I think adding a narration track would be a really simple fix for this ride. Get one of the people who played the scientist in Flight of Passage, and have them explain that you're trying to find your way to this super important Navi music ceremony but you have to go by river. The one Navi figure is implied to now be trying to stop you/disapproving of your journey, adding some tension. Along the way, the narrator gives lore about the difference Pandora life forms you're seeing. And then at the end you finally do find the Shaman of songs.
I personally think that River Journey could’ve gotten away with a lack of story if it was just at least 4 minutes longer. Floating around Pandora is super cool and I like that it’s a ride that just exists on vibes and vibes alone, but it’s just wayyyyy too short.
I donno my issues with it is that so many parts of it I can very clearly see past the scenery and the parts of the building that should be hidden. The ride feels like a ride at the fair.
@Melan Choly What fairs do you go to that even have a third the ride tech as Navi? That isn't really a defense of Navi more then it is a call out to that extreme exaggeration.
When I rode the ride for the first time a year ago, we were looking forward to the animatronic, and were telling others in our party about how it was the most advanced one Disney had ever made. Then, when we got to that part of the ride, it had been removed for maintenance and was replaced with a digital projection.
Same, the Animatronic being in maintenance mode makes the ride med since the only reason to see it (besides relaxing for a minute ig) is to see the impressive Shaman robot.
I have a cheaper fix: in the queue add info about the spiritual practice of meditation, and have people do breath work to the beat of the music on the ride. That sets the mood for the ride and adds an educationally element that turns a mid ride into an excellent meditative experience
I agree, and the people who are in the fastpass (no, I will not call it ‘genie plus’) line are people who are already pretty familiar with the ride/concept and won’t need it as much. Even if they do need it, then ig that’s the trade off they have to be willing to give lol
The weird thing about River Journey is that it didn’t feel like a true river ride. It felt like we were being pulled on a motorized track, not ‘floating’ down a river.
I 1000% agree. I've always felt that Na'vi river journey was too reliant on projections. I'm a little worried that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will have those horrible projection-faced animatronics. I really hope that doesn't happen.
Can they even make good projection faces on darker-skintone characters? The dwarves and frozen sisters have a distinct "seamline" and look washed out as heck, as pale as they already are.
@@Zombina638 I'm sorry. I actually wasn't referring to the Nav'i animatronic. It has a beautifully articulated face. I was more referring to the Anna and Elsa animatronics on Frozen Ever After who have their faces projected on.
I think what also gets me about River Journey is how often the animatronic goes down for maintenance. With a ride hinging on a grand finale like the Shaman, it makes me feel actively irritated on the ride when I FINALLY get to the Shaman after waiting for 2 hours, and I’m greeted with a projection on a screen instead. It makes me feel like the whole time was wasted when I could’ve been doing anything else whatsoever and had a better use of my time. But then again, it seems like Disney is okay with letting animatronics see better days and with how ridiculously complicated and, I imagine, expensive the Shaman is to maintain, I feel like making sure the grand finale is up at all times isn’t the highest thing on their priorities list.
I know this exact feeling. Went to Disney for the first time and it took a lot of effort to get there. I love animatronics and I was the most excited to see this one. Queued up, went through the ride, turned the corner and, oh… not only was the animatronic not there but there wasn’t even the screen version of her. I felt so deflated after that
Went to Galaxy's Edge the first month it was open. Rise of the Resistance, ONE animatronic goofed up and they shut down the whole dang ride. It took 4 days to finally ride the ride all the way through, and we STILL skipped over an entire section to dodge a dodgy ride system on the "escape shuttle." And... like, I'll admit that that sucked, and having the guys in First Order Uniforms quietly escort me out of the ride as my "interrogation had been delayed" was immersion disrupting in a way they probably didn't want for their big flagship ride. That said... if the Shaman is acting up... just close the dang River Journey. The entire ride hinges on ONE effect.
as far as I know her system is programmed to immediately shut down if an error is detected to prevent further damage due to how expensive she is. so that definitely causes problems :( she's a brilliant creation but it's clear they didn't think it through when it came to the guests and the ride itself as they were too focused on making her as advanced as possible. I'm grateful we get to witness her but to be honest, an animatronic this advanced and expensive should not have been designed for a ride where it must repeat the same exact movement for all park hours every day. it's not the same as it is for say the star wars animatronics, because they still get time to rest after guests exit the room, but her movement and singing is constant
My sister’s family went to Disney World last spring, her and her husband’s take on Navi River Journey was basically “it was dark and relaxing, we wished it was longer,” and my then 7yo nephew’s take was “I don’t remember that one.” So not exactly ringing endorsements.
I love your idea of a Na'Vi holiday as the story line. Maybe something that encourages the healing of the planet after RDA left? Something to celebrate Pandora's vibrant and varied life? We could call it... Life Day!
if the "frozen is named that so the google search "disney frozen" yields no results about the frozen head" theory is correct then this would be a genius idea
Having the ride lead to that single animatronic is even more of a letdown when the ride is in B-mode. The last time I went to Disney I rode it on two different days and she was down both times. ):
ugh i agree. especially because it would (probably, correct me if i’m wrong) be more cost effective if they reused a lot of the props and animatronics from splash mountain in the new princess and the frog themed ride. considering the animatronics from splash mountain were reused once before it hurts my heart to imagine what could happen to them with no new home 😭 i think the re-themeing makes sense though and i’m truly looking forward to the new ride, i just hope they keep some of the elements while also making it new and exciting and fresh!
"It's very clearly a showcase of technology and special effects, but there's nothing to sort of go around that, no secondary draw" is exactly the problem with the Avatar movies in the first place.
Even if we assume it's true that Avatar has "no secondary draw," which for the record I don't think is true, would that necessarily a big problem? Because it would appear that the one remaining draw is enough, considering it has sent the two films to over 5 billion at the box office.
@@veejay5525 until way of water got announced, nobody talked about avatar or cared about it. Most people can’t remember anything from the first movie besides the basic pocohantas plot and the 3D. So yeah, it’s not a problem if you’re not going for a good movie and just making a box office cash grab for showing off cg effects. I personally want to see a movie with heart put into it (like Puss In boots: The last wish which is more successful than this movie) But it sounds like to you, a movie just needs to make money to be good, which isn’t true and pretty sad way to see it.
