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

[Cluelyss]

So on a 9am opening, 8 am tusker house followed by Everest is also not a good plan? Everest and safari have been opening early too?

Only Pandora is opening around 8:30/8:40. The rest of the park is still the "standard" 8:55.

 

[123SA]

Only Pandora is opening around 8:30/8:40. The rest of the park is still the "standard" 8:55.

Thanks! I have FP+ for one of the Pandora rides on each of my AK days. I don't plan to be part of the Pandora crush in the morning. However, I do want to take advantage of the morning hours at Everest and the Safari. I've been trying to figure out what time to arrive, but most of the info currently available deals with how to manage the rope drop in Pandora.

For an 8am extra magic hours opening, do I need to arrive before 730am if I plan to head to Everest instead of Pandora?

For an 8am breakfast on a 9am opening, what time do I need to arrive to insure that I get through the bag check and into the park on time?

Thanks for your help

 

[Cluelyss]

Thanks! I have FP+ for one of the Pandora rides on each of my AK days. I don't plan to be part of the Pandora crush in the morning. However, I do want to take advantage of the morning hours at Everest and the Safari. I've been trying to figure out what time to arrive, but most of the info currently available deals with how to manage the rope drop in Pandora.

For an 8am extra magic hours opening, do I need to arrive before 730am if I plan to head to Everest instead of Pandora?

For an 8am breakfast on a 9am opening, what time do I need to arrive to insure that I get through the bag check and into the park on time?

Thanks for your help

If you're not heading to Pandora, I wouldn't see any reason you'd need to arrive more than 30 minutes prior. Except that you may encounter longer lines to enter in general.

For your ADR, plan to arrive no later than 15 minutes prior. It's a bit of a walk back to TH.

 

[Farro]

We plan to ride the River Journey on our first day at AK (third day of trip) and FOP on our second day (7th day of trip).

Would you suggest making Fast Pass for River Journey in the morning or early afternoon? Trying to find a good time during the day to just be able to walk around Pandora for a bit.

thanks!

 

[livyy]

Can anyone report on how evening EMH has been recently? When we were there in June, wait times were still very high during EMH - is this still the case? Will be there solo later this month and trying to figure out the best time to ride FOP so I can see the full standby queue (have only ridden with FP, since the kids were with me last trip). I understand RD will not get me the full experience, so looking for my next best option. Don't mind waiting an hour, but trying to avoid 2 hours!

I was just at AK for the Pandora EMH on Tuesday. FoP was 155 min wait and NRJ was 70-90 min wait during evening EMH.

 

[Cluelyss]

I was just at AK for the Pandora EMH on Tuesday. FoP was 155 min wait and NRJ was 70-90 min wait during evening EMH.

Thank you. Apparently it hasn't died down much since our last trip!

 

[subtchr]

I was just at AK for the Pandora EMH on Tuesday. FoP was 155 min wait and NRJ was 70-90 min wait during evening EMH.

Thank you. Apparently it hasn't died down much since our last trip!

Yep, I was there Monday this week, and it was a bit less than that but still over an hour and a half for FoP, and I waited 35 minutes for NRJ. I thought about heading over there Tuesday, but I looked at the wait times on the app and decided against it! At first I thought the jump in times might have had to do with the lifted blackout dates for some passes that started that day, but I wouldn't think most of those guests would be staying at Disney resorts and eligible for EMH. So who knows?

 

[Cluelyss]

Yep, I was there Monday this week, and it was a bit less than that but still over an hour and a half for FoP, and I waited 35 minutes for NRJ. I thought about heading over there Tuesday, but I looked at the wait times on the app and decided against it! At first I thought the jump in times might have had to do with the lifted blackout dates for some passes that started that day, but I wouldn't think most of those guests would be staying at Disney resorts and eligible for EMH. So who knows?

Thanks.

So is midday still my best bet for the shortest SB wait (outside of RD)?

 

[familyman123]

Now that September is coming up, what is the availability for fastpasses for FOP 30 days out? Any chance at all?

 

[Lesley Wake]

Now that September is coming up, what is the availability for fastpasses for FOP 30 days out? Any chance at all?

Nope, people are still having troubles getting them at 60 days. Some have had luck if they just keep constantly checking, but it takes a lot of effort and good timing. Some people have been able to get day-of passes, but those are few and far between.

 

[AngiTN]

Nope, people are still having troubles getting them at 60 days. Some have had luck if they just keep constantly checking, but it takes a lot of effort and good timing. Some people have been able to get day-of passes, but those are few and far between.

Yep, and other than at 60 days, day of are easier to get than 30 days. Not to be taken as easy to get, just that between the 2, day of and 30 days, you get them day of more often than 30 days out

 

[familyman123]

Yep, and other than at 60 days, day of are easier to get than 30 days. Not to be taken as easy to get, just that between the 2, day of and 30 days, you get them day of more often than 30 days out

Curious - how is the 60 day availability? Do you really need to be more like 63 or more days to get FOP?

 

[AngiTN]

Curious - how is the 60 day availability? Do you really need to be more like 63 or more days to get FOP?

