Pandora: World of Avatar General Discussion

[epcyclopedia]

So exciting.

I think I may actually be more excited for riding Everest in the dark for the first time tonight.

Gonna do Speed-Safari and see Wicker Baskets: The Musical too?

 

[epcyclopedia]

Paging Alicia - twitter is saying that FoP is being weird and not using the caves section of the queue.

Care to investigate when you're there tonight?

 

[Alicia]

I just did FP and looked like caves were in use to me, I mean, at least for FP. The standby was entering the normal way, but I can't say what happened after they go in sorry.

 

[epcyclopedia]

I just did FP and looked like caves were in use to me, I mean, at least for FP. The standby was entering the normal way, but I can't say what happened after they go in sorry.

Ok. I need you to casually walk up the exit. Before the turn into the hallways for the upper level you can take a small walkway toward the outside queue.

There will be a small gate. Do not look at the sign on the gate. Open the gate and walk into the FP queue at the cave.

Take extensive photos of this area and ask everyone what is going on because I demand to know.

Report back.

 

[Alicia]

Ok. I need you to casually walk up the exit. Before the turn into the hallways for the upper level you can take a small walkway toward the outside queue.

There will be a small gate. Do not look at the sign on the gate. Open the gate and walk into the FP queue at the cave.

Take extensive photos of this area and ask everyone what is going on because I demand to know.

Report back.

Yea, I didn't do that sorry. Been enjoying my last NightBlossom and Lumpia for a while before my diet starts next week. Now I'm in line for River Journey till the park closes. My bad.

This is cool though:

 

[DK745]

I know someone going in a few days but no FP. How bad is it during extra magic hours?

 

[Mad Dog]

I know someone going in a few days but no FP. How bad is it during extra magic hours?

I just looked at the FOP times during EMH (mornings & evenings) for the past two weeks on Touring Plans, and they were generally just as bad as the rest of the day. Right around 8:00 AM wasn't too bad but they jumped high by 8:30 AM. Nights 10:00 PM to 12:00 PM were the same as the normal hours, pretty high....Still seems like the best times are mid afternoon.

 

[LieutLaww]

My first day is at AK so it will mean an early start to get there asap as I wasn't able to get a FP

 

[Ashhanbre]

Well I booked my next Disney trip...won't be going until January. Plan to hit AK on a Thursday. Wondering if I should still try to get FP for FOP, or wait in line.

If you are an onsite guest, you can start booking fastpasses at 60 days out from your first night onsite. But there is actually a little 10 day grace period starting on that first night. So say your first night onsite is Jan. 1st. You can start booking fastpass on November 2nd (60 days from Jan 1st). But you can also start booking out 10 days from that date, which means you can actually get fastpasses from Jan 1st through Jan 10th. So in that way, you can actually book before 60 days, just making sure that Animal Kingdom is a park you visit towards the end of your trip.

That is what is happening with the Flight of Passage fastpasses right now. People are booking them before the 60 days. Most are reporting being able to book within 65 days. But once you get to about 63 days, they are all gone.

But of course, being a party of one makes it a lot easier.

 

[Alicia]

Oh, I forgot to mention, the "uh oh" holding screen in FoP preshow has been improved. No longer just stagnant boring screen showing our digital outlines. Now it has lady computer voice going through different fake diagnostics and the digital representations of us change shape multiple times. Helps pass the time better and is a cool display of the 3D scanning tech, but still boring.

If this is one of the multiple options they always had and I just never got it before then they need to just drop the one that does nothing while you wait with this one. But I think it's actually a new variation updated recently. I swear I noticed other minor special effects and slight editing tweaks throughout the preshow as well. Different from a couple weeks ago even.

 

[epcyclopedia]

New variant/upgrade.

The way the logic of the system is programmed, it's keeping track of the amount of time since the doors opened, until the entry doors close. while tracking the progress of the theater ahead of you.

When it's waiting for the theater ahead and knows it has plenty of time, it starts playing the various info bits the guy spouts off. The ending is always the same.

