ORLANDO — With its floating mountains, cascading waterfalls and a cacophonous rain forest whose sounds merge with bioluminescence come nightfall, Disney's Pandora — The World of Avatar is much more than a land to pass through to reach a new attraction. Day or night, it is deserving of exploration, play, discovery and contemplation.
Pandora, which is set to open on May 27, is the largest expansion of Disney's Animal Kingdom since the park opened in 1998. The attraction shares Animal Kingdom's core values, said lead imagineer Joe Rohde, celebrating the intrinsic value of nature, transformation through adventure and a personal call to action.
Inspired by James Cameron's blockbuster film "Avatar," Disney's Pandora is set many years after a great conflict between humans and the Na'vi (the blue-colored natives of Pandora). Now, the two races are at peace, and the land is experiencing a rebirth. Disney guests visit as ecotourists, observing how nature can heal itself.
On a recent media tour, those serving as guides included Disney Imagineering artists, storytellers and engineers, led by Rohde and the movie's producer, Jon Landau, of Lightstorm Entertainment.
"In the movie," Rohde said, "the world of Pandora is a setting for the action and characters whose story we follow. Here, guests are the primary characters, immersed in an extremely vivid, authentic experience."
To enter Pandora, guests cross an ancient steel bridge over the park's Discovery River to enter a lush rain forest.
"That's no accident," Rohde said. "The details exist to tell you something."
In this case, it's that the bridge is a remnant from when humans were here destroying the landscape. Now, nature is resurgent.
Landau said, "When guests [cross] the bridge, they are transferred light-years away, to the Alpha Centauri planetary system and Pandora. It's an otherworldly, fully themed experience."
The immense floating mountains that top out at 156 feet to create an awesome aerial landscape almost didn't happen "because we didn't know how to do them," Landau said. "They were our Pandoran unobtainium," he added, alluding to the fictional material humans sought in the movie.
Within Pandora are two attractions that guests will want to return to over and over: the Na'vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage.
The Na'vi River Journey is a placid and peaceful boat ride down a sacred river whose bioluminescent forest lights the way to meet the Shaman of Song at the end.
"It is about the immediate physical experience of each person in that space," said Rohde, who implores guests to put their cameras away and just be present.
Avatar Flight of Passage is a thrilling ride on the back of a winged banshee. Guests become "drivers" and are linked to a Na'vi avatar just like the one they will see in the amniotic pod as they pass through the science lab, using their brains to control the banshee's flight.
Through July 4, guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels will have extended Extra Magic Hours to visit Pandora from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m.
Although long lines are expected, the lines themselves have been designed to immerse guests in rich details and storytelling. The queues are shaded or indoor, helping guests beat the day's heat.
For lunch in Pandora, guests can dine at the Satu'li Canteen, whose menu is inspired by how the Na'vi eat from the land. They can use the new mobile-order pickup feature on the My Disney Experience app to order lunch. Tap "I'm here" when they arrive and their food will be prepared and ready for pickup.
This is the first Disney restaurant to use the mobile ordering app, though it is only available for credit card orders and is not yet compatible with Disney Dining Plans. Nor can it accommodate discounts.
Guests might head back to the hotel for a power nap or a refreshing swim, then return to Animal Kingdom for round two, which should include a viewing of the spectacular new show Rivers of Light (best seen from the bleachers on the side closer to Dinoland) and dinner at the upscale Tiffins restaurant.
Afterward, they cross the bridge back into the land of Pandora, this time magically lit by the imagineers' bioluminescence.