The Beautiful Landscape Of Pandora: World of Avatar

This is definitely the most immersive "land" Disney has ever created. After you cross the bridge from the Animal Kingdom into the Valley of Mo'ara from either side, you feel as if you've been transported to another world. The attention to detail in making this place seem alien is totally on point. From the floating mountains to the flora everything is so realistically otherworldly. There's a giant towering plant that not only gives off a strange mist periodically & glows, it also has a heartbeat that responds to touch. Na'vi tribal art decorations are littered everywhere in the form of paintings & giant totems. Waterfalls are abundant through out the land, some falling to nowhere. There's an ACE presence as well. In the Flight of Passage there are "airlocks" cut into the mountain leading to a lab. The restaurant, like the store, is part hut, part "space station" pieces. On top of this, a giant piece of the park land is set aside for brightest glowing pathways & gardens. These are the real stars of the show at nighttime when Pandora goes all bioluminescent. It is a breathtakingly beautiful sight to behold. Here's some galleries of The Valley of Mo'ara at day, night, & inside the mountains. I can't wait to come back here on a less crowded day & really soak it all in. For all our Pandora: World of Avatar opening day adventures up to date click here. Don't forget to like & share.

Valley of Mo'ara (Daytime)

Valley of Mo'ara (Nighttime)

Valley of Mo'ara's Caves

"Pandora: World of Avatar" The Merchadise

"Merchandising, merchandising, merchandising!" That's what it's all about according to Yogurt of the all-time classic Spaceballs. And in Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora: World of Avatar doesn't come up short in that department. With a handful of items located in the two main stores of Animal Kingdom, all the good stuff is reserved for Windtraders. That's the resident store as soon as you cross the bridge into the Valley of Mo'ara. This is where they keep all the cool stuff such as the banshees, custom Avatars, Na'vi language translators, glow in the dark stuff, & much, much more. The store set-up is really cool. There's a banshee "aviary" of sorts to the left as you walk in, where you can "bond" with a banshee. Basically, you get to walk a tree-like wall of banshees to pick the won you're feelin the most. Once you find one, a assistant helps you learn the process of making it "come to life". Next to this, there's a spot where you get facially scanned. This is used to get an action figure of yourself as a Na'vi Avatar. I saved this for the next trip, but it is something I still definitely want to do. The rest of the store is set up with a jungle trading post vibe. In addition to the stuff I've already mentioned there was toy weaponry, candy shaped as random Pandoran bugs & such, passports, an assortment of plush, clothes, tapestries, & pretty much anything you could put Pandora on. There was even a place where you could put together a Na'vi tribal necklace. Not to mention every Disney Park must, Ears. There is not only a set of Na'vi ears, if you really want to go all out you can even get a tail. I had mentioned before there were constant waits to get into this store, but it was worth the wait. This place contains the most awesome merchandise in Disney Parks right now. Until Star Wars land opens up at least, then we'll just have to see. Anyway, like, share, & follow us on social media. We've got another installment on Pandora: World of Avatar coming. This one will be on the landscape of the park both at day & night. We'll also have a sit-down on YouTube to discuss everything we did on opening day, as well as some hands on with some of the merchandise we picked up. For now though check out this gallery of shots of the merchandise of Pandora. The quality of some are not so great, but I wanted you to be able to see as much as possible. For more opening day Pandora: World of Avatar click here.

Let's Talk About The Rides Of "Pandora: World of Avatar"

There a two ride attractions located in the Valley of Mo'ara. The first of the two we got to experience was the Na'vi River Journey. This was a boat ride, much like Pirates of the Caribbean or It's a Small World. However, it takes place through the much alive, bioluminescent night landscape of Pandora. Featuring viperwolves, direhorses, fan lizards, & more. This is the ride that ends with a full-size Na'vi Shaman chanting. For which the animatronics are bewildering. This is the realest audio-animatronic character I've ever seen. Walt would be very proud of this achievement. The use of screens (which I usually think is a big cop out in Disney rides) is awesome. The screens almost feel layered so you're looking at a 3-dimensional character. I don't know if they were, or they just had that good a picture, but I was impressed nonetheless. This is definitely a sight to see. Just another taste of how much they take you to another world. Check out my ride through on YouTube here.

