Na'vi River Journey reviews, comments and questions

smile

smile

Well-Known Member
sedati said:
I was just reminded of a conversation I had while waiting for our second ride on River Journey. Anyone remember the rumored Doug Henning proposed transcendental theme park for Orlando, Maharishi Vedaland?

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/19...ishi-veda-land-theme-parks-billion-attraction

I think in some ways, Pandora is the spiritual successor to this never realized theme park concept.
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love the irony of a magician trying to get that project off the ground, considering such a fascinating idea for a park would've required houdini-like feats to be commercially viable in any way, shape, or form.

while i wonder of any direct influence, rohde has certainly attempted to incorporate some of the ideas into AK, subtly.
 
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sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
smile said:
love the irony of a magician trying to get that project off the ground, considering such a fascinating idea for a park would've required houdini-like feats to be commercially viable in any way, shape, or form.
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Well, David Copperfield tried something more modest with his Magic Underground restaurant at Disney/MGM and even that couldn’t get off the ground.
 
GlacierGlacier

GlacierGlacier

Well-Known Member
I just rode it. Is there supposed to be a gaping hole under the shaman's armpit? Because you can clearly see the metal skeleton of the arm and shoulder.
 
jimbo mack

jimbo mack

Well-Known Member
I have just returned home following a 2 week stay at WDW - this boat ride aka ‘journey’ was by far the biggest disappointment of my trip. It completely lacked purpose and creativity - what a let down. It felt like it had been put together in 5 minutes without any Imagineering other than bright lights - rush job.

Enjoyed all the other attractions at AK to the full..
 
bclane

bclane

Well-Known Member
I agree that NRJ is too short but I still really enjoy it. I know people want a story, but It’s literally just meant to be a boat ride through a jungle on Pandora (imo). We’re tourists on this far away world and we’re on a sightseeing tour. I actually think that that is is a pretty cool concept for a park like AK, but then again, the reason I love the Safari is because it makes me feel like I’m sightseeing...in Africa. And I actually really enjoy walking through the park’s various nature trails for the same reasons.

When I first watched the movie Avatar, the best thing about the movie for me was the setting. I remember wanting to go there so bad and bought the movie because I was so intrigued by Pandora itself. The story was OK, but I really love the visuals. I still think that Cameron came up with something that was incredibly beautiful and now we get to visit Pandora! How cool is that! The ride itself is beautiful, has some incredible tech on display, and actually feels like you are on a night time sightseeing river tour on a far away moon. Take my money!
 
T

TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
GlacierGlacier said:
I just rode it. Is there supposed to be a gaping hole under the shaman's armpit? Because you can clearly see the metal skeleton of the arm and shoulder.
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That's been there since the beginning.

This whole ride feels like Pirates of the Caribbean without the Pirates. Which, if Disney built, I'm sure would have the same number of defenders on here.
 
Jimmy Thick

Jimmy Thick

Well-Known Member
Wow, I try to give Disney the benefit of the doubt but this ride stinks. I was throughly disappointed. No way should anyone wait 2 hours for this, no freaking way.
 
rsm

rsm

Well-Known Member
We got back from our trip a week ago and this was overall our favorite ride. My wife and I are in our late 20s, and have been to Disney many times and are pretty big Disney fanatics. My parents are in their early 60s, and hadn't been there since the early 2000's. Two very different audience types. We all had very low expectations from reading all the luke warm / negative reviews.

And we were thoroughly and pleasantly surprised! It didn't feel nearly as short as I expected it to. The immersion was great, and all the effects seemed to be working. It very much felt like an old school disney dark ride built in the 21st century. We rode it three times and felt like we could ride it 5 more and still notice new things. It's very much like IaSW in that way - not impressive in terms of a thrilling "ride", but such a great feeling and experience of a place unique to Disney, with a virtually unlimited amount of things to see. Could it be longer? Of course - probably should be 20% longer. Do I wish there was a story? Not really. It's a great way to experience a new place. And sometimes "story" makes a ride less repeatable. The Safari is much better IMO since they dropped the 'story'. Let each ride be it's own experience and speak for itself.

Is it worth a two hour wait? I suppose not - really nothing is in WDW if you ask me; not because it sucks but because there is nothing that has a 2 hour wait if you do a just a bit of planning. I wouldn't wait 2 hours for IaSW, 7DMT, SE, FoP, SM, etc etc.

All in all I think it's a great addition and am perfectly comfortable having this seemingly minority opinion. While FoP was awesome, and impressive, and exciting it's just not as charming or repeatable IMO. It depends on the person too... I'm the kindof person who would pay extra for the 2D version of the movie instead of 3D. The kind of person who would rather watch a model train layout for hours rather than play the newest wiz-bang video game.

