Inside Universal Forums

Welcome to the Inside Universal Forums! Register a free account today to become a member. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members and unlock our forums features!

  • Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.

Pandora: World of Avatar Photos, Videos, & Reviews

I agree about seat 8. But after riding on the bottom floor for the first time I know that I much prefer the top floor now. Looking up from the bottom I noticed the divider wall thing above me more. It's there on the top floor too, but I never need to look up when on the top. If anything I'm looking down more to see the action, and the link chair blocks my view, which is more natural than a big sheet of metal blocking my view above me. If that makes sense.
I have only ridden on floor 2 and 3. When I saw that they were gunna send me down I just asked to go up. Ridden 3-9, 3-1, 2-2, and 2-7. There isn't much difference between 2 and 3 because you are nicely centered on the action and while being on the end is ok, as in not as bad a soarin, in the middle is just perfection. And like someone else mentioned, being in the middle you don't notice the other rows as much, whereas on the end by simply looking towards the center you can catch the opposite side in the corner of your eye.
 
I would hate sitting next to this guy but I smiled the whole time watching it.


That video shows just how much the seats themselves move. Looks like 30-40 degrees side to side and 10-20 front to back. That coupled with the vertical motion just make it feel so real. Good find mike!
 
That video shows just how much the seats themselves move. Looks like 30-40 degrees side to side and 10-20 front to back. That coupled with the vertical motion just make it feel so real. Good find mike!

I love the strobe light effect in the beginning. It distracts you from the wall lifting up.
 
I love the strobe light effect in the beginning. It distracts you from the wall lifting up.
I think the strobes are actually on the link chair console. Along with the wind, smells, and water effects. The fact that the RV seat does literally all the effects is an incredible marvel of ride tech. And it's the best use of smells and water for any simulator ride I've been on. (I hate that you can hear the smells being sprayed on Soarin. Not the case here.)

Plus you know, it has the camera and screen for the intro linking bit too. I wonder if the on board camera feeds are displayed on split screen surveillance monitors somewhere for safety monitoring.
 
I think the strobes are actually on the link chair console. Along with the wind, smells, and water effects. The fact that the RV seat does literally all the effects is an incredible marvel of ride tech. And it's the best use of smells and water for any simulator ride I've been on. (I hate that you can hear the smells being sprayed on Soarin. Not the case here.)

Plus you know, it has the camera and screen for the intro linking bit too. I wonder if the on board camera feeds are displayed on split screen surveillance monitors somewhere for safety monitoring.

They are. If you actually look past the screen when riding, you can see the sprayer a bit lower.
 
Part of the reason the water effects seem so real sometimes is there are 3D droplets flying at your face in the movie film. That's why 3D works so well for this ride. Subtle moments like that. People probably think they're seeing real droplets flying at their face. I always squint at them, near a waterfall flyby in the beginning, but they're totally fake. I mean you're feeling real sprays too, but there's 3D droplets flying at you on the screen to help simulate the speed you're traveling at. The sprays near the ocean are perfectly timed too. All of it's just so well timed and integrated it feels real.

And for some reason the water doesn't annoy me on this one. At 4D shows like Philharmagic I always cover the water sprayer with my hand when I know it's coming. Mainly cause it gets on the 3D glasses. But I guess cause of where the water sprays come from on FoP, it doesn't bother me, nor does it get all over the glasses.
 
Long FOP review. First time Disney trip this weekend, rode FOP three times. Didn't even try to wait for the river ride, once you ride FOP you won't want to spend time elsewhere. The second time on FOP there were screen malfunctions that ruined the ride for me, but the other two times were amazing. This ride is near perfect, is really hard to find anything wrong with it. FOP is simply amazing and a must-do!!

First ride wait: got to AK just after 7am, was waiting to enter the Pandora land at 7:30. At 7:52 they let us in, and the basics crowd slowly stretched out into a line for FOP (except for a few that did the river ride which I had no interest in). It probably took 45 minutes of waiting before I rode, but it was constantly moving so it flew by. Possibly the best queue I've been in. I like all the changes in scenery and elevation, level of detail, it's amazing how they designed the layout and used the space. A lot of variety with plants/caves/indoor/outdoor/dark/light/etc. The 2 pre-show rooms do get annoying fast, after my first ride I was impatient having to watch these again. It was cool how the first room "video" would actually know if someone was standing on their number or not. 2 times I rode there were empty seats and it didn't match an avatar to those and said "empty". And there's a part that usually occurs that shows live camera footage of everyone inside. This only happens when you are "waiting" for other rooms to be filled. They change this part and make it longer so all the rooms are ready at the same time. The first time this live camera was on for over a minute and my third ride didn't even include this part.

Onto my first ride: great distraction with lighting/strobe effects so you don't see the wall lift up. Most people will not know how the tech works, similar to forbidden journey. Also the chest and back restraints that grip you vibrate fairly strongly which makes you want to look down and see what's going on (another distraction to get you to look at your screen and not see the wall moving away). Best 3d I've ever seen anywhere. Very natural, nothing "popped out" in a fake way but there was still good depth. There was so much detail but nothing was blurry. You felt like you could turn your head and really look off in another direction on either side. I was expecting more of a real physical drop, in my opinion the seats don't move more than 3 feet in any direction. However, that short quick movement is enough to give you a quick G force feeling. The motion seems more of gentle floating and swooping, not fast at all like I was expecting. Later in the ride you get more side to side movement. But it was so enjoyable I'm not complaining, sometimes you just want that flying feeling without too much craziness. There were enough near misses to make it exciting. I liked the strong constant wind effect that felt more realistic than most rides, and the water was a fine mist added to this same air. I think larger droplets would have fit with the video better at times but I like how you could feel the water without getting too wet. The scents were good, 3 parts with an earthy smell and one with a orange/citrus/flower type smell. The scents lingered lightly in the building and you can start smelling them in the pre-show room. Depending on how you fit into your seat you may not notice the air bladders that simulate your banshee breathing. I only felt it a little on the inside of both my knees. I'm tall and skinny. I thought the dark cave section of the ride was boring because during the first part of it you just sit there, I think you should be moving the whole time even if it has a slower section. Ok minor complaints aside, it is still incredible. Probably the most thrilling "simulator ride" considering you don't actually move much.

