Pandora: The World of Avatar Announcement, Construction, & Preview Discussion

[jtsalien]

So the same people who hopped on the "OMFGG Avatar has NO oRiGiNaLiTy!" bandwagon are freaking out all over the interwebs about this project. It's funny.

I think that's just because everyone collectively pooped their pants at this announcement. Once all this excitement dies down, we'll hear from the nay sayers. Like how Disney is just trying to be like Universal. Or how the movie wasn't that good. Or that it won't be good because it's Disney.

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

So the same people who hopped on the "OMFGG Avatar has NO oRiGiNaLiTy!" bandwagon are freaking out all over the interwebs about this project. It's funny.

Well Avatar's world looks great and is very applicable to a theme park environment that doesn't rely so heavily on the elements of story whereas the film was three hours of a pitiful script riddled with borrowed ideas. You can very easily not like the film and still be excited for what it may add to a theme park setting.

 

[Jymmymack]

So the same people who hopped on the "OMFGG Avatar has NO oRiGiNaLiTy!" bandwagon are freaking out all over the interwebs about this project. It's funny.

Avatar as a theme park attraction is perfect. A story everyone knows, lots of bright colors, and plenty of shiny things.

As a three-hour blowhard festival of the self-important and smug: not so much.

 

[TSSD]

And I thought Cars Land was a stupid move.

Come ON, WDI, where is the originality that made some of the best theme parks in the world?

At least the Wizarding World of Harry Potter can tie into the storyline of Islands of Adventure. Animal Kingdom is about EARTH's animals.

It's also about connections to nature, which ties in perfectly to Avatar.

 

[UNIrd]

I agree mostly. We all do win. I kind of hate though how anything new Disney does now is automatically assumed to be in response to Potter. I mean, Marvel was in response to Potter. Fantasyland was in response to Potter. Now Avatar is in response to Potter, too? Maybe Disney is actually making something new for the sake of being having something new like they have been doing for decades. Remember how they acquired rights to Muppets, Star Wars, Indy, Pixar, Goosbumps, TNMT, Power Rangers, Etc. in the pre-Potter days simply to make cool attractions? Why are they not allowed to carry that tradition without being made out to look desperate in response to a company whose two Orlando parks combined (with Potter) still can't match the earnings of Magic Kingdom? Some things, like Gaston's beverages, are certainly nodding to Potter, but to draw any big move Disney does in direct comparison to Harry Potter seems bogus to me.

Hmm. I get what you're saying.. but really, let's be honest here. Disney has not aspired to create a whole land based on any single property.. not even one based on their own properties.. at WDW before. Now there's going to be a whole Avatar land? With rides, shops, dining and entertainment? With a property from James Cameron, whose only other theme park venture is next door at Universal?

 

[jtsalien]

And I thought Cars Land was a stupid move.

Come ON, WDI, where is the originality that made some of the best theme parks in the world?

At least the Wizarding World of Harry Potter can tie into the storyline of Islands of Adventure. Animal Kingdom is about EARTH's animals.

Animal Kingdom is NOT limited to the "Earth's" animals. Here is the dedication from Michael Eisner:

Welcome to a kingdom of animals... real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.

 

[batsmouth]

To be honest I think it will be a great addition, I think Disney is taking a huge risk with this though. I can imagine the 2/3rd films being pretty dire (mostly due to how successful the first was and what they have to live up to i.e. POTC). Along with other reasons such as people jumping on the negative bangwagon more with the next films. But we will see, I think its great to have a whole new land within AK. It will be interesting to see, it just seems odd at a Disney park though. I appreciate the whole conservation and nature side, but its very rare disney put a different franchise which isn't Disney productions within the parks (apart from the obvious ones). But all in all I am looking forward to some artwork :thumbs:

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

Hmm. I get what you're saying.. but really, let's be honest here. Disney has not aspired to create a whole land based on any single property.. not even one based on their own properties.. at WDW before. Now there's going to be a whole Avatar land? With rides, shops, dining and entertainment? With a property from James Cameron, whose only other theme park venture is next door at Universal?

Disney has deep pockets. With the FE, they have been sitting on the land of 4K and saving. They scrapped BK and have since been sitting on the land and saving. Disney doesn't create money, they sit, build, and wait for a dramatic reveal. People have been saying all decade long that it's time for Disney to make a big expansion. Now that they are making several, it's blown over as a pathetic response to Universal when it has actually just been a tradition they have been doing since Disneyland was conceived. Should Disney just wait for Potter-craze to settle before revealing their ideas or drop the news while the iron is hot?

 

[Sideshow Mike]

I think this will be a great addition to the park. I wasn't the biggest fan of the movie but I absolutely loved the visuals. It's an environment that fits in well with a theme park. I am looking forward to seeing some artwork for this. The land close to Camp Minnie-Mickey is perfect for this since that is where Beastly Kingdom was supposed to be. Wasn't Camp Minnie-Mickey supposed to be a temporary land? Someone please refresh my memory on this.

