Na'vi River Journey reviews, comments and questions

[TyrantBossMedia]

It looks beautiful and well done. As does the rest of Pandora, but consider that this is without the unwashed masses of regular visitors. I think the charm and beauty of what was created will quickly be lost in when your surrounded by ECVs and the rest... Also, you figured all the creative genius behind Pandora and all you get is a Soarin clone and a 5 minute boat ride. With all the "action" in the Avatar movies, you figured some of it would have translated into theme park attractions.

Exactly. Instead of Disney spending so much on conservation messages and environmental education...how about some actual stories. How about a Naví native guide who walks along with you on your journey and you come upon a native tribe who feels threatened and they try to stop you from going in further but your guide calms them before things get too hairy. Then some creatures that may pop up later to scare you...like they did when the Marine first went into Pandora...and some not meaning to scare you out of threat, but out of curiosity or playfulness. Then add a real scary creature before the shaman and the guards who tried to stop you earlier show up to fend off the creature and protect you. ..Then you can see the shaman and end on a pleasant, happy, calm note and your guide bids you a kind farewell as he meets you by the exit on your way out.

There, I just solved their problem and made a better ride.

 

[startraveler]

The boats are very much like any other Disney boat configuration. I would say they are most comparable to Living with the Land.

As for guests who would need to transfer, I would expect the same accommodations that are offered throughout WDW. The loading area is rather spacious and would seem to be able to handle most scenarios.

Thanks for the quick response. Living with the land, small world, rio del tiempo, and jungle cruise you stay in your wheelchair. No transfer. Pirates and frozen do not have accommodations for transfer. Since you have to transfer for this ride and it is newer with no drops, I was thinking they might have accommodations to make it easier. Seems this does not from what I can tell. Thanks for the encouragement though.

 

[djdan888]

Once the masses hit, I think the bad reviews are going to start pouring in. Especially for people waiting for an hour or more. I would be ed if that was all I got. What they should have done is made a river journey that kind of told the story of the Avatar people from the beginning to the war to the final victorious outcome. All could have been done with no narration, just through scenes. Sorry, this was obviously a budget cut ride and it shows. If us posters are coming up with better ideas for the attraction, something is wrong.Disney will get panned for this come June and July. As I have said before, its not even a good dark ride. I would put every other dark ride in WDW ahead of it. I would call it a B ticket .

 

[Scuttle]

Once the masses hit, I think the bad reviews are going to start pouring in. Especially for people waiting for an hour or more. I would be ****ed if that was all I got. What they should have done is made a river journey that kind of told the story of the Avatar people from the beginning to the war to the final victorious outcome. All could have been done with no narration, just through scenes. Sorry, this was obviously a budget cut ride and it shows. If us posters are coming up with better ideas for the attraction, something is wrong.Disney will get panned for this come June and July. As I have said before, its not even a good dark ride. I would put every other dark ride in WDW ahead of it. I would call it a B ticket .

Visually it is stunning regardless. If it received budget cuts I don't think they were much considering you can't see anything that's not suppose to be there. Exit signs are about the only thing that is visible. I couldn't help but think to myself "This is the type of theming Mermaid should have received".

I know the ticket ratings are completely subjective, but no way this is anything lower than a D. The AA and detailed sets alone put it into D category imo.

 

[djdan888]

Visually it is stunning regardless. If it received budget cuts I don't think they were much considering you can't see anything that's not suppose to be there. Exit signs are about the only thing that is visible. I couldn't help but think to myself "This is the type of theming Mermaid should have received".

I know the ticket ratings are completely subjective, but no way this is anything other than a D. The AA and detailed sets alone put it into D category imo.

There is no way this is a D ticket. Ride it again and look at the little spider creatures. I clearly saw string holding them. The projection technology didn't seem to be HD and was almost see through. For the brief brief couple minutes you are in it, is it cool from the AC and somewhat pretty? Yes. Was this what people expected after a 7 year wait? No.

 

[Scuttle]

There is no way this is a D ticket. Ride it again and look at the little spider creatures. I clearly saw string holding them. The projection technology didn't seem to be HD and was almost see through. For the brief brief couple minutes you are in it, is it cool from the AC and somewhat pretty? Yes. Was this what people expected after a 7 year wait? No.

I totally missed the string. That was one of the things that impressed me. Twice I really looked for the string holding them and couldn't find it. Maybe the lighting was different when I went as it is still previews?

There's is an E-Ticket in Frontierland that has about 50 strings visible.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

Just finished watching the entire ride-through video. I'm not sure if "disappointed" is a strong enough description of how I feel after seeing that ride.

