It was easy to be cynical about Pandora: The World of Avatar leading up to its opening at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom last week. And look, I shared a lot of those worries. It’s been 8 years since Avatar opened and in the time since -- despite still being the highest grossing movie ever -- the film has sort of fallen off the pop culture map. While long-promised sequels are in the works, it felt like no one cared about Avatar anymore, so why would they care about an entire theme park land devoted to it?
The answer is simple: Because it’s a terrific experience, no matter your investment in the film that inspired it. I’m someone who never was much of an Avatar fan to begin with, finding the film beautiful but hollow, and I haven’t revisited it since I saw it in the theater… and yet I loved Pandora. It’s a wonderfully made theme park experience, capped off by one hell of a ride.
So what is it about Pandora that makes it so worthwhile? Let’s go over some of what you’ll find.
Flight of Passage is a masterpiece. I love this ride so much, I wrote a separate story just about why it’s so effective and why it’s one of the best theme park rides I’ve ever been on -- and as a huge Disney parks fan (and theme park fan in general), I don’t say that lightly.
I won’t repeat myself here -- you can check out my full writeup about it -- except to say that the ride is genuinely emotionally moving in a way I’d never experienced on a theme park ride… and honestly, in a way I didn't experience from Avatar, the movie. The ride made me want to be a part of this world for the first time.
Okay, it’s easy to tell the large versions of the floating mountains of Pandora aren’t really floating -- and rather a clever piece of architecture -- but they’re quite impressive to look at, nonetheless. The one thing most people will agree on about Avatar, the film, is it looked great, and Pandora has been lovingly recreated at Animal Kingdom. Those rock formations draw your eye immediately, and they’re surrounded by several lovely waterfalls.
The alien plants that fill the area are colorful and fascinating, and the cave art and other nuances both throughout the land and in the queue areas for the two rides helps build out the world. Plus, there's an “AMP” mech suit on display that is very cool to check out.
As interesting as Pandora is visually by day, it’s phenomenal at night. In the film, Pandora was a bioluminescent world and here, that’s been brought to life in vivid detail. Walking into the land at night, you can't; help but stare at the ground, which is filled with a trippy, mesmerizing glow - which then extends everywhere, in those alien plants, trees and rocks all through Pandora.
It’s easy to “ooh” and “ahh” at it all, and if the wait times for the rides are too long, you still can have a really cool experience just walking around the area at night.
Besides Flight of Passage, the other ride in Pandora is the Na’vi River Journey. Unlike the more intense experience on Flight of Passage, the river is meant to be friendly both for all ages and for those who may like their rides on the calmer side. It’s essentially a classic Disney boat ride, only instead of watching pirates in the caribbean, you’re floating through Pandora.
The beginning of the ride sets the stage for what’s to follow, as you float along a serene, bioluminescent riverbank with many Pandora insects and such surrounding you. A bit of film footage is used for creatures and Na’vi in the background, but most of what you’re seeing is physically built - including a really impressive animatronic of the Na’vi "Shaman of Songs" at the end that has some rather amazing movement, showing how far this technology has come since it was introduced into rides of this sort.
That being said, the ride feels like it’s lacking a certain something - a couple of extra big moments that might help it stand out more or tell more of a story. The climax is that aforementioned Shaman and yes, she's a notable creation, but it still felt like this could have paid off better.
I was a bit let down by this aspect of Pandora, simply because Disney has a lot of great food at their parks. And the concept behind some of the Pandora food -- served at the Satu’li Canteen -- is fun, like the “pods” which are essentially Chinese bao-type buns, but filled with different kind of foods than you’d get in a typical bao. The cheeseburger bao sounded delicious - but then I saw it included ketchup, mustard and pickle inside it, the latter of two of which I don't like at all. Obviously personal tastes will vary dramatically, but it seemed very odd to automatically include ingredients typically used as toppings that people can decide on themselves - the vegetable curry pod, to be fair, was better. Honestly though, you're better off sticking to the customizable bowls that include various options (rice, salad, beef, fish, tofu, etc.) and were quite good. However, the food still felt like it was lacking a bit of oomph and something extra you'd want for a themed land.
More successful (albeit not what you want when truly hungry) was the Pongu Pongu drink stand located outside the canteen. The non-alcoholic Night Blossom and alcoholic Mo'ara Margarita are both colorful and tasty (especially the Night Blossom) and incorporate boba balls in a fun way, and the one snack there -- the pineapple-flavored Pongu Lumpia -- is very good. There are also several beers here, including one that’s colored green.
Ah, the cornerstone of any theme park experience - the merch store! Windtraders is Pandora’s big store, located, of course, right as you exit Flight of Passage. Honestly, as much as I loved the experience in Pandora: The World of Avatar, I wasn’t as compelled to buy a bunch of items as I am in theme park areas based off films and characters I have a deep interest in, but I’m guessing some will want to pick up more of the items here. There are fun “alien” candies to purchase, and I got the one Flight of Passage-labeled item (a thin hoodie) because damn it, that ride rules and I wanted a memento from it. While there are some "Pandora" labeled items, plus some that simply feature imagery from the world, other items here are labeled for ACE (Alpha Centauri Expeditions), the fictional travel group that has brought you to PAndora in the storyline used to fuel the entire experience.
The most popular item it seemed though -- certainly when I was there -- were the toy banshees. Similar to a Harry Potter wand type experience, you are matched to the right banshee for you before your purchase. The banshees can then be fixed on your shoulder and, using a remote you hold, you can move their heads and open their mouths, giving them the illusion of life and allowing them to interact with people - painless finger chomping included. While I didn’t get one myself, I saw the appeal, especially for kids. They run $49.95.
Walt Disney World cast member Jenny -- or, ahem, Pandora resident Jenny! -- shows off her pet banshee.
The other notable “toy” is an Avatar action figure you can have made based on your own likeness. At $75, this isn’t a cheap figure, but obviously the appeal is it’s going to look like you… though mine didn’t really look like me at all (though one could argue Zoe Saldana’s actual Avatar character only looks sorta/kinda like her, so this is keeping with canon?). The experience of having it made is enjoyable (the person scanning you, like all the cast members, stays in character/in-universe, as though you are on Pandora and he or she is communicating with a lab nearby), but I’d guess this figure will most appeal to either big Avatar fans or kids (or adults!) who are so charmed by visiting Pandora, they want this keepsake.
The opening Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter several years ago was a game changer for theme parks, introducing the idea of a completely immersive land based around a specific property, where the idea is to truly bring you into the story and keep you there. It felt like Disney first was influenced by this a bit when they opened their New Fantasyland expansion at Walt Disney World and a ton of the new elements were based on Beauty and the Beast, with many areas that brought you into familiar settings from that film. Cars Land at California Adventure then rolled with this idea as well, but Pandora feels like an even bigger attempt to completely immerse you in another world first introduced in a film - and it’s highly effective in this regard. And again, the notable thing here is it’s effective even if you don’t care for, or haven’t even seen, the film it’s based on.
All of which is to say, it’s hard to leave Pandora not feeling even more excited and optimistic about the Star Wars land coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in a couple of years. If I could find so much to like -- and even love -- about a theme park land based on a property like Avatar I felt no connection with going in, then just think how amazing a land based around Star Wars (a series I, like oh-so many, am deeply invested in) might be. If the technology and skill that makes Flight of Passage so amazing is anything like what we can expect from the Millennium Falcon ride, well… that will be pretty extraordinary.
In the meantime, Pandora: The World of Avatar is quite an achievement. I may not be a big fan of Avatar as a film, but visiting this place made me a fan of Avatar as a real life experience.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at http://ift.tt/LQFqjj.
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