What if there was a world that challenged everything you thought you knew? A world beyond what you thought was possible. Welcome to Pandora—The World of Avatar Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is beyond belief!
Welcome to Pandora—The World of Avatar Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Journey to a distant world where floating mountains defy gravity. Where nature comes alive in a brilliant bioluminescent glow and mystical rivers flow. Where you can fly on the back of a mountain banshee and feel it breathing beneath you.
For the first time ever, Alpha Centauri Expeditions, in partnership with Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, has made it possible to explore Pandora. We are welcome to Pandora—the world of Avatar Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It offers unique expeditions and previously unimaginable possibilities in interplanetary adventure travel.
On Pandora, for instance, the winged, dragon-like “Avatar” creatures called the banshees are now near extinction. This is a key component of the land’s thrill ride, Avatar Flight of Passage. Close to the entrance of the park is a giant, bulbous plant with a fire-red top known as the “flaska reclinata.” It is the last of its kind. Joe Rohde, lead imagineer on the project, stressed that even though the sci-fi world is far from “edu-tainment,” all of it works. Giving Pandora a sense of fragility, attempting to draw parallels between this alien world and our own.
Your expedition begins in the Valley of Mo’ara, where the land is an adventure unto itself. Hike under mountains that float mysteriously above while you discover the totems, cuisine and artifacts of the Na’vi culture that surround you. Take in the Pandoran flora and keep your eyes wide open for fauna along the way. As the sun sets, get ready for a forest that is alive!
Avatar Flight of Passage
Avatar Flight of Passage Walt Disney World’s newest E-Ticket thrill ride, is big — really big. In order to reach it, guests must hike up a Disney-constructed mountain. Consider it a light hike, but the queue path wraps around the “natural” Pandoran flora and fauna.
Once guests reach the top of the mountain, they enter caves that house giant paintings depicting the banshees and colorful, ancient-looking murals. Slowly the queue transitions to what feels like an abandoned military base, with hints of once-dangerous experiments conducted by humans on Pandora. Eventually it opens up into a full-fledged research center.
This is where guests become avatars — that is, they go through the process of entering a Na’Vi body. Required to help the natives study and repopulate the endangered banshee species. The transformation is the storyline of the attraction, complemented by the famous Na’Vi host body tank from the film and copious sci-fi details. In one room each rider is assigned a number and told that they are being scanned for the avatar process.
Na’vi River Journey
Welcome to Pandora—The World of Avatar Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Na’vi River Journey. The boat attraction floats calmly through a bioluminescent forest, culminating in a visit with the Shaman of Songs, a Na’Vi woman who serenades guests as they pass by. It’s intimate, with boats seating only about six to eight people at a time and two boats loading at once.
Floating jellyfish creatures soar through the sky. Wolf-like predators trot off in the distance, and other four-legged animals puff up their feathers as guests roll past. Above, glowing blue plant leaves reveal the footprints of small animals as they run across the fronds.
But the star of this show is the Shaman of Songs. She is Disney’s most lifelike audio-animatronic created to date, with near-human-like fluidity in her movements. The first time you see her you don’t know where to focus. On her singing? Her arms waving? The wagging of her tail?
The two attractions in Pandora don’t come with typical theme-park-like signage. The entry to the River Journey queue is a woven monument to the Shaman of Songs. And Avatar Flight of Passage greets guests with a sculpture of a banshee designed to look like an ancient carving.
Let Orlando Ticket Connection take you there with our Discount Disney World Tickets!
