So? Is Pandora worth it?

Oh...and it's good to know there's a single rider line. We have no problem riding alone, if we have to.

We had the opportunity to visit Pandora over the weekend, and I must agree - we were not disappointed. The area is beautiful, and completely different when you visit at night than when you visit during the day. I'd highly recommend doing both at some point. The "land" they have built is stunning.

Thankfully, the craziness of opening weekend had calmed a bit (there were no lines just to get into Pandora!), but the crowds were there, and the lines for both "Flight" and the river ride were very long. For those of you asking about the single-rider line, they did not appear to be using it for Flight at this time. With wait times averaging between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 hours, I don't think they're using single riders yet.

Fortunately for us, we had a FP+ for both attractions (on different days, of course). Flight of the Avatar for us was just awesome. It is so well done, fun, and didn't cause us any motion issues. I think the comparison to a cross of Soarin and Star Tours is very accurate. And for as popular as Soarin is, we think this is much better. The technology is better and the feel of the attraction is amazing - I guess time will tell! Flight is something I have just got to get back to do again as soon as possible.

We also agree with the reviews about the Na'vi River Journey. It's a beautiful ride and definitely something to see, but it's short and not the thrill attraction Flight is. But then, it wasn't intended to be a thrill attraction! But the music and lights and technology are really interesting.

The thing we were most disappointed about (and this might sound odd)? The souvenir selection was very blah. We thought there might be some much nicer options for such a big new land, but we didn't see much of anything we wanted. But the shops were full and there were lines at the registers, so they're probably doing just fine with the merchandise they're selling!

One thing is very clear - Pandora has bumped the attendance for Animal Kingdom since its opening. Whether that continues remains to be seen, but it was very busy.

I visited Animal Kingdom this past Sun (6/4) and Mon (6/5). On Sun I arrived around 1:30/2:00 and went right to Pandora to walk around; there was no line to enter the area and Pandora itself had the usual feel of a moderate day at the park in terms of crowds. It actually had a calm feel because everyone seemed to be slowly taking in the amazing scenery. I returned to Pandora for a 5:45 Fast Pass for the river journey, our fast pass wait was maybe 3 minutes. The river journey is beautiful and is a lovely attraction that anyone (young or old) can go on and enjoy. I believe the standby wait at the time was about 80 minutes.

On Monday, I arrived at the park just before 8pm and went right to Pandora to experience the lighting effects beginning to turn on. It was very cool. Again, not overly crowded. I left to go experience the Safari ride in the dark and then returned at about 9pm. When I went into Pandora that time I went by way of Africa (past the Lion King show)--that entrance is breathtaking and relaxing--as you get nearer to Pandora more and more trees sparkle. And Pandora itself at night is really a sight to see. I think anyone, regardless of whether you've seen the movie, can appreciate it. I've actually only watched about 1/3 of the movie, it was enough to understand the basic premise for Pandora at AK.