When it measures it's going to run out of stuff before you move to the next room, it switches to the holding mode.

Holding has apparently been upgraded.

The one people rarely see is for if there was a delay getting into the room or the ride is empty ahead for whatever reason and it wants to load ASAP, so the intro is short, info is the shortest version, and you go into the next chamber pretty quick.

There's also a manual mode that bypasses the first room entirely. It still "plays" a show in a sort of "ignore me, move on" mode.

 

[Alicia]

New variant/upgrade.

It's nice to see improvements being made still. I really like those plaques in the River Journey queue I posted about before too. Also, I noticed a lot more artifacts have been added. Granted I hadn't ridden RJ since the preview but a lot has been added in the queue, and even on the ride in the final cave bit before unload.

What used to be two leaf bowls now looks like a treasure trove in the queue:

 

[Ash]

If the line is 60-90 minutes I'll be elated! Whenever I've been checking recently it's been 150 minutes +

 

[Alicia]

If the line is 60-90 minutes I'll be elated! Whenever I've been checking recently it's been 150 minutes +

 

[DK745]

If the line is 60-90 minutes I'll be elated! Whenever I've been checking recently it's been 150 minutes +

Only 75 minutes right now

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Paging Alicia - twitter is saying that FoP is being weird and not using the caves section of the queue.

Care to investigate when you're there tonight?

Saw someone tweet about this last night. It's a thing that's happening. Seems like they're holding guests and pulsing them through.

 

[sjago13]

Was there yesterday and did it twice with fastpass. Was able to pick up the 2nd fastpass for 2 of us before we got inside the cave walking in for the first ride. They are there if you look for them. Around 3-4 ish it seems to just dump more times for some reason. Second time we rode theater A was down but that was the one we rode an hour earlier so idk what the issues is unless they have been having issues with the leg restraints because both times they have us kick back on them after we get locked in to make sure they are locked. So that would be my best guess since that is new since the last time I was there late july.

 

[Alicia]

Was there yesterday and did it twice with fastpass. Was able to pick up the 2nd fastpass for 2 of us before we got inside the cave walking in for the first ride. They are there if you look for them. Around 3-4 ish it seems to just dump more times for some reason. Second time we rode theater A was down but that was the one we rode an hour earlier so idk what the issues is unless they have been having issues with the leg restraints because both times they have us kick back on them after we get locked in to make sure they are locked. So that would be my best guess since that is new since the last time I was there late july.

I think the kick back thing is a new safety measure to save time by making sure it's clicked into place for everyone before the Cast Member walks around to check. Otherwise they were asking each person to do it individually when it wasn't clicked into place yet for someone.

I noticed a lot of issues with the sensors on the ground and ceiling that sense if anything is in way of the rotating fake wall in front of the vehicles. Things sticking out of the cubbies could be clipped when the wall rotates up so sensors are in place to check for stuff in the way. The ride won't start if something is blocking sensors. Multiple times the Cast Member had to walk up and down the aisles placing their foot and hands in front of the sensors in an attempt to re-boot them in a way. All the while someone was on the PA telling us our flight was delayed but to hang tight.

Plus, multiple seats are down now too. Not sure what reasons. Their loading iPads tell them which seats to skip. If there's too many seats down, they close that room off entirely.

I think there's several issues still. But the Cast Members are handling a tough situation as well as they can. All were doing an amazing job when I was there last, and working as fast as they can given the circumstances.

 

[Mad Dog]

Not unusual for new attractions to have tech issues during their first months of operation. Seems to happen to both Universal & Disney often now since attractions have become more complicated tech wise. Some of these issues, though, seem a little troubling since they're popping up later in time than the original overheating etc. issues. I hope these systems won't be the type that deteriorate due to normal activity and/or poor design. If that's the case, then there could be trouble in River City down the line.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Yea, I didn't do that sorry. Been enjoying my last NightBlossom and Lumpia for a while before my diet starts next week. Now I'm in line for River Journey till the park closes. My bad.

This is cool though:

That's really cool. I love that River Journey seems to be steering itself into a "national park tour" kind of vibe.