Last weekend we had the privilege of visiting Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the first time. It opened this May, but we decided on waiting until the crowds had died down a bit. Today I’m going to tell you all about it. Well, everything except for the food, because that deserves its own post.
The infamous floating rocks
First off, pictures do not do this place justice. It is stunningly beautiful, especially at night when all of the unique bio-luminescent plants come to life. The infamous floating rocks are massive, much bigger than they appear in pictures. What make them really impressive is that they are 156 feet above the ground.
One of the many unique plants
It also offers plenty of shade and mist as well as a place (Satu’li Canteen) where you can get free cups of ice cold water, which great for the hot Florida weather.
One of the many Moss Walls
As far as activities, the Valley of Mo’ara offers the Swotu Wayä Na’vi Drum Ceremony and the Colors of Mo’ara face painting.
The Rides
This is the part of the line right before you get on the Flight of Passage!
Pandora offers two rides, Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage.
We were fortunate enough to only wait 30 minutes for Na’vi River Journey having rushed to it right when Animal Kingdom opened. I would most definitely recommend not waiting more than an hour for this ride and also going on it before Flight of Passage, because it will seem like somewhat of a letdown in comparison. It’s a decent boat ride, but quite short. It does have an extremely impressive animatronic, which is so life-like it’s almost creepy.
View from Avatar Flight of Passage
On the other hand, Avatar Flight of Passage is the coolest ride (in my opinion) I have ever ridden, hands down. If you have ridden Soarin’, the experience is similar, but infinitely more incredible. We waited 2 1/12 hours for this ride and it was well worth it. The line is cool too, so that helps. The entire experience itself lasts around 15 minutes, with the ride being about 5 minutes.
Long story short, if you only have time to ride one ride, make it the Flight of Passage. When they’re first strapping you in it seems intense, but trust me, it’s worth it.
Disclaimer: Do not ride it if you can’t handle 3-D.
Overall, I loved Pandora and think it was a well-needed addition to Animal Kingdom. I also would like to add it is not necessary to watch the movie Avatar in order to enjoy it, I haven’t seen the movie since 2010.
If you want to learn more about Pandora – The World of Avatar, you can do so here. Stay tuned in a few weeks for my blog post all about the food (Spoiler: It’s delicious)!
Have you been to Pandora? What was your favorite part?
I have been to all the Disney Parks, except Animal Kingdom. Can you believe it?! Ever since I heard Pandora opened and I have been dying to go! Love your review:) Thank you for your tips and sharing your experience.
Author
Thank you! And Animal Kingdom as a whole is great! I would recommend you visit!
Definitely will do!
Wow looks magical
I want to go there so bad. I haven’t visited it yet, I was waiting for it to be less crowded but I will probably go sometime this month! Can’t wait to readyour article about the food there!
Author
Yes the food was so good! If you go before I post it I highly recommend you try the Night Blossom!!! It can be found at the Pongu Pongu drink station 🙂
You described it so well! I can’t wait to go see it. I tried some of the food there at the Taste! Central Florida event I went to, and it was really good. Can’t wait to see your next post.
Author
That’s so cool you got to try it ahead of time!
I’m a scary cat so I did the River Passage which was beautiful! Pandora is beautiful and it captures you the moment you walk in. I went for the first time last month and was honestly shocked why AK was so packed until I remembered Pandora had arrived lol.
Author
It really is so beautiful! One of the best themed lands I’ve ever seen by Disney!