show building

Update: Ah. Entering the show building is basically the end of the line. Posted 25, actual 30

 

[Capang]

Can you get in line at fop right up till 1am?

I think they close them before 1.

 

[Capang]

Don't believe the posted wait time. They are underestimating.

I've been in line 20 min with a 25 posted time and I am a long long way from a boat

My wait was 30. Fop said 105 and was 60.

 

[AngiTN]

Can you get in line at fop right up till 1am?

Rarely. So far, they have had the line closed off well before 1:00 AM. They are not running this like most other rides. They time closing the line so that the ride line is cleared around 1. I assume the reason is, if they let people continue to get in line they'd have riders on till 2, 3 AM and it would give them very little time to reset the land and get ready to open again in the morning.

 

[ten822]

Do you miss a lot of cool stuff not going through the regular line- what about the pre-show?

 

[rteetz]

Do you miss a lot of cool stuff not going through the regular line- what about the pre-show?

For FoP, yes you miss the regular queue. Everyone gets the pre-show tho.

 

[karly05]

I haven't kept up with this epic thread, so apologies, but I'm going to ask again: has FOP Single rider line been used by anyone here, and where does it run in relation to standby and FP lines?

 

[DisneyKoolaid]

I haven't kept up with this epic thread, so apologies, but I'm going to ask again: has FOP Single rider line been used by anyone here, and where does it run in relation to standby and FP lines?

I've never seen it used before (and I was just there last night), a CM's actual words were "nope, not now, not ever, anytime soon"

It merges right into the FP line and then separate into separate lines once you're inside the building, past the airlock (photo from allears.net)

 

[karly05]

I've never seen it used before (and I was just there last night), a CM's actual words were "nope, not now, not ever, anytime soon"

It merges right into the FP line and then separate into separate lines once you're inside the building, past the airlock (photo from allears.net)

Thank you! Man, I sure hope they change their minds by February; I was counting on being able to use single rider.

BTW, love your avatar!

 

[DisneyKoolaid]

Thank you! Man, I sure hope they change their minds by February; I was counting on being able to use single rider.

BTW, love your avatar!

haha thanks! And I hope they start using it because they do ask for SRs from the lines before the link chamber. I think they're just afraid of the line backing up like FP did opening weekend.