Na'vi River Journey is a Jungle Cruise inspired attraction in Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It is based on the 2009 James Cameron science-fiction film Avatar.
History[]
Backstory[]
Na'vi River Journey is a boat tour service located in the Valley of Mo'ara on the alien exo-moon of Pandora around the 2150s. Guests are taken on a riverboat cruise of the alien rainforests along the Kaspavan River by the human interstellar tourism group Alpha Centauri Expeditions. A.C.E. does this in partnership with the Pandora Conservation Initiative and Omaticaya Clan to promote peace between worlds.
Development history[]
Summary[]
In a cavern, guests board hand-woven boats made by ACE before departing for the rainforest. The boats are greeted by a scout for the Omaticaya Clan within the jungle. Along the journey, guests encounter alien wildlife including viperwolves, hexapedes, woodsprites, panopyra and fan lizards. In the conclusion to the attraction, the boats encounter the Shaman of Songs singing Way Tiretuä, a song representing the connection to the goddess Eywa.
Jungle Cruise connections[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Na'vi River Journey is inspired by the Jungle Cruise. It is a faux boat-ride through an artificial jungle filled with special effects and projected/audio-animatronic creatures. Unlike the American Adventureland Jungle Cruise attractions, Na'vi River Journey omits a focus on superficial camp and convoluted backstory references in-favour of the Jungle Cruise's original focus on immersion into an exotic environment.
Kilimanjaro Safaris[]
Na'vi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris and the Valley of Mo'ara are part of the Wilderness Explorers interactive attraction (itself themed around the film Up).
Trivia[]
- Na'vi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris are both incarnations of the Jungle Cruise at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
- Pandora is not the only instance of aliens being referenced in relation to Jungle Cruise attractions. During Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries, Trader Sam had a tablet depicting the alien Crystal Skull of Akator, the alien experiment 626 or Stitch visited the Enchanted Tiki Room while being affiliated with Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, the drink The Bounty at the Trader Sam's bars are modelled after Grogu from The Mandalorian, and in the library of the Skipper Canteen are books titled Creatures from Space! by Clench, an allusion to the evil alien L.C. Clench from ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter and The Stars Above Us by Quill, a tribute to Peter "Star-Lord" Quill from Marvel Comics.
Gallery[]
