My Thoughts On Pandora - The World of AVATAR
We have now made it to the 1-year anniversary of Pandora – The world of AVATAR, and I think it’s a great time for me to do a refection of my thoughts on the land!
Attractions
There are two attractions in this land. The area is still new, so wait times are very high for both of them. Flight of Passage is a thrill ride, so naturally it’s the most popular of the two. It is extremely hard to secure a Fastpass for this attraction at the moment. In order to secure a fastpass, you would need to wake up early on the morning the fastpass is available for the day you want and book immediately. Fastpasses are usually available to book at 7:00 am EST, and for an attraction this popular, you have about a 30 min window before all of them get snatched up. If you are not a hotel guest with the ability to book 60 days in advanced, you are probably out of luck. The wait times for Flight of Passage can get up to 4+ hours depending on the park crowd levels. Getting to the park before open will get you a reduced wait time. Note that I said reduced, not guaranteed short because everyone in the park will have the same idea as you. Lol. I do think this ride is worth the wait. I can’t justify waiting more than 2 hours for anything, but I would gladly wait up to 2 hours for this ride. After exiting the attraction, it felt euphoric! The feeling was so nice, that I wanted to wait in another hour long line just to ride it again!
It is significantly less difficult to secure a fastpass for Na’vi River Journey. If you can manage to book at the 30-day mark, you have a good chance of getting a pass here without waking up at the crack of dawn. You will still need to book well in advance, but you may get lucky and get passes a couple weeks out, if you check for availability religiously every day. The first time I rode this, I had a fastpass and I’m glad I did because wait times for this ride are also very high. The ride was beautiful, but I can barely justify waiting in an hour long line for this one, and I definitely wouldn’t wait 2 or 3 hours for it. It is a slow moving ride, with no height requirement, so it’s a great option for little ones or people who get overwhelmed from thrill rides.
Food
Satu’li Canteen is available for dinner and lunch. For a brief moment, they served breakfast but it was discontinued before I could try it. 😭 This is a counter service restaurant that utilizes mobile ordering, which can be a real time saver. The restaurant is beautifully themed and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Prices will run you no more than $15.00 per meal and the dining plan is accepted here. They have several protein options including tofu! Overall, I enjoyed the food there because it wasn't super heavy, but it was filling. I chow down at Disney, so it’s great when I get a meal that isn’t super unhealthy. This is the only real eatery in the land.
Pongu Pongu is a snack counter with primarily drinks. They only offer two snacks, the lumpia, which is unique to Pandora and a soft pretzel. The drink menu, however, is pretty extensive, with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. Many of the drinks including the ale are unique to Pandora, and a few of them come with glowing Unadelta seeds. These glowing drinks blend in with the scenery at night! I’ve tried the Night Blossom and it tastes like Skittles. I have to share one because it is so sweet, but it’s so pretty!
Atmosphere
Pandora is absolutely amazing and in my opinion the most immersive and rich lands that Disney Imagineers have created. It’s photo worthy for sure. It smells great, the music is tranquil, and the sound of the water is soothing. As beautiful as the land is during the day, it’s stunning at night. It’s hard to explain how epic it is, but I would for sure recommend seeing the land both during the day and after dark. You can’t miss the bio luminescent plants!
Basically what i'm saying is, Pandora is WORTH IT!