Trip Report Makin' Memories....One More Time! *COMPLETED*

Makin' memories
Makin' memories
Takin' pictures is makin' memories
Catchin' little pieces of time
Makin' them yours and makin' them mine
Great vacations and celebrations we love to hold near and dear
And when we're makin' memories
Happy days can reappear!

@amjt660 it seemed a little presumptuous of me to include Three Peat in the title of this trip report. A more accurate term might be Repeat, considering this is my third TR in three months. I am fearful that my WDWMagic friends may be weary of me.

But for @Big Hair and anyone else who wants to follow along, Welcome! I truly love reliving our great (and not-so-great) vacation memories through writing these reports. As always, your comments and observations are much appreciated!

So c'mon everybody, here we go........

Cast: Tuvalu, Woody and Em
Dates: June 17-25, 2017
Resorts: Port Orleans Riverside and Polynesian Village ('cause let's be honest......you can take the girl out of the Poly, but you can't take the Poly out of the girl!)

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(Does this picture make you woozy? It is an appropriate representation of my Pandora experience.)

Stick around to discover what memories we made!
 
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becca_

becca_

Well-Known Member
I always get so sad when I see people having not-so-great experiences in Pandora!! I loved it there but alas, it was day time, and not so very steamy/humid so I understand! I like the boat ride but I agree with it being a waste of a FP, I wouldn't go back on it unless it was a 20 min wait max. I'm glad you had an honest review though, and the pic of Em is too funny :hilarious:
 
djpoore94

djpoore94

Well-Known Member
Watching Avatar in it's entirety would definitely help with the Pandora experience. I had never seen the movie, so when we were able to book the DVC preview I made a point to watch it. It's not my favorite movie by a long shot, in fact it was just ok and at some points I wasn't sure I was going to finish it. Watching it did help me understand the new land tremendously though, like the blobs that were in your magic shot. While I don't remember their name, I do remember them and their importance from the movie! Had I not seen the movie, I would have been totally confused by everything.
 
amjt660

amjt660

Premium Member
Tuvalu said:
WARNING

This post contains a less-than-favorable first impression of Pandora. Pixie Dusters should skip ahead.

Some background for those of you still reading ~ Our first family visit to Animal Kingdom was in July 1998, three months after the official opening. I had to drag my kids out of bed so that we could be at the bus stop at 6 am. The park opened at 7 am and I'd heard horror stories about the crowds. It was a very warm and humid morning (much like our present day very warm and humid evening!) When the rope dropped, we walked shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of other guests through the Oasis. No one stopped to look at anything as everyone was in a rush to get to the Safari. There was no signage and all I knew was it was "in the back of the park."

We enjoyed the Safari and afterward began the difficult task of navigating the park. All paths looked the same (even the map was not much help) and the few attractions that were open were spread out far from each other. Two of my three kids were freaked out by "It's Tough to be a Bug" (middle son stood up during the show and yelled "Get me out of here!"); all three (and Woody) were frightened by Dinosaur; we rode the train and then made the long, sweaty walk to Conservation Station where there was nothing to see; and lastly waited in a slow-moving (uncovered) line for an hour to ride the "Discovery" river boat....where again, there was nothing to see.

All during conditions of oppressive heat and humidity.

Thus, our first experience of AK was not a good one. And though the park has greatly improved over the years (especially with the addition of directional signs!) it remains our least favorite park. First experiences can taint future experiences.

And now Pandora.

Due to the difficulty of obtaining FPs (and the tier system) our first experience of the new land would be at night. In hindsight, seeing it during the day first would have been better. Much better.

Though the Pandora area is small we found ourselves turned around and confused by where we were (lack of signs!); it was super-crowded; steam was rising off the pavement due to the humidity; and the bioluminescent lighting made us all a little woozy.

The fact that none of us had seen Avatar (or watched any Pandora videos) probably didn't help matters.

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The standby wait for Na'vi River Journey was an hour and as we would soon learn, mostly outdoors. We scanned our bands and were quickly in the loading area.

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Em said she wasn't taking any pictures of the ride so I took a few with my iPhone.

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(What are we looking at?, you may be thinking. And my honest answer is "I have no idea.")