I'm going to start with the positives: I give the imagineers and others involved in the technical aspects (lightwork, animatronics, animations, etc) high marks because all of it looked cool, especially the incredibly fluid animatronic.

Unfortunately, that's the only positive I can really give. As far as the negatives go, this ride, simply put, looks insanely boring. It strikes me as nothing more than a cross between PoTC and LWTL, only minus the single drop that PoTC has in the beginning. It appears to be nothing more than a very listless, slow-moving, drifting boat ride set among some pretty light effects. That's pretty bush league and for Disney, I would expect much more. There's just nothing here to be excited about. It looks to be like a "one and done" sort of attraction, where you would go check it out because it's new and then when the ride is over, the conclusion is "ok, did that....don't have to do it again". I'm sure that wasn't the desired feeling they wanted to convey, but I'm sorry......it's a very lame attraction. You would think they could incorporate, somehow, one of the Na'vi talking to you, telling you little factoids about the different things they see along the river (plants, animals) but they don't do that.

Such a shame. Can only hope "Flight of Passage" more than delivers.

 

[TyrantBossMedia]

There is no way this is a D ticket. Ride it again and look at the little spider creatures. I clearly saw string holding them. The projection technology didn't seem to be HD and was almost see through. For the brief brief couple minutes you are in it, is it cool from the AC and somewhat pretty? Yes. Was this what people expected after a 7 year wait? No.

Easily just a B ticket ride.

 

[Jones14]

Easily just a B ticket ride.

That would put this on the level of the teacups. This ride is above the level of the teacups.

 

[TyrantBossMedia]

That would put this on the level of the teacups. This ride is above the level of the teacups.

Not by much. It sure isn't E or D ticket. Maybe C at best.

 

[No Name]

For Pandora as a whole, it's funny how the reviews from people who've experienced it in person are much much more positive than those from people who've only experienced it on YouTube. Hmm....
Same goes for just about every quality new ride or show at WDW. In fact there are multiple examples of people who've admitted to misjudging something before they saw it for themselves. Diagon Alley is an example of that, for me.

I simply can't put an iota of value in criticisms from those who haven't been. I think y'all should do the same.

EDIT: that doesn't mean stupidity like the post below this one doesn't drive me nuts.

Easily just a B ticket ride.

Easily just your opinion. I very much disagree.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

That would put this on the level of the teacups. This ride is above the level of the teacups.

Not sure I can even agree with that one, at least the Tea Cups is a fun ride. There's nothing fun here.

 

[Jones14]

Not by much. It sure isn't E or D ticket. Maybe C at best.

If Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, and Nemo are C-Tickets, so is this.

Not sure I can even agree with that one, at least the Tea Cups is a fun ride. There's nothing fun here.

Have you been on it?

 

[TyrantBossMedia]

To remind those who may have forgotten. Here are the ticket rides from the 70's in Magic Kingdom.

A Ticket ride:
- Omnibus
- Horse Cars
- Jitney
- Fire Engine
- Cinderalla's Golden Carousel

B Ticket:
- Main Street Cinema
- Swiss Family Island Treehouse
- Mike Fink Keel Boats
- Frontierland Shooting Gallery

C Ticket:
- Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
- Dumbo
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Show White's Adventures
- Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
- Mad Tea Party
- Grand Prix Raceway

D Ticket:
- Walt Disney Railroad
- Enchanted Tiki Birds (was E became D in 1972)
- Admiral Joe Fowler
- Skyway to Tomorrowland
- Skyway to Fantasyland
- Mickey Mouse Review (changed from D in 1972)

E Ticket:
- Jungle Cruise
- Enchanted Tiki Birds
- Country Bear Jamboree (changed from D ticket in 1972)
- Haunted Mansion
- It's a Small World
- 20K Leagues Under the Sea

That being said.....Navi River Ride is at best a C ticket. It fits right in with Peter Pan and Snow White.

The Banshee ride...that will most likely be an E ticket.

 

[ToTBellHop]

To remind those who may have forgotten. Here are the ticket rides from the 70's in Magic Kingdom.

A Ticket ride:
- Omnibus
- Horse Cars
- Jitney
- Fire Engine
- Cinderalla's Golden Carousel

B Ticket:
- Main Street Cinema
- Swiss Family Island Treehouse
- Mike Fink Keel Boats
- Frontierland Shooting Gallery

C Ticket:
- Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
- Dumbo
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Show White's Adventures
- Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
- Mad Tea Party
- Grand Prix Raceway

D Ticket:
- Walt Disney Railroad
- Enchanted Tiki Birds (was E became D in 1972)
- Admiral Joe Fowler
- Skyway to Tomorrowland
- Skyway to Fantasyland
- Mickey Mouse Review (changed from D in 1972)

E Ticket:
- Jungle Cruise
- Enchanted Tiki Birds
- Country Bear Jamboree (changed from D ticket in 1972)
- Haunted Mansion
- It's a Small World
- 20K Leagues Under the Sea

That being said.....Navi River Ride is at best a C ticket. It fits right in with Peter Pan and Snow White.