If anything the most disappointing thing about this ride is that it makes the rest of the outside Pandora Land nighttime experience a little lack-luster - sort of a "less impressive" version of this ride.
 
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cjkeating

cjkeating

Well-Known Member
rsm said:
We got back from our trip a week ago and this was overall our favorite ride. My wife and I are in our late 20s, and have been to Disney many times and are pretty big Disney fanatics. My parents are in their early 60s, and hadn't been there since the early 2000's. Two very different audience types. We all had very low expectations from reading all the luke warm / negative reviews.

Ane were thoroughly and pleasantly surprised! It didn't feel nearly as short as I expected it to. The immersion was great, and all the effects seemed to be working. It very much felt like an old school disney dark ride built in the 21st century. We rode it three times and felt like we could ride it 5 more and still notice new things. It's very much like IaSW in that way - not impressive in terms of a thrilling "ride", but such a great feeling and experience of a place unique to Disney, with a virtually unlimited amount of things to see. Could it be longer? Of course - probably should be 20% longer. Do I wish there was a story? Not really. It's a great way to experience a new place. And sometimes "story" makes a ride less repeatable. The Safari is much better IMO since they dropped the 'story'. Let each ride be it's own experience and speak for itself.

Is it worth a two hour wait? I suppose not - really nothing is in WDW if you ask me; not because it sucks but because there is nothing that has a 2 hour wait if you do a just a bit of planning. I wouldn't wait 2 hours for IaSW, 7DMT, SE, FoP, SM, etc etc.

All in all I think it's a great addition and am perfectly comfortable having this seemingly minority opinion. While FoP was awesome, and impressive, and exciting it's just not as charming or repeatable IMO. It depends on the person too... I'm the kindof person who would pay extra for the 2D version of the movie instead of 3D. The kind of person who would rather watch a model train layout for hours rather than play the newest wiz-bang video game.

If anything the most disappointing thing about this ride is that it makes the rest of the outside Pandora Land nighttime experience a little lack-luster - sort of a "less impressive" version of this ride.
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Don't worry, you are not alone! I've just got back from my first trip with Pandora and your opinions are virtually the same as mine and my partners. One thing you didn't specifically mention was the Navi Shaman, I don't know if you also thought she was amazing but she blew me away.
 
rsm

rsm

Well-Known Member
cjkeating said:
Don't worry, you are not alone! I've just got back from my first trip with Pandora and your opinions are virtually the same as mine and my partners. One thing you didn't specifically mention was the Navi Shaman, I don't know if you also thought she was amazing but she blew me away.
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Yes, she was working! And quite impressive. But I think I was more impressed with the jumping "frogs" on the leaves above your head earlier in the ride. The Shaman I can look at and say, 'wow, what an amazing animatronic.'. I look at those bouncing leaves and say 'wow, there's frogs up there.'

Haha - it's the little things!
 
Marlins1

Marlins1

Well-Known Member
Jimmy Thick said:
Wow, I try to give Disney the benefit of the doubt but this ride stinks. I was throughly disappointed. No way should anyone wait 2 hours for this, no freaking way.
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I agree that no one should wait two hours (or one hour) for NRJ but I did think it was an enjoyable relaxing ride that will serve a nice purpose in AK once other lands open and Pandora is not so overwhelmed. I always feel that a complete park needs some enjoyable filler attractions to make a full day and this one serves that purpose well. FOP on the other hand is top tier.
 
Coaster Lover

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Marlins1 said:
I agree that no one should wait two hours (or one hour) for NRJ but I did think it was an enjoyable relaxing ride that will serve a nice purpose in AK once other lands open and Pandora is not so overwhelmed.
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I'd agree. It's a nice change in pace and if/when the line regularly settles to about 20/30 minutes (or in my experience, when the main covered portion of the queue is about 2/3rds filled), it will fill a niche nicely.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Na'vi River Journey is a C/D ticket with C ticket capacity. It's newness has given people the expectation that it's an E-ticket, that also fuels the demand. It's a perfectly fine attraction for what it is, but because of the current waits it's disappointing people.

I liken it to Peter Pan's Flight. A perfectly fine attraction, but the waits don't correspond to the experience. Unless I'm going with a first timer, I probably won't be waiting standby any time soon. But if I'm going on with a Fastpass, or otherwise waiting 20 minutes or less I enjoy the experience.

I think the ride also suffers a bit from not knowing what it is. I mentioned ticket levels above, it feels like the beginning of a better/longer ride.
 

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