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Pandora: World of Avatar General Discussion



At the 24th Annual (2018) THEA (now TEA) Awards Gala, Pandora The World of Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista Florida won the awards for Outstanding Achievement Attraction and Outstanding Achievement Theme Park Area Development. Pandora – The World of Avatar immerses guests in a mystical world of massive floating mountains, bioluminescent rainforests, and breathtaking new experiences. Fun and adventure await in this entirely new land found in Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Here guests explore an awesome alien landscape, encounter a larger-than-life Na’vi shaman and soar over Pandora on the back of a fearsome mountain banshee. The largest addition in the history of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Pandora carries on the park’s tradition of celebrating the intrinsic value of nature, transformation through adventure and a personal call to action. Based on Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron’s record-breaking box-office hit, AVATAR, the new land welcomes guests to the lush world of Pandora long after the human conflict with the Na’vi has ended. The dramatic daytime beauty of the land transforms to glow by night when bioluminescent flora and intricate nighttime experiences add a dreamlike quality to Pandora. Pandora – The World of Avatar is a creative collaboration of Walt Disney Imagineering, Cameron and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.
 


At the 24th Annual (2018) THEA (now TEA) Awards Gala, Pandora The World of Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista Florida won the awards for Outstanding Achievement Attraction and Outstanding Achievement Theme Park Area Development. Pandora – The World of Avatar immerses guests in a mystical world of massive floating mountains, bioluminescent rainforests, and breathtaking new experiences. Fun and adventure await in this entirely new land found in Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Here guests explore an awesome alien landscape, encounter a larger-than-life Na’vi shaman and soar over Pandora on the back of a fearsome mountain banshee. The largest addition in the history of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Pandora carries on the park’s tradition of celebrating the intrinsic value of nature, transformation through adventure and a personal call to action. Based on Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron’s record-breaking box-office hit, AVATAR, the new land welcomes guests to the lush world of Pandora long after the human conflict with the Na’vi has ended. The dramatic daytime beauty of the land transforms to glow by night when bioluminescent flora and intricate nighttime experiences add a dreamlike quality to Pandora. Pandora – The World of Avatar is a creative collaboration of Walt Disney Imagineering, Cameron and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.

Pandora is a fantastic land and deserves awards.

But, honestly, what else was going to win this?
 
I think 2017 was hands down the best year for new attractions in Orlando since 1999 (Asia/Kali for DAK and IoA).

2010 was incredible due to the game changing Hogsmeade. 2014 also incredible with game changing Hogwarts Express and Diagon, also 7DMT.

But 2017?

VB and Pandora alone surpass any other year. I think of VB that highly. VB is the best water park in Orlando IMO and Pandora being a top 3 land.
But throw on top of that Fallon, 3 new night shows with Hogwarts, Rivers of Light and Happily Ever After, a new parade, a new water ride in Miss Adventure Falls at TL, and Disney Springs essentially finishing up.

2019 is going to give it a run for it's money, but I don't know if SW:GE + HP Coaster alone can top 2017.

Don’t forget, we’re also getting Runaway Railway, the Terminator replacement, Sesame Street Land, BGT’s new Skyrocket, Lego Movie Land, and we’ll also get to watch Uni South begin construction at this time next year.

And we’re not even talking about the massive year that 2022/23 is going to be yet. 2017 and 1999 will be overrun.
 
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Don’t forget, we’re also getting Runaway Railway, the Terminator replacement, Sesame Street Land, BGT’s new Skyrocket, Lego Movie Land, and we’ll also get to watch Uni South begin construction at this time next year.

And we’re not even talking about the massive year that 2022/23 is going to be yet. 2017 and 1999 will be overrun.

I’m not including regional parks- but yes, MMRR and T2 will get added. And if HP turns out to be as incredible as it sounds, I could see it trumping 2017- although it’s certainly not the slam dunk you seem to think it might be. But no way HP/SA trumps an entire new theme park in IoA (and essentially DAK) in 1999. I mean... it’s an entire flippin Park. When Park 3 opens for Uni (~25 years after the last park) is when it will be trumped- not before then.

Regardless, the fact next year is arguably the 2nd or 3rd best year in WDW/UOR’s last 25 years is incredible. And If next year is the 2nd best, then the year before was the 3rd best in 25+ years. Or vice versa. Many people on this board, like you, aren’t even 25- so it’s in your lifetime!
TLDR; it’s a great time to be alive in Orlando.
 
Yeah FOP deserves the praise. Its a great ride in a park that needs more rides and an incredible queue. While not my favorite ride at Disney and possibly at AK, it brought the old-school simulator ride to the 21st century. It makes similar rides at Universal feel out of date, those being Despicable Me, Shrek, Fallon, and Simpsons even though I have not been on Fallon yet. I did not get to ride River Journey during my quick trip last March, but FOP is great. Also, those waterfalls in the land are an attraction in of itself IMO.
 

This was inevitable. When I took my fiancé there at night for the first time a couple months ago she wondered why Disney would allow a park area to be so dangerously dark. We almost got ran over by an ECV trying to navigate a very busy pathway in the dark.

If they had utilized a different method for the glowing ground they wouldn’t have this issue. Blacklights require low light to work. Something like the fiber optics embedded in the pavement at Epcot do not. And I think that’s more along the lines of what they should’ve done. Ground that looks opaque during the day, but has colored LED shining through from underneath at night would work, (even in the brighter lighting seen in that tweet tonight.)

Make it react to your footsteps, and they would be where we thought they would be in the first place.

Blacklight sensitive paint felt like plan B to be honest. And I wonder why underground lighting effects never panned out in development.
 
This was inevitable. When I took my fiancé there at night for the first time a couple months ago she wondered why Disney would allow a park area to be so dangerously dark. We almost got ran over by an ECV trying to navigate a very busy pathway in the dark.

If they had utilized a different method for the glowing ground they wouldn’t have this issue. Blacklights require low light to work. Something like the fiber optics embedded in the pavement at Epcot do not. And I think that’s more along the lines of what they should’ve done. Ground that looks opaque during the day, but has colored LED shining through from underneath at night would work, (even in the brighter lighting seen in that tweet tonight.)

Make it react to your footsteps, and they would be where we thought they would be in the first place.

Blacklight sensitive paint felt like plan B to be honest. And I wonder why underground lighting effects never panned out in development.
I'm guess the foot traffic in the land caused the paint to ware quicker than could be replaced/repainted....which would make the path pitch black dark.....
 
I am hearing that our pathways will still glow(and yes they are gorgeous, but that's just me) - Maintenance lighting was accidentally turned on apparently. I still miss how excellent it looked opening day without the extra light they added last year.
Thank you for the clarification. So, the equivalent of turning the house lights on in a theater, rather than the show lights.
 
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