You (probably) won’t scream like a banshee on this Disney attraction

Review of Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

ATP subscribers, the monthly What’s the Attraction? discussion thread will take place tomorrow (Friday, April 28) at 11 a.m. Eastern time, so please plan to participate. I generally try to keep things upbeat and positive here, but the topic for Friday’s conversation will be about crummy coasters. Specifically, what is (or are, if you want to cite more than one) the worst roller coaster you have experienced? We want to hear all the bone-rattling details. Be on the lookout for the email and join the discussion.

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4.75 (out of 5)

Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and the wildly popular Avatar sequel, The Way of Water, is now available through streaming services (and will be coming to Disney+ sometime soon). So, let’s revisit Avatar Flight of Passage, one of the theme park resort’s premier attractions, for this month’s Rode It! Loved It! review.

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In the original Avatar, James Cameron crafted a sci-fi world using computer-generated imagery. The landmark film helped usher the modern age of upcharge 3D movies–and the geeky glasses they require–into mainstream cineplexes. (And The Way of Water put 3D glasses back on faces and tushes back in seats at pandemic-ravaged cineplexes.) At Pandora – The World of Avatar in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Imagineers bring Cameron’s rendered landscapes to actual, glorious, three-dimensional life with bioluminescent flowers, 10-foot-tall shamans, and floating mountains all on display–no geeky glasses required.

Scratch that. 3D glasses are required on the land's E-Ticket attraction, Avatar Flight of Passage. (The Florida park refers to the goggles as “flight visors.”) And the imagery for the ride part of the attraction is computer-generated. Sure, Avatar gives filmgoers a 3D, but passive peek at Pandora. Avatar Flight of Passage, however, gives park visitors an immersive, rollicking adventure flying above Pandora on the back of a winged banshee. The stunning experience is thrilling (but not too thrilling) and transportive.

Banshees and their passengers soar above Pandora. (Disney)