Not Impressed with Pandora

Lou Filerman

Active Member
Original Poster
I was expecting so much more. The river journey was just blah. Not a repeat. Nighttime was actually very underwhelming. I was expecting much more to be lit up...it was very boring. FOP was ok. It's soaring and star tours combined. Kind of a let down. I guess it's good they have two more rides to take the heat off my favorite ride, Everest, but i was expecting much more.
 

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
I was expecting so much more. The river journey was just blah. Not a repeat. Nighttime was actually very underwhelming. I was expecting much more to be lit up...it was very boring. FOP was ok. It's soaring and star tours combined. Kind of a let down. I guess it's good they have two more rides to take the heat off my favorite ride, Everest, but i was expecting much more.
My condolances.
 

SourcererMark79

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I was expecting so much more. The river journey was just blah. Not a repeat. Nighttime was actually very underwhelming. I was expecting much more to be lit up...it was very boring. FOP was ok. It's soaring and star tours combined. Kind of a let down. I guess it's good they have two more rides to take the heat off my favorite ride, Everest, but i was expecting much more.
What were you expecting? There have been mostly positive reviews of the land, and FoP, NRJ has received its fair share of negativity due it's short length and lacking story. However, please share what more you would want to see or do.
 

Lou Filerman

Active Member
Original Poster
What were you expecting? There have been mostly positive reviews of the land, and FoP, NRJ has received its fair share of negativity due it's short length and lacking story. However, please share what more you would want to see or do.
As I said, I was expecting much more to be lit up at night. It was pretty underwhelming. NRJ. I wasn't expecting much since I heard what it was...I was going in expecting nothing and I got nothing. FOP...the way people talked about it, it was supposed to be the greatest ride in the history of rides and its basically Soarin in Pandora. I don't know...the way people talk, it was a let down. I need to learn to not listen to anyone and go in with an open mind. I went in with too high of an expectation.
 

Princess B

Member
I hate to sound pessimistic, but I share similar feelings about the land. NRJ is awkwardly quiet and is a ride that, in my opinion, is carried entirely on the back of one good -- well, fantastic -- animatronic. I associate Disney boat rides with a painstaking attention to detail and immersion; I feel like I am walking through the plant section of Home Depot at night with a black light on when I ride NRJ. FoP is a good ride on its own, credit is certainly due where it's due. However, I find it extremely disappointing that it is essentially a more immersive version of Soarin. I also hate this trend of labeling something a "ride" when it's just me sitting down and watching a screen while my seat moves and I am misted with water. FoP, the Kong ride at islands of Adventure (honestly pretty much half of the rides at Universal/IoA now) are disappointing when compared to real thrill rides like ToT, Dragon Challenge, Space Mountain, and the like. If Pandora was meant to immerse us, it did a poor job. We were left with a relatively small "land" with 2 rides... well, a boat ride and a simulator. How many years of construction, and we are given just one animatronic.

Yes, I am fully aware that I can just visit elsewhere, there are plenty of people willing to throw their money at Disney to see Pandora, blah blah blah... but as a personal review of the land, I found it disappointing, and not worth going out of my way to do more than get some good pictures of the scenery.
 

GVentola

Well-Known Member
Those "floating" rocks in the sky aren't very convincing from what I've seen in photos. I'm looking forward to seeing Pandora some day, but right now I'm waiting for things to die down some. I'm afraid that even with a FastPass, the waits will be long.
 

Po'Rich

Well-Known Member
FOP...the way people talked about it, it was supposed to be the greatest ride in the history of rides and its basically Soarin in Pandora.
I love FOP. It has jumped to be one of my top 3 rides at any of the parks (Everest and TOT being the other 2). However, I knew going in that there would be similarities to Soaring. Yet, the extra details (such as the seat inflation/deflation to simulate the breathing of the Banshees) make it much more immersive than Soaring (where I never forget that I am basically sitting on a bench). I also thought that the queue for this ride was very well done. I appreciate such details.
 

Maddie Terwilliger

Active Member
Ok, so I have to agree with NRJ being a let down a little. In my opinion FOP is one of the best rides I've ever been on, but that's me.:hilarious:

However, I have HIGH respect for the land itself. The detail that went into the land with each plant and decoration was so amazing to me. Every waterfall and vine was specifically placed. The land even smelled like a mixture of dirt and just earth in general. It was absolutely beautiful. I have so much respect for the Imagineers and the time it took to incorporate every single plant and rock that you walk past in that land. At night is gorgeous as well, with the "glowing" pathways and such. I think that people who love nature like myself, truly enjoy Pandora. I don't even like the Avatar movies but The World of Pandora was absolutely beautiful. And FOP is worth going on!
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monykalyn

Well-Known Member
If you think DAK is a "1/2 day park" before Pandora then Pandora will disappoint. This park was never meant to be zoomed through at warp speed. It's the overall theming and immersion in each land that take time to SLOW down and appreciate it. For thrill only the local 6Flags fills that niche.
Also- photos don't really do the land justice, no matter how good they are.
I do think the "thrill" of FoP goes down with more rides.
The queue for FoP is cool, but not 2 hour wait cool. By contrast the FJ ride and queue at WWoHP was worth a 2 hour wait!
 

NeedMoreMickey

Well-Known Member
We were also underwhelmed with Pandora at night. Loved most of it during the day of what we could see with the heave to light rain. After reading all the reports and watching James Cameron tour I was expecting more at night but again it was raining. The food smelled great but we ate before didn't have a chance to sample any of it. As for the river ride, the only boat ride I like at WDW is Pirates so not impressed with the river ride.
 

mj2v

Well-Known Member
Good reason to not read about rides and watch videos before going. I embargo everything before I can experience it myself.

I find that helps.

expectations are just premeditated disappointments.
 

pax_65

Well-Known Member
I'm still struggling with the concept of a "land" only having two attractions. But other than that I'm happy to see WDW putting the attention to detail into the theme of Pandora.
 

Lou Filerman

Active Member
Original Poster
Don't get me wrong...the detail is amazing. I just was expecting more out of of the nighttime land. Also, FOP is a clone of Soarin with a couple bells a whistles so it just didn't do it for me. Again, I love that this land takes the heat off of Everest so I can now ride that 3 times in a row on most mornings before the crowds start. To each their own, this just didn't do it for me.
 

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