Pandora: World of Avatar Opening Date
We have an official opening date for Pandora: World of Avatar, an opening year for Star Wars Land, and a likely soft opening date for Rivers of Light. (No, for real this time!) We’ll cover all of this and some commentary in today’s post.
The opening date for Pandora: World of Avatar is May 27, 2017, which is not what we were opening or predicting. However, with a Memorial Day weekend official opening, it is likely that we will see at least a few weeks of soft openings beforehand.
In fact, given how complex the land itself is, with Cast Members stationed around various points offering guests information about plant-life and environmental details (some Cast Members are also expected to know bits of the Na’vi language to share with guests) and how high expectations are for things to run smoothly, we would expect a longer soft opening phase rather than a shorter one to iron things out. I don’t think an event on Earth Day is out of the question, but I would not expect it to include any publicized mention of Pandora. Disney likes to pretend new offerings are not open–even as people enter them–until they officially open.
That brings us to Rivers of Light. Last night, there was a private event at Animal Kingdom for something called “SMMC,” which is not a cool secret society like the acronym might suggest. During this, Rivers of Light was shown. There were no technical issues and a few minutes had been trimmed since the Cast Member preview last month, suggesting that test and adjust on the show is complete and it is ready to go.
More importantly (for the sake of its imminent debut), Cast Members are scheduled for the Rivers of Light theater this weekend. This amphitheater is not currently being used, so unless there’s an epic new projection show about Duffy slaying Maleficent’s dragon form (I’d watch that), it stands to reason that Rivers of Light is about to debut. Now, we have zero inside information on this, but Disney does not tend to staff empty theaters, so draw your own conclusions…
Again, I would not expect any official word from Walt Disney World on Rivers of Light. We are close enough to May at this point that it wouldn’t shock me to see Rivers of Light receive a few months of ‘technical rehearsals’ with an official opening May 27, 2016. That way, all of this can be bundled together as a huge relaunch of Animal Kingdom.
February 9, 2017 Update: Dining packages for Rivers of Light are now available for select dates, as is FastPass+. We stand by our prediction that the show will debut this weekend. These packages and FastPass+ don’t start this weekend, but that’s no cause for alarm; giving the show a week of running without complications is probably for the best. If you’re planning on doing a dining package, let us remind you that we consider Tiffins one of Walt Disney World’s absolute best restaurants.
February 10, 2017 Update: Walt Disney World has confirmed that Rivers of Light will debut tonight. FastPass+ is currently available, so act fast if you’re in the park today!
On the Star Wars Land front, Bob Iger announced yesterday during Disney’s earnings call that the still-unnamed Star Wars Lands will open at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2019. We previously reported that construction on Disneyland’s Star Wars Land is significantly ahead of Walt Disney World’s, which is no brilliant insight–it’s obvious to anyone with eyes.
We also indicated there was an internal target opening of Christmas 2018 for Disneyland’s Star Wars Land. It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on that, but that could still be the target soft opening (to absorb holiday crowds) with early 2019 being the official date.
Alternatively, both could officially open in late 2019 (with a long soft opening for Disneyland’s in advance of that), which I suspect would have to be the timeframe if both are to open simultaneously. Before this announcement, my guess was that Star Wars Land for Walt Disney World would slip into 2020. Unless they pick up the pace of construction significantly, it’s going to be tough to make that 2019 opening date in Florida.
There’s still no opening date or even a target year for Toy Story Land. However, if Star Wars Land is coming in 2019, it stands to reason that Toy Story Land will open in 2018. Honestly, and I think I’ve written this before, Toy Story Land could open at the end of this year if Disney moved quickly on it. I doubt that will occur, and I’d instead predict Memorial Day 2018 as the target (and likely) opening date for Toy Story Land.
When I’ve written about Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land here in the past year-plus, I’ve noticed there’s about as much excitement for each of these lands. My advice to Toy Story fans would be this: lower your expectations. Toy Story Land will be a good addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the sense that it diversifies the attraction lineup, but it is not going to ‘wow’ anyone.
It’s different than the Toy Story Lands at Walt Disney Studios Park (in Paris) and Hong Kong Disneyland, but the idea is the same. Both of those lands are ‘dressed-up’ areas with pretty basic amusement park (not theme park) rides. The Toy Story overlays to these rides are neat, but I know of no one who has experienced these lands who has been blown away by them.
On the other hand, everything I’m hearing about Star Wars Land and Pandora indicates they will be mind-blowing, with next-level attractions and environments that will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. I know some people “don’t care about Star Wars” so they aren’t interested in this land, which is pretty much the widespread reaction to Pandora: World of Avatar. How many of you care about Song of the South? Do your kids binge-watch The Twilight Zone or even know what an “Aerosmith” is? Yet, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster are all immensely popular with guests of all ages.
The best example for me, though, is Harry Potter. I haven’t read any of the books (and couldn’t even get through the first few movies), and aside from knowing it’s some sort of version of London in the “Upside Down,” I haven’t a clue what’s going on in Diagon Alley (or maybe that’s Hogsmeade? I don’t know–or care). Yet, I love that area and both Harry Potter attractions, because they are amazingly well done. Likewise, I’ve never been to Morocco, yet it’s one of my favorite World Showcase pavilions.
