5 Things You Have to Experience at Pandora (Animal Kingdom)

You went to Disney World again? I get asked this often, but with the different special events and the constant new additions, there is always something new for us to experience even as a frequent visitor.

During our latest trip, we got to experience Pandora the new land at Animal Kingdom. Even if you never saw the movie Avatar or you didn’t care for the movie, the theming of the new land is amazing! It is stunningly beautiful!

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I am sharing the top 5 things you must do in Pandora and some tips along the way. My advice to avoid excessive wait times is to obtain a fastpass for one of the two rides (Avatar Flight of Passage currently has the longer wait time), arrive before park opening and head straight for Pandora, and ride the ride you do not have a fastpass for.

On an extra magic morning, we rode both rides in an hour and twenty minutes. On a regular morning, we rode both rides (Na’vi River Journey with a fastpass), shopped and ate in a hour and forty minutes.

1. Ride Avatar Flight of Passage

The ride itself exceeded my expectation! After being briefed and matched with an avatar, you will proceed to get on the ride. You climb on the ride vehicle like you would a bike. Restraint bars will come up behind your calves and one on your back. The first ride I felt the restraints more than the second ride.

Before you know it you will be soaring through Pandora on the back of a banshee! While Avatar Flight of Passage gets compared to Soarin’ a lot they are very different rides. In fact, S while nervous before the ride loved Avatar Flight of Passage however, she doesn’t care for Soarin’.

Avatar Flight of Passage is over 5 minutes long and the detail of the ride is so amazing that you can even feel your banshee breath against your legs.

While I have read of some guests not being able to ride Avatar Flight of Passage due to their size, there is a ride vehicle out front to check before you wait in line.

2. Drink and Eat at Pongu Pongu or Satu’li Canteen

We had Pongu Lumpia, pineapple cream cheese spring rolls, at Pongu Pongu which were wonderful! They were sweet and tart with a crispy outside and creamy inside. We also enjoyed Night Blossom (non-alcholic specialty drink) which was a mixture of limeade with apple and desert pear flavors topped with passion fruit boba balls. The Mo’ara Margarita with strawberry and blood orange flavors topped with strawberry boba balls was delicious!

Tip: Satu’li Canteen offers mobile ordering from the My Disney Experience app, so you can avoid the line.

3. Ride Na’vi River Journey

We rode this ride once with a fastpass and once in the standby queue. While this ride is not as exciting as Avatar Flight of Passage, it is a nice quiet and cool boat ride full of beautiful scenery.

4. Shop for a Banshee

One of the most popular items in the land is the shoulder banshee at Windtraders. We were told that they sold out in 4 days and did not know when they were going to be back in stock. One day I happen to see a child carrying around a banshee rookery box and we “ran” to Pandora as soon as we got to Animal Kingdom. Sure enough they had the shoulder banshee back in stock. I was so happy because that was the one souvenir that S wanted this trip.

There are many other wonderful Pandora items to purchase at Windtraders.

5. Explore the Land and Talk to the Cast Members

There are so many beautiful areas to explore in Pandora, take some time to just wander. Be sure to stop back by in the evening to see the land lit up.

Talk to the cast members! A wonderful cast member was telling us about all the different plants one of our mornings.