Previews & Soft Openings for Pandora: World of Avatar
Recently, the #1 question asked by readers has shifted from “when will Free Dining be announced?” to “will Avatar Land have soft openings on ____?” We probably brought this on ourselves, predicting that soft openings would occur for Pandora: World of Avatar before its official opening date of May 27, 2017. (We also have confirmed Annual Passholder previews in the ‘update’ section below.)
This really isn’t a bold prediction. Although recent history suggests otherwise, soft openings are an ordinary and necessary aspect of opening a theme park addition this large. I thought I’d post this as an indirect response to those questions, with some historical context based upon soft openings at Walt Disney World (and beyond) from the past decade or so. Please note that these dates are compiled based upon my research of ‘Disney news’ (my memory is not that much of a steel trap) and could be off by a day or two one way or the other.
Soft openings, also known as trial operations or technical rehearsals, are a chance for the parks to open an attraction unannounced prior to its official opening, to conduct test operations and Cast Member training in a more forgiving and low stress environment. Soft openings always draw (significantly) fewer crowds than official openings, and inform guests that the soft opening could be ended without warning at any time.
May 8, 2017 Update: It’s now looking like general public soft openings are unlikely. Cast Member previews have started, and no additional general public openings have occurred during these times. After Cast Member previews conclude on May 12, 2017, Annual Passholder previews start the following day and run until May 22, 2017.
These Annual Passholder previews required registration and are now full, so if you have not already signed up for a slot it’s too late to gain access. Following these AP previews, there will be a series of media days that will run until May 25, 2017. At that point, a one or two day preview before the land opens to the general public is possible, but it’s also possible that Disney will need to do clean-up from the media events and prepare for the big rush of people on May 27, 2017.
We’ll keep you posted should there be any further updates. So far, the feedback from Cast Members who have visited Pandora has been positive!
What follows now is the rest of our original post…
Let’s start with the bad news: attractions that didn’t have soft openings or had their original opening date pushed back. These include Soarin’ Around the World (due to its nature, an immediate switchover was possible), Frozen Ever After (delayed and opened with technical issues), Rivers of Light (more issues/delays than a single parenthetical can hold),
On the other hand, Toy Story Mania and Star Tours: The Adventures Continue had a little over a month of soft openings. Expedition Everest had over 2 months of soft openings. Although everyone would just like to forget that it ever opened, Stitch’s Great Escape also had over a month of soft openings.
New Fantasyland (for everything but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which opened in ‘phase 2’) soft openings began October 12, 2012, with the grand opening for the land being December 6, 2012. That’s nearly 2 months for 2 attractions, 2 restaurants, and gift shops. (Hmm…sound familiar?) Subsequently, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had a soft opening on May 21, 2014 with an official opening May 28, 2014.
On a more global scale, Shanghai Disneyland could be instructive. Its grand opening was pushed back multiple times and there was a rush to complete work to make its grand opening last summer, but it still had over a month of soft openings. Additionally, and although it’s not Disney, Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood had roughly 2 months of soft openings last year; the complexity of that land looks on par with Pandora.
I think these last few examples are most instructive here. Pandora: World of Avatar is not merely a film that can be swapped out, or a retro-fit attraction utilizing the same ride system. This is a brand new land that not only features 2 new attractions and restaurants, but also a “living” environment about which its Cast Members will need to know.
In the case of Pandora: World of Avatar, I also think it bodes well that Disney set a precise opening date several months in advance. Particularly after the issues with Rivers of Light and Frozen Ever After, that likely means they are confident in the project being ready to be unveiled by that date, if not earlier.
Part of “ready to be unveiled” necessarily means soft openings. Disney is incredibly savvy, and they want positive buzz for the land once it officially opens. This means all elements of Pandora firing on all cylinders, wowing guests and media present to cover it. Given Pandora’s complexity, this requires soft openings.
Moreover, if last week’s media blitz was any indication, in which multiple ABC shows were allowed to take their hosts and crews inside Pandora’s attractions, much of this land is pretty close to being ready now. If Imagineering were racing against the clock to get things done with this being a highly-active construction site, those cameras wouldn’t have been allowed in Pandora.
Frankly, that level of media coverage so early makes me suspect that a lot of Pandora: World of Avatar is ready to go right now. It wouldn’t surprise me if there is an element or two–plus some finishing touches on the land itself–that is holding up the rest of the land from being ready to open earlier. That, or it’s all ready to go, but Disney determined the optimal time for opening was Memorial Day weekend.