@@KingOfGaymes First off, I usually wouldn't even bother comparing a movie like Avatar to a movie like Puss in Boots in the first place (just like I wouldn't compare my favorite cheese to my favorite fruit), nor am I particularly interested in quantitatively ranking things in general. You're going pretty wild with putting words in my mouth, however, so if you must insist on such a comparison, I myself absolutely adored everything about The Last Wish from start to finish on multiple viewings, and felt that The Way of Water was an uncharacteristically clumsy and awkward-feeling film by Cameron's usual standards, and that it fell quite short of recapturing the elegant storytelling and worldbuilding, mythical tone and scope, natural character development, and general sense of magic of the first Avatar (I'm still not sure how it managed to be 30 minutes longer than the first, with so much worldbuilding already pre-established, and yet somehow it felt like there was less story than the original). That said, the film's astonishing visuals and the absolute crystal clarity in how those images were presented were just completely eyeball-melting and brain-frying, in a way that I will remember for a long time. Even then, while I saw the first Avatar five times in theaters, seeing The Way of Water once was enough for me. At any rate, whether you personally like the film or not, I do think it's pretty unfair to call it a "cash grab," when the filmmaker in charge is obviously so deeply invested in the work, creatively. The Way of Water had heart and care put into its creation. So did Puss in Boots. So did Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, and Banshees of Inisherin, and Jackass Forever, and Nope, and Top Gun Maverick, and Belle, and Glass Onion, and Wendell & Wild, and many other films released last year. There isn't any kind of zero-sum game between how much "heart" any of these had put into them, or any other totally separate movies made by different people that one might try to compete against each other for whatever reason. How much money a movie makes and how many tickets it sells has absolutely nothing to do with how much I enjoy it, or how good I may think it is. I'm also not going to automatically disregard when a movie has obvious popular mass appeal. I haven't seen a Marvel movie since 2014 and I don't really know how good or bad any of them may be, or how much "heart" was put into them, but I'm not going to disregard that there are reasons that so many people obviously enjoy them, which is fine. I think the fact that, as you say, "nobody talked about avatar or cared about it" in the 13 years between the first and second films directly goes to show how powerfully elements of the first film stuck with a lot of people, and makes the immense success of The Way of Water all the more impressive. Unlike Marvel and Star Wars and many other highly saturated media franchises, there was no Avatar Extended Universe of semiannual sequel films and spin-offs and TV shows and videogames over the past decade to keep the it in the spotlight. And yet tens of millions of people, millions of whom indeed hadn't seen the original in years and probably didn't remember much about it, still flocked to see The Way of Water, to the tune of $2.25 billion at the global box office. I think that directly speaks to how much those basic elements of the setting, the feel, and the images of that first film stuck in the back of many people's minds all this time. You also seem to be drawing at least some kind of correlation between "memorability" and "quality," which I think is an extremely flawed premise. I've seen some terrible movies containing elements that I'll never forget ("You're tearing me apart Lisa!"), and I've also seen many great films that I can't remember many specifics of at all if I haven't seen them recently. District 9 was a fantastic movie that made a big impression on me back in 2009, but I haven't seen it in over a decade, and while I can remember the overall setting and the main character, I'd really struggle to try and recall many of the story beats. I have a friend who can quote all of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by heart, but even though I myself can only quote bits and pieces, it's still one of my favorite comedy films ever. Personally, I literally hadn't seen Avatar since 2010, but I could still remember all of the main character's names, the names of the creatures and places, the overall beats of the story, a couple phonetic phrases in the Navi language, and many other small details. I can also understand if someone else didn't remember anything about it other than the stereoscopic CGI and blue cat people. Like, so what if that's all that some people remember about a movie they saw 13 years ago? Is everyone supposed to be able to remember everything about every movie they ever saw? Is their ability to permanently remember every detail always going to be 100% directly tied to how "good" a movie was? If effects and visuals were the most memorable thing about a film for many people, are we supposed to automatically hold that against the film somehow? Take Fantasia, for example. The whole point of that film was to center an elevated cinematic interplay of music and visuals, rather than to tell intricate stories in any traditional manner, and it's still recognized as a landmark film and a beloved classic over 80 years later. Are we going to hold Fantasia to some unfair metric and judge it a defective film on inapplicable standards? Not all movies have to be all things to all audiences. Just because not all viewers can remember every detail about a (formerly) one-off standalone film that they saw a decade ago, doesn't necessarily mean that they don't care about that film. And none of these things are always directly correlated to how much heart and care a movie was made with. There's a lot more to it than that, and it's not the same in every case. Culture is complicated, and there's no need to try to boil it all down so much.
As much as I wish to disagree, I can't. The Spider-verse films are a great example of a showcase of technology and artistry and animation and special effects and storytelling, but there's also SPIDERMAN.
I feel like a really easy option to tie the ride together would be to add a few small animatronics of a single small Pandora creature which starts by running up to the boat near the start, and then fleeing various predators alongside the river, before hiding in the comfort of the Shaman’s grotto at the end. This would give something to draw the eye and give a feeling of progression. The theming of the environment would make it really simple to conceal tracks for the animatronic to run along, and the scenery can be used to naturally hide sections where one version of the creature is replaced by the next. It also gives a better use of the projections, as the prey creature could react in real time to the big beasts being depicted - giving them a better connection to the physical set. Don’t mind me, though. I’m just an ideas guy.
Back in the good old days (2019) my family went to Disney World and we got lucky as the night before our Animal Kingdom day I was checking stuff out on the app and an early fast pass opened for Na’vi River Journey. Our fast pass was for about an hour after the park opened. As we got near the land we saw a cast member with a sign saying the line for the river ride started here and they were telling people the wait was almost four hours. We walked into Pandora and onto the ride and as we got off and walked back into Pandora my mother turned to us and said something I still believe. She said “that was an okay ride… if I had to wait four hours for it it wouldn’t have been but as for us it was okay”. I haven’t ridden the ride again since that first time but that’s still how I feel. It was fine and I don’t regret riding it but I also probably wouldn’t ride it again unless it was a walk on situation.
Wow, you put all of my thoughts into words. I used to do figure finishing (overnight artistic maintenance) at DAK and I have such a deep love for Pandora and the Shaman specifically 💙 I wish her surrounding ride would support the incredible marvel that she is!
@@jalapeno1119 Universal making an avatar section in florida would be the funniest shit, especially because the land would be significantly better than pandora and probably have more than 2 darn rides (lol disney plz stop this, 3 is minimum for an entire expansion)
@@SchnookieC universal is opening up Mario world with only two rides. In California it only has one of two rides. Why is it okay when universal does it?
had a coworker who went to River Journey when it first opened. I asked what she thought of the river shaman and she said she didn’t even realize it wasnt a person and therefore wasn’t impressed 💀
I agree. I do enjoy the ride, as I love the atmosphere and beauty of it. The shaman is the most breathtaking part, as you said. It could’ve been so much more but I get that the budget was mostly spent on the shaman, and I love going through the ride scenery anyways. Also, the sponsor is legit! I’ve ordered oils from the Magic Candle Company before and love them! The Banshee Flight seriously smells exactly like the ride, I don’t know how they do it but I’d definitely recommend
Me and my family has only ever gone on this ride once on all of our Disney trips, because we’re always so focused on getting onto Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest, to be fair we usually only go to Animal Kingdom for like a day, but still
Navi River Journey is a great atmospheric boat ride, solid soundtrack (I have the mp3), and the shaman at the end is EPIC. Could adding a few actual physical characters help? Of course but I would love to see an increase in capacity or make the queue better, that would add your story. Pandora could really do with some Magic Band+ interaction.
This was a great review of the land/rides. I agree. I liked the boat ride better than Flight of Passage, but even then, it needed something, and you broke it down accurately!
I think a way to fix it would be to INTEGRATE the QUEUE in the story! As you go through the queue you're already into the forest and your lost and when you get on the boat it's your way out. Make the queue confusing, just going back and forth in different direction and maybe use illusion to make it seams like some path extand beyond the queue, but there's like something blocking your way. Make the queue more immersive and fill it with sound dampening material so people's talking doesn't echo, maybe add curtains at regular interval to create a feeling of isolation.
Dallin, buddy...I was with you for pretty much every hot take here, but I think that waterfall effect is genius! It's a great way to blend a physical set with a digital one. I don't know why they didn't do a real one instead but I think it works well!
You are 100% correct. I didn’t know what I was in for during this ride but the first thing I said when I got off that ride was, “what a waste of and hour and a half wait.” So disappointing
Me and my parents went on this ride not too long after that section of the park opened (we had bought 3 day passes for another family member's b-day, and used the other two days in July for my Mom's b'day). We went on the River ride since my parents had health issues that prevented them from going on Flight of Passage, and we stayed in an almost 2 hour long queue for a 3 minute sit-down ride. We all wished we could get our time back from that...
Always thought the glowing effect on the plants should have pulsed in sync with the music beats, as it does in the final scenes of the first movie... Seems like it would have been an easy thing to add.
I really love the atmosphere of this ride and as a local passholder, I do hop on it any time the wait is semi-reasonable, but... that's not very often. I think I tend to give it more of a pass because Animal Kingdom as a whole is more atmosphere-driven than the other WDW parks (and it's probably my favorite one currently), so I'm mainly there for the environments anyway. But all your suggestions would absolutely elevate the ride and make the high wait times more worth it. I'd also love to have them go back and add in whatever other experiences Joe Rhode was hinting at around the land itself because, again, the atmosphere is great, but it's just pretty empty. The sequel movies finally coming out would be a good excuse for some upgrades. (I actually saw you there at Animal Kingdom last month, so I was especially excited to see this video pop up today!)