As our boat drifted along Woody asked, "Is this the pre-show? I'm waiting for something to happen."

Seconds later the Shaman appeared.....
View attachment 216298
.....and the ride was over. o_O

Em's expression speaks for the three of us.
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Now I am not one to use profanity but the first words out of my mouth were, "What the hell was that??!!!"

Instant flashback to the Discovery River Boat ride.

I cannot imagine waiting an hour plus for Na'vi River Journey. Less than 10 minutes and I might consider riding again. Waste of a tier 1 FP? Absolutely.

(A major way to improve the ride would be the addition of @wdisney9000's family dancing and singing and imitating the Shaman chant! :joyfull:)

We stopped for a Photopass on our way out. The photographer told us to look to our right and act surprised. When I saw the picture I expected there would be some creature (or Disney character) in the shot with us.

Nope.
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It wasn't until I compared the above ^ with the "before" picture that I saw the difference.

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(Floating white blobs! Quelle surprise!! :in pain:)

It began to rain which seemed like the perfect ending to our Pandora visit. We headed for the bus and did not stop for the Tree of Life Awakening (which would have been fun to watch had it not been raining.)

Once back in our room Woody turned on the TV. He discovered that one of the Disney channels plays Avatar 24/7. We caught the last 45 minutes of the movie. It helped to put Pandora in perspective....a little.

We'd give it another try on Saturday ~ during the daytime. Would Flight of Passage live up to the hype for us?
Or would our first impression of Pandora taint our next visit?
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Appreciate the honest opinion and I would say not knowing anything about the movie probably was a deal breaker

Without understanding what Pandora is or who the Na'vi are would make it confusing or not seem impressive.
Imagine going on Peter Pan's flight for the first time with zero knowledge of the story
Would you be impressed or confused or disappointed with the level of the sets ?

Perhaps where Disney missed the mark was not giving non fans of the Avatar world some background information.

Note: I am not a huge fan of Avatar - I thought the plot and acting in the movie was bad - I did appreciate the environmental message and the artistic representation of this new world. I have watched it twice (once in the theatre and once time at home).

And I have not been to AK to check out Pandora - but I hope to go and see it for myself.

Max
 
Figaro Family

Figaro Family

Well-Known Member
I have been hoping to avoid Pandora on our upcoming trip, I really really didn't like the movie. Got a fastpass for Flights of Passage just in case my daughter finds out about the ride and begs to go on it. Your very honest review of River Journey confirmed my desire to never go on it, thank you!!
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
rshell68 said:
Your honesty on Pandora is totally appreciated as are many of your insights!! Hubby and I are headed over this weekend for a quick "alone" trip. Not sure we will even venture to see it. We are trying a new resort I think that's as adventurous as I want to be LOL
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I hope you and your hubs have a wonderful "alone" weekend! Care to share where you are staying?

PineapplePrincess said:
Thank you for your honest input about Pandora. We're headed to the world in 11 days and we have being meaning to watch Avatar for awhile, but still haven't gotten around to it. Good to know that they're playing it on the Disney channel, but I'd rather waste 3 hours of home time, not WDW time! Looking forward to reading more!
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By all means if you have the opportunity watch Avatar. ;)

becca_ said:
I always get so sad when I see people having not-so-great experiences in Pandora!! I loved it there but alas, it was day time, and not so very steamy/humid so I understand! I like the boat ride but I agree with it being a waste of a FP, I wouldn't go back on it unless it was a 20 min wait max. I'm glad you had an honest review though, and the pic of Em is too funny :hilarious:
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I wanted to love (or at least like) Pandora.....I really did. :oops:
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
djpoore94 said:
Watching Avatar in it's entirety would definitely help with the Pandora experience. I had never seen the movie, so when we were able to book the DVC preview I made a point to watch it. It's not my favorite movie by a long shot, in fact it was just ok and at some points I wasn't sure I was going to finish it. Watching it did help me understand the new land tremendously though, like the blobs that were in your magic shot. While I don't remember their name, I do remember them and their importance from the movie! Had I not seen the movie, I would have been totally confused by everything.
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Here's the thing ~ Disney promoted Pandora as a place all guests would enjoy being immersed in, even those who had not seen the movie. So my family went in expecting to be enthralled with the fantasy without knowing the story.

