Navi River Journey ride is a Disney attraction that takes guests on a boat through the bioluminescent Pandora rainforest.
Guests sail past the bioluminescent plants and Pandora’s exotic animals while moving to Shaman of Songs.
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Where is Navi River Journey Ride located?
Navi River Journey ride is one of the attractions present at the World of Avatar. It is located in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Here are specifications to be a part of this attraction:
| Age | Any age |
| Height | Any height |
| Ride type | Slow |
History of Navi River Journey
Pandora was announced to be launched for the first time in 2011. Pandora’s inspiration was taken from the Avatar movie by James Cameron. The classic 2009 film set a high bar for animation in world cinema.
Imagineer Joe Rhode was the designer for this project. He was the lead Imagineer for Disney’s Animal Kingdom park.
Navi River ride opened for the first time to its guests on May 27, 2017. Additionally, Flight of passage opened on the same day as well. It is a part of Pandora – The World of Avatar.
The queue for the ride
This ride offers both an interior and exterior queue. The exterior queue moves through the beautiful landscape of Pandora. It then moves into a covered queue decorated with Navi totems and handiwork.
The switchback poles, light fixtures, and other materials are intricately detailed and built from natural materials. The queue for this ride is not as lengthy as the queue for Flight of Passage.
Ride experience
The boats are built from grass and reeds. The boats for this ride are smaller than the boats used for the Disney boat rides. Each small boat has two rows that can seat three guests comfortably.
The ride experience is similar to Living with the Land, or It’s a Small World. Guests who have been on the rides mentioned above will be able to relate to the ride experience. There are no large drops on the ride.
It does not qualify as a thrilling ride. It is a four-and-a-half-minute ride where the guests comfortably sail through a glowing jungle. The unique selling point of this ride is its colorful and cheerful scenery.
Disney uses projection mapping, transparent screens, and practical sets to enrapture their guests in a bioluminescent forest and the Pandora animals. There isn’t any storyline or plot to the ride. As a result, many guests might find it incomplete or short.
The music becomes clearer and louder gradually as the ride progresses. Guests can spot the Navi traveling together to the destination of the Shaman of Songs.
Guests find this audio-animatronic to be the highlight of the ride. The guests feel that the eye contact, fluid motions, and off-key singing are lively.
What to expect?
People using wheelchairs need to transfer from their wheelchairs to enjoy the ride. The same applies to ECV users.
As the ride is gentle and safe, no safety advisories are applicable. There are no height restrictions for this ride. Additionally, people of all age groups can enjoy this ride.
As the Navi River Journey Ride is located inside, the weather elements cannot disturb. However, as a portion of the queue is outdoors, it can be disrupted to a certain degree. All the guests are not accustomed to the heat of the Florida weather.
Therefore, they may fall sick when exposed to it. The best time to avoid any queue for this ride is to hop onto it as soon as the park opens. The ride is a welcome delight from outdoor rides that make the guests wait in a long queue to experience it.