My original prediction was Pandora opening for Earth Day as part of a rededication and relaunch of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I could still that happening, but not in a splashy, public way. A more realistic scenario seems like having a private event internally for Cast Members, or perhaps a Disney Parks Blog meet-up with a ‘surprise’ visit to Pandora. It’s also possible nothing at all will happen, with Disney not wanting to draw attention away from the big grand opening.
Suffice to say, if you’re heading to Walt Disney World in late April, I think you have a modest chance of Pandora holding soft openings during your trip. Those chances go up considerably the first week of May. Soft openings by the week of May 7, 2017 seem highly likely. If Pandora is not having soft openings by the week of May 14, 2017, I’d be downright shocked.
I’m not prepared to give numerical odds because I don’t want irate emails if these predictions don’t pan out (let me be clear: I have no inside information and am only making educated guesses here). However, I will say that we booked a trip after the announcement of the Pandora opening date, and we booked it prior to the grand opening for the express purpose of seeing Pandora before things get crazy. So, I’m putting my money where my mouth is on these predictions. Given the complexity of what Walt Disney World is opening, they need at least 3 weeks of trial operations to ensure a smooth grand opening.
If you’re visiting closer to Memorial Day, I’d say your chances are very good. There is one caveat to that: media events. The week before grand opening is typically when Walt Disney World has its media day(s), and in the case of Pandora: World of Avatar, I’d expect a full court press on the media front. This could very well mean that Pandora is not open to guests at all that week before the grand opening. Prior to that, there’s also the possibility of Cast Member, Annual Passholder, and Disney Vacation Club previews that open the attractions on certain days only to those groups.
No matter when you’re visiting, one thing to keep in mind with soft openings is that they are sporadic and unannounced. You will not see wait times in the My Disney Experience app. You won’t see anything posted in Animal Kingdom (except maybe a small sign near Tiffins–maybe). If you ask a Cast Member at your hotel whether Pandora is open–even after it has been doing trial operations for a week–they will likely say no and give you the official date.
The goal of soft openings are to conduct test operations in a less-hectic setting, and that doesn’t occur if there’s a public announcement and everyone in Walt Disney World flocks to Pandora. However, the internet being the internet, soft openings are reported on (we will certainly update newsletter subscribers as soon as Pandora soft openings start) and people post about them to social media. The cat gets out of the bag, but still only to guests savvy-enough to keep themselves informed.
The sporadic nature of soft openings means that you cannot count on them to start at park opening and continue through to park closing. This is a test and adjust phase, and usually that means delayed opening times, at minimum. Some days, soft openings may not occur at all. Other times, the attractions might break down, and the soft opening will end prematurely.
Soft openings require guest patience and a flexible schedule. If you have your entire trip precisely scheduled and only have a 4-hour window in Animal Kingdom and cannot change that, you might miss soft openings. The tradeoff in (potentially) being able to experience something before the general public (and with far shorter lines) is being understanding when things break-down or don’t go exactly as planned. Resolving these problems ahead of the grand opening is one of the points of a soft opening in the first place, so you need to be prepared to roll with the punches.
Again, let me reiterate that these are only my predictions. I could be totally wrong. I don’t have any additional info beyond this, so please don’t email me your precise travel dates and expect some stunning revelation in response. No matter when you’re going during a potential soft opening phase for Pandora, I would not bank on experiencing it. There could always be issues that prevent you from being able to experience the new land, and it’s better to have this be a pleasant surprise than a firm expectation followed by a disappointment. Hope that provides some of the bases for our prediction concerning Pandora: World of Avatar soft openings at Walt Disney World–if you have any predictions of your own, or any other ‘evidence’ that might help when soft openings will occur, please share in the comments!
So here’s something interesting: Animal Kingdom closes at 3:30pm on May 24. Possible Media Day, Tom? What are your thoughts?
This gives me a sliver of hop for May 2nd- 4th. I hope I am in the right place at the right time! I will be back in November so at least I know that I will see it sometime this year!
I’m with you, Mindy! I’m also there early May (2-7) – I am also an Annual Passholder so I’m bummed to miss those scheduled previews, but will hope for a soft opening. If not, I’ll see it in November.
I’m in WDW May 12-20…I’m hoping I get to see Pandora before I leave…we shall see.
I’ll be there the first week of April and I know the odds are slim to none . But I’m so hoping to get a chance to see it even if the rods and restaurant isn’t open. … wish me luck
1 Clement St
We were gifted a week stay in Clearwater which was 2 days after our initial trip to WDW was to end, so we’re just extending our time at the parks now and think we’ll decide to brave AK out on opening day, especially since that’s a Extra Magic early entrance day (as of now).
We’re going to be there from April 20 – 28th for the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon. I really hope they’ll have a soft open, but we’ll be back in January for the Marathon, so we’ll be able to go then.