I personally love the River ride. I think it’s the best ride to end the night with. You go on this scenic, calm river journey with bioluminescence after a long day of thrilling rides, and then when you get off it’s night outside with the bioluminescence everywhere around you - a continuation of the ride, seeing the enchanting magic of the world of Pandora. I do agree, though, it could use a story or an explanation that’s setup before the ride in the queue, keeping the ride itself the same experience.
Yeah, my general opinion of this ride is that it's fine, but I definitely wouldn't want to wait an extensive time for it. I think your suggestion of adding some animal animatronics into it is a good idea! (also I agree with you that Flight of Passage is just fine, not the best thing ever)
I'm actually with you on the quality/quantity thing here. S tier animatronics are cool...for like the first 3 months before they start breaking down. I'd rather see 3 A tier animatronics that are easy to repair and keep functional. Disney still has the best animatronics, but Universal is figuring out the secret and even Universal is relying less on screens now.
I haven't seen it, but it sounds like you have a lot of very good points. I'm sorry to hear that there aren't more "people" and animals. To make the ride more realistic they need some of the animals and it would be great to see the main individuals involved in some type of activity. I agree that there should be a story. Do they have a store for collectibles? Is there any word of a restaurant with more food? If they are going to put so much money into this, they should really go all the way; pull out all the stops to make this really amazing. Thank you for the info and thoughts :)
I literarily JUST got back from watching Avatar: The Way of Water (for the third time), and am now watching this video. So, your timing may have been perfect for me, and me only, but whatever. 10/10
I thought the story was that you were taking a journey to the god tree along with all of Pandora (including the animals, that’s why the animals are all going in the same direction as the boat) because it was the yearly purification/spiritual event and the Navi were having humans take part along with the Navi that were coming of age as a cleansing ritual before you flew with the banshee and that was why when you enter the land of Pandora you see the NRJ before FOP. I feel like in the intro of FOP they talk about coming of age ritual/ceremony before the flight (could be my imagination). That’s how I always felt. Maybe I’m reaching😂
You're kind of right. Navi River Journey does have a loose story of the Navi and animals coming together to sing with the Shaman of Songs in praise of their Goddess, Ewa. Flight of Passage has a slightly different story though. The coming of age ritual in that ride, is riding on a Banshee. That's why the ride is called Flight Of Passage (a play on the term 'rite of passage') They refer to the ritual as "Iknimaya" or The Path to Heaven. I actually love your idea of intertwining their stories, though. Both rides have a very spiritual vibe to them. 😊😊
I've waited 6 years to hear Dallin swear... 0:15 was nothing compared to the waterfall rant, I was almost certain we were finally going to hear it! 🤣🤣🤣
i get it, i understand the criticisms of the ride. but from the perspective of a complete and total wimp when it comes to rides, i absolutely love an atmospheric boat ride, and i love this attraction so much. (unpopular opinion that i know absolutely no one will agree with, its one of my favorite rides in all of wdw) like i completely get why people dont like it, and i respect that opinion but i just cant help but love it
I agree, the ride is an atmospheric ride with only the background done. Add in some physical features and effects to give a reward for looking around and waiting. It feels like the whole ride you’re waiting for something, then you see one animatronic and that’s it. Add some lesser things could also make the end look even better through comparison
Went on it for the first and last time in 2018,. Waited 2hrs to get on to see the amazing animatronic, but got the screen. Never had the desire to get back on it..
"Nothing really happens to us, it happens around us." I feel like that's the whole point though. What I got from the movies is that the action happens TO these characters, but there's also something to be taken from the calm moments. It reflects what's to be appreciated by the world we inhabit, nature and all. Life is naturally happening around us as well. Embracing nature and finding peace is the overall moral of the story and the message I got from it. I feel like the ride reflects that portion of the film very well in that aspect, as brief as it may be.
I've only been to Disney World twice since Pandora opened, once the year it opened, and more recently in 2022 in a post-pandemic world. Both times, I went on Navi River, BUT both times I didn't wait to go on. The first time was with old school free FastPass, and this time with Genie+ Lightening Lane. I would NEVER wait for this attraction more then 5 minutes. The wait times were going from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. The first time I went I was excited, then I saw the Shaman and thought, here we go, this is when it gets good...but here comes the unload. What? It is too short, and I was expecting a grander scale. I will still go on it, if there is no wait, or I have "fast pass".
While I LOVE Pandora, I recall our first time there. We got a lightning lane for Navi but not Flight and we waited an hour and a half for Flight and loved it! We walked on Navi and we all said while we loved the ride, and the animatronic was absolutely stunning it was too short and no story and glad we didn't wait for that one or would have probably hated it. Agreed! it needs something more!
Agree! This is one of the most beautiful rides I've ever seen but it needs action abd narration. Give us something....needs more imagineering and "life"...and a story...and a "drop" Would be a bonus!
As a 70 yo Disney fan since the MMC on TV and the 1065 NY World's Fair, the problem with this attraction is that it doesn't give any WOW factor. The first time I saw It's a Small World, Mr. Lincoln, the Ford exhibit dinosaurs (I was the younger brother, but I stood in line 2 hours to drive that Mustang!), the Disney World Preview Center, etc., as each new attraction opened it lived up to the anticipation. The years and months leading up to Space Mountain nearly killed me! But when I finally first rode it, IT PAID OFF! 50 years later I'm riding this beautiful but oblique ride with my grandchildren and wondering where we went wrong.
I thought finding the shaman of song was the story? We see everyone go to where the shaman is, so I assume the story is that. It's a journey through the river, following the shrines (that act as guide posts) and the life and na' vi to find the shaman. I do agree, the forest could be a lot more lifelike with moving animatronics to add more dynamic characteristics- really get that alien rain forest feel- as well as making this longer- rain-forests are known for being large and this is a journey- it really does need the extra millage to give it depth
Speaking of pirates, hello Mr. Offhand. I wanna say thank you for the acknowledgement video from my girlfriend who you met at Disneyland by the Wishing Well. Would be honored to ride my favorite ride Pirates with you along with my girlfriend too. Also I NEVER RODE ON THE HAUNTED MANSION! EVER! 😱
I have my Animal Kingdom cast member preview guide signed by Joe Rohde as a treasured part of my Disney memorabilia. He was there with his family enjoying the park (he was pushing a stroller)and was super gracious taking pictures and signing stuff.
Can I just say.. as an Opening Day Cast Member over on Pandora, in response to your comment made here -> 7:52… there’s a reason nothing is happening to you and only around you! If you recall from the first film Neytiri spent the entire time trying to get Jake to learn the lesson behind it! YOU are meant to explore Eywa! The Great Mother doesn’t happen to YOU! YOU happen to HER!! And if you listen to the Shamans song at the end she’s singing about how when we (..IF we) all come together through Her, We are all connected.. We are all One! 😅 😅 But that said.. Love your channel! Been a huge fan for a a while now and I never miss a show, serials! I even go back and binge watch any I’ve missed on any rare occurrence that I have! #OffhandDisney P.S - I’m team Living with the Land as well!! Always been my favorite since I first discovered it!
I do genuinely think that this is my fear for Tiana’s. They have such a short turnaround on that ride, and while they’ve done a decent pace with bringing over Runaway Railway they’ve also taken 5 years to clone Tron. I imagine the only way it’s getting done so quickly is them planning to make it a lot like this ride. They push the little critter band that will be there but my guess is that it’ll be in there once, maybe twice, and the rest of the ride will be projections, basic figurines, and little tricks like the fake waterfall and hints of animals in the treetops. The only reason I think they might not is that the ride is fairly long, making it hard to be plotless.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way about the ride; my husband and I waited 40 minutes to go on Na'vi River Journey. After we got off, we were like, "that...was it?" and yes, we did describe it as "mid," lol.
