Who's been to Pandora? Morning or afternoon?

[Zipadeelady]

We will be going to AK for one day in September. For anyone that has been there, if we arrive at opening, should be go right to Pandora or head elsewhere in the park and then go to Pandora later in the afternoon once the masses have dispersed? Assuming we will have FP+ for one of the rides for whenever we decide to go there.

 

[DfromATX]

Hi, we went the week of June 11th. There was an EMH 7 am, we were at the gates (used uber) at 6:40 am. It was already a crazy scene by then. I did not have FoP fast passes so we walked at a very brisk pace at 7 am directly to FoP and after the initial fun of getting into the rope shoot, walked right on the ride. Sounds crazy, but to have been slowed down a little would actually have been ok as the queue itself was amazing and I would have like to see it a little better. All total, we were probably off the ride in 20 minutes. We went around to the entrance again to see if we could ride it again, and the line was already at 70 minutes.
We came back later, ate at the canteen, (which we all enjoyed) and then used our Navi RIver ride fast passes at noon.

If you rope drop FOP, do you think you'd have time (without a lot of wait) to ride the boat ride right after?

 

[MickeyCB]

If you rope drop FOP, do you think you'd have time (without a lot of wait) to ride the boat ride right after?

As you know these things are not consistent, but, I was following the 7-8 EMH for a week or so prior to our trip and what seemed to be occurring during that hour was a long line for FoP, but much shorter for the river ride. An example is-on the morning of June 10th (I believe) at 7:43 am, the line for FoP was 60 min, but the river ride was only 10 min. So you could at least try the FoP first, get off and go straight over to the river ride hoping that line will be reasonable. Hope that helps!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I just got FP for FOP so I think we will arrive at opening then mosey over to Navi River. Hopefully for a lower wait. No rushing on this trip, just excited to take it slow and soak it all in. Thanks @MickeyCB, I'll take your advise

 

[Minnie1986]

We have been there twice in the past week (and going again tomorrow). The lines are bad pretty much from open to close.

The line for Flight of Passage has been going up over an hour within about 30 minutes of park opening. We were at rope drop for morning EMH a couple days ago and immediately went to Flight. We waited about 5 minutes, but by the time we were out of the ride (8:20am on a 9am regular opening day), the line was over an hour. It stayed at an hour and a half pretty consistently all day and evening. We were in Pandora right before the 9:15pm Rivers of Light and the wait was close to 2 hours at that time. So...make that one your FP+ if you can get it.

The Na'vi River Journey is not quite so bad. It stayed at about 30 minutes wait from EMH opening through regular opening. It went up around an hour just after regular opening and stayed between 40 minutes and an hour all day. It was still an hour when we went to Rivers of Light.

The other day we were in AK, we were there to do the evening activities. Pandora looks amazing at night, but if you haven't been during the day it can be a little tough to figure out your way around. We were there during evening EMH (and then the Pandora extra late extra EMH) and the lines for both were still over an hour the whole time.

So, I'd recommend getting to AK before rope drop and going to Pandora right away and try to do Flight and the River Journey back to back. Then just walk around a bit to get a feel for the place. Have evening FP+ for Flight (I think you will want to do it twice...it's like Soarin' on massive steroids) and go back through Pandora after dark for the amazing visuals.

This is great info. Thanks SO much. Fingers crossed I can get an FoP FastPass this weekend.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I like that idea, but if you rope drop FOP, do you think the wait would be too long for the boat ride immediately after?

It probably won't be super short but the majority of the people will be going to FOP, which seems to always have a longer line than the River Journey. So I would still advise rope dropping FOP.

 

[DfromATX]

It probably won't be super short but the majority of the people will be going to FOP, which seems to always have a longer line than the River Journey. So I would still advise rope dropping FOP.

Thanks. I just might do that because then (hopefully) we can get fast passes for the evening.