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

[Joel]

I think some confusing is arising from this number is inclusive of park tickets, which means theres an additional $100 for food/merchandise/hotel room split across all people.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

But their Uni numbers are right on the mark.

Yet people still quote TEA for Universal. I've seen it quite a few times on here in the past week. The only time anyone wants to bring up how the numbers are off is when talking about Disney.

Sure, their numbers for WDW may be out of whack, but so are the ones for Uni (and on the low end, too).

The TEA numbers are inaccurate. Period.

 

[DoubleJ]

Leave him alone, his head can't count right much.

Yeah, whoops!

Except that isn't his argument. The argument is that daily spending will be increased $200/person to "pay for" Pandora. Even at $200 additional spending a day- and using his rabbit out of the hat 2.5M attendance increase (while subsequently not decreasing any of the other parks)- that's 8.75 years.

Could the average guest spend $200/day including food, hotel, merch, tickets? No argument here. Will the average guest spend an additional $200/guest on Pandora food and merch? Absolutely not.

Pandora is not a money generator- it is a park attendance distributor. We'll be dead before Pandora turns a "profit", if monetary gain is the only measuring tool.

That is not what I was saying at all. I wasn't saying that guests will spend an extra $200 a day thanks to Pandora, I am saying that they'll spend an extra day at WDW, presumably at DAK, rather than spending it a Uni, thanks to a better value being provided.

 

[Andysol]

That is not what I was saying at all. I wasn't saying that guests will spend an extra $200 a day thanks to Pandora, I am saying that they'll spend an extra day at WDW, presumably at DAK, rather than spending it a Uni, thanks to a better value being provided.

So Pandora will add an entire day to a WDW trip. Got it.

 

[DoubleJ]

So Pandora will add an entire day to a WDW trip. Got it.

Yes. Thanks to a better value, as well as more widespread awareness of the park. There are lots of people that don't even know DAK even exists.

 

[DoubleJ]

Get real. If I told you his name he wouldn't tell me anything else. Suffice it to say this is not an individual that deals in theme park rumors. He only deals with actual factual info. Look, I'm one of the few around that are actually looking forward to Avatar & think it will be a good addition to AK . But I certainly don't buy into the idea that it's going to be a HP type income generator, or that it will ever pay off it's unprecedented astronomical costs.

Pardon me for asking. Just wondered if the guy had any widespread credibility.

 

[Andysol]

Yes. Thanks to a better value, as well as more widespread awareness of the park. There are lots of people that don't even know DAK even exists.

So Pandora will make people aware that DAK exists. Got it.

 

[DoubleJ]

So Pandora will make people aware that DAK exists. Got it.

Yes. When people all over the country see ads on TV for Pandora, they'll ask their travel agent about it.

 

[Mad Dog]

Pardon me for asking. Just wondered if the guy had any widespread credibility.

You would surely be aware of him since you post on this site. His info is the best in the business & he doesn't play around with rumors, as most people who claim to be insiders do.

 

[Nick]

You would surely be aware of him since you post on this site. His info is the best in the business & he doesn't play around with rumors, as most people who claim to be insiders do.

So since I assume you mean @Teebin... why are you playing around acting like you have some top secret source?

 

[DoubleJ]

By the estimations of many on here, I am crazy. Well, then I would assume that you would consider the DCA expansion a complete waste, that will never reach profitability, because the numbers I've pointed to could be almost directly be applied to DLR (actually a few would be a bit lower), with its $1.1 billion overhaul. With that in mind, why would Disney ever expand their parks again, considering what a massive success that expansion is considered to be, if they still didn't turn a profit?

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

By the estimations of a few on here, I am bat**** crazy. Well, then I would assume that you would consider the DCA expansion a complete waste, that will never reach profitability, because the numbers I've pointed to could be almost directly be applied to DLR (actually a few would be a bit lower), with its $1.1 billion overhaul. With that in mind, why would Disney ever expand their parks again, considering what a massive success that expansion is considered to be, if they still didn't turn a profit.

Cars Land sells toy cars; it's easy to see why the land is profitable. What is Pandora going to sell, blue cat tails for roleplaying? Disney isn't going to make their money back on Pandora for a loooooooooooong time.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Disney is hopefully looking at this as any other large capital expenditure: a long-term purchase. There's going to be 3-4 more Avatar movies coming out after this land opens. Avatar's popularity can only increase.