The whole Land has a story, if you need to be literally spoonfed on every ride, then your in the wrong land. Pandora's story & the way they stick to it is incredible. By not giving a specific story it allows every single rider to create their own! For me MY PERSONAL STORY is i've Just taken my flight of passage down to the waters edge, and i am now taking the relaxing ride into the cave waters & woods to complete my official induction into the Navi.
I agree 100% - I've done Flight of Passage 2 times (2nd time once when there was no line just to see if it was as uninteresting as I remembered) but definitely enjoy the Navi River. But I've always said it needs a story - your solutions are great. They could definitely use the queue to their advantage to build up a story - even with signs or something.
To be fair, that animatronic was gorgeous. The way it moves is unreal. I’m not going to be ungrateful about that ingenuity. We need to understand how far we’ve come with animatronics and it has other scientific applications. Honestly just seeing it would be enough for me. It’s animatronic genius at its finest. THAT BEING SAID, I haven’t waited in those lines yet so it might not be worth it 😂😂
I’m wondering… the first time I experienced this ride, I was in awe as the jungle felt alive and there was much to see. On my last visit it felt like stuff was missing. Seemed there were less frogs jumping on the leaves above, plants not doing their thing, spinning orange lizards and less wood sprites falling from above. We need more of that wow stuff. Walt use to say how can we plus it (hence why we have Disney plus and genie plus?)… so let’s see those pluses again!
Thank you for your funny work Daylin...you are really really fun to watch..thank you again.. Oh yes..I caught you with Dave from Fresh Baked at DL at the Runaway Rail..
I don’t think Tiana will get screen projection. Seems like Disney knows what we want. Because they released that Frozen ride in HKDL will have animatronic (I hope it’s not just Elsa)
It was nice to meet at the Disney 100 celebration at Disneyland. Met you by the Matterhorn, and we spoke about bringing back the People Mover and Sky Buckets ! Please speak to creepy Mickey and see if he can talk to Bobby Iger to make it happen 🙏 I love your videos. Keep up those great videos coming !
I have only ridden this once when it opened and I remember saying while getting off the ride, “That was it?” It felt like I waisted 3 hours of my life waiting for this
Its well known funding was cut for NRJ when FOP went WAAAYYY over budget. I personally love NRJ but cant help but notice the short length every time I ride. Just a little more length, with perhaps a ride through a practical effect Na'vi village would have elevated the ride to a classic. For now Im just happy Disney is(was?) still building river based rides.
This ride traumatized me. For some odd reason my grandparents felt the need to ride it, so we waited like 90 minutes to get on a dark boat ride with creepy animatronics. I went on to dream of a bald man shooting lasers out of his many eyes while hitting the drums in the same motion as that Shaman. And it was creepy. I'm pretty sure we could've been riding Flight Of Passage instead.
You don't mention how often that animatronic is down. I had a friend that travelled to Disney just to ride the ride to see it. He wanted 2 hours just for there to be no animatronic.
This could really use some of those single image stories. Don't break the illusion of being on an alien world with English narration, but show us a few more scenes. Simple things like a mother teaching a child to hunt, one of those panther-like beasts, surprising us out from behind some large foliage, and I'd love a bigger finish, maybe some more Navi to make a more festive ending. The mood of this ride is really flat, no change in mood because nothing happens. I expect Disney to change the music, lighting, anything in their power to enhance a mood, but make use of multiple moods, tell a story. Why are we there? The fun of most Disney rides is that we feel emotionally involved. This only happens with a story that WE get tied up in. A Disney Ride should strive for full escapism. I want to be immersed, yes, but I also want to be led. It's a ride, it should take me somewhere. I'm not driving, I'm on a ride, I want it to feel like a journey, where there is a beginning, middle and end. I want to end up different at the end than I was at the beginning.
Disney acts like they don't have the money to use animatronics and practical effects. I'm usually pro future tech but when it come to theme parks that tech should be used for practical effects not cgi on screens.
Agreed. It's just lazy. Even if they aren't state of the art, this ride should have more animatronics. All these screens playing obvious videos at every turn takes you right out of the ride.
Pandora as a park needs more kinetic energy to it, when you're walking around nothing is moving except for water. Extending the boat ride to outdoors would be great, like the fantasyland boats in DL. The only issue would be how most of the time it would be day, while the ride itself is always night.
I totally agree!! Good points. Even like the extraordinary level of Beauty and The Beast, the last scene needs a few more characters even if they don't move.
omggg i remember seeing the tiktok and the girl was just explaining how her dad was so pissed about the amount of money they were spending on the animatronic
!["Way Tiretuä" / "The Shaman's Song" - Na'vi River Journey Song - Lyrics [S/T]](/img/n.gif)
I think adding a narration track would be a really simple fix for this ride. Get one of the people who played the scientist in Flight of Passage, and have them explain that you're trying to find your way to this super important Navi music ceremony but you have to go by river. The one Navi figure is implied to now be trying to stop you/disapproving of your journey, adding some tension. Along the way, the narrator gives lore about the difference Pandora life forms you're seeing. And then at the end you finally do find the Shaman of songs.
Great idea. I never saw the movie, so when I went on the ride, I had no idea what the purpose was. Visually, it was stunning, but I didn't get it.
I absolutely disagree, the best thing about the ride is the atmosphere. A narrator sucks the life out of it. Just look at Indy v Dinosaur
@@ducksfan_1149 Never been on Indy, so I can't say. I like Dinosaur.
@@ducksfan_1149 idk I think dinosaur was amazing
Great idea! Hope Disney pays you after they stole your idea! 😁
I personally think that River Journey could’ve gotten away with a lack of story if it was just at least 4 minutes longer. Floating around Pandora is super cool and I like that it’s a ride that just exists on vibes and vibes alone, but it’s just wayyyyy too short.
I agree. Too long of a line for such a short ride.
My understanding is that Tron is only a two minute long ride. I cannot imagine that is worth a 3 hour wait.
I donno my issues with it is that so many parts of it I can very clearly see past the scenery and the parts of the building that should be hidden. The ride feels like a ride at the fair.
@Melan Choly What fairs do you go to that even have a third the ride tech as Navi? That isn't really a defense of Navi more then it is a call out to that extreme exaggeration.
@Clark Kent yeah but that's a thrill ride. That's not really comparable to a slow drifting boat ride
When I rode the ride for the first time a year ago, we were looking forward to the animatronic, and were telling others in our party about how it was the most advanced one Disney had ever made. Then, when we got to that part of the ride, it had been removed for maintenance and was replaced with a digital projection.
Same when I rode it for the first time it was the only thing I was looking forward to cause the ride sucks. And it was a dang screen.
Same, the Animatronic being in maintenance mode makes the ride med since the only reason to see it (besides relaxing for a minute ig) is to see the impressive Shaman robot.
Same here, was looking forward to it ever since it got announced but went today on a school trip. wasn’t there
I have a cheaper fix: in the queue add info about the spiritual practice of meditation, and have people do breath work to the beat of the music on the ride. That sets the mood for the ride and adds an educationally element that turns a mid ride into an excellent meditative experience
And it would be a nice break from the hectic nature of the rest of the park!
I agree, and the people who are in the fastpass (no, I will not call it ‘genie plus’) line are people who are already pretty familiar with the ride/concept and won’t need it as much. Even if they do need it, then ig that’s the trade off they have to be willing to give lol
Disney really needs to stop being lazy and use more practical effects. We NEED more practical effects, NOT digital ones, please.
It’s like the projected faces on frozen and mine train. They look so bad compared to animatronic faces.
Sadly, screens are way easier to build/maintain.
I’m hoping they don’t go down the screens only route in “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure”
never gonna happen
@The Angry Fireball lol
The weird thing about River Journey is that it didn’t feel like a true river ride. It felt like we were being pulled on a motorized track, not ‘floating’ down a river.
