Team Chapek - Pandora - Flight of the Banshee

Avatar: Flight of the Banshee is the premier “E-ticket” attraction at Disneyland’s Pandora. On this thrilling adventure, guests will soar into the skies, around floating mountains, and above winding rivers and lush forests aboard this one-of-a-kind family coaster.

Working alongside longtime partner Vekoma, Disney Imagineers have created another uniquely thrilling experience that Guests will remember for a lifetime!

The star of the attraction is the articulated winged coaster trains. The ride vehicle itself functions identically to the ones in use on TRON Lightcycle Power Run, only these trains sit four across, two on either side of the track, and are designed to resemble the mythical Banshee creatures from Avatar. Each row of vehicles have their own mechanical “wings” that extend outward, and the front and back of each train have been adorned with anamorphic features. Each train is capable of carrying up to 32 passengers.

The queue meanders through the bioluminescent forest of Pandora, in a region known as the Takraki, an uninhabited area explored in Avatar: The Seed Bearer (Avatar 3). The Takraki region is unique to Pandora due to its proximity to the snowcapped peaks of the Xanadu Mountain Range, of which one of the peaks can be seen from many vantage points throughout the land, represented in Disneyland via the Matterhorn.

As guests continue their trek deep within the forest, you wander up and down several switchbacks of alien foliage that interacts with guests by moving, rotating, and swaying as more pass by. Guests also spot the monorail gliding overhead as more guests arrive from regions beyond to dock with the Venture Star and explore Pandora.

Guests soon reach eye level with various 'floating mountains' that are near where the Banshees habitat in this region. Guests continue to walk up towards an alcove inside of one of the floating mountains that houses another animatronic banshee that flaps its wings and breathes at guests as they continue passing by towards the loading station of the attraction. Before boarding the ride vehicles, guests are given a safety spiel about the conditions to ride. With a 44 inch height requirement, guests are told of the swooping drops, sharp turns, and sudden stops to expect on this adventure.

Guests are then strapped into their seats riding the Banshee in a first of its kind Disney attraction - combining the Vekoma flying coaster technology with Disney storytelling, and family-friendly thrills.

Similar to Tron, guests begin with a launch from 0-47 mph in 2.5 seconds and ascend out of the mountains, sweep past a waterfall, and dive towards the lagoon below. For a brief moment guests get a pespective unlike any in Disneyland seeing the entire park from a bird's eye view approximately 75 feet above the ground.

Guests have vistas of both Pandora and the surrounding areas before they quickly sweep back down towards the ground at a 65 degree angle with speeds up to 51 mph at the bottom. Guests then stay close to the ground on their banshee as it sweeps in and out of the Pandora forest narrowly missing the foliage that surrounds it. Guests then get a quick pop of airtime above one of the trees with a brilliant view of the Xanadu Mountain range before diving back down into the forest and making a sharp right turn and swoop down towards the lagoon.

Guests are continuing to glide around the forest moon of Pandora as they sweep under the monorail track and come within 5 feet of the water below. Water effects spray at the guests as they get a little wet from the residual splashes as the banshee then rips upward towards the sky only to dive back down with one of the most incredible moments on the attraction as you get floater air-time that then manifests as ejector air-time right as you drop back down below. If you have a sharp eye, guests can distinguish between the various trees and plant life of the region that will be explained more if guests decide to ride the attraction Journey to the Cove.

As the attraction reaches its climax, a banked helix turn followed by a set of bunny hills sends the banshees back towards the floating mountain station. The finale of the attraction features a 70 degree drop coming out of the bunny hill as the finale pop of airtime that dives under the monorail track and ascends on the other side of the track as it re-approaches the unloading station.

The significance of this experience is multifactorial. On one hand, the attraction serves as this boutique land's thrill ride, while offering an outdoor excursion in the California sun which will not be susceptible to many closures for inclement weather when compared to Florida counterparts. Secondly, the attraction differentiates itself enough from Flight of Passgae so that guests on one coast can experience the physical thrills of a flight through Pandora while those on the east coast can experience the psychological and awe inspiring thrills of experiencing Pandora on a big screen simulation. Both offer their own unique sets of adventures for guests and for those true Avatar fans and coaster enthusiasts alike, they will want to experience both coasts in order to be able to capture all that the World of Pandora has to offer.

Journey to the Cove