Was at Pandora for the first time this Monday, a 7AM EMH day. Got on the bus at Pop- it was full- a couple minutes after 6 and got through security around 6:25. The couple turnstiles that were opened were backed up to approximately the ticket windows. Not a ton of people overall, but still a fair number. Maybe 6:35ish they opened the turnstiles. There wasn't really any guidance that I could see in terms of CMs directing people to Pandora, etc. Since I was going for NRJ, I took my time walking back there. It was stupefying watching all those people running to try to get to FOP, and probably having to wait quite a while anyway because they didn't arrive at AK early enough. Almost no one was going to NRJ. I remarked to the family next to me as we walked through the NRJ queue that I was glad I had a FOP FP, and they concurred. NRJ was a walk on, and I went on it twice with no wait (they didn't even make me walk the queue again) by 7:01. I could have gone on it a third time with no wait, but I'd experienced it both in the front and back rows and had had enough. After looking around Pandora for a few minutes, I went to get breakfast at Kusafiri. The line for FOP was already well past Tiffins by then.
I liked NRJ more than I thought I would. Surprisingly, I was more impressed by the projection screens as opposed to the Shaman. The screens are EXTREMELY crisp and clear- no other ride's projections come anywhere close. I would not be surprised if uninformed people thought the screens were animatronics. The Youtube videos do not do it justice. Otherwise, the ride is kind of slow and boring, but also relaxing. I would ride it at least once per trip personally. Would I feel the same way if I didn't walk on or had a FP? Certainly not. Anyone waiting for an extended period of time will be disappointed. But since I don't wait in lines, I liked it.
I had a 10:45 FP for FOP, but I was hungry before then, so I went to Sa'tuli Canteen for an early lunch. I used Mobile Ordering and it worked out great, got my stuff in just a couple minutes. I got the chicken bowl with potatoes and the creamy herb dressing, plus both desserts to try. The chicken bowl is EXCELLENT. It's cooked perfectly, very moist and tender and just delicious. The potatoes are a perfect match and also very tasty. I was not a fan of the dressing, but they had it mostly off to the side, so it wasn't touching most of the food anyway. But they gave plenty of it if you wanted to mix it in. The chicken bowl left me quite full, and I didn't have much room for the desserts. I did try both of them, but wasn't a huge fan of either. I think the blueberry cream cheese was better, but still nothing amazing. The chocolate cake was a little too bitter for even me, a fan of dark chocolate. I later confirmed that it was definitely the cake and not my losing my taste for dark chocolate after having and enjoying the dark chocolate dessert at CRT the next day.
Then I went to FOP. There was almost no wait in the FP line. As a solo rider, I was the last one in my group, #16. I was on level 2- didn't need to take any stairs. Did the preshows and such and it was time to ride. I was very concerned about motion sickness as people had said it was between Soarin- which is no problem for me- and Star Tours- which is a big problem for me. And I'd just eaten a big lunch. Turns out it was no concern whatsoever and I experienced no symptoms. The glasses are definitely a little too big- the people next to me were complaining too. I wear glasses and even they seemed a bit big just wearing them over the glasses. At the start of the ride, I had to hold onto the glasses or otherwise there was distortion, but for some reason that went away after a little bit and I stopped holding them.
The ride itself was extremely underwhelming for me. It is literally Soarin' over Pandora. I don't like Soarin' either, it's just not exciting to me. I am wondering if I don't like these screen rides because I am an avid video gamer. I look at computer-generated, detailed screens like this all the time. That's the only explanation I can think of as to why most people love Soarin' and FOP and I don't (my husband is also a gamer and didn't like Soarin' either). So yeah... I actually preferred NRJ! I would probably ride FOP again if it's not too much trouble, such as if I get a FP or something. But otherwise, ehhh. The people next to me told me they had waited 3 hours to ride- but at least they enjoyed it. There were a couple of tween girls coming up behind me in the next group and they asked me if it's a good ride. I told them that I probably wasn't the right person to ask, as I didn't like it, but that most people seem to really like it.
In regards to FP availability, I didn't see NRJ or FOP pop up while I was at AK on Monday. However, I was planning on having my last day- which was to be Wednesday- at MK, but I decided midday Tuesday that I would switch to AK. I had no problem getting FPs for FOP or NRJ for the next day- both showed up fairly quickly for morning times, and FOP actually showed up first! Unfortunately, though, my Wednesday night flight was cancelled due to the weather, and the only flight I could get on before the 10th was at 6am Wednesday. So my trip was cut 13 hours short and I didn't get to go to AK again. But I thought I would report on my FP availability findings anyway.
Thanks to everyone in this thread for all the great info that made my Pandora experience a breeze.