I 1000% agree. I've always felt that Na'vi river journey was too reliant on projections. I'm a little worried that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will have those horrible projection-faced animatronics. I really hope that doesn't happen.
Can they even make good projection faces on darker-skintone characters? The dwarves and frozen sisters have a distinct "seamline" and look washed out as heck, as pale as they already are.
oh god that would be terrible
Excuse you? The navi animatronic is not ass. Its perfectly fluid in its movement. Be respectful
Cope harder
@@Zombina638 I'm sorry. I actually wasn't referring to the Nav'i animatronic. It has a beautifully articulated face. I was more referring to the Anna and Elsa animatronics on Frozen Ever After who have their faces projected on.
I think what also gets me about River Journey is how often the animatronic goes down for maintenance. With a ride hinging on a grand finale like the Shaman, it makes me feel actively irritated on the ride when I FINALLY get to the Shaman after waiting for 2 hours, and I’m greeted with a projection on a screen instead. It makes me feel like the whole time was wasted when I could’ve been doing anything else whatsoever and had a better use of my time.
But then again, it seems like Disney is okay with letting animatronics see better days and with how ridiculously complicated and, I imagine, expensive the Shaman is to maintain, I feel like making sure the grand finale is up at all times isn’t the highest thing on their priorities list.
I know this exact feeling. Went to Disney for the first time and it took a lot of effort to get there. I love animatronics and I was the most excited to see this one. Queued up, went through the ride, turned the corner and, oh… not only was the animatronic not there but there wasn’t even the screen version of her. I felt so deflated after that
I heard from an ex-river journey CM that apparently they have to replace the shaman‘s face pretty much every day because she wears through it.
Went to Galaxy's Edge the first month it was open. Rise of the Resistance, ONE animatronic goofed up and they shut down the whole dang ride. It took 4 days to finally ride the ride all the way through, and we STILL skipped over an entire section to dodge a dodgy ride system on the "escape shuttle." And... like, I'll admit that that sucked, and having the guys in First Order Uniforms quietly escort me out of the ride as my "interrogation had been delayed" was immersion disrupting in a way they probably didn't want for their big flagship ride. That said... if the Shaman is acting up... just close the dang River Journey. The entire ride hinges on ONE effect.
as far as I know her system is programmed to immediately shut down if an error is detected to prevent further damage due to how expensive she is. so that definitely causes problems :( she's a brilliant creation but it's clear they didn't think it through when it came to the guests and the ride itself as they were too focused on making her as advanced as possible. I'm grateful we get to witness her but to be honest, an animatronic this advanced and expensive should not have been designed for a ride where it must repeat the same exact movement for all park hours every day. it's not the same as it is for say the star wars animatronics, because they still get time to rest after guests exit the room, but her movement and singing is constant
My sister’s family went to Disney World last spring, her and her husband’s take on Navi River Journey was basically “it was dark and relaxing, we wished it was longer,” and my then 7yo nephew’s take was “I don’t remember that one.” So not exactly ringing endorsements.
I love your idea of a Na'Vi holiday as the story line. Maybe something that encourages the healing of the planet after RDA left? Something to celebrate Pandora's vibrant and varied life? We could call it... Life Day!
*The Wookiees have entered the chat*
if the "frozen is named that so the google search "disney frozen" yields no results about the frozen head" theory is correct then this would be a genius idea
*incoherent Wookiee noises*
Having the ride lead to that single animatronic is even more of a letdown when the ride is in B-mode. The last time I went to Disney I rode it on two different days and she was down both times. ):
Digital effects date themselves so fast😭. I really hope that Tiana’s Bayou is filled with life and physical sets!
This is my fear. The retheme is happening at a time where Disney just isn't as creative & innovative as they could be 😬
They basically admitted it will be projections… AKA “Bayou magic”.
What a joke.
especially since Splash Mountain had so many animatronics and dynamic scenes!
LOL. Don't get your hopes up.
ugh i agree. especially because it would (probably, correct me if i’m wrong) be more cost effective if they reused a lot of the props and animatronics from splash mountain in the new princess and the frog themed ride. considering the animatronics from splash mountain were reused once before it hurts my heart to imagine what could happen to them with no new home 😭 i think the re-themeing makes sense though and i’m truly looking forward to the new ride, i just hope they keep some of the elements while also making it new and exciting and fresh!
"It's very clearly a showcase of technology and special effects, but there's nothing to sort of go around that, no secondary draw" is exactly the problem with the Avatar movies in the first place.
Which is why the ride is a great homage to the movies
Even if we assume it's true that Avatar has "no secondary draw," which for the record I don't think is true, would that necessarily a big problem? Because it would appear that the one remaining draw is enough, considering it has sent the two films to over 5 billion at the box office.
@@veejay5525 until way of water got announced, nobody talked about avatar or cared about it. Most people can’t remember anything from the first movie besides the basic pocohantas plot and the 3D. So yeah, it’s not a problem if you’re not going for a good movie and just making a box office cash grab for showing off cg effects.
I personally want to see a movie with heart put into it (like Puss In boots: The last wish which is more successful than this movie)
But it sounds like to you, a movie just needs to make money to be good, which isn’t true and pretty sad way to see it.
@@KingOfGaymes First off, I usually wouldn't even bother comparing a movie like Avatar to a movie like Puss in Boots in the first place (just like I wouldn't compare my favorite cheese to my favorite fruit), nor am I particularly interested in quantitatively ranking things in general. You're going pretty wild with putting words in my mouth, however, so if you must insist on such a comparison, I myself absolutely adored everything about The Last Wish from start to finish on multiple viewings, and felt that The Way of Water was an uncharacteristically clumsy and awkward-feeling film by Cameron's usual standards, and that it fell quite short of recapturing the elegant storytelling and worldbuilding, mythical tone and scope, natural character development, and general sense of magic of the first Avatar (I'm still not sure how it managed to be 30 minutes longer than the first, with so much worldbuilding already pre-established, and yet somehow it felt like there was less story than the original). That said, the film's astonishing visuals and the absolute crystal clarity in how those images were presented were just completely eyeball-melting and brain-frying, in a way that I will remember for a long time. Even then, while I saw the first Avatar five times in theaters, seeing The Way of Water once was enough for me.
At any rate, whether you personally like the film or not, I do think it's pretty unfair to call it a "cash grab," when the filmmaker in charge is obviously so deeply invested in the work, creatively. The Way of Water had heart and care put into its creation. So did Puss in Boots. So did Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, and Banshees of Inisherin, and Jackass Forever, and Nope, and Top Gun Maverick, and Belle, and Glass Onion, and Wendell & Wild, and many other films released last year. There isn't any kind of zero-sum game between how much "heart" any of these had put into them, or any other totally separate movies made by different people that one might try to compete against each other for whatever reason. How much money a movie makes and how many tickets it sells has absolutely nothing to do with how much I enjoy it, or how good I may think it is. I'm also not going to automatically disregard when a movie has obvious popular mass appeal. I haven't seen a Marvel movie since 2014 and I don't really know how good or bad any of them may be, or how much "heart" was put into them, but I'm not going to disregard that there are reasons that so many people obviously enjoy them, which is fine.
I think the fact that, as you say, "nobody talked about avatar or cared about it" in the 13 years between the first and second films directly goes to show how powerfully elements of the first film stuck with a lot of people, and makes the immense success of The Way of Water all the more impressive. Unlike Marvel and Star Wars and many other highly saturated media franchises, there was no Avatar Extended Universe of semiannual sequel films and spin-offs and TV shows and videogames over the past decade to keep the it in the spotlight. And yet tens of millions of people, millions of whom indeed hadn't seen the original in years and probably didn't remember much about it, still flocked to see The Way of Water, to the tune of $2.25 billion at the global box office. I think that directly speaks to how much those basic elements of the setting, the feel, and the images of that first film stuck in the back of many people's minds all this time.
