How long did Disney take to build Pandora?

Avatar Flight of Passage is one of the most popular rides at Walt Disney World, boasting long waits and running out of FastPass+ even years after it opened.

Table of Contents Show

1. Thats A Really Long Line
2. Different Pre-Show Options
3. Your Avatar Impacts The Ride
4. Breathtaking Views
5. Special Handprints

Flight of Passage is one of two attractions located in Pandora World of Avatar at Disneys Animal Kingdom. It is the much more thrilling and exciting attraction compared to its counterpart, Navi River Journey.

Pandora is one of the newest lands at Disney, having opened just three years ago on May 27, 2017. Flight of Passage has been delighting guests ever since.

Here are a few facts about the über popular Animal Kingdom ride!

1. Thats A Really Long Line

This wait is over 4 hours! Photo by Laurie Sapp

Its no secret that the line for Flight of Passage tends to get a bit long. When I rode Flight of Passage, we arrived first thing in the morning, and still waited almost two hours to get on.

Wait times can climb to (or over) four hours during the busiest days at Disney.

Imagineers knew the wait times for Flight of Passage would be very high, and because they had a long time to plan (it took six years to build Pandora), they prepared for it.

The queue at Flight of Passage is built to accommodate lines up to a six hour wait time! When it first opened, the ride would reach wait times that long.

They also made a very immersive queueits a walk through of the history of Pandora, focusing on Banshee riding and Avatars.

The highlight is the Avatar in the lab. Its really impressive to see a completely life-size Avatar floating in a glass tube. You know youre at Disney when a ride queue is a photo destination!

2. Different Pre-Show Options

This pre-show might be longer or shorter! Photo by Laurie Sapp

Those who have ridden Flight of Passage are familiar with the different pre-shows guests pass through before actually riding.

First, you get a bit of a background on whats going to happen. There, you also get matched to your Avatar.

What you might not know is that this first pre-show actually has two different versions.

Theres a short version, that typically plays, and then theres a longer version.

The longer version of the pre-show is played when there are delays on the ride and guests need to wait a bit longer before boarding. Disney anticipated this may happen and created both pre-shows.

The longer version is very similar to the shorter version, but youll get a lot more back-story in the longer one!

3. Your Avatar Impacts The Ride

You have to be decontaminated! Photo by Brett Svenson

In the pre-show, you, the guest, also get matched with the right Avatar for your flight. The chamber you enter genetically matches you to the Avatar youll use.

Of course, youre not actually being genetically matchedDisney cant just snag your DNA if you wiggle around a bit for them.

Most guests probably assume its all for show, and that the Avatar you receive is totally random, but its not!

The Avatar you get is mostly based on cosmetic features. Its supposed to fit you and match how you look, at least a little.

And, to top it off, each time you ride, youll likely get a completely different Avatar. Which Avatar you get does impact your ride, very slightly! So go ride Flight of Passage as many times as you can.

4. Breathtaking Views

Get ready for some spectacular views on this ride. Photo by Laurie Sapp

As youre soaring over Pandora, theres quite a lot to take in around you. The views you see are really quite breathtaking and like nothing youve ever seen.

In fact, youre passing through seven miles of the Valley of Moara. Thats a pretty decent flightand all in about five minutes!

While youre flying around on your Banshee, be sure and keep your eyes peeled. During your flight, youll see around 1,400 Pandoran creatures, and you dont want to miss a single thing!