Second ride wait: got to AK at 10:30pm for EMH 11pm to 1pm), wasn't sure if FOP would even be a possibility for me because the wait time on the app said 180 minutes and then disappeared as if it were closed for the night. It was raining which helped clear out the park. Got to FOP and the entrance was blocked off but they were letting hotel guests line up to wait and enter the queue. At 11 we started walking into the ride, I waited an hour this time but it was really pretty lit up at night. I'm sure the wait quickly went to go 2.5 hours after I got in line.

Awful second ride experience: as soon as it started I noticed a huge blur in my right eye which I thought was a large smudge or defect on the glasses. It was very distracting and I wasn't able to enjoy the ride at all. Since the video was messed up I spent most of the time looking at the behind the scenes workings all around me. Afterwards I told the person collecting glasses that it was blurry and I couldn't see anything. She apologized and said it was the screen/projection and many other people said the same thing. It wasn't the glasses, it was actually the video. I was mad because I waited an hour and by this point the wait was much longer and I wouldn't be able to ride it again. This was my last night in Orlando and I may never get back to Disney. After explaining this she said she would give me a fast pass I could use right away on it. I said no, why can't I ride again without having to exit and re-enter? The park was closing soon and I still wanted to try the restaurant and see the nighttime glowing effects. She reluctantly agreed and another cast member walked me town where I had a short wait before entering the pre-show rooms and riding again. I then got to ride it for my third and final time and it was absolutely perfect and clear! I am so happy I was fortunate to ride it again. I feel bad for others who might have seen it for the first time with that blurriness thinking that was the way the ride was.

Final thoughts: Instantly one of my all time favorite rides, great experience including queue. I also rode Soarin for the first time that day. I loved the visuals of Soarin but it felt totally fake and much more gentle/kiddie ride. FoP was much more cohesive, fun, realistic, and you can really lose yourself in it. Like FJ, at times you feel like you are the only one riding (unless you actively look around to the people next to you). Soarin is in such a crusty old building, with the world's most boring wait lol.
 
Last edited:
FlightofPassage-programming.jpeg
 
i finally got to see Pandora at night
i was disappointed but the others in my party who are not on any theme park boards loved it and thought it was the coolest thing Disney has done. I guess it goes back to expectations i had high expectations and my family had no expectations going into the land. Also standing in line for FOP it was very audible how impressed people were with this place. i ridden FOP 3 times now and its pretty fun hearing people during the ride
 
i finally got to see Pandora at night
i was disappointed but the others in my party who are not on any theme park boards loved it and thought it was the coolest thing Disney has done. I guess it goes back to expectations i had high expectations and my family had no expectations going into the land. Also standing in line for FOP it was very audible how impressed people were with this place. i ridden FOP 3 times now and its pretty fun hearing people during the ride
I have to agree that nighttime in Pandora let me down a little, but it was clear that most other guests really enjoyed it.
 
The best comparison to Pandora at night in terms of how GP is reacting vs. how we're reacting is Fallon. Guests are eating it up, but I spent the whole time being like holy crap, I can't see a thing.

The land is SO much better during the day to me, but my entire family just went on and on about how cool it was at night.

Also, quick (one-sentence) review roundup from family/friends on Flight of Passage:

"Best thing I have ever been on."
"Bye, Soarin'."
"Whoa, if I can feel that way about Avatar, Star Wars is gonna destroy me."
"It's definitely one of their better attractions, but I still like Tower of Terror the best."
"That was incredible."
 
The best comparison to Pandora at night in terms of how GP is reacting vs. how we're reacting is Fallon. Guests are eating it up, but I spent the whole time being like holy crap, I can't see a thing.
That's actually a really good comparison that i'm not sure I would've thought of. The place was jam-packed at night while I was there and most people seemed incredibly impressed by simple black-light.
 
Great shots Brian, was this your first time riding?

If so I assume you just stuck your camera in Auto?
 
We unfortunately didnt get to experience the river ride but managed to ride FOP. Got to Animal Kingdom at 745 and rushed to FOP and in total the wait was roughly 140 mins (regretted drinking a bottle of water before hand!) We couldnt really appreciate the last few rooms in the queue due to thinking of where the toliets. We were on a ride with various people from young children to a 60+ couple. All agreed that this was the probably the best ride we had been on. My wife and I enjoy soaring but not in out top 10 Orlando rides so think we had low expectations for FOP. FOP is one of the most attractive rides we have been on and cant wait to ride again.
 
I like the Drum Circle Show a lot more in person than on YouTube. Kids love the interactive elements in the middle. I like the musical elements and little bits of backstory thrown in. And it really adds to the overall atmosphere of the area. Here's my video of the whole show from my last visit. It was a REALLY hot day, but the performers did a great job regardless.

 
Top