Yes, typically. When we booked for our trip at the end of August the earliest day I could get was day 64, in the afternoon. A few have reported finding earlier in their trip but that's more an exception than normal. Normal is 64+

 

[TIME4DIZ]

Hi all!
Any news or rumors of the 'extra' extra magic hours for Pandora being extended beyond 8/19?

 

[CounselorX]

Hi all!
Any news or rumors of the 'extra' extra magic hours for Pandora being extended beyond 8/19?

I'm eagerly waiting for this as well. It seems weird that park hours for all 4 parks are 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM for all of September. I'd expect to at least see some type of refinements for hours on any of the 4 parks, for at least some days out of the whole month.

 

[SaharanTea]

Got back this past Sunday from our two week, ten park day trip to the big World. We managed to ride FoP seven times--four rope drops and three fast passes (one was a day of). My experience with rope drops was similar to what's already been reported here recently so I won't go into the details there.

As for FoP, it's a fantastic ride. We had the top level once, the bottom level once, and the middle level the rest of the time. I have a very slight preference to the top and middle level over the bottom. My wife liked the middle best, followed by the bottom, and then the top last. But we agreed the differences between them is very minimal, and on a first ride, you aren't likely to miss out on anything no matter the level. As for the ends vs. the middle, there is no discernible difference, unlike with Soarin' where you get some warping at the edges. I didn't poll the kids since they aren't likely to recall the differences anyway.

We had to change theaters one time after the ride failed to start for whatever reason. In all our rides, we didn't see anyone who couldn't fit. In each ride the final cast member made us push back on the leg restraints to make sure they engaged. I recommend people not sit too straight up on the ride. Leaning forward gets you more into the scene. Don't do so to an unnatural level. I'm just suggesting you don't lean back, though the seat does a good job of making you sit forward anyway. On one of the rides, the strobes didn't work on my chair. Other than that, everything worked quite well.

There is a slight bit of thrill fatigue with this ride, but no more so than literally every other thrill ride I've ever ridden. It's very re-ride-able. I highly recommend rope drop to any other time except when you have a fast pass. That said, we did have to skip some parts of the queue, though we could see the lab through some glass.

 

[SaharanTea]

As for Na'vi River, we rode it three times. Two with day of fast passes, and once in standby after an FoP ride. It's a great attraction on it's own. The level of detail is amazing. It does feel too short, but I did time it at five minutes on the nose. I kind of thought they could slow down the water current to help you take in all the elements, but I'm sure they won't while the lines are so long. The Shaman is really cool, but I found myself enjoying a lot of the other touches more. The queue of this one seems less detailed, but considering the level of detail in every part of the rest of the land, you can forgive them a little slacking here.

The land itself is very cool and extremely well-detailed. You can randomly point your camera anywhere and take a great shot. It's impressive. Lots of touches. The nighttime part was also really cool. It's pretty dim, but not un-navigable.

Every walk through Windtraders we saw Banshees available. We bought two our first day, and they had four colors available (I think there are eight total--not 100% that). Other walk-throughs I noticed at least a couple of additional colors.

Satu'li Canteen instantly became our favorite quick service on property. We had the beef (w/ chimichurri) and the chicken (w/ herb dressing) bowls on our first trip. Kids did the hot dog and burger pods, and later the quesadillas. I liked both the beef and chicken, but slightly favor the chicken with herb, but either one is a great choice. We did the hash on each bowl. It's great. We also did both desserts, and I prefer the blueberry over the chocolate, but both were good. The chips that came with the kids' meals were really good, too, but my kids weren't into them. My son preferred the quesadillas to the pods, and my daughter did the hot dog twice, but said she'd get the quesadilla if or when we return.

Also, the cast members who were busing the tables there do a fantastic job and really stay on top of things. The self-serve drink station is also a much preferred set up. Finding an indoor table was never hard. I'm pretty sure they were policing the tables for those with food on the indoor seats at least.

 

[Turk February]

How essential is seeing Pandora at night? I have intentionally avoided almost all photos and information since I like to go into new Disney things spoiler-free. Since we're gonna rope drop Pandora for our 1 AK day, I'm not sure we'll have enough to do to last us until the night (we're not giant AK people but very excited to see Pandora) and I feel like our time might be spent better elsewhere unless Pandora at night is "oh my god you have to see it".

 

[AngiTN]

How essential is seeing Pandora at night? I have intentionally avoided almost all photos and information since I like to go into new Disney things spoiler-free. Since we're gonna rope drop Pandora for our 1 AK day, I'm not sure we'll have enough to do to last us until the night (we're not giant AK people but very excited to see Pandora) and I feel like our time might be spent better elsewhere unless Pandora at night is "oh my god you have to see it".

I found Pandora at night very impressive. Walked around with my mouth hanging open most the entire time, went back pretty much every night of our trip to see it again and again. I think it's in the you really need to see it, unless it means you have to skip seeing HEA or Star Wars Fireworks to do so. So just short of "oh my god you have to see it"

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I found Pandora at night very impressive. Walked around with my mouth hanging open most the entire time, went back pretty much every night of our trip to see it again and again. I think it's in the you really need to see it, unless it means you have to skip seeing HEA or Star Wars Fireworks to do so. So just short of "oh my god you have to see it"

I remember reading about some less-than-impressive nights due to lighting... is that largely fixed?