You also seem to be drawing at least some kind of correlation between "memorability" and "quality," which I think is an extremely flawed premise. I've seen some terrible movies containing elements that I'll never forget ("You're tearing me apart Lisa!"), and I've also seen many great films that I can't remember many specifics of at all if I haven't seen them recently. District 9 was a fantastic movie that made a big impression on me back in 2009, but I haven't seen it in over a decade, and while I can remember the overall setting and the main character, I'd really struggle to try and recall many of the story beats. I have a friend who can quote all of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by heart, but even though I myself can only quote bits and pieces, it's still one of my favorite comedy films ever. Personally, I literally hadn't seen Avatar since 2010, but I could still remember all of the main character's names, the names of the creatures and places, the overall beats of the story, a couple phonetic phrases in the Navi language, and many other small details. I can also understand if someone else didn't remember anything about it other than the stereoscopic CGI and blue cat people. Like, so what if that's all that some people remember about a movie they saw 13 years ago? Is everyone supposed to be able to remember everything about every movie they ever saw? Is their ability to permanently remember every detail always going to be 100% directly tied to how "good" a movie was? If effects and visuals were the most memorable thing about a film for many people, are we supposed to automatically hold that against the film somehow? Take Fantasia, for example. The whole point of that film was to center an elevated cinematic interplay of music and visuals, rather than to tell intricate stories in any traditional manner, and it's still recognized as a landmark film and a beloved classic over 80 years later. Are we going to hold Fantasia to some unfair metric and judge it a defective film on inapplicable standards?
Not all movies have to be all things to all audiences. Just because not all viewers can remember every detail about a (formerly) one-off standalone film that they saw a decade ago, doesn't necessarily mean that they don't care about that film. And none of these things are always directly correlated to how much heart and care a movie was made with. There's a lot more to it than that, and it's not the same in every case. Culture is complicated, and there's no need to try to boil it all down so much.
As much as I wish to disagree, I can't. The Spider-verse films are a great example of a showcase of technology and artistry and animation and special effects and storytelling, but there's also SPIDERMAN.
I feel like a really easy option to tie the ride together would be to add a few small animatronics of a single small Pandora creature which starts by running up to the boat near the start, and then fleeing various predators alongside the river, before hiding in the comfort of the Shaman’s grotto at the end. This would give something to draw the eye and give a feeling of progression. The theming of the environment would make it really simple to conceal tracks for the animatronic to run along, and the scenery can be used to naturally hide sections where one version of the creature is replaced by the next. It also gives a better use of the projections, as the prey creature could react in real time to the big beasts being depicted - giving them a better connection to the physical set. Don’t mind me, though. I’m just an ideas guy.
I always forget about the corkscrew on Living With The Land. Must be because the Gs always make me black out.
me too it’s so intense
Back in the good old days (2019) my family went to Disney World and we got lucky as the night before our Animal Kingdom day I was checking stuff out on the app and an early fast pass opened for Na’vi River Journey. Our fast pass was for about an hour after the park opened. As we got near the land we saw a cast member with a sign saying the line for the river ride started here and they were telling people the wait was almost four hours. We walked into Pandora and onto the ride and as we got off and walked back into Pandora my mother turned to us and said something I still believe. She said “that was an okay ride… if I had to wait four hours for it it wouldn’t have been but as for us it was okay”. I haven’t ridden the ride again since that first time but that’s still how I feel. It was fine and I don’t regret riding it but I also probably wouldn’t ride it again unless it was a walk on situation.
The good old days being 3-4 years ago
Good god, how the world fell apart😔
Wow, you put all of my thoughts into words. I used to do figure finishing (overnight artistic maintenance) at DAK and I have such a deep love for Pandora and the Shaman specifically 💙 I wish her surrounding ride would support the incredible marvel that she is!
My biggest problem with the river journey is the glaring lack of Aang.
I can't believe Universal hasn't done anything Avatar themed, considering how popular it is.
@@jalapeno1119 Universal making an avatar section in florida would be the funniest shit, especially because the land would be significantly better than pandora and probably have more than 2 darn rides (lol disney plz stop this, 3 is minimum for an entire expansion)
Never forget the cabbage man.
@@SchnookieC universal is opening up Mario world with only two rides. In California it only has one of two rides. Why is it okay when universal does it?
@@Katesaprincess Disney has significantly worse crowding, pandora and galaxys edge have unacceptably long wait times even in off peak times
had a coworker who went to River Journey when it first opened. I asked what she thought of the river shaman and she said she didn’t even realize it wasnt a person and therefore wasn’t impressed 💀
bro 💀💀💀
How was she not impressed😭?
the shaman is HUGE. she thought she saw a giant human and still wasn’t impressed?
@@garnet1997 i have no idea
"Wait, what day is it today? (sees its the 28th of Jan) OH SON OF A-----!" The closest Dallin has come to swearing.
Actually, you should listen to his Foolish Mortals podcast, THEN you'll be surprised
"OH SON OF AVATAR!" I don't hear any swearing...
@@smithtrooperxcix7059 oh thats right he did swear in one of the episoides
I agree. I do enjoy the ride, as I love the atmosphere and beauty of it. The shaman is the most breathtaking part, as you said. It could’ve been so much more but I get that the budget was mostly spent on the shaman, and I love going through the ride scenery anyways.
Also, the sponsor is legit! I’ve ordered oils from the Magic Candle Company before and love them! The Banshee Flight seriously smells exactly like the ride, I don’t know how they do it but I’d definitely recommend
The slow, cut off fade between Joe & the Yeti was beautiful and actually did make me laugh out loud. Bravo, Dallin, bravo.
What would help the park is having even more animatronics throughout the park, or even an avatar/Na’vi that you can interact with.
Me and my family has only ever gone on this ride once on all of our Disney trips, because we’re always so focused on getting onto Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest, to be fair we usually only go to Animal Kingdom for like a day, but still
Navi River Journey is a great atmospheric boat ride, solid soundtrack (I have the mp3), and the shaman at the end is EPIC. Could adding a few actual physical characters help? Of course but I would love to see an increase in capacity or make the queue better, that would add your story. Pandora could really do with some Magic Band+ interaction.
This was a great review of the land/rides. I agree. I liked the boat ride better than Flight of Passage, but even then, it needed something, and you broke it down accurately!
I really like the River journey. It’s great for a winding down time at the end of the day. I just wish it was at least twice as long.
I think a way to fix it would be to INTEGRATE the QUEUE in the story! As you go through the queue you're already into the forest and your lost and when you get on the boat it's your way out. Make the queue confusing, just going back and forth in different direction and maybe use illusion to make it seams like some path extand beyond the queue, but there's like something blocking your way. Make the queue more immersive and fill it with sound dampening material so people's talking doesn't echo, maybe add curtains at regular interval to create a feeling of isolation.
Living with the land really is THE boat ride of disney
I leaned over to my wife and told her I felt like we were riding through Rainforest Cafe on a boat. The scale needed to be bigger.
Dallin, buddy...I was with you for pretty much every hot take here, but I think that waterfall effect is genius! It's a great way to blend a physical set with a digital one. I don't know why they didn't do a real one instead but I think it works well!
You are 100% correct. I didn’t know what I was in for during this ride but the first thing I said when I got off that ride was, “what a waste of and hour and a half wait.” So disappointing
"...NORMAL WATERFALL..." made me laugh so hard...
Me and my parents went on this ride not too long after that section of the park opened (we had bought 3 day passes for another family member's b-day, and used the other two days in July for my Mom's b'day). We went on the River ride since my parents had health issues that prevented them from going on Flight of Passage, and we stayed in an almost 2 hour long queue for a 3 minute sit-down ride. We all wished we could get our time back from that...
i would love to see some animatronics of those funky animals!!!
Always thought the glowing effect on the plants should have pulsed in sync with the music beats, as it does in the final scenes of the first movie... Seems like it would have been an easy thing to add.