In comparison, we have not read Harry Potter or seen any of the movies. We know we can't fully appreciate all the details in the HP lands at Universal. But there is enough of a coolness factor (fire breathing dragon, hidden alley, Hogwarts Express) that we wouldn't need to know the story to enjoy it. Also, Universal does not market HP "for everyone."

There are many details in Pandora that fans will love and appreciate. Fans will think it's really cool.

Those who arrive ignorant (like we were) may have a hard time "getting" it.

amjt660 said:
Perhaps where Disney missed the mark was not giving non fans of the Avatar world some background information.
Max
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BINGO!
I look forward to reading your opinion when you get to experience Pandora for yourself.

Figaro Family said:
I have been hoping to avoid Pandora on our upcoming trip, I really really didn't like the movie. Got a fastpass for Flights of Passage just in case my daughter finds out about the ride and begs to go on it. Your very honest review of River Journey confirmed my desire to never go on it, thank you!!
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Hang on to those FoP fast passes.
 
djpoore94

djpoore94

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Here's the thing ~ Disney promoted Pandora as a place all guests would enjoy being immersed in, even those who had not seen the movie. So my family went in expecting to be enthralled with the fantasy without knowing the story.

In comparison, we have not read Harry Potter or seen any of the movies. We know we can't fully appreciate all the details in the HP lands at Universal. But there is enough of a coolness factor (fire breathing dragon, hidden alley, Hogwarts Express) that we wouldn't need to know the story to enjoy it. Also, Universal does not market HP "for everyone."

There are many details in Pandora that fans will love and appreciate. Fans will think it's really cool.

Those who arrive ignorant (like we were) may have a hard time "getting" it.
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I totally understand what you're saying. To be honest, DH & I didn't really pay much attention to how Disney was promoting Pandora, we tried to stay away from as much information about it as possible. I was disappointed that there was not more information relating to the movie's message of environmental conservation, which fits so well with AK. While there is quite a bit to look at, there isn't much substance to what you're looking at. I do love the Flight of Passage ride, but Pandora as a whole was not was I was expecting, even without paying attention to all of the hype surrounding it! On future visits, I'll probably do single rider for FOP while DH hits NRJ if the wait is not too long. You are correct about it not being worth a tier 1 FP+, or really any FP+.
 
93boomer

93boomer

Premium Member
Longers

Longers

Well-Known Member
So I have been trying not to look at anything Pandora related so it doesn't spoil it when I get there, but I found myself reading just so see what you thought! Good to know re the river journey - might not waste any FP on that - I've heard great things from my friend about flight of passage though who recently visited the world!
 
MotherofaPrincessLover

MotherofaPrincessLover

Well-Known Member
Longers said:
So I have been trying not to look at anything Pandora related so it doesn't spoil it when I get there, but I found myself reading just so see what you thought! Good to know re the river journey - might not waste any FP on that - I've heard great things from my friend about flight of passage though who recently visited the world!
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Most reviews I've heard about Na'vi River Journey is that people are not impressed. I have heard a couple accounts of people liking it. I couldn't get FoP for my first AK day so I figured I'll just try out Na'vi cuz there's really nothing to lose.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
93boomer said:
Oh goodness I have been too busy!! I totally just today saw your TR. So finally following along @Tuvalu. Congrats Em!! Good job!! Loving all the pictures of Riverside. Miss staying there. :(
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Happy to have you following along, @93boomer :cat:

Longers said:
So I have been trying not to look at anything Pandora related so it doesn't spoil it when I get there, but I found myself reading just so see what you thought! Good to know re the river journey - might not waste any FP on that - I've heard great things from my friend about flight of passage though who recently visited the world!
Click to expand...
I suggest trying for FoP fastpasses over River Journey, but your trips are so long you may be able to do both (if for no other reason than to say, "I rode River Journey" ;))

MotherofaPrincessLover said:
Most reviews I've heard about Na'vi River Journey is that people are not impressed. I have heard a couple accounts of people liking it. I couldn't get FoP for my first AK day so I figured I'll just try out Na'vi cuz there's really nothing to lose.
Click to expand...
No pain, no gain right? :joyfull:
 

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