I wasn’t sold on the idea, but the more I see, the more it looks like Disney really pulled out the stops.
How do you get into a soft opening? I’ll be there May 19.
We’ll be there end of April to May 6th, with no set schedule, but were planning on visiting AK just to see if they were having a soft opening. We usually save AK for December because the weather is more tolerable, but desperate times call for desperate measures (which has nothing to do with the topic other than the fact that I’d rather see Pandora during a soft opening than after the official opening).
I did catch James Cameron’s guided tour last week and feel compelled to say it is phenomenal. I imagine guests should expect much larger than normal crowds for quite awhile.
Do they do soft openings on Saturdays too, or is it usually only during the week? Any guesses? Just wondering, as we usually end up at the parks only on Saturdays.
I’m wondering this too!
So if I’m hearing you correctly, you know 100% that a soft opening will take place on May 1st. Good to know .
We will be there May 13 – 21 also and hoping to catch a soft opening while there. Fingers crossed!
Crossing our fingers we’ll get to experience this during our May 7 week trip! We probably won’t be back for a year or two.
We will be at WDW April 26-May 2. I figured that there was a chance that we might see a soft opening, and I guess you are saying that, indeed, we have a chance. With FP+ reservations having long been made, we are not totally flexible, although we have 3 half-days planned at Animal Kingdom, and aside from Rivers of Light, I would be willing to forego the attractions we have seen several times in the past to see Pandora.
My trip is April 30th-May 6th, sounds to me like you have 100% guaranteed that I will get to experience a soft opening of Pandora! 😉
Thanks for the updated info, Tom. We’re there the week of 5/7, and I agree that it certainly seems that Disney is going into this grand opening with a lot of confidence, which bodes well for the early May crowd getting a soft opening. However, for the countless times we’ve been to WDW (or Universal for that matter), we’ve never gone around the time something new (big) was opening, so we have no experience with soft openings. I’m assuming in the case of Pandora, the main entrance to the area (I’m assuming that bridge we keep seeing in photos) would only be open if they want you in to see the land/experience the rides. If that’s the case, I guess the idea is that you just hang out near the land’s entrance and hope for the best? Are there more strategic, read: better, ways to approach a soft opening of this size that anyone can share?
Maybe we’ll see you there if that’s also your scheduled week!
Thanks,
Jim
I wouldn’t just hang around at the entrance–that seems like a waste of time unless you’re a blogger with nothing better to do. 😉
In most cases, once a soft opening starts, it remains open for at least a few hours. If you just make a pass of the entrance every hour or couple of hours, you’d be fine.
Thanks! Since I’d prefer to leave the blogging to experts like you, we’ll go with your suggestion and actually enjoy the rest of the park, too. Do you know if there will be multiple entrances from different AK “lands” into Pandora, or just one to help “control” the experience?
Jim
Thank you SO MUCH for putting together the research here. I was wondering what the odds were of a soft opening during our late April trip. This gives me hope! (Which I will temper with a healthy dose of low expectations per your advice lol) Ultimately we will see pandora in the fall when we visit but just maybe we will be lucky to catch a soft opening during April. I will definitely be paying attention to your blog for any news about soft opening starts, but your explanation of how they typically worked in the past was exactly what I was looking for. Once again, thanks Tom!
Will you also update via twitter or instagram? We’ll be there 5-7 to 5-13… (crossing everything at this point, lol!)
Probably on Twitter–unlikely on Instagram. Even once we have experienced it (knock on wood!) I tend not to post spoiler-ish photos in a way that they cannot be avoided for a decent amount of time.
We booked our trip long before the opening date was announced and will be landing on May 27 itself. So I just hope that the opening isn’t pushed back!
Now the question is whether to even brave AK on that first day – Disney geek points for being in the land on opening day vs. sanity of avoiding the crowds.
It would take a catastrophic loss to push the opening back at this point. The way they publicized Pandora on ABC last week guarantees it’ll open May 27 unless there is some HUGE issue. Even if one of the attractions can’t open, they’re still going to open the land.
WHAt are your thoughts on a soft opening of GotG ride since we are the topic of soft openings. I will be at Dl may 20-23
I’d be shocked if there is much, if anything, in terms of a soft opening there. That project is down to the wire, and it’s not as much of a necessity since they are using the same ride system, and Cast Members are already trained on that.
Fingers crossed……We will be at WDW May 13-21. As a APH and staying on property, we are hopeful. We plan on hanging out at AK for as many of the days as we can. Maybe we might stumble onto a new land????? It will be a turkey shoot at best, not emu, but it doesn’t hurt to increase the odds.