2
Avatar — Flight of Passage is easily one of the most popular rides at Walt Disney World Resort. The Pandora-themed attraction draws Guests in each and every day and typically has over an hour wait time — if not two hours.
As the ride hosts hundreds of Guests every day, it makes sense that the actual size of this attraction is massive. But what’s fascinating is that Disney is able to hide the true size of Flight of Passage from Guests’ eyes.
If you are not familiar with what a show building is, these are created by Disney Imagineers and are a necessity to house an attraction that lasts as long as, say, Flight of Passage, Splash Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, or Pirates of the Caribbean without taking away from the attraction’s facade.
Basically, rides such as Flight of Passage need a lot more space to tell the full story, but utilizing giant industrial-looking buildings are, of course, not pleasant to look at and will take away from the theming that Disney is known for. So, in order to make this work, these show buildings are often hidden from Guests’ views to preserve the Park’s magic.
When using Google Earth, you can reveal the true size of Flight of Passage — and it is massive!
The Mouselets shared a video to TikTok showing Flight of Passage from Google Earth, and you can see just how massive the show building is from a bird’s eye view!
In the images above and below, you can see the iconic floating rocks at Pandora. Just past those floating rocks is where Guests enter the queue for Flight of Passage. And if you scroll past the queue, you can see the massive hidden show building, which is where the entire Flight of Passage attraction actually takes place!
If you have never ridden on the back of a banshee at Avatar — Flight of Passage, Walt Disney World describes this thrilling attraction as:
Board your own mountain banshee and embark on a thrilling expedition, where interstellar explorers like you get an up-close look at this moon’s incredible landscape.
Bonding with a banshee is a crucial step in the life of a Na’vi hunter on Pandora—and flying on the back of one of these powerful creatures is an important rite of passage.
Now, as a visitor to Pandora, you finally have the chance to test yourself like a Na’vi!
©Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
Is Flight of Passage a must do for you and your family? Let us know in the comments below.
If you want to visit Walt Disney World on your next family vacation to experience the four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — but aren’t sure where to begin planning, then don’t hesitate to reach out to our friends over at the Authorized Disney Vacation Planners at Academy Travel for a free quote.