''Avatar'' Flight of Passage is a 3D flying simulator attraction within Pandora – The World of ''Avatar'' at

Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...

. Set in the ''Avatar'' universe, the attraction allows guests to take flight on a native mountain Banshee and soar across the landscape of Pandora.

Development

Work on ''Avatar'' Flight of Passage began in 2012 and involved staff from

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...

, James Cameron's

Lightstorm Entertainment Lightstorm Entertainment is an American independent production company founded in 1990 by filmmaker James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. The majority of its films have been distributed and owned by 20th Century Studios. Its productions i ...

, and Weta Digital. All of the footage in the ride is original, with Executive Producer Amy Jupiter revealing, "Everything you see in the attraction’s main show was original to this production. We were fortunate to be able to use the model and texture assets from the first film during our templating/visualization process. We were also able to use animation cycles for our ackgroundcharacters." Weta Digital provided the main ride film footage.

Ride experience

In the attraction's storyline, the humans and Na'vi are attempting to restore the banshee population to natural levels, after the mining tactics caused by the

Resources Development Administration In the 2009 science-fiction film ''Avatar (2009 film), Avatar'', director James Cameron conceived a fictional universe in which humans seek to mine unobtainium#Science fiction, unobtanium on the fictional exoplanetary Natural satellite, moon Pa ...

generations prior. Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) has reactivated the avatar program through the Pandora Conservation Initiative as a method of conducting research, and allows guests to link with an avatar to fly on an '' Ikran'' (known as a "Banshee" by humans) to partake in the Na'vi's tribal coming-of-age tradition. Set within the remains of a former

facility, the attraction invites guests into the ACE lab where guests are linked to an "avatar" and fly aboard a banshee across the Valley of Mo'ara. The ride's visual effects are in 10K resolution at 60 fps stereo.

Warning cards

On February 27, 2018, after four incidents had occurred, Disney added warning cards for riders before entering the ride. The cards were similar to those on Mission: Space and warned riders about

fear of heights Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share both similar causes and options for ...

motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...

, and the seating restraints. These cards were removed in late 2018 and have been replaced with a pre-recorded message which communicates similar information to guests. The message plays only in the queue room immediately before the ride experience.

Reception

Avatar Flight of Passage was ranked in the ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...

Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

for best new ride of 2017 with 15% of the vote, to come in second place. The ride won the 2018

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and ...

Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project.

References

External links

* {{Disney rides Pandora – The World of Avatar Disney's Animal Kingdom Amusement rides based on film franchises Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Audio-Animatronic attractions Amusement rides introduced in 2017 Simulator rides 2017 establishments in Florida Films scored by James Horner