Na'vi River Journey by Reece Smith

Na’vi River Journey

By Reece Smith

Na’vi River Journey is one of the two rides in the Pandora area in Animal Kingdom of Walt Disney World which is its newest edition to the park. This ride has no height restriction so anyone can ride.  It is great for families with kids of all ages.  The Pandora area of the park is based off the movie Avatar which was released back in 2009 by Twentieth Century Fox and was for a time the top grossing movie of all time. This wonderful landscape consists of floating rocks, amazing waterfalls, as well as exotic plants and wildlife. 

Na’vi River Journey is a nice boat ride through Pandora where you get to explore and experience the wonders of Pandora at nighttime in their bioluminescent rainforest. This ride like some has a queue that allows you to enter the ride faster that requires what is known as a fastpass. As you enter the queue you’ll still have an amazing view of all the plant life around you that is just cool to look at as it is not indigenous to Earth. In the queue you’ll also enter a cave with a very hut like structure to cover you with lamps on the inside where there are some very interesting looking poles/trees supporting the roof above your head that looks like a tree that was hallowed and then bark shavings were put back in the shape of an incomplete tree. Then you’ll enter the space where you get into the boat which is just a little bit further in the cave. 

Your boat will have two rows which can fit up to three people per row, maybe four if you have small children. As you start your journey you’ll notice that the mushrooms are glowing in an unnatural color just know that most of the plant life will glow and it’s nothing to be worried about. Also enjoy the waterfalls while you’re there waterfalls are always great even if they’re small. Soon you’ll pass a Na’vi native who has a light and seems like he’ll show you the way. As you continue you’ll hear lots of wildlife and see them in all of their spectacular glory. It’s amazing to see them as some have a glowing helicopter fin, some have six legs, and some look like pollen in the air. It's amazing to sit back and look at these wondrous creatures. 

As you relax in your boat if you wish to try to see everything, remember to also look up as you can see some dog-like creatures jumping from leaf to leaf trying to catch some prey. Soon you’ll be greeted by the sound of the Na’vi singing as well as other Na’vi as well as their horses walking towards the singing voices. The woman you see singing is the legendary Na’vi Shaman of Songs and she is demonstrating her deep connection with the life force of Pandora. Then you’ll see a sparkling cabbage with some possessions of the Na’vi off in a little crevice as well as several other locations as you head to the end of your journey. I quite enjoy this ride because it’s a nice slow ride through the rainforests of Pandora as well as a nice way out of the weather when it’s hot or raining.