I really love the atmosphere of this ride and as a local passholder, I do hop on it any time the wait is semi-reasonable, but... that's not very often. I think I tend to give it more of a pass because Animal Kingdom as a whole is more atmosphere-driven than the other WDW parks (and it's probably my favorite one currently), so I'm mainly there for the environments anyway. But all your suggestions would absolutely elevate the ride and make the high wait times more worth it.
I'd also love to have them go back and add in whatever other experiences Joe Rhode was hinting at around the land itself because, again, the atmosphere is great, but it's just pretty empty. The sequel movies finally coming out would be a good excuse for some upgrades.
(I actually saw you there at Animal Kingdom last month, so I was especially excited to see this video pop up today!)
I personally love the River ride. I think it’s the best ride to end the night with. You go on this scenic, calm river journey with bioluminescence after a long day of thrilling rides, and then when you get off it’s night outside with the bioluminescence everywhere around you - a continuation of the ride, seeing the enchanting magic of the world of Pandora. I do agree, though, it could use a story or an explanation that’s setup before the ride in the queue, keeping the ride itself the same experience.
Fake Waterfall: "...you could have done nothing at all ... and it would have been better" 🤣
Yeah, my general opinion of this ride is that it's fine, but I definitely wouldn't want to wait an extensive time for it. I think your suggestion of adding some animal animatronics into it is a good idea! (also I agree with you that Flight of Passage is just fine, not the best thing ever)
I'm actually with you on the quality/quantity thing here. S tier animatronics are cool...for like the first 3 months before they start breaking down. I'd rather see 3 A tier animatronics that are easy to repair and keep functional. Disney still has the best animatronics, but Universal is figuring out the secret and even Universal is relying less on screens now.
I haven't seen it, but it sounds like you have a lot of very good points. I'm sorry to hear that there aren't more "people" and animals. To make the ride more realistic they need some of the animals and it would be great to see the main individuals involved in some type of activity. I agree that there should be a story. Do they have a store for collectibles? Is there any word of a restaurant with more food? If they are going to put so much money into this, they should really go all the way; pull out all the stops to make this really amazing. Thank you for the info and thoughts :)
I literarily JUST got back from watching Avatar: The Way of Water (for the third time), and am now watching this video. So, your timing may have been perfect for me, and me only, but whatever. 10/10
I thought the story was that you were taking a journey to the god tree along with all of Pandora (including the animals, that’s why the animals are all going in the same direction as the boat) because it was the yearly purification/spiritual event and the Navi were having humans take part along with the Navi that were coming of age as a cleansing ritual before you flew with the banshee and that was why when you enter the land of Pandora you see the NRJ before FOP. I feel like in the intro of FOP they talk about coming of age ritual/ceremony before the flight (could be my imagination). That’s how I always felt. Maybe I’m reaching😂
If that’s the case then they should just make it more clear
In FOP the coming of age ritual they’re talking about *is* the flight.
You're kind of right. Navi River Journey does have a loose story of the Navi and animals coming together to sing with the Shaman of Songs in praise of their Goddess, Ewa.
Flight of Passage has a slightly different story though. The coming of age ritual in that ride, is riding on a Banshee. That's why the ride is called Flight Of Passage (a play on the term 'rite of passage')
They refer to the ritual as "Iknimaya" or The Path to Heaven.
I actually love your idea of intertwining their stories, though. Both rides have a very spiritual vibe to them. 😊😊
I've waited 6 years to hear Dallin swear... 0:15 was nothing compared to the waterfall rant, I was almost certain we were finally going to hear it! 🤣🤣🤣
i get it, i understand the criticisms of the ride. but from the perspective of a complete and total wimp when it comes to rides, i absolutely love an atmospheric boat ride, and i love this attraction so much. (unpopular opinion that i know absolutely no one will agree with, its one of my favorite rides in all of wdw) like i completely get why people dont like it, and i respect that opinion but i just cant help but love it
I agree, the ride is an atmospheric ride with only the background done. Add in some physical features and effects to give a reward for looking around and waiting. It feels like the whole ride you’re waiting for something, then you see one animatronic and that’s it. Add some lesser things could also make the end look even better through comparison
Never realized there was only 1 animatronic on that ride! Well, that's another reason to stay on the west coast.
First time I went on this ride was last year and the supposedly “amazing animatronic” was replaced with a screen…
Went on it for the first and last time in 2018,. Waited 2hrs to get on to see the amazing animatronic, but got the screen. Never had the desire to get back on it..
I mean idk what happened last year but the animatronics there now
@@Dirtyfrnk007She either wasn't working or needed a break, stop acting like a child.
Cope lmao, technology ends up breaking or needing maintenance at some point especially when they're in water
"Nothing really happens to us, it happens around us." I feel like that's the whole point though. What I got from the movies is that the action happens TO these characters, but there's also something to be taken from the calm moments. It reflects what's to be appreciated by the world we inhabit, nature and all. Life is naturally happening around us as well. Embracing nature and finding peace is the overall moral of the story and the message I got from it. I feel like the ride reflects that portion of the film very well in that aspect, as brief as it may be.
I've only been to Disney World twice since Pandora opened, once the year it opened, and more recently in 2022 in a post-pandemic world. Both times, I went on Navi River, BUT both times I didn't wait to go on. The first time was with old school free FastPass, and this time with Genie+ Lightening Lane. I would NEVER wait for this attraction more then 5 minutes. The wait times were going from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. The first time I went I was excited, then I saw the Shaman and thought, here we go, this is when it gets good...but here comes the unload. What? It is too short, and I was expecting a grander scale. I will still go on it, if there is no wait, or I have "fast pass".
While I LOVE Pandora, I recall our first time there. We got a lightning lane for Navi but not Flight and we waited an hour and a half for Flight and loved it! We walked on Navi and we all said while we loved the ride, and the animatronic was absolutely stunning it was too short and no story and glad we didn't wait for that one or would have probably hated it. Agreed! it needs something more!
Agree! This is one of the most beautiful rides I've ever seen but it needs action abd narration. Give us something....needs more imagineering and "life"...and a story...and a "drop"
Would be a bonus!
I love that you switched to Papyrus for this vid’s captions. Great attention to detail.
As a 70 yo Disney fan since the MMC on TV and the 1065 NY World's Fair, the problem with this attraction is that it doesn't give any WOW factor. The first time I saw It's a Small World, Mr. Lincoln, the Ford exhibit dinosaurs (I was the younger brother, but I stood in line 2 hours to drive that Mustang!), the Disney World Preview Center, etc., as each new attraction opened it lived up to the anticipation. The years and months leading up to Space Mountain nearly killed me! But when I finally first rode it, IT PAID OFF!
50 years later I'm riding this beautiful but oblique ride with my grandchildren and wondering where we went wrong.
I think "innovation" must be a dirty word to the current executives.
Well if there is a lack of story, they captured the essence of all the movies, indeed!
My biggest issue is the total lack of humans. I wanted to see na'vi getting curbstomped by giant mechs.
I 100% agree living on the land! First thing I go to in Epcot; the behind-the-scenes tour is a must!
Offhand Disney, you gained all of my respect at 8:46 in the video. So correct.
I thought finding the shaman of song was the story? We see everyone go to where the shaman is, so I assume the story is that. It's a journey through the river, following the shrines (that act as guide posts) and the life and na' vi to find the shaman. I do agree, the forest could be a lot more lifelike with moving animatronics to add more dynamic characteristics- really get that alien rain forest feel- as well as making this longer- rain-forests are known for being large and this is a journey- it really does need the extra millage to give it depth
At this point it Pandora's equivalent to "Gran Fiesta Tour", BUT it needs to be turned into Pandora's equivalent to "Jungle Cruise"
Animatronic creatures in the ride would go a long way.
I love this ride purely for the Shaman of Song! Can’t get enough of this ride!
