Avatar Flight of Passage
| Avatar Flight of Passage | |
|---|---|
| Park | Disney's Animal Kingdom |
| Land / area | Pandora – The World of Avatar |
| Type | 3D flying simulator |
| Opened | May 27, 2017 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering, Lightstorm Entertainment |
| Height req. | 44 in (112 cm) |
| Status | Operating |
Avatar Flight of Passage is a 3D flying simulator attraction in Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. Opened on May 27, 2017, it places riders on individual link chairs that simulate flight on a mountain banshee, the large winged creatures native to Pandora in James Cameron's Avatar films. It opened as the principal attraction of the Pandora land and is routinely among the longest-waited attractions in the park.
History
Disney announced a partnership with Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment to bring Avatar to Animal Kingdom in September 2011. The 2009 film was then the highest-grossing film in history, and the project was intended in part to strengthen the park's appeal into the evening.
Construction began in 2014 on the site formerly occupied by Camp Minnie-Mickey, a character greeting area that had operated since the park opened in 1998. Pandora was built around the fictional Valley of Mo'ara, with floating mountain structures, planted alien vegetation and water features forming the setting for both Flight of Passage and its companion boat ride, Na'vi River Journey.
Flight of Passage soft-opened on May 26, 2017, and opened officially with the rest of Pandora the following day. Early demand was exceptional, with reported waits of several hours in its first weeks, and the attraction has remained a headline ride at the park since.
Experience
The attraction is set inside a former facility of the Resources Development Administration, the mining company depicted in the film, now reused by the fictional Alpha Centauri Expeditions. The queue passes through caves bearing Na'vi artwork, through overgrown industrial spaces, and into a laboratory containing a full-scale Na'vi avatar figure resting in a fluid-filled tank.
In the pre-show, guests are matched, in story terms, to an avatar through a fictional genetic sampling process, then briefed on the flight. The rite of passage being recreated is the Na'vi custom of bonding with and first riding a banshee, known in the films as ikran.
Riders then take their places on link chairs, seating arranged in rows facing a very large curved screen. Each rider straddles the seat in a forward-leaning position and is secured by restraints at the back and legs, and wears 3D glasses. The ride film lasts about four and a half minutes and carries the group over a series of Pandoran landscapes, including floating mountains, ocean, forest and a coastal settlement, with dives, banking turns and close encounters with other creatures. Motion of the platform, wind, mist, scents and a pulsing effect beneath the seat intended to suggest the banshee breathing are synchronised with the film. There is no track and no actual drop; all movement is simulated in place.
The attraction operates in multiple theatres arranged on several levels, each level containing linked rooms of eight seats. Riders must be at least 44 inches (112 cm) tall, and the seating and restraints have been a point of discussion since opening because some body shapes cannot be accommodated. A sample seat is provided near the entrance so guests can test the fit before queueing.
Design
Flight of Passage was developed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with Lightstorm Entertainment and with input from Cameron and the film's production designer. Rather than retelling the plot of Avatar, the attraction presents an experience set a generation after the conflicts of the films, in a period when humans and Na'vi are portrayed as cooperating in the valley. That framing allowed the ride to focus on flight itself rather than on characters or a narrative conflict.