And more importantly, Disney just wants people to spend more time in AK. They want to see higher guest spending across the entire park.

 

[DoubleJ]

Cars Land sells toy cars; it's easy to see why the land is profitable. What is Pandora going to sell, blue cat tails for roleplaying? Disney isn't going to make their money back on Pandora for a loooooooooooong time.

You can get 95% of the merchandise they sell in Cars Land at Toys R' Us, at a much cheaper price. Most understand that, and thus don't buy it. Uni has a lot more exclusive Potter merchandise than Cars Land could ever dream of having. Similarly, I think DAK will be the only place to get Avatar merchandise in the world. LOL!

Why couldn't they sell plastic Na'vi figures? Or Avatar costumes? Or Avatar-themed Mickey ears?

Avatar Merchandise

 

[Brian G.]

You can get 95% of the merchandise they sell in Cars Land at Toys R' Us, at a much cheaper price. Most understand that, and thus don't buy it. Uni has a lot more exclusive Potter merchandise than Cars Land could ever dream of having. Similarly, I think DAK will be the only place to get Avatar merchandise in the world. LOL!

Why couldn't they sell plastic Na'vi figures?

I don't think kids are screaming at Ma & Pa for Na'vi and Avatar related merch, personally. Potter, Star Wars... has that "I wanna be like them" aspect - and as crappy as the Cars movies have been, they've been successful with merch and kids because at end of the day... it's a talking car.

 

[Andysol]

By the estimations of many on here, I am crazy. Well, then I would assume that you would consider the DCA expansion a complete waste, that will never reach profitability, because the numbers I've pointed to could be almost directly be applied to DLR (actually a few would be a bit lower), with its $1.1 billion overhaul. With that in mind, why would Disney ever expand their parks again, considering what a massive success that expansion is considered to be, if they still didn't turn a profit?

So we're comparing a 12 acre singular land with the necessary redoing of an entire 67 acre theme park with multiple IPs in terms of profitability? Got it.

Pandora is a phenomenal crowd distributor for the resort as a whole. No more, no less. If it sells some merch in the process, all the better, but that's not the focus- and if it is, then they are in for terrible news.

 

[twebber55]

I don't think kids are screaming at Ma & Pa for Na'vi and Avatar related merch, personally. Potter, Star Wars... has that "I wanna be like them" aspect - and as crappy as the Cars movies have been, they've been successful with merch and kids because at end of the day... it's a talking car.

Avatar is not a little kids movie i agree

 

[Disneyhead]

Cars Land sells toy cars; it's easy to see why the land is profitable. What is Pandora going to sell, blue cat tails for roleplaying? Disney isn't going to make their money back on Pandora for a loooooooooooong time.

The new Pandora Themed Pandora Jewelry and Dooney & Burke purses should fly right off the shelves.

 

[DoubleJ]

I don't think kids are screaming at Ma & Pa for Na'vi and Avatar related merch, personally. Potter, Star Wars... has that "I wanna be like them" aspect - and as crappy as the Cars movies have been, they've been successful with merch and kids because at end of the day... it's a talking car.

Of course, because of Fox's failure to accurately grasp the demand at the time of the movie's release, it has faded from popular culture. But, with 4 movies planned for release, I have a hunch that will change big time.

Also, the demand may not be there before people enter the land, but by the time they leave, many kids without even seeing the film, will have fallen in love with the characters in the land.

 

[Brian G.]

Of course, because of Fox's failure to accurately grasp the demand at the time of the movie's release, it has faded from popular culture. But, with 4 movies planned for release, I have a hunch that will change big time.

Also, the demand may not be there before people enter the land, but by the time they leave, many kids without even seeing the film, will have fallen in love with the characters in the land.

Yeah... I don't think that's the issue...

The characters aren't really the strongest point of the movie. It's the scenery. You want to be in Pandora, you don't want to be a 10 foot blue cat in Pandora. Kids left Star Wars wanting to be Luke, left Potter wanting to be one of the 3 kids. That's not Avatar's forte.

I think I saw more adults dress up as Na'vi then kids those years for Halloween....