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Na'vi River Journey

Na'vi River Journey

An Attraction in Animal Kingdom

Last updated: April 28, 2025

At a Glance

The Na’vi River Journey is a 4½-minute boat ride through the Pandora jungle. You begin by boarding one of two small, hewn rafts joined together. Each raft has two rows of seats, and each row comfortably fits three adults. That might seem small, but it’s more likely a nod to authenticity – the Na’vi are unlikely to have invented technology like fiberglass to make larger vessels as in, say, "it’s a small world".

Off you go into the nighttime jungle, past glowing plants and exotic animals. To create these, Disney has used traditional 3-D sets for the flora, coupled with video screens showing the movement of the fauna. These video screens are semitransparent, though. What’s past them are more screens, with background scenes that also move. That means you’re seeing action in the foreground and background simultaneously, all surrounded by densely packed landscaping.

Another bit of technology put to great effect is video projection mapping like that used in the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime show Happily Ever After. Here it’s used to project three-dimensional bugs crawling on tree trunks in one of the ride’s middle scenes.

The big star, however, is displayed in the ride’s culminating scene: the Shaman of Songs, easily the most lifelike animatronic figure Disney has ever created. The shaman’s arms move with astonishing grace—we certainly don’t know any real people who are that coordinated. Yet another nice touch: The shaman sings off-key rather than professionally pitch-perfect.

The main problem with Na’vi River Journey has to do with storytelling: You go in not knowing anything about the character, and not enough story unfolds during the ride to get you excited about meeting the shaman.

Current Standby Wait Time
Closed
Lightning Lane
Soonest Return Time:
5:10pm
As of 7:13am EDT
Guest Overall Rating
Our Overall Rating
Preschool
Grade School
Teens
Young Adults
Over 30
Seniors
Location
Pandora - The World of Avatar in Animal Kingdom
Duration
5 min
Rider Switch?
No
Minimum Height
None
Queues
Accessibility
  • Handheld Captioning
  • Audio Description
  • Must Transfer From Wheelchair/ECV

Na'vi River Journey Full Ride Through

Touring Tips

When To Go
Before 9:30 a.m., during the last 2 hours before closing.
Loading Speed
Moderate
Early Theme Park Entry?
Yes
Wait per 100 People Ahead
5 min
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours?
Yes
We don’t think that it’s worth waiting longer than 30 minutes (the queue only has enough shade to cover maybe 30 minutes’ worth of guests, even fewer with social distancing).

For a look at Pandora first thing in the morning, Brian videoed himself riding both Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey at park opening (see above).

Other attractions you might like

Users who like Na'vi River Journey, generally also like:

Magic Kingdom

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Hollywood Studios

Toy Story Mania!

Hollywood Studios

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

Hollywood Studios

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Wait Times

Here's roughly how many minutes you'll wait for Na'vi River Journey at each Animal Kingdom Crowd Level.

1
20 to 57
2
38 to 71
3
51 to 84
4
56 to 87
5
59 to 93
6
63 to 101
7
71 to 106
8
75 to 115
9
77 to 130
10
89 to 155
Hourly View
Monday,
Apr 28, 2025
View another date
Wait Times for
Na'vi River Journey
 
As of 7:16 am EDT
Monday,
April 28, 2025

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