The point with all of this is that ‘quality will out.’ Just because you don’t care about the source material does not mean you won’t care about the theme park land or attraction. They are two totally different things. This is especially true with Pandora: World of Avatar, based upon an insanely-popular film that hasn’t really entered the pop culture zeitgeist. (I don’t care about this movie or its sequels at all, but I’m incredibly excited for the land.) Conversely, in the case of Toy Story, just because you do care about the source material doesn’t mean you’ll love the land. In any case, after a stretch of primarily focusing on the international parks and years of development, it’s exciting to finally see a big project coming to fruition at Walt Disney World.
Fingers crossed on soft openings for Pandora – we’re going to WDW the first week of May. I think the videos of PoC Shanghai look amazing so a ride based on that for AK would be awesome. Again fingers crossed for a soft opening!
Typo in first sentence of second paragraph? “The opening date for Pandora: World of Avatar is May 27, 2017, which is not what we were *opening* or predicting.”
Feel free to delete this comment 🙂
Snagged a seat for the Rivers of LIght rehearsal on Saturday night. The space is really beautiful (but lots of mosquitoes sitting next to the lake waiting for it to start at dusk). The show went for roughly ten minutes before they stopped it and announced they were going to completely start over in 20 minutes. I enjoyed what I saw, but when it started again it was clear that not all the effects were working and it was much better! Beautiful score and lights. I personally wish it included more live performers but there’s no denying it’s a beautiful feat and a great addition to DAK!
Thanks for sharing your feedback. If anyone else has their own review to share, please do so! 🙂
For those that have experienced a soft opening, are the rides running as well? Or, is just the new area open to walk though?
Tom,
If your prediction on soft openings for Pandora in late April, early May (and I hope they are!), how do guests get involved in them? Just show up and see if the area is open?
That’s correct. We’ll alert newsletter subscribers once soft openings start. Often, soft opening times are sporadic, so you might have to pass by the entrance to Pandora a few times throughout the day and hope for the best.
How do you become a subscriber? We arrive on April 22 and we are hoping for a sneak peek!
We are there over Mother’s Day and would love a sneak peek!
I am super excited as my hubby and I are going to WDW in September. I am also super excited about Star Wars land!! Sensory overload. I am also excited about the new evening show ‘Happily Ever After,’ and am not too terribly worried. I know Disney will deliver on all fronts.
I just booked the Tiffin’s Dining package for Rivers of Light the first week of May! I wonder if Pandora will be in soft opening by the time we visit… it’ll be about three weeks before official opening so I suppose there’s a chance!
River of lights is listed on the Fast Pass options (but shown as sold out for our dates) as well as the calendars at 7:15pm every Sat/Sun, Tuesday and Thursdays starts Feb 18th. My family and I are going March 5th-12th, I am curious to see if we will be able to get into the show without already securing a FP for it!
disregard my previous fast pass comment, I was just able to secure one on the Saturday of our trip!
Rivers of light dining packages are available now!
We arrive May 28th so this news is so exciting for us! I’ve got 6 people going this time around with 3 as first timers so this trip will be full of lots of new things for us all.
I am thrilled at this announcement as it means both SW lands will be open by my 40th birthday in late 2019. I’ve mentioned in comments before my dream is to make it to WDW the first time for my 40th, but was bummed to think that DHS would still not be worth visiting. This gives me new resolve to get that trip to happen and reassures me that if I am not able to I can still head down I-5 for a few days to my beloved Disneyland and get to experience it.
Love the Stranger Things reference! The HP movies get way better as they progress and the characters get older. From “The Prisoner of Azkoban” on.
Unrelated question: are you still predicting a June 19 return date of Paint the Night? I would love to plan for that in our vacation this summer. Thanks!
We are going end of April and hoped your earlier prediction would be the case. Oh well! But River of Lights may open before Pandora …? Love your blog – used your 1 day itineraries on our last trip and it was perfect! Thanks!
Thanks for the info Tom! Do you know if AK will bring back the later closing times? Especially this summer when the daylight is longer.
I can’t wait to see Toy Story land!
Me too Kelsey! I’m looking forward to them all. And finally I’m not the only person on this earth that hasn’t seen Harry Potter.
Hi Tom thanks very much for the update on Pandora, we’re so excited!! We are coming from the uk at the end of July, staying at CBR. Our fast pass booking opens on 27 May, would you believe it? Do you think we will be able to book FP for Pandora as we are ahead of you in time? I’ll be getting up at 4.30 am anyway to book them, just would love an idea of what I can get. Your opinion would be much appreciated.
Jane,
FP’s become available at 7 AM Eastern Standard Time the day your window opens up. That would make it 2 AM in the UK. You might want to stay up late rather than get up early! Hope this helps!
Thanks Chris, I thought it was 12 eastern time. I’ll probably be having a late night!
On May 27th, the UK will five hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Saving time.
It will be noon in the UK when the booking window opens.
I love your Disney blog and am excited to start following your travelcaffeine one!
Tom, In your opinion, how would a soft opening of Pandora work? Would they open up the area unannounced to park guest and open the attractions unannounced? I’m just curious how they have handled that in the past.
Pretty much. There would probably be CMs stationed at the entrance letting people know they can enter for a technical rehearsal.
In the past has there been any restrictions? Can pictures be taken and ones experiences during a soft open be talked about?
Oh exciting update. Thank you Tom! Can’t wait to see Pandora, even though I was bored senseless after 20mins of Avatar. Although I thought the movie was dull I thought the scenery etc was amazing and seeing the land appear at AK has been great. The imagineering is going to be amazing! Sadly I can no longer read your blog though, never read Harry Potter??! Don’t know the difference between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley?!