Pandora: World of Avatar General Discussion

[Mad Dog]

I just rode FoP for the first time.

Meh.

I'm a little confused as to how this is vastly superior to Kong.

And Tiffins is as overpriced as it is overrated. The best thing about the place is the music.

Seems like a number of prominent posters have recently stated similar reactions...Marni, Jungle Skip, WhyLightbulb, Reeljustice,You......Very interesting

 

[epcyclopedia]

Seems like a number of prominent posters have recently stated similar reactions...Marni, Jungle Skip, WhyLightbulb, You......Very interesting

Ask them if the ride vehicle "drops."

If they say no, it's because they're dead inside.

But really, they're overstimulated and likely thrill junkies with adrenal fatigue. Not being able to feel/perceive the dropping sensation in the ride (where the vehicles do move up and down quickly and cover a decent number of feet) is sort of a key indicator.

They could also just not enjoy the ride... but it's more likely they're missing part of the experience. The number of early reviews who were "meh" and that also vehemently insisted the ride vehicles don't drop were about the same.

 

[shiekra38]

Ask them if the ride vehicle "drops."

If they say no, it's because they're dead inside.

But really, they're overstimulated and likely thrill junkies with adrenal fatigue. Not being able to feel/perceive the dropping sensation in the ride (where the vehicles do move up and down quickly and cover a decent number of feet) is sort of a key indicator.

They could also just not enjoy the ride... but it's more likely they're missing part of the experience. The number of early reviews who were "meh" and that also vehemently insisted the ride vehicles don't drop were about the same.

The dropping sensation is neat, but I wouldn't say it gave me a ToT feeling that everyone says...But I've ridden a lot of coasters with tall drops so maybe I'm adjusted to that

 

[Nick]

Seems like a number of prominent posters have recently stated similar reactions...Marni, Jungle Skip, WhyLightbulb, Reeljustice,You......Very interesting

Everyone has different opinions, man. Just like you clearly don't like Pandora, I don't think Kong is much of anything special, nor do I like Fallon. You also have to remember a lot of the people you mentioned are insiders that have known what this project looked liked in it's very early phases.

It's fine to be interested in reviews, but you seem to be cherry-picking those that are fitting your personal agenda. Whatever that may be. Go over to the review thread on this very forum for this ride and it's almost all positive. Has it maybe been overhyped? Sure. But people like the ride for the most part.

Personally, NRJ sucks, but I do really enjoy FoP. It's just a pain to actually get on because of the long pre-shows as JungleSkip has mentioned.

 

[Mad Dog]

Everyone has different opinions, man. Just like you clearly don't like Pandora, I don't think Kong is much of anything special, nor do I like Fallon. You also have to remember a lot of the people you mentioned are insiders that have known what this project looked liked in it's very early phases.

It's fine to be interested in reviews, but you seem to be cherry-picking those that are fitting your personal agenda. Whatever that may be. Go over to the review thread on this very forum for this ride and it's almost all positive. Has it maybe been overhyped? Sure. But people like the ride for the most part.

Personally, NRJ sucks, but I do really enjoy FoP. It's just a pain to actually get on because of the long pre-shows as JungleSkip has mentioned.

Not true. I'm just reporting things I've read from other posters, and have not given a personal opinion. Actually, I think I'll like both rides and the land. It's just that from reading the more recent opinions of others, I think I have a more balanced expectation of the land. The first group of reviewers on this thread & Magic were acting like FOP and Pandora were the greatest ride & attraction land ever, but more recent reviewers are usually saying good but not great. I'll enjoy it more now that my expectations are no longer Diagon level like. My only real criticism is that WDW once again built a headliner that has weak capacity, thus long lines for just about forever, and it will probably be a few years until I ride this since I refuse to stand in one hour or two hour lines.

 

[Nick]

Not true. I'm just reporting things I've read from other posters, and have not given a personal opinion. Actually, I think I'll like both rides and the land. It's just that from reading the more recent opinions of others, I think I have a more balanced expectation of the land. The first group of reviewers on this thread & Magic were acting like FOP and Pandora were the greatest ride & attraction land ever, but more recent reviewers are usually saying good but not great. I'll enjoy it more now that my expectations are no longer Diagon level like. My only real criticism is that WDW once again built a headliner that has weak capacity, thus long lines for just about forever, and it will probably be a few years until I ride this since I refuse to stand in one hour or two hour lines.

Agreed, it was overhyped at opening. That's about per usual with E-ticket's these days I guess though.

If I hear overwhelmingly good things about a ride, sure i'm going to be expecting something pretty good, but i'm never going in expecting it to beat Spider-Man until someone proves that's even possible. Mostly you control your own expectations, it's all about not getting carried away. If someone says it's the best ride ever on opening day, I just assume it's a fun ride

 

[Mad Dog]

Agreed, it was overhyped at opening. That's about per usual with E-ticket's these days I guess though.

