Jess' Adventure Blog

On May 27th, 2017, Disney’s Animal Kingdom welcomed it’s newest land: Pandora – The World of Avatar! This brand new area of the park gives Guests the opportunity to step right into the world of the Na’vi where they’ll be surrounded by never-before-seen landscapes as well as be immersed in completely new and unique experiences!

Having Pandora open was a huge highlight of this year. The entire Resort was buzzing with excitement as the previews began to roll out. On May 20th, a group of us were able to go explore Pandora for a preview right after work. After years and years of anticipation, we finally got to see it for ourselves!

We began our night with the Na’vi River Journey. Even the queue is intricately detailed and you instantly feel all of the Joe Rohde influences as you walk through. (Joe Rohde was the main Imagineer on this project!) The attraction itself is a slow moving, visually appealing boat ride that takes you through gorgeous bioluminescent nighttime scenes of Pandora. The grand finale of this attraction is Disney’s most impressive animatronic to date – The Grand Shaman! She is larger than life, incredibly realistic, and my personal favorite part of the attraction.

(Photo by: @jimfromdisney)

Next, we had the opportunity to go on Flight of Passage, which has quickly become the most popular attraction on Walt Disney World property. It is truly unlike anything else the parks have to offer. When I ride this attraction, I forget about everything else that is going on around me because it is just that immersive. The combination of flying movements, smells, mist, and gorgeous scenery creates one of the most thrilling and realistic Disney experiences they have to offer. You can even feel the Banshee breathing between your legs – you can’t get much more realistic than that!

Another must do in Pandora is The Moss Wall! (Even Joe Rohde says so – check his instagram!) This has become the main photo location  for everyone who is looking to get their most aesthetic Pandora picture. We were more than happy to test out having a photoshoot during previews and I was so pleased with the results!

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Our final stop of the night was Satu’li Canteen which has quickly become one of my favorite Disney restaurants. It blows my mind that the food that they serve here is quick service theme park food. It’s so good and so different than any other quick service location on property. I am a true advocate of the chicken bowl with rice and creamy herb dressing combo. You can never go wrong with a chicken bowl!

{These photos were taken on a different visit to Pandora in the future by my adopted little brother, @hunt.hall. Please do not be confused by the outfit change!}

Overall, our first experience at Pandora – The World of Avatar was beautiful. Animal Kingdom has always been one of my favorites, but you can truly feel that extra spark that Pandora has brought to the park. It is magical witnessing everyone’s faces light up as they see these new additions for the first time. I am blown away by all of the intricate work that the Imagineers did to create Pandora and it only makes me more excited to see what the future holds for the parks!

Have you gotten to visit Pandora yet? Leave a comment with your thoughts and experiences – I would love to hear from you!

*The opinions and comments in the above post do not reflect the views, opinions, policies, or procedures of the Walt Disney Company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, including but not limited to the Walt Disney World Resort and all other included areas.*