 

[UNIrd]

Disney has deep pockets. With the FE, they have been sitting on the land of 4K and saving. They scrapped BK and have since been sitting on the land and saving. Disney doesn't create money, they sit, build, and wait for a dramatic reveal. People have been saying all decade long that it's time for Disney to make a big expansion. Now that they are making several, it's blown over as a pathetic response to Universal when it has actually just been a tradition they have been doing since Disneyland was conceived. Should Disney just wait for Potter-craze to settle before revealing their ideas or drop the news while the iron is hot?

You're not listening. Disney has NEVER created a whole land out of the four parks in WDW based on one property, even of its own Disney properties. Then they team up with James Cameron (who teamed up with Universal for T2:3D) to create a land based on Avatar, a film that was released months before WWOHP opened to the public, and like WWOHP will have rides, shops, dining and entertainment based on this one property? You don't see some kind of connection?

 

[Brian G.]

And I thought Cars Land was a stupid move.

Come ON, WDI, where is the originality that made some of the best theme parks in the world?

At least the Wizarding World of Harry Potter can tie into the storyline of Islands of Adventure. Animal Kingdom is about EARTH's animals.

Just sayin'

Welcome to a kingdom of animals... real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.

EDIT: Or...what jtsalien said....

 

[jtsalien]

Just sayin'

Good point BriMan, but I beat you to it by about 10 minutes

 

[UNIrd]

Reading through the old thread is hilarious. So much negativity. BriMan and Vyrus, you two were the biggest detractors!

This is what I wrote..

Avatar is a perfect fit for Universal. I'm not a huge fan of the movie but I know there's so many people that love it and if they can base a quality attraction of it, more power to them. I'll definitely be in line to experience it.

Looks like I would've been in line at the wrong park. :thumbs:

 

[Jymmymack]

It's all a "response to Potter." Just like Potter was a response to Expedition Everest. They are all after the same goal: boosting attendance. The only way Potter influenced anything (except the butterbeer over there at Gaston's), is by forcing Disney's hand into plunging deeper into concepts, which isn't a bad thing. I will say that without Potter, Disney wouldn't have felt it necessary to build an entire land on Avatar, but rather just a large ride. That's the one thing that Potter truly did change: it established the new rule that building one ride isn't enough, an entire land is required.

 

[Brian G.]

Reading through the old thread is hilarious. So much negativity. BriMan and Vyrus, you two were the biggest detractors!

How so? I didn't have a problem with Avatar as an attraction. I had a problem of the rumored attraction that was going to be in Universal, a 4-d movie in Hollywood.

 

[batsmouth]

I just thought, I'm sorry but if there is a blue mickey with a bow and arrow I will cry . As I'm sure everyone knows on here I hate the whole stick Mickey into every franchise. But furthermore I was thinking when Avatar came out a lot of people were claiming the plot was stolen from various different films (because every film these days are original stories ) but anyways one of the films it was compared against was Pocahontus, oh the irony!

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

You're not listening. Disney has NEVER created a whole land out of the four parks in WDW based on one property, even of its own Disney properties. Then they team up with James Cameron (who teamed up with Universal for T2:3D) to create a land based on Avatar, a film that was released months before WWOHP opened to the public, and like WWOHP will have rides, shops, dining and entertainment based on this one property? You don't see some kind of connection?

While technically part of Asia, Everest was an expansion that included an e-ticket ride, shops, and the sit-down Yak and Yeti restaurant. WDW's Fantasyland and DL's Cars Land are more examples of additional wings to a Disney Parks yet all of their conceptions are presumed to be responses to WWoHP by a fat load of people. I'm sure BK has been sitting in the back of the Imagineer's minds since DAK opened, an extra land of fantasy creatures isn't a new concept to them. I'm not saying WWoHP has no influence on Imagineers but people assuming that every big step Disney takes with their parks from here on out is a direct link to Universal is pretty outrageous.

 

[Jymmymack]

While technically part of Asia, Everest was an expansion that included an e-ticket ride, shops, and the sit-down Yak and Yeti restaurant. WDW's Fantasyland and DL's Cars Land are more examples of additional wings to a Disney Parks yet all of their conceptions are presumed to be response to WWoHP by a fat load of people. I'm sure BK has been sitting in the back of the Imagineer's minds since DAK opened, an extra land of fantasy creatures isn't a new concept to them. I'm not saying WWoHP has no influence on Imagineers but people assuming that every big step Disney takes with their parks from here on out is a direct link I find pretty outrageous.

Like I said, I don't think every project is a response. I think that HP established a new trend that Disney is picking up and running with.

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

Like I said, I don't think every project is a response. I think that HP established a new trend that Disney is picking up and running with.

I think they would have expanded Fantasyland regardless and the stagnant land for BK would likely have fleshed out into something worthwhile eventually with or without WWoHP's influence. Tying in a Hollywood film into the land does lend credit to UO but what has me fired up isn't Avatar vs Potter. It is the people pitting everything new from Disney VS Potter.

 

[violarum]

Regardless of whether or not it may fit within that boundary, the park's theme still insinuated that all the animals belong to Earth (especially with all the other lands being under such a phylum). But that does not answer why Walt Disney Imagineering is not being original with their ideas. I have minimal doubt that this area will be great, but I do not think that these last few projects (save Buena Vista Street) correctly display the creative capabilities of themed attraction design. Beastlie Kingdomme would infinitely be a better expansion.