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

[Beer Me]

The photopass photographer in Pandora told me they don't do magic shots there. When did that start? I've see lots of them online. Maybe I need to try again another time?

We got one with a banshee flying overhead. Taken on 7/10.

 

[rteetz]

Opening procedures this week from @WebmasterDoc

Yesterday's procedures. Arrived at 8:15AM for 9AM. Got to Pandora just after 9AM. Line already for FoP but no line for NRJ. FoP read 135 minutes.

Today, arrived 20 minutes earlier. Got into AK about 8:15AM. Guests were being held on the bridge into Pandora. Guests were allowed in at 8:45AM. 60 minute wait at 8:55AM. Once inside the bus doing they were routed from the first room directly into the line up areas for the ride. Bypassing much of the queue. They were into the pre-show room at roughly 9:10AM and exited the ride into Windtraders at 9:25AM.

 

[ucfknight]

Hello, All. I'm headed to AK with my wife for my 40th birthday, and we have tickets for Saturday. We are not staying at the resorts, so we do not have EMH access. 30 days out, we got FPs in the evening for Na'vi River Journey (6:25-7:25), the Safari (7:25-8:25), and Rivers of Light (for 9 PM). Our game plan for Saturday the 20th was to be at the AK gates by 6:30/6:45 AM and do the rope drop, heading straight to FOP. We are counting on leaving the park around lunch time and relaxing at our hotel pool, getting dinner near the hotel, and then returning to the park between 5 and 6 PM for the remainder of the evening. We are rope drop vets, but the hours for AK are 9 AM to 10 PM for non-resort guests. A few questions:

1) If we are at the AK gates by 6:45 AM for rope drop, is there a separate line for those guests who will be taking advantage of the EMH hours in the morning (8-9 AM)? I'd like to make sure we get into the right line.

2) What time should we expect to be allowed into the park/land as non-EMH guests assuming we are at the gates at 6:45?

3) We planned on FOP being the first thing we do after rope drop. We had read elsewhere that after July 4th, the EMH hours would not be in effect, and planned this trip accordingly. Now, it seems with the EMH hours having been extended, this will have a big impact on the FOP standby line when we finally get there after rope drop. Any idea of what the FOP standby wait time would look for people like us who got to the park at 6:30 AM but who did not have EMH access?

Because there will be EMH that morning, I basically need to decide whether I want to be waiting in line from 6:30 AM to _______ just to experience Flights of Passage, when it might actually make tons more sense to go everywhere else at rope drop and do Everest twice, the Safari, Kali, and Dinosaur, and then stay in the Avatar land when we return in the evening. The issue is that I have already experienced EE, KS, Kali, and Dinosaur a number of times, and by going this route, I'm almost certainly ensuring that FOP is out of the question that day unless I want to get in a standby line for several hours that evening. Thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I would not suggest trying to go right to FOP at rope drop for day guests if there are morning EMH for resort guests. The line will likely already be very long. Try to either do FOP in the mid-afternoon when the wait times have been waning, or wait until about an hour prior to park close when they usually have the wait time still showing 2 hours to discourage people from getting in line even though the actual wait may be an hour or less.

 

[msk]

rteetz, we must have missed you yesterday at FOP We got there about 8:00 and were let into the park at 8:30. After waiting until 8:45 outside of Pandora, we enjoyed FOP and were in the gift shop at 9:15. Going first thing is the way to bypass FP+ if you can't get one.
On Sunday we waited 120 minutes to ride after lunch and it was so worth the wait! We came back Sunday evening after dark and rode Na'vi River with a 45 minute wait. It is also worth the wait if you have the time.

 

[rteetz]

rteetz, we must have missed you yesterday at FOP We got there about 8:00 and were let into the park at 8:30. After waiting until 8:45 outside of Pandora, we enjoyed FOP and were in the gift shop at 9:15. Going first thing is the way to bypass FP+ if you can't get one.
On Sunday we waited 120 minutes to ride after lunch and it was so worth the wait! We came back Sunday evening after dark and rode Na'vi River with a 45 minute wait. It is also worth the wait if you have the time.

No wasn't me. That report was from webmasterDoc. I wish I was there though!

 

[twentyco]

For those who have been in Pandora this week, do they still have banshees? I am going in about 10 days and really want one!

 

[AngiTN]

Planning on Animal Kingdom for November, according to Disney's website they have morning EMH for the day we'll be going. If it's listed on their website under park hours, is that for sure, or will it likely change? Says park opens at 9 and EMH for 8. Hoping to get in at 8 then head right over to Pandora and do whichever ride we don't have FP for, then get back to Rainforest Café for breakfast at 930.

It's pretty rare for them to remove EMH hours. It's unlikely to change

 

[ucfknight]

For those who have been in Pandora this week, do they still have banshees? I am going in about 10 days and really want one!

There were tons of colors in stock on Sunday.

