Jennifer,
Thanks for asking your question to planDisney!
My family is visiting in late November, and we have put visiting Pandora at night on the top of our bucket list. I have seen the bioluminescent decor of the land at night before, but my teenagers seem to have missed out on past trips, so this year it is a required stop!
While they have not yet published park hours for late December, typically the Animal Kingdom will be open until around 8 p.m. Sunset in late December is around 5:30 p.m., which means that it truly gets dark about 70-80 minutes after that. So, roughly around the time you are going to be sitting down for dinner, it will start to be perfect for immersing yourself in that experience.
But will you be able to see Pandora
after you are done eating? Well, if you take a full hour to eat, likely not very much, and possibly not at all. At 8 p.m. the cast members at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park will start to gently usher guests towards the park exits for the evening. You might be able to run in and out quickly, but you would not have time to linger and truly appreciate the exotic locale. Sometimes they are more urgent in their requests than at other times when they would let you linger, but it is impossible to know which situation might happen, so plan for them to expect you to leave at the posted park closing time. However, if you can be done with dinner in a bit less than an hour you should have ample time to explore before departing.
My advice to you is this.
First, see if slightly earlier dining times are available. If you could eat at 6, you would be done with plenty of time to explore.
Second, if you cannot get an earlier time, arrive well before your reservation time to see if they can seat you a bit earlier. That can happen far more often than you might expect.
Finally, make sure when you leave the
Yak and Yeti Restaurant that you know the fastest route to get to Pandora.
DOUG'S FAST ROUTEWhen you leave Yak and Yeti, walk straight over to the bridge in front of you to Discovery Island. Some people will walk through Africa to get there, but that will take longer. Circle around the
Tree of Life until you see the signs towards Pandora, as you pass the Island Mercantile store, and before you get to Pizzafari.
BONUS TIPThere are so many wonderful choices at Yak and Yeti. But a personal favorite is the Bhaktapur Duck. If you are inclined to those flavors, it is an excellent choice.
Please feel free to
write me back directly if you have any follow-up questions.
Have a Magical Vacation!
Doug