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

[twebber55]

Yeah seemed to go over real well...

This pre-Oscars commercial for Avatar World is terrifying people - Polygon

the wussification of America continues

 

[Alicia]

I do think the static shot for the AA in the commercial is unflattering. A dolly in/out or even side to side, slowly would've made it look better... Maybe the AA cannot turn its head (yet) so they locked down the camera...

But compare that the end of the early Kong commercials with the shot of Kong turning his head towards us, zooming the camera passed people's heads in the tram, then the shot quick fades to white. That was exciting and interesting.

Camera motion makes static things look lively. Static camera makes alien seem creepy.

 

[Disneyhead]

I can see people thinking that AA is creepy. Terrifying, not so much.

 

[Brian G.]

Going through Twitter last night by searching "Avatar World", and by applying some quick, fuzzy math to user reactions - 1/3 found it creepy, 1/3 asked about why is Avatar coming/is it still relevant, and 1/3 were excited.

 

[twebber55]

ive seen a ton of Universal commercials here in Tennessee lately mainly hyping up the resort more so than Volcano Bay
i loved their add BTW
in terms of the avatar ads i liked the one last night because you got to see the land. thats what i want to see not clips from the movie

 

[shiekra38]

Going through Twitter last night by searching "Avatar World", and by applying some quick, fuzzy math to user reactions - 1/3 found it creepy, 1/3 asked about why is Avatar coming/is it still relevant, and 1/3 were excited.

According to my computer wife,
Avatar World:
1% Cool Floating Mountains
99% Hot Gas

 

[TheLastAshen]

According to my computer wife,
Avatar World:
1% Cool Floating Mountains
99% Hot Gas

Looooooove this Spongebob reference.

 

[Mad Dog]

Going through Twitter last night by searching "Avatar World", and by applying some quick, fuzzy math to user reactions - 1/3 found it creepy, 1/3 asked about why is Avatar coming/is it still relevant, and 1/3 were excited.

Sounds similar to the results of the Presidential election. The country is divided on Avatar. And the words creepy,relevant & excited slips in to the results.

 

[deathcab4cutie]

the aa is prob somewhere in the uncanny valley

 

[Skipper Justin]

Is anyone else having trouble convincing people to go to Avatar? None of my friends seem thrilled or amped by the expansion. I want to go because I have been following it since it was announced. :bonk:

 

[GadgetGuru]

Is anyone else having trouble convincing people to go to Avatar? None of my friends seem thrilled or amped by the expansion. I want to go because I have been following it since it was announced. :bonk:

Maybe I'm in the minority on this one.

Besides Potter, I can't think of a single ride or land that was so enticing that people booked a vacation for it. I don't think people booked vacations specifically for Despicable Me, Frozen, Mermaid, Transformers...basically anything. I think the new attractions help keep a narrative that there's new things to do in the parks. Then, after enough advertising, families decide that it's time to go to Disney or Universal.

 

[SeventyOne]

Eh, it's not like guests should expect to not fit in a ride seat if they commonly do.

That's why the TMs are so aggressive about it at Forbidden Journey. Now if you refuse the test seat or insist on trying to ride regardless they have the right to push you out the exit quickly and not care.

While common at Universal, even more so at regional parks, test seats are pretty much unheard of at WDW. The only attraction I recall turning away guests in any significant numbers in 45 years has been the Sum of All Thrills simulator, which barely counts as a ride, let alone an E-ticket. If these seats are anywhere near as restrictive as original FJ, WDW Customer Service is going to get roasted.

 

[Brian G.]

Is anyone else having trouble convincing people to go to Avatar? None of my friends seem thrilled or amped by the expansion. I want to go because I have been following it since it was announced. :bonk:

It's funny. My friend is a huge Avatar fan and not a huge theme park nut. He's probably seen the film countless times and was originally excited for the land before the marketing push.

Per yesterday's convo: "I'm about done seeing these commercials. They do nothing for me. I'm going to block their account on Twitter because I'm tired of seeing it on my feed."

Granted it is one person's PoV - but an interesting take nonetheless.

 

[SeventyOne]

The "night time" factor is going to be huge on this. Instead of seeing the over crowded fire works show, or the old Illuminations, tourists will be flocking to Animal Kingdom at night to "fully experience" Pandora as it's meant to be experienced. Trust me, Disney will market it as such. If these go well enough, I could see them selling "after 4pm" tickets as well.

Again, you're arguing against the history of theme parks in Orlando. You're positing that "walk around a land at night, skipping the rides because they have 3 hour waits" is more compelling than "see a nighttime spectacular with your favorite Jungle Book characters and songs." Even Hogwarts can't sell the "come back at night" spiel, and even a relevant Jungle Book show couldn't pull nighttime crowds to DAK. Joe from Jersey wants rides or fireworks, not to walk around fake trees.

 

[Mad Dog]

Again, you're arguing against the history of theme parks in Orlando. You're positing that "walk around a land at night, skipping the rides because they have 3 hour waits" is more compelling than "see a nighttime spectacular with your favorite Jungle Book characters and songs." Even Hogwarts can't sell the "come back at night" spiel, and even a relevant Jungle Book show couldn't pull nighttime crowds to DAK. Joe from Jersey wants rides or fireworks, not to walk around fake trees.

I agree. It's tough for the other three WDW parks to compete against MK. MK probably has as many attractions as the other three combined. No wonder people overcrowd it, and continue to jam it no matter what promos DHS, AK & Epcot run. Disney plays on the concept that tourists are dumb, but they're not that dumb. Imagine what the attendance disparity would be if there were no park hopper or multi day discount rate tickets available. MK would have 30 million visitors a year and the other three probably 5 or 6 million each.

 

[12th Man]

Lol! This pre-Oscars commercial for Avatar World is terrifying people - Polygon

 

[epcyclopedia]

Universal spends a lot of time getting people out of Diagon at night. They'd rather linger.

As for Hogsmeade, if they had the castle projection show - and imagine if they had it a few times a night as well as a lagoon fireworks show - it's easy to argue guests would stay.

There's plenty of times where everyone is scratching their head as to why IOA closed so early on a given day. They aren't really forecasting too well nor particularly agile in extending park hours.

There have been plenty of times where FJ was running past park close to just clear the line.

This is all to say, guests are hard to predict.

 

[Legacy]

If they keep hyping that we get to "Ride a banshee," why have we yet to see guests riding banshees? Not even a filmed clip of the ride, I'd take one of those classic simulated clips of guests IN the ride. All we are seeing is a banshee flock and the clip of the screaming at the camera. There's nothing super compelling, or exciting about it.

We have now seen guests staring at rocks, which is an improvement, I guess. But they really are falling apart with the marketing of this whole thing.

 

[rhino4evr]

Lol! This pre-Oscars commercial for Avatar World is terrifying people - Polygon

Funny Story, the exact words form my daughter was "What is Pandora?", and "AHHH!!" in fright when the AA came on screen.

 

[twebber55]

my daughter saw the commercial and thought it was pretty and the coolest thing she s ever seen
she s 13