If I hear overwhelmingly good things about a ride, sure i'm going to be expecting something pretty good, but i'm never going in expecting it to beat Spider-Man until someone proves that's even possible. Mostly you control your own expectations, it's all about not getting carried away. If someone says it's the best ride ever on opening day, I just assume it's a fun ride

Yes, it seems that opening E tickets, & D tickets too, either get over hyped, or in some cases over criticized.......
And yes, temper expectations is my credo now on attractions. As I've said on previous posts, some of the attractions that didn't meet my way too high expectations were, Mummy, JPRA, & TOT, but after a few rides they became some of my favorites. Conversely, the first couple of times I rode Transformers, I thought it the second best ride at the USF resort. But now it just barely makes my Universal top ten. Expectations and first impressions sometimes are a bit of a warped experience.....Back to Pandora. If you ever read the first thread when people were bashing the land and rides years before they even opened, Disneyhead and I were two of the very few people that said we were looking forward to Pandora opening......and, as I've often said, I just about like every Disney & Universal attraction. They're all fun to me, some more than others, but still fun.The only ones I'm really negative on were Stitch & Fear Factor.

 

[twebber55]

I think @Mad Dog is a good poster with a balanced opinion. i do think you have to look at a wide range of forums and opinions on this land
for me its really good no more no less
having said that i do look at touring plans surveys and places like trip advisor who are nt theme park nerds like us for a more reliable opinion
obviously its received great reviews on those sites
its ok to like disney and universal stuff, crazy i know but still doable

as far as those "prominent posters" they re just dudes too their opinion isnt any better than anyone elses

 

[hishedale]

So I got my annual pass in mid-august (For Ellen and GMR) and I have yet to ride either ride, as they have both not dipped below 100 minutes, and I have yet to even get fastpasses for either attraction. Any tips?

 

[twebber55]

So I got my annual pass in mid-august (For Ellen and GMR) and I have yet to ride either ride, as they have both not dipped below 100 minutes, and I have yet to even get fastpasses for either attraction. Any tips?

go early maybe 45 minutes before park opening
ride FOP and have the rest of the park to yourself for an hour
also eat at Satuli Canteen very good CS

 

[hishedale]

go early maybe 45 minutes before park opening
ride FOP and have the rest of the park to yourself for an hour
also eat at Satuli Canteen very good CS

I ate at Satuli a while back, the beef was fantastic, and so was the dessert formally known as cheesecake.

 

[rhino4evr]

I have to say the posters that tend to show a pretty strong bias against Disney, seem to be the same posters who think the attraction is lacking.

I don't think it's a coincidence.

This is fine of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just wouldn't base your expectations on someone else's opinion. Try to see it level headed.

That's what I'll be doing. Considering I didn't really care for Soarin, my expectations are slightly lower.

 

[epcyclopedia]

I have to say the posters that tend to show a pretty strong bias against Disney, seem to be the same posters who think the attraction is lacking.

I don't think it's a coincidence.

This is fine of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just wouldn't base your expectations on someone else's opinion. Try to see it level headed.

That's what I'll be doing. Considering I didn't really care for Soarin, my expectations are slightly lower.

I went into it expecting nothing, and ended up really impressed. Like, my trepidation to accept Pandora as a thing was palpable, even on the day-of with the people I was there with. Even funnier because we experienced it in ideal conditions - extremely small number of people let into the land, and of those people we were given the FOP FP's (no one else allowed to ride outside the FP group.)

We wandered over and did River Journey - while my friends gushed, as they gush over anything Disney does, I nodded and was like "uh huh.. it was ok.." and then we went and got food an drinks. All of us had been there before as part of test openings. We had been assigned which foods to each during the tests, so we got what we wanted this go-round, and we still liked the food. I got the very first Flute Cup they ever sold. It's useless, but it's mine and I shall keep it amid my Disney junk forever.

We chose to walk the FOP standby line because it was empty since only people with FP could ride the attraction. We were rare to the point that the CMs seem confused by our request - but once they figured out what we were doing, and that the standby line was non-existent since no standby could actually ride, they started sending the FP people into it just to see the queue.

Mind you, I was still fully "Uh huh.. right.. Avatar.." all the way through this. Interested in the new offering, but not sold by any stretch, and certainly not expecting much from the ride.

Then we rode, everything worked 100% and I came off an advocate for the attraction. It's very good at what it is. If you're dead inside because you've been on one too many thrill rides and dont notice airplane turbulence when it drops a few hundred feet, you might not notice much from the ride. It's a really well designed aspirational thrill ride.

 

[Alicia]

Guess they finally stabilized their stock... Take that Ebayers!

 

[Mad Dog]

Guess they finally stabilized their stock... Take that Ebayers!

And how's your little Banshee coming along? Have you adopted any new Banshees for him/her to be friends with?

 

[GadgetGuru]

I think the biggest thing about Avatar was expectations. They couldn't have been any lower before opening. Avatar was basically a five-year long joke to all of us.

When Avatar turned out to be good, everybody thought it was actually amazing because they were basically comparing it to Stitch.

 

[Alicia]

And how's your little Banshee coming along? Have you adopted any new Banshees for him/her to be friends with?

We’re a 1 banshee family. She’s good. Looks like she had a great time at Howl O Scream, although I didn’t notice her leaving.

 

[Ashhanbre]

Seems like a number of prominent posters have recently stated similar reactions...Marni, Jungle Skip, WhyLightbulb, Reeljustice,You......Very interesting

Those people are no more important than my mother in law.

 

[Disneyhead]

I enjoyed FoP, but I wasn't blown away. I think it has more to do with the IP and the storytelling than the ride tech.

 

[JunoSynth]

I enjoyed FoP, but I wasn't blown away. I think it has more to do with the IP and the storytelling than the ride tech.

You make a good point. I haven't rode it yet but I think if it was Star Wars and you were on a speeder bike on Endor I would prob think its the greatest thing ever.