Do you ever ride a ride or a roller coaster at a theme park that truly blows your mind? I have rides that I love, rides that I don’t mind waiting in line for, and rides that I will remember for the rest of my life. That said, what I experienced the first time that I got to ride Avatar – Flight of Passage was close to life-changing. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but once you ride it, you will see what I mean.
How Realistic is Avatar – Flight of Passage?
You may be asking, why is everyone making such a big deal about this ride? Well, it all starts with the theming. As you walk into Pandora – The World of Avatar, you will feel like you have been transformed into a whole new world. From the ground to the foliage, to the top of the mountains, not one detail was left out. As you go through the process of getting to the ride, all your senses will be triggered, and you start to feel like you have been transported to somewhere you have never been before.
Becoming an Avatar
Once you make it through all the lines and queues, you will enter a room where you will be matched to your avatar so that you will be able to board your Mountain Banshee. From there, you will be led into another viewing room where you will learn how to get on the ride to prepare for the flight. There are also back-stores told during both rooms. Once you are fully educated on the importance of banshees to the World of Pandora, you are now ready to put on your glasses and board your banshee.
An Emotional and Physical Experience
Getting on to your banshee, you might be feeling a little weird. You climb onto what feels like a stationary motorcycle. Once in place, the seat closes in on your back and tightens up around your calves. The ride starts out by bringing your ride out into the sky on your banshee as you enter the Valley of the Mo’ara. From here, you will begin your flight through what will most likely be one of the most exhilarating rides you have ever experienced. Everything is so life-like as you swoop down into valleys and mountains, enter caves, hover over the ocean, and react with the other mountain banshees. You will feel the banshee breathing throughout your body, you will feel the rising and falling, and you will smell the scents of the caves, ocean, and animals that you encounter throughout your flight through the Valley of Mo’ara. As the ride comes to an end, your heart and mind will be filled with joy and excitement as you just experienced something that can only be seen in movies.
The Line for Avatar – Flight of Passage
How do we start? Let’s talk about the wait time. I have seen this ride have a wait of four hours or more. While I do love this ride, with two little girls, I do not believe that I could stand in line this long, nor do I believe that would even be possible. So, how do we get around this?
Fast Passes for Avatar – Flight of Passage
On our last Disney adventure, I was up at 5:00 am to book our fast passes for our vacation that was 60 days out. I logged in only to find that there were no fast passes available. Ugh. Checking every day became a habit until one day, I finally lucked out and was able to score the fast passes. This is by far the quickest way to get on the ride but be aware that like many other fast pass experiences, you will miss out on a lot of the theming and experiences that are present in the traditional line queue. But, when the lines are four hours long, this is something that I am willing to give up!
Rope Drop for Avatar – Flight of Passage
Waiting in line for Avatar – Flight of Passage
In my opinion, this is the best option. Of course, you will have to wake up early and get to the park an hour or more before the gates officially open, but hey, you are on vacation at the most magical place on earth, so you can sleep when you get home! As I said, you will need to be there at least an hour or more before the park opens, so grab a snack and a drink and head up to the Animal Kingdom and get comfortable in line. The cast members will do a great job of leading a pack of people to Pandora – World of Avatar. There is no running, and you are lined up as you make your way to the ride. In doing this, I can say that it is my favorite way as I was able to get into the park, see everything that the line queue had to offer, ride the ride, and be on my way to enjoy the rest of the Animal Kingdom before most people were even arriving at the park. For the next two to three hours, lines for everything else in the park were almost non-existent, so take advantage of this time!
Wait in Line for Avatar – Flight of Passage
While I would not recommend this, it is still an option, and for many people, this will be their only way to experience the magic of Avatar – Flight of Passage. If you are not in the park as the gates open, you will see that the lines for this ride can fluctuate throughout the day, so just keep an eye on your app and make your move when you see the time going down. The best chances are going to be during lunch when people are starting to take breaks, and then as the day ends, the lines will slowly start dying down. I would recommend this time as you will get to experience Pandora at night which is a whole separate post on its own.
I hope that you enjoyed my thoughts on Pandora – World of Avatar and Avatar – Flight of Passage. Please let me know how you felt about this ride, or if you have not tried it yet, let me know what you are most excited about. Please don’t forget to like and share with your friends!
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