Five Things to Know About Na’vi River Journey

The Na’vi River Journey is a slow-moving dark boat ride through Pandora’s bioluminescent rainforest. You’ll float past Pandora’s exotic animals and glowing plants on your way to the Shaman of Songs. Read on to learn more, but if you’d rather bypass the trip and float on down to the nuts and bolts, here’s your shortcut.

1. You follow the queue to where the River flows.

The queue for Na’vi River Journey consists of two parts: an exterior portion of the queue, and an interior portion. The exterior portion takes you on a winding path through the exotic and alien landscape of Pandora.

The interior portion is covered, but not enclosed, and looks as if it had been built by the Na’vi. You’ll see their handiwork everywhere, including totems. From the light fixtures to the poles along the switchback, you’ll think it was fashioned completely from natural materials. While not as detailed as the other Pandora attraction, Flight of Passage, this has the characteristic attention to detail that Disney’s Imagineers are renowned for.

2. You board a boat and start to float.

The ride itself is a 5-minute slow-moving journey through the wildly colorful and beautifully illuminated jungle of Pandora. A gentle ride, there are no sudden drops or unexpected jerky movements. You’re floating, and your attention should be focused on the amazing scenery as you head toward the ride’s conclusion. To be honest, there’s not much of a plot. The good news is that the scenery is so stunning that there doesn’t need to be one.

You’ll head 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 that show the movement of the fauna. But here’s what makes an impressive difference: the video screens are semi-transparent. Behind them are more screens with background scenes that are also moving. This creates a remarkable effect: allowing you to see the action in the foreground and background simultaneously, all surrounded by densely packed landscaping.

Also along the way, the Imagineers have employed video projection mapping. It’s used to project three-dimensional bugs crawling on tree trunks in one of the ride’s middle scenes to remarkable effect. The ride’s music becomes louder and more distinct as you continue, all of which leads up to the conclusion of the ride: the Shaman of Songs.

And this is where the lack of storytelling in the rest of the ride might be considered a problem by some. 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. The Shaman’s gestures are totally realistic; her arms move with astonishing grace. As she sings (a little off-key, to be honest, which only adds to the realism) and plays the various instruments around her, her eye contact and fluid motions are among the best the Imagineers have ever constructed. Disney says that the Shaman “demonstrates her deep connection to the life force of Pandora—and sends positive energy out into the forest through the power of her music.”

3. A little history about Pandora.

Pandora – The World of Avatar for Disney’s Animal Kingdom was officially announced in 2011. Bob Iger, then CEO of Disney, asked James Cameron, creator of Avatar, about the possibility of developing Avatar-themed attractions for Disney. Initial conversations centered around something at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But the discussion soon shifted to a whole new area at Disney’s Animal Kingdom to help increase attendance at that park.

A deal between the parties was signed on September 17, 2011, and announced on September 20th. At the D23 Expo in 2015, the name of this attraction was revealed. Joe Rohde, who was the original lead designer of Animal Kingdom, headed up the project. And Pandora – The World of Avatar and its attractions, Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey, both officially opened to guests on May 27, 2017.

4. Fun facts about the journey.

⭐ As you enter the queue, to the right, you can see large footprints on the ground. These are full-grown Na’vi footprints. The Na’vi are huge folk, and their footprints reflect that!

⭐ Some of the plants in the queue, like the ones resembling flat-topped acacias, are actually live trimmed oaks from Florida.

⭐  The Shaman is almost 10 feet tall, but since she’s sitting, it’s hard to tell. It’s reported that Disney spent nearly $23 million to construct this figure – which shows in the fluidity of her movements and gestures.

⭐ Her song is entitled, The Shaman’s Song (Na’vi: Way Tiretuä), and the lyrics were provided by Paul Frommer, who created the Na’vi language for the Avatar films.

⭐ Yes, there’s a hidden Mickey to be found! Look for a Mickey-shaped hole in the lower part of the cloak worn by the Shaman (on her left, your right) as you pass. It can be tough to spot since it’s only visible when her arms are raised.

5. The Nuts and Bolts.

Na’vi River Journey is located in Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park. Since a portion of the queue is outdoors and the main queue is only covered and not indoors, you may be exposed to the weather. But Na’vi River Journey itself is indoors and out of the elements, so weather doesn’t affect the operation of this attraction.

As mentioned above, the Na’vi River Journey ride vehicles are boats that look as if they’ve been handcrafted out of reeds or grasses. The benches themselves are hard plastic. Each has two rows and can comfortably seat about two to three adults per row.

There is a moderate step over the boat wall and then a moderate step into the boat. Guests must transfer from a wheelchair/ECV in order to board. Because this is such a gentle ride experience, there are no health or safety advisories for Na’vi River Journey. And there are no height restrictions. Handheld Captioning and Audio Description are available, making this a ride everyone can enjoy.

Na’vi River Journey is open for Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. It’s a popular attraction, and first thing in the morning or right before closing are when wait times are the shortest. Alternatively, you can secure entry with a Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Premier Pass.

The Bottom Line.

If you’re a fan of the Avatar movies, you’ll find Na’vi River Journey an enjoyable, if not remarkable, 5-minute trip. If you’re not a fan of the franchise, the storyline may not resonate with you enough for this attraction to make your “must-do” list, but the scenery is stunning enough that you won’t be sorry you rode it once. Either way, it’s an amazing exhibition of the ability of the Imagineers to bring a fantastic fictional place into existence.

Have you been on Na’vi River Journey? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.

(Originally published December 7, 2023. Last updated/republished November 27, 2025.)