We have our AK day planned for May 22 which is Media day for Pandora and early EMH. I just added 45 min at top of plan for riding the two Pandora attractions (is this enough) and clicked evaluate and it doesn’t look that bad - kicking myself for not getting a FP for Safari. And clicking optimize made my plan a mess. So I think this is better - may just have to cut Gorilla falls or do it later.
I also thought maybe I should ditch my Festival of Lion King FP and book an afternoon Safari fast pass as a hedge?
Any thoughts or advice for working the soft opening into my plan?
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2453358
I’m curious about what Media Day is. Is it first thing in the morning before the DVC and AP preview times?
Your plan isn’t viewable. I think you have to click a box and then publish it.
As “scrapper” says, that day has DVC and AP previews. Haven’t heard anything about a media day, but the DVC preview is at 10-12 I think, so I assume that as long as your plan has Pandora finished by 10am then it will fit.
I would be allowing more than 45 minutes though unless it’s just looking round, not riding?
I actually have no idea what media day is - it was mentioned in the blog article. . . Pandora – Everything You Need To Know | TouringPlans.com Blog “media is invited on the 22nd, and the land should be in soft open”
Thanks for pointing that out about my plan - I had been editing using phone browser and it looks like the checkbox didn’t take. I fixed and edited original post.
I didn’t know about the DVC preview time slot (I am not DVC or AP). Do you know where any of that info is listed - I didn’t see it in the blog article (linked in my reply to @scrapper1617)?
I really wasn’t sure how much time to give for Pandora - but I was hoping getting there for the morning extra magic hours - and going straight there that we could get both rides done in 45. Now that you can see my plan let me know what you think. I did originally have an hour for it - which I can probably make happen as I have this weird 59 minute block of free time at the end of the day because the TP was telling me I couldn’t do tree of life awakenings because sunset was too close to park closing.
I appreciate the info.
Looked at the blog post. That was written before invitations for DVC and AP previews went out. Earlier reports had much earlier dates for previews, so I suspect the blog was written based on that.
The media may have been invited for the 22nd, but I am as sure as I can be that there won’t be any soft openings that day.
The previews are from 13th to 22nd May, DVC in the morning, then AP in 2 hr slots from 12 noon. AP previews are for AP holders only, no guests (not even family members), DVC were for members who have reservations during that time, and are for anyone listed on that reservation in the same room if they attend with the DVC member. Reports were that the slots filled within 24 hours, even less. A lot of AP holders were upset they didn’t get the emails …
So for that reason I think any soft openings will be from 23rd onwards. Sorry!
I’ll look at your plan, but going out just now.
Good to know - I appreciate the insight. I’ve got the 24th as a flexible day so if there is no soft open on 22nd I guess we could go back on 24th - but I’ll have to decide if it is worth switching my tix to park hopper just for that.
I cannot imagine that this would be enough time. If the land is actually open to the general public that day - and sometimes “special” preview days are not. I was at BG on “press day” for their new coaster last year, and no one but press was allowed to ride (even though there was virtually no line all day).
So if it is announced that Pandora will be open to the public as well, I would guess that people will be lining up an hour or two before park opening and will head straight toward Pandora. I’m guessing most will head to FOP first, but there will definitely be an “instant crowd” at both. If you’re near the head of the line, you will probably be able to get the first one done in 45 min (or maybe less), but I can’t imagine you’ll have less than a 60 minute wait for the second. The “pundits” are predicting “triple digit” SB lines for both attractions for most of the day - at least for the first few months. The “general wisdom” for after Pandora officially opens is to get an FPP for one of the rides and hit the other right at RD (along with hundreds of others).
Another possibility is that the special previews will be in the AM and they will open it to the general public after noon. If that’s the case SB lines will be long at both attractions - as well as the line just to get into Pandora.
Of course, ALL of this is pure conjecture based on past “big openings”. Who knows - outside of Disney “inner circle” fans (e.g. the people who don’t know what an ADR is or how to book FPPs or want to know where Harry Potter is), peopel may not even know about Pandora and there may not be a huge clamoring to get in (let’s face it, Pandora does not have the following of HP nor the name recognition of Snow White).
All a long way of saying that if the multitude of stars and planets were all in perfect alignment you possibly could do both in 45 min (with no lines, the queue/ride time for each is probably in the 10-15 minute range, and the two rides are right next to each other) - but I would find that HIGHLY unlikely…
I’m sure that this will change once the park hours are changed - which they WLL be after Pandora opens.
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Do you think they will announce soft openings on certain days, or will it just be a case of “psst, do you want to come and see Pandora?” to some lucky people walking past at the right moment?
I’m interested how they’ve done it in the past for stuff like New Fantasyland and specific rides like 7dmt and Mermaid.
I don’t see how they could possibly have soft openings on preview days. The previews run from 10am to 8 or 10pm. Presumably they have closed slots when they reach a certain capacity. With the criteria for entry so specific, the security is going to be a headache.
However they do it, I think they may start on 23rd.
For 7DMT, it was the “psst, do you want to ride” sort of thing until about 10 days before official opening when it ran (mostly) full time.
The park closes at 3:30pm on May 24th, so something unusual is going on for the park to close that early. Maybe that’s a special media evening??
Your plan shows 4 FPP, including one for RoL. If RoL is one your 3 advance ones, you can’t get a 4th until after scanning that third one. If you hope to snag RoL as your 4th, that is very unlikely.
Also, right after getting soaked on Kali, you plan to eat? You might need time to dry off first. But maybe that works, I’ve never done Kali (don’t like getting that soaked).
No doubt a special event of some sort
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I have a ROL dining package so I just marked it as a fast pass for the TP to make the times be more correct 
Yeah - I have been thinking about the eating wet thing. . . but also the thought was getting wet before the midday break. . .
Truth be told - if it is open and it is as crazy as you suggest it may be (and I think that could be likely) we will probably skip it. As much as I would love to do it - I can’t put my kids through that kind of craziness. So - I think I will just build myself two plans - one with and one without - and maybe increase the time for pandora a bit and see what happens.
Great!, I’m glad you’re all set for RoL.