Review: Pandora Utility Suit debuts at Animal Kingdom

A few times a day you will now be able to see and the 4.2-ton Pandora Utility Suit walking around Pandora-The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World and it’s impressive.

Sitting 10 feet high, a pilot is strapped into a cockpit of this exo-carrier and controls all of the movements of this giant walking suit.

I saw the first show when it debuted on April 22, 2018, Animal Kingdom’s 20th anniversary, and was fascinated by how the pilot moves the suit while sitting. The pilot, in character, talks about Pandora and answers questions ranging from how the suit works to what it’s like to meet a Na’vi. He also tells a good story about a Thanator – an alpha predator on Pandora.

The giant walking suit was designed with articulated hands and a shoulder span of more than five feet. It is different from the film’s AMP suits, which were created for military infantry missions. This suit is designed to collect plant samples and study flora.

The interaction was definitely created to help expand the story about Pandora and while much of what the pilot said was interesting and entertaining, the big draw is the suit. And while you can watch the pilot walk the suit around in a limited area, I hope in the future there will be more to it, maybe picking objects up or demonstrating a bit more the functionality of the suit. And it would be nice for the pilot to actually take a longer walk around Pandora.

In the meantime, it is worth the few minutes to stop and interact with the pilot. Check entertainment times for when the suit will be out. He will be walking out near the entrance to the Satu’li Canteen. Check out the video below for a sample of what the interaction provides.