Offhand!...why would you expose the Living with the Land Corksrew?! I thought there was an unspoken rule about that...😉
I forgot that they were even doing this. 🤦
Thanks for your assessment of the ride.
Disney has been talking about an expansion to Pandora at Animal Kingdom. I wish they would just lengthen and upgrade Na'vi River Journey instead.
Speaking of pirates, hello Mr. Offhand. I wanna say thank you for the acknowledgement video from my girlfriend who you met at Disneyland by the Wishing Well. Would be honored to ride my favorite ride Pirates with you along with my girlfriend too. Also I NEVER RODE ON THE HAUNTED MANSION! EVER! 😱
I have my Animal Kingdom cast member preview guide signed by Joe Rohde as a treasured part of my Disney memorabilia. He was there with his family enjoying the park (he was pushing a stroller)and was super gracious taking pictures and signing stuff.
I'm just laughing about Living with the Land's Corkscrew.
Can someone please fill me in? What did he mean, I literally searched everywhere. ☺
what does it mean
Can I just say.. as an Opening Day Cast Member over on Pandora, in response to your comment made
here -> 7:52… there’s a reason nothing is happening to you and only around you! If you recall from the first film Neytiri spent the entire time trying to get Jake to learn the lesson behind it! YOU are meant to explore Eywa! The Great Mother doesn’t happen to YOU! YOU happen to HER!! And if you listen to the Shamans song at the end she’s singing about how when we (..IF we) all come together through Her, We are all connected.. We are all One!
😅 😅
But that said.. Love your channel! Been a huge fan for a a while now and I never miss a show, serials! I even go back and binge watch any I’ve missed on any rare occurrence that I have!
#OffhandDisney
P.S - I’m team Living with the Land as well!! Always been my favorite since I first discovered it!
I do genuinely think that this is my fear for Tiana’s. They have such a short turnaround on that ride, and while they’ve done a decent pace with bringing over Runaway Railway they’ve also taken 5 years to clone Tron. I imagine the only way it’s getting done so quickly is them planning to make it a lot like this ride.
They push the little critter band that will be there but my guess is that it’ll be in there once, maybe twice, and the rest of the ride will be projections, basic figurines, and little tricks like the fake waterfall and hints of animals in the treetops. The only reason I think they might not is that the ride is fairly long, making it hard to be plotless.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way about the ride; my husband and I waited 40 minutes to go on Na'vi River Journey. After we got off, we were like, "that...was it?" and yes, we did describe it as "mid," lol.
The whole Land has a story, if you need to be literally spoonfed on every ride, then your in the wrong land. Pandora's story & the way they stick to it is incredible.
By not giving a specific story it allows every single rider to create their own! For me MY PERSONAL STORY is i've Just taken my flight of passage down to the waters edge, and i am now taking the relaxing ride into the cave waters & woods to complete my official induction into the Navi.
I wish they would make it longer. They could have you go outside and float through the land. That would add to the atmosphere of the land.
I agree 100% - I've done Flight of Passage 2 times (2nd time once when there was no line just to see if it was as uninteresting as I remembered) but definitely enjoy the Navi River. But I've always said it needs a story - your solutions are great. They could definitely use the queue to their advantage to build up a story - even with signs or something.
To be fair, that animatronic was gorgeous. The way it moves is unreal. I’m not going to be ungrateful about that ingenuity.
We need to understand how far we’ve come with animatronics and it has other scientific applications. Honestly just seeing it would be enough for me. It’s animatronic genius at its finest.
THAT BEING SAID, I haven’t waited in those lines yet so it might not be worth it 😂😂
Love the use of Papyrus. Never forget the original logo.
I was always under the impression that we were heading to some gathering lead by the shaman lady. That's the basic story.
Disney needs to finish this budget cut ride, as it is only half the full planned ride.
The ending was supposed to be the middle, or the start of the story.
I’m wondering… the first time I experienced this ride, I was in awe as the jungle felt alive and there was much to see. On my last visit it felt like stuff was missing. Seemed there were less frogs jumping on the leaves above, plants not doing their thing, spinning orange lizards and less wood sprites falling from above. We need more of that wow stuff. Walt use to say how can we plus it (hence why we have Disney plus and genie plus?)… so let’s see those pluses again!
I would just like to say, I really appreciate when you put the ads at the end of the video
Thank you for your funny work Daylin...you are really really fun to watch..thank you again..
Oh yes..I caught you with Dave from Fresh Baked at DL at the Runaway Rail..
I don’t think Tiana will get screen projection. Seems like Disney knows what we want. Because they released that Frozen ride in HKDL will have animatronic (I hope it’s not just Elsa)
It was nice to meet at the Disney 100 celebration at Disneyland. Met you by the Matterhorn, and we spoke about bringing back the People Mover and Sky Buckets ! Please speak to creepy Mickey and see if he can talk to Bobby Iger to make it happen 🙏 I love your videos. Keep up those great videos coming !
I thought I was the only one
7:25 You should say Splash-Oh right Tainas Bayou Adventure
I have only ridden this once when it opened and I remember saying while getting off the ride, “That was it?” It felt like I waisted 3 hours of my life waiting for this
I rode it later on, walk-on. Lovely ride.
@@ballbag yeah I should give it another try next time I’m there.
What? The ride is light on story? Sounds perfect for the Avatar films. 😂
Its well known funding was cut for NRJ when FOP went WAAAYYY over budget. I personally love NRJ but cant help but notice the short length every time I ride. Just a little more length, with perhaps a ride through a practical effect Na'vi village would have elevated the ride to a classic. For now Im just happy Disney is(was?) still building river based rides.
This ride traumatized me. For some odd reason my grandparents felt the need to ride it, so we waited like 90 minutes to get on a dark boat ride with creepy animatronics. I went on to dream of a bald man shooting lasers out of his many eyes while hitting the drums in the same motion as that Shaman. And it was creepy.
I'm pretty sure we could've been riding Flight Of Passage instead.
You don't mention how often that animatronic is down. I had a friend that travelled to Disney just to ride the ride to see it. He wanted 2 hours just for there to be no animatronic.
This could really use some of those single image stories. Don't break the illusion of being on an alien world with English narration, but show us a few more scenes. Simple things like a mother teaching a child to hunt, one of those panther-like beasts, surprising us out from behind some large foliage, and I'd love a bigger finish, maybe some more Navi to make a more festive ending. The mood of this ride is really flat, no change in mood because nothing happens. I expect Disney to change the music, lighting, anything in their power to enhance a mood, but make use of multiple moods, tell a story. Why are we there? The fun of most Disney rides is that we feel emotionally involved. This only happens with a story that WE get tied up in. A Disney Ride should strive for full escapism. I want to be immersed, yes, but I also want to be led. It's a ride, it should take me somewhere. I'm not driving, I'm on a ride, I want it to feel like a journey, where there is a beginning, middle and end. I want to end up different at the end than I was at the beginning.
Disney acts like they don't have the money to use animatronics and practical effects. I'm usually pro future tech but when it come to theme parks that tech should be used for practical effects not cgi on screens.
Agreed. It's just lazy. Even if they aren't state of the art, this ride should have more animatronics. All these screens playing obvious videos at every turn takes you right out of the ride.
I got an Epcot ad right when he was going off about the projection waterfall 😂
Went to Flights of Passage recently, the Avatar in the queue doesn’t even move anymore.
Pandora as a park needs more kinetic energy to it, when you're walking around nothing is moving except for water. Extending the boat ride to outdoors would be great, like the fantasyland boats in DL. The only issue would be how most of the time it would be day, while the ride itself is always night.
I totally agree!! Good points. Even like the extraordinary level of Beauty and The Beast, the last scene needs a few more characters even if they don't move.
I wish the ride was longer
omggg i remember seeing the tiktok and the girl was just explaining how her dad was so pissed about the amount of money they were spending on the animatronic
0:16 really got me on the floor
Omg! I had no idea about the fake misty projection waterfall in river journey! That is hilarious!