The Banshee ride...that will most likely be an E ticket.

Disney considers NRJ a C and FoP an E. It is on their own schematics. To be fair, DAK is in need of Cs. If this ride settles into 20-30 minute waits long-term, all will be fine. If it gets 60+ minute waits after the first year merely because there isn't enough to do at DAK, there will be issues. Thank goodness they are already planning further additions to the park.

Now if you want to talk about how obscenely-expensive this ride was compared to other Cs, that's a different discussion.

At least both of SWL's rides will be Es so people will be fine with long wait times.

 

[TyrantBossMedia]

Disney considers NRJ a C and FoP an E. It is on their own schematics. To be fair, DAK is in need of Cs. If this ride settles into 20-30 minute waits long-term, all will be fine. If it gets 60+ minute waits after the first year merely because there isn't enough to do at DAK, there will be issues. Thank goodness they are already planning further additions to the park.

Now if you want to talk about how obscenely-expensive this ride was compared to other Cs, that's a different discussion.

At least both of SWL's rides will be Es so people will be fine with long wait times.

Well, look at me and not even looking at the schematics.

SWL = Star Wars Land?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Well, look at me and not even looking at the schematics.

SWL = Star Wars Land?

Yes.

 

[dennis-in-ct]

Now if you want to talk about how obscenely-expensive this ride was compared to other Cs, that's a different discussion.

Right. and on the same thought - and I felt the same way about Little Mermaid - if you are already incurring all this expense, why be soooooo short-sighted when just a *little* more would have made SUCH an additional impact. For example - that ONE additional show scene or the "drop" ... I mean ... you are SO CLOSE and they shoot themselves in the foot.

My favorite line was - and I completely agree - HOW LONG would you wait before you felt cheated. For me - Space and Splash would be an hour at the very most. I use this rational all the time. "what's the wait?" ... "Oh never mind ... not worth it" which is why I can't remember the last time I was able to ride Peter Pan.

This boat ride does look gorgeous and I agree with the other posters. I should have been a little longer and an animal included.

I am an Avatar fan and I love all the animals.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

If Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, and Nemo are C-Tickets, so is this.



Have you been on it?

No, nor do I need to. I've seen enough from the ride-through video.

 

[EthanMagicBands]

I've been on both rides in Pandora. River Journey twice.

Na'vi River Journey: The ride is a C-Ticket AT BEST. It's not fun and doesn't have a story.... it's just pretty and looks amazing. I am disappointed, BUT if the ride were double the length I'd be OK with it. People are going to wait for 2 hours in the sun to get on this ride, and they won't even be on it long enough to cool off.

The thing with rides is that you need to have at least two good points for it to be a decent ride at a C-Ticket, and more for the D and E levels... is it fun? is it long enough to cool down in (or rest)? does it have a story that is interesting? is it interesting to look at? This ride doesn't have two points.

I honestly think Disney may end up fixing this ride in the future, with narrative or something else like changing some graphics or something to add a story. They'll just have to gauge guest reaction and adjust if it's cheap enough to do. We'll see over time after the hype dies down.... it's going to be quite a while though, partly because...

Flight of Passage: Probably the best ride I've ever been on, no joke. And I've been on rides throughout Universal, Disneyland, and Disney World. I came off this ride with tears in my eyes. I'm a nearly 40 year old man with a family... and this ride gave me such a rush and was so beautifully done that I shed a tear. Not only has that never happened for me on a ride, but I never thought in a million years that I would react like that to a freaking Avatar ride of all stupid things on Earth. I know, I know.... it's stupid... yet here I am, posting about it. It's good.

It's strange because it's such a huge contrast to the River Journey. I won't go into much detail, because this isn't the review thread for that ride, but man was I blown away. It's Star Tours + Soarin' on some damn good steroids. It's FUN... it's just plain fun. The biggest downside to this ride is going to be the queue length (although the AMAZING standby queue for this is an attraction within itself).... I can picture 3-4 hour queues constantly for the next year with this ride because of the small theater setup it's got going on. Unfortunately, with such an E-Ticket+ ride in the same land, it makes River Journey seem even more boring.

Just my two cents.