Which FP: Flight of Passage or Na'vi River Journey?

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
So, my FastPass booking window doesn't open for a few more weeks and I'm not even sure if all available options will be available when it does open, but I'd like to hear some thoughts on which Pandora attraction to book (assuming both are available) given my circumstance.

I'll be traveling with my wife, my sister-in-law (all three of us are avid amusement/theme park/dark ride fans who will undoubtedly want to try anything/everything), my 6 year old son (who will be tall enough for Flight of Passage but may be unsure about riding it), my 3.5 year old daughter (who will be too short for FOP), and my 1 year old daughter.

My first thought was to "play" the system (as I've seen done) and book half our FP+ for River Journey and the other half for FOP, but that leads to two big issues (at least big for me): 1. It would mean that we wouldn't all get to ride together for River Journey and (as one of the few rides in AK that we ALL can ride, that would be a bit of a bummer) and 2. It would mean that we completely miss the queue for FOP (which I hear is a big part of the attraction as it is).

My second thought was then that we should book the FP+ for all of us (that can ride) for FOP as this ride will likely have the worst lines (2-3 hours, maybe worse?) and it would be much better for those of us who want to ride it to get a quick ride to FastPass it as I'm assuming FOP will have a much longer average wait than River Journey. However, then you're still missing the cool portion of the queue for FOP while having to wait possibly an hour or so in a relatively unthemed (read: boring) queue for River Journey.

So my third thought was then to book the FP+ for River Journey. Then, all us us wait minimally for River Journey (missing the "dull" queue) and we head to Flight of Passage when the line is shorter and (using the stand by line) don't miss any of the queue. However, what if the line stays relatively long all day? I'm not going to wait 3-4 hours for an attraction (mostly because that means that someone needs to wait that long with the non-riders and that's really not fair).

Ultimately, I "think" we'll go with Option 2... Getting a "quick" ride on FOP is better for the non-riders and hopefully the wait for River Journey won't be that bad... we'll watch the MDE app and wait through Standby for FOP either when the lines are shorter or when the kids are in bed (one of us will stay back with the kids each night while the other two go back out). Plus, I think it better to get a ride on FOP while missing the queue than to potentially get no ride at all (if the lines stay long the whole time).

Not really looking for an answer, just sort of getting my thoughts out there and wondering if anyone has any other factors they would like to add to possibly help in my decision making process....
 

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
My second thought was then that we should book the FP+ for all of us (that can ride) for FOP as this ride will likely have the worst lines (2-3 hours, maybe worse?) and it would be much better for those of us who want to ride it to get a quick ride to FastPass it as I'm assuming FOP will have a much longer average wait than River Journey. However, then you're still missing the cool portion of the queue for FOP while having to wait possibly an hour or so in a relatively unthemed (read: boring) queue for River Journey.

So my third thought was then to book the FP+ for River Journey. Then, all us us wait minimally for River Journey (missing the "dull" queue) and we head to Flight of Passage when the line is shorter and (using the stand by line) don't miss any of the queue. However, what if the line stays relatively long all day? I'm not going to wait 3-4 hours for an attraction (mostly because that means that someone needs to wait that long with the non-riders and that's really not fair).

I heard that the FOP queue was designed to hold up to a 6 hr wait...
 

Maddie Terwilliger

Active Member
Na'vi River Journey (by watching the YouTube of it) looks like its more for the scenery, not too much thrill. The animatronics are really cool and it is a very chill ride... nice to take a break from the heat.

However Flight of Passage is guaranteed to be the star of the show. I would use my FP for FOP. I hope the Fastpass line doesn't skip the actual queue too much because the queue is absolutely breathtaking and has so much detail. Honestly, the decision is up to you. It is a tough decision I believe. Good luck! :D
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Pick one, rope drop the other. Easy peasy.

Alternatively, use a park hopper to your advantage and do two DAK park hopper days. For example, instead of a DAK day and an Epcot day, do one DAK-to-Epcot hopping day and one Epcot-to-DAK hopping day, using DAK as your Fastpass park both days.
 

sjhym333

Well-Known Member
FOP has a lower capacity and all my friends who have ridden it so far have said it is not to be missed. You may want to take advantage of your FOP FP's
 
Ya I'm going through this same issue...I book fast passes at midnight for July visit, I have a 9 and a 2 yr old so one can do FOP and the other cant. I've considered the dad and 9 yr old FP for FOP and myself and 2yr old do the boat ride (I mean other than the safari and tricaritops she can't really ride much else). I figure maybe I could try and babyswap so I can ride FOP but I don't know how it will go over?? I've considered rope drop for one but we have never done it before and don't know with the new rides opening how it will go over also thought maybe stand by for the riverboat may go down during Rivers of Light show time and we could try? Hmmmmm wat to do??
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
Ya I'm going through this same issue...I book fast passes at midnight for July visit, I have a 9 and a 2 yr old so one can do FOP and the other cant. I've considered the dad and 9 yr old FP for FOP and myself and 2yr old do the boat ride (I mean other than the safari and tricaritops she can't really ride much else). I figure maybe I could try and babyswap so I can ride FOP but I don't know how it will go over?? I've considered rope drop for one but we have never done it before and don't know with the new rides opening how it will go over also thought maybe stand by for the riverboat may go down during Rivers of Light show time and we could try? Hmmmmm wat to do??

FYI, Fastpass booking opens at 7am now, not midnight.

-Rob
 

sjhym333

Well-Known Member
Flight of Passage is a low capacity attraction. There are 4 rooms of 16 seats plus 2 preshows. If you can grab FOP FP's it might save some time for the rest of the day.
 

Retroman40

Well-Known Member
FOP FP+ has to be the priority due to lower capacity. I would advise anyone looking at the single rider queue to keep in mind that people may only be pulled from that line if the grouper can't fill the 16 spots out of the FP+ and SB queues. I've seen the single rider queue at RnRC take just as long as the SB queue.
 

TheHatboxGhost

New Member
I've seen a ton of River Journey Fastpasses for the first week in June, but none for FOP.
Are they even available yet in Magic+? Or are they just scooped up months in advance?
 

mdubm

Well-Known Member
FOP DEFINITELY! I know a few who haven't been able to get it, so if you see it, grab. Na'vi was still available 30 days out, so you still have hope to catch it later.
For those talking about the FOP queue, if you go on Instagram and find amandatinney (quickly), she went to pandora yesterday and went through FP queue and posted it. Still pretty scenic, but you can see the difference. And there was a single rider line. Seems this would be a ride where single rider wouldn't be a huge deal.
 

MissViv

Well-Known Member
Our fast passes just opened up this morning for our July trip and we using our park hoppers and booked the Na'vi River Journey one day and Flight of Passage on another. We will do the other parks in the afternoon/evening.
 

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Ended up booking one on one day and the other on a different day just to be safe. If I see River Journey's line normalize out to ~60 minutes over the next two months before we go, I may end up canceling that one, but if it stays >120 minutes, I'll at least have the peace of mind that I will get to ride both attractions without waiting terribly long.
 

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