The second ride might have been one of the most intense things I've ever rode in my life. Don't consider that an exaggeration either. You can see in corner of the picture below the device you spend the ride in. This is your "banshee", your vessel to experience Flight of Passage. It kinda resembles a futuristic motorcycle of sorts. You get in the back come up from behind to secure you. You place on your 3D goggles, & as the door lifts up you "sync" with your animal. To signify this you go through a quick plasma-like wormhole of sorts. From that point you even feel your banshee breathing between your legs. The 3D is sharp, no falters at all. If you've ever rode Soarin' at Disney's EPCOT you kind know the basics of this ride, ultra-real simulator complete with air, scents, & even water in places. Except for one major difference, this is Soarin' with a dose of rocket fuel. This thing starts at high speed & just keeps goin. This is the closest you can get to this without just finding some creature to fly on. Obviously, opening day there were long waits for this ride, but through it all I didn't hear one person say it wasn't worth the wait. Two amazing rides, helping to make this land an all around great addition to even out the face of all the parks that make Disneyworld. For more on opening day Pandora click here.

"Pandora: World of Avatar" Food Is Truly Out Of This World

We spent two meals in the Valley of Mo'ara, dining at Satu'li Canteen. In those two meals we managed to put a pretty big dent in the menu. Said menu consisted of two categories. There were Steamed "Pods" (Bao Buns) or Create-Your-Own Satu'li Bowls. We'll start off with the most intriguingly "alien" of the two, the Steamed "Pods".

This was Satu'li Canteen's version of a cheeseburger. There was a vegetable curry version too, but I'm way to carnivorous for that. I was a little worried as I usually order a plain cheeseburger & there's no option with these. It wound up being pretty good though. In the "pod" (bao bun) there was a "sloppy joe" like concoction consisting of what would usually come on a cheeseburger. So you had the cheese, meat, mustard, ketchup, & pickle all ground together. Not only did I surprisingly like this, I loved the root vegetable chips on the side. They were seasoned great. There was also a vegetable slaw with yogurt balls. Not much on slaw in the first place, but the little yogurt balls were good. That's about it for that one. Now we're onto the bowls.

The bowls consisted of 3 steps. First, there was the protein. There's a choice between slow-roasted sliced grilled beef, chopped wood-grilled chicken, sustainable fish fillet, or chili-spiced crispy fried tofu. We went for the first 3. My favorite protein was the beef with the chicken a close runner up. The fish was decent, yet a little under-seasoned for my taste. Second, you select your bowls base: quinoa & vegetable salad, red & sweet potato hash, mixed whole grain & rice, or Romaine & Kale Salad. I'm not a salad person, so the first time around we tried the red & sweet potato hash. I don't dig sweet potatoes, but nonetheless this was tolerable. Especially the reds. Next time we just doubled down on mixed whole grain & rice& yogurt balls mentioned before. Finally, the third step to the bowl was the sauce. These were very much like salad dressing which yours truly does not care for. That being said the wife seemed to like them all. There was a charred onion chimichurri, a black bean vinaigrette, & a creamy herb dressing. Now came my favorite part of any meal, dessert.

The dessert, or "Ber'ri" as it's labeled on the menu consists of two options, both amazingly delicious. The top one is a blueberry cream cheese mousse with passion fruit curd. I don't like fruit & I loved this thing. In contrast however, my wife that does like fruit, didn't like this at all. Said it tasted too much like candy. This was the strangest, yet most delightful thing I tried all day. It definitely has the feel of an alien type fruit. The bottom one is a chocolate cake with a crunchy cookie layer, banana cream, & goji berries. This was really good, but the "chocaholic" that I am can't believe I'm about to say I prefer the first. I would not have even placed the banana cream though until I read it just now off the menu. It tasted like cookie shell & creamy chocolate.

