Disney World's Pandora
Friday, June 2, 2017 at 7:25PM 
Nathaniel popping in from a vacation I forgot to tell you about at Disney World to say hello. (Thanks to the team for keeping you occupied!) Disney opened "Pandora – The World of Avatar" just a week back and the lines are loooong. It's two to three hours for the Avatar related rides and pricy gift shop purchases. The most popular of the souvenirs are banshee puppets that sit on your shoulder. All the little kids seem to be wearing them but it seems like adults might like them even more. They're gorgeous and have a ton of realistic movement you control with a small device in one hand. There are also custom made Avatar action figures that are meant to look like you. That's an exceptional audience-friendly concept for a toy but I personally didn't see enough resemblance in the examples to justify the $80ish price tag.
We fast-passed the "Flight of Passage" ride and it is breathtaking. You mount motorcycle like contraptions and wear some form of 3D glasses for the ride. For a hot minute or so in the middle of the 4 minute ride, I literally forgot I was at an amusement park I was so caught up in it as if I actually were flying a banshee in Na'vi form. James Cameron, never one to shy away from hyperbole, has described the ride as "dreaming with your eyes open” and that's not far off. In theory it's not so different from other rides which are more "virtual" than purely physical (like, say, old school rollercoasters) but this one is the most immersive and transporting ride of its kind that I've ever experienced.
Reader Comments (4)
Enjoy your vacation!
Every video I've seen of Pandora is impressive. And, yes, I want one of those puppets. Already told a friend who goes every summer to grab one for me.
Leave it to Disney to lend to Avatar the cultural footprint the movie failed to garner for itself, despite raking in one bazillion dollars at the box office.
Never has a movie earned so much and meant so little, but I guess James Cameron, never one to go gently into that good night, will arm wrestle the world into submission with as many sequels and amusement park rides as he can, until we all fall in line and get with the program.
I was just in Pandora as well! We had fast pass for the Na'vi river journey and I'm glad we did. It was pretty with impressive animatronics, but would not have been worth waiting 2 hours for. We DID wait the 2 hours for Flight of Passage and it was worth the wait and more! What an amazing experience!!! a few days later and I'm still thinking about it!