 

[subtchr]

I saw on a Facebook page that the single rider line at FoP was used yesterday, at least part of the day. Can anyone confirm?

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

For those who have been in Pandora this week, do they still have banshees? I am going in about 10 days and really want one!

There were tons of colors in stock on Sunday.

Lots of colors in stock Tuesday morning and Tuesday night

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Opening procedures this week from @WebmasterDoc

Yesterday's procedures. Arrived at 8:15AM for 9AM. Got to Pandora just after 9AM. Line already for FoP but no line for NRJ. FoP read 135 minutes.

Today, arrived 20 minutes earlier. Got into AK about 8:15AM. Guests were being held on the bridge into Pandora. Guests were allowed in at 8:45AM. 60 minute wait at 8:55AM. Once inside the bus doing they were routed from the first room directly into the line up areas for the ride. Bypassing much of the queue. They were into the pre-show room at roughly 9:10AM and exited the ride into Windtraders at 9:25AM.

Here is what we experienced a couple days ago:

We were at AK for rope drop Tuesday. We arrived at AK via Disney bus at 8:00. They started letting people through the tapstiles at 8:20. We were led to pandora and stayed there from about 8:25-8:40. At 8:40 we began walking to FoP. We were in a longer line outside the official queue and entered the "real" queue at 8:51. We were exiting the ride at 9:21. We also bypassed a lot of the inside queue, so if you are riding standby first thing in the morning, you might not get to see the floating avator and lab area (we did not).

Ymmv, but I would say if you want to ride it with a short wait at rope drop, arrive no later than 1 hour before opening.

Following our FoP ride, we headed right over to standby NRJ. We were in the standby line at 9:26 and exiting he ride at 10:05.

 

[AngiTN]

I just saw a post elsewhere from someone asking if the leg restraints on the ride have been removed. They swore they did not feel them lock in, looked over at their son and did not see them and thought they saw where they used to be. Someone else who has ridden with the leg restraints for certain also rode this week and said now that you mention it they didn't notice them but didn't think about it till now. That they may have in fact been gone. So, any insight from those here? Are they gone? @rteetz you heard anything?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Opening procedures this week from @WebmasterDoc

Yesterday's procedures. Arrived at 8:15AM for 9AM. Got to Pandora just after 9AM. Line already for FoP but no line for NRJ. FoP read 135 minutes.

Today, arrived 20 minutes earlier. Got into AK about 8:15AM. Guests were being held on the bridge into Pandora. Guests were allowed in at 8:45AM. 60 minute wait at 8:55AM. Once inside the bus doing they were routed from the first room directly into the line up areas for the ride. Bypassing much of the queue. They were into the pre-show room at roughly 9:10AM and exited the ride into Windtraders at 9:25AM.

Seems like there is a tight window if you want to not have a 2 hour wait but want to see the queue if those that are earliest bypass a lot of the queue

 

[ucfknight]

Seems like there is a tight window if you want to not have a 2 hour wait but want to see the queue if those that are earliest bypass a lot of the queue

You could always go into the queue and stop where the cutoff to the FP+ line is (it is inside the first cave when you get inside). You can just stand off to the side and waive everyone past you until a cast member comes to drop the rope to the full standby queue.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

You could always go into the queue and stop where the cutoff to the FP+ line is (it is inside the first cave when you get inside). You can just stand off to the side and waive everyone past you until a cast member comes to drop the rope to the full standby queue.

Would they let you just stand there? Im picturing a situation where a large group tries to do this... wouldn't it block things?

 

[rteetz]

I just saw a post elsewhere from someone asking if the leg restraints on the ride have been removed. They swore they did not feel them lock in, looked over at their son and did not see them and thought they saw where they used to be. Someone else who has ridden with the leg restraints for certain also rode this week and said now that you mention it they didn't notice them but didn't think about it till now. That they may have in fact been gone. So, any insight from those here? Are they gone? @rteetz you heard anything?

I have not heard anything. It would surprise me if they were gone completely.

 

[rteetz]

Interesting article...

http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/disney-world-pandora-avatar-theme-park.html

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Interesting article...

http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/disney-world-pandora-avatar-theme-park.html

"Creating something beautiful from a property that people barely remember can’t cut it. Instead, Disney is planning on making something unforgettably real that takes inspiration from your favorite movies ever.

Which brings us back to the Star Wars–themed lands coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. ... And besides, what’s a floating mountain compared to a Death Star?"

 

[rteetz]

"Creating something beautiful from a property that people barely remember can’t cut it. Instead, Disney is planning on making something unforgettably real that takes inspiration from your favorite movies ever.

Which brings us back to the Star Wars–themed lands coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. ... And besides, what’s a floating mountain compared to a Death Star?"

I still love those floating mountains tho.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I still love those floating mountains tho.

We're still looking forward to seeing it in a few weeks. It just doesn't compare to what they have coming up IMHO.