Last but not least, the drinks. I'm not a beer drinker, but part of me wanted to at least sample the "local" brews, Hawkes' Grog Ale & Mo'ara High Ale. However, we went, & came back again, for a Dreamwalker Sangria. That would be that blue concoction you see above. It's a refreshing white sangria with a hint of blue curacao. They used the right word when they say refreshing, this is probably the most refreshing alcoholic beverage I've ever tasted. This drink is why we didn't get to visit Pongu Pongu, the local waterin hole to get a Mo'ara Margarita, it was just too good. Then what Disney Theme Park restaurant would be complete without a signature refillable cup? That would be the wood cup with flute you see above, I even heard some people getting their flute to actually work. Nothing beats a drink & a toy combo.

All in all I really enjoyed this place for what it was. It was far lighter food than I'm used to eating at Disneyworld all together. It seemed like a great spot for lunch to keep you going through the park without weighing you down. The atmosphere is awesome which I will include in the landscape entry coming soon, along with entries for the merchandise, & rides. So follow us on social media, like, & share. There's more to come from our trip to Pandora: World of Avatar. For all of it click here.

"Pandora: World of Avatar" Opening Day 5/27/17

We attended the opening day of Pandora: World of Avatar in Disney's Animal Kingdom, & it was an amazing day. I've never attended an opening day event at any of the parks, but unlike most I knew I was in for some heavy traffic. What I got however, blew me away. Upon entering the Animal Kingdom, about an hour & a half early, we we're herded with many others to the far right pathway after entering the gates by Rainforest Café. It was in this area that I realized the Force was with me that day. I figured some of the people who got "magic hours" (extra hours before & after park openings for people staying in Disney Resorts) had Fast Passes & we're using them. Sure enough I snagged a 8-9 Fastpass while waiting to get in. At this point it's 8 'o clock, time to open, & we see no one else is being let into Animal Kingdom's gates. The line starts to slowly move & we're hearing the land is reaching capacity so they're letting people a little at a time. In line for about 35 mins. we finally make it to the bridge. There we were told anyone with a Fastpass will get let in 10 mins. before pass time. That was our big break of the day, considering we were told that wait stayed at least 5 hours to get back in all day. So needless to say, from 8:45am on thru 11:00pm we were staying the remainder of the day in the Valley of Mo'ara, Pandora. 

So for the only moment of the day everything sped up & we were onto our first ride. However, we will be covering the rides, merchandise, landscape, & food in further entries. This post is strictly for the madness that was opening day. A very controlled madness much to Disney's credit, but madness nonetheless. After our refreshing river ride we found ourselves in what do we do next mode. That's when we figured we'd get the shopping out of the way. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. there was a 2 hour plus line just to get into Windtraders, the resident store of the Valley of Mo'ara. Which we had to brave as I had some specific things in mind, opening day merch, a Na'vi translator, & most importantly adopting a Banshee. More on that to come in further posts. I was amazed at how many people were standing in line just to see what to spend money on. This line, like all the others, stayed like this throughout the day. Eventually becoming the smallest wait time of 30- 45 minutes.

After the store it was onto nourishment. In the course of which we found the line going out the doors of the Satu'li Canteen surprisingly was the fastest moving line of the day, both times we went to eat. We ate almost everything on the menu which we will share with you in further posts, right before we set out to finish our adventure, braving a 5 hour line for Flight of Passage & returning to the Na'vi Journey river ride one more time via a 3 hour line.

All in all it was a jam-packed day. We used the little bit of time we had yet to get some good night-time landscape pics of the park all lit up in it's bioluminescence glory. I don't regret it at all as it was an amazing experience. Most everyone was taking all the waiting very well, with very few exceptions. Things I've learned from this time around? At least one Fastpass on opening day is a must, annual passholders get all the cool exclusive merch for opening day, get ready to wait around a lot, & it is probably worth it to stay in a Disney Resort for opening days to take advantage of the extra "magic" hours. So that was the craziness that was opening day. Can't believe how many different people touched the Valley of Mo'ara in just that day. It was definitely a sight to behold. Anyway, like, share, & keep looking as we'll have more to come with further details of Pandora: World of Avatar. Find it by clicking here.