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

[epcyclopedia]

I had to listen to someone I had faith in tell me how the Avatar concept art was amazing.

Convo went along the lines of "I'm worried about Avatar after the expo news.." and then going "What?!? Didn't you see that concept art?"

"Yes, that's a major concern itself."

"What?!?"

"You know it had a mech suit in a tiki skirt, right?"

"What? No, that doesn't sound right, it looked amazing."

And I let the convo go and filed that person into my Rolodex under "influenced heavily by marketing, sees but does not perceive."

Le sigh. Not a bad person but I had higher hopes.

 

[belloq87]

Supposedly the FoP queue will have a lot of "animated figures" and physical props that will makes the whole queue very alive and with a lot of movement, but no AA's in that queue.

Queues are nice (and Universal has set the new standard for them, so if Disney now follows suit, great), but are ultimately irrelevant to me if the attractions themselves are underwhelming.

Yup. Way I was told - "enjoy the shaman because that's about it for the awesome AA's."

I was feeling so good about Pandora just a few days ago, but this new report (from multiple sources now) has given me a kind of whiplash.

Man, this would be sooooo disappointing.

What does a guy have to do to see a Kong sized Elephant/Hammerhead Shark AA haha

Seriously. There are several cool-looking creatures from AVATAR that should have been no-brainers to include as AAs. I mean, I'd even take a Jungle Cruise-style basic presentation - grazing/sleeping along the river bank, etc. Surely that wouldn't have been too taxing for the Imagineers or the budget.

If the River Journey ends up just being some glowing rocks and plants with all the really interesting stuff up on projections, I'll be deeply unimpressed.

 

[Brian G.]

Queues are nice (and Universal has set the new standard for them, so if Disney now follows suit, great), but are ultimately irrelevant to me if the attractions themselves are underwhelming.



I was feeling so good about Pandora just a few days ago, but this new report (from multiple sources now) has given me a kind of whiplash.



Seriously. There are several cool-looking creatures from AVATAR that should have been no-brainers to include as AAs. I mean, I'd even take a Jungle Cruise-style basic presentation - grazing/sleeping along the river bank, etc. Surely that wouldn't have been too taxing for the Imagineers or the budget.

If the River Journey ends up just being some glowing rocks and plants with all the really interesting stuff up on projections, I'll be deeply unimpressed.

Expect it to be like Shanghai Pirates as far as presentation

 

[hishedale]

Disappointing, but I'll take the shaman. It looks pretty amazing.
I'd be absolutely fascinated to see the skin taken off of one of those AA's to see how it works.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Disappointing, but I'll take the shaman. It looks pretty amazing.
I'd be absolutely fascinated to see the skin taken off of one of those AA's to see how it works.

Its Bob Iger underneath

 

[Mad Dog]

Its Bob Iger underneath

I heard it's Walt's frozen head.

 

[Scott W.]

I heard it's Walt's frozen head.

 

[Mad Dog]

View attachment 3369

Uncanny resemblance. Looks like I was right.

 

[DragonSlayer]

What a colossal waste. Given the nature of the franchise and the emphasis on the outdoor environment being just as strong as the emphasis on the attractions, this would have been a prime opportunity for clusters of 2-3 animatronic characters in the undergrowth next to the pathways in the 'wild', JPRA style. That could have actually made the environment an attraction, and would have been as revolutionary as they seem to want this project to be. Seeing guests standing and watching -- even interacting with, in some way -- animatronics just 'there' and not even in an attraction would have been the ultimate show-off tactic to one-up Universal, and would have given the land both some character and a genuine USP. I'm not usually a 'screeeennzzzz' complainer, but this laziness / cheapness is indicative of a whole attitude on this occasion.

 

[Mad Dog]

If this is true, wait till the Disney fanboys find out. What, only one AA cries a Pixie Duster? The pitchforks will be flying.

 

[Nick]

If this is true, wait till the Disney fanboys find out. What, only one AA cries a Pixie Duster? The pitchforks will be flying.

They already know.

Martin is now saying "4 proper AAs" in the land, although the Shaman is the only "humanoid" AA. For the money they spent though, it's ridiculous either way.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

They already know.

Martin is now saying "4 proper AAs" in the land, although the Shaman is the only "humanoid" AA. For the money they spent though, it's ridiculous either way.

Four AAs in all of Pandora vs 5 in Reign of Kong. I imagine suddenly AA vs screens will go away and something else will come up. Just like coasters and "intense" complaints before.

 

[Viator]

They already know.

Martin is now saying "4 proper AAs" in the land, although the Shaman is the only "humanoid" AA. For the money they spent though, it's ridiculous either way.

Four AAs in all of Pandora vs 5 in Reign of Kong. I imagine suddenly AA vs screens will go away and something else will come up. Just like coasters and "intense" complaints before.

I would almost say 10 as you have the 2 Bat AA's within the first true indoor scene of the ride portion; the Witch AA in the line; the Worm AA within the line; the five drivers in the ride cars; and Big Ol' Kong.

 

[Teebin]

Four AAs in all of Pandora vs 5 in Reign of Kong.

FIVE??? I only know of three in Kong. Yeah, I know about the bats but that is pushing it.

 

[Nick]

Four AAs in all of Pandora vs 5 in Reign of Kong. I imagine suddenly AA vs screens will go away and something else will come up. Just like coasters and "intense" complaints before.

Oh it will definitely go away because Pandora is just the start. Both SWL rides are to be screen heavy. Yes, the battle ride is said to have "150+ AAs", but i'll believe it when I see it.

Of course, it still doesn't change my opinion that USF is far too screen reliant at the moment just because "the other team" is starting to use screens too. I'm sure 5 years down the line though, the same thing will be able to be said about DHS so it is what it is.

 

[epcyclopedia]

The boat ride is in 3D, no?

This troubles me, as i've gotten to the point where 3D rides like Kong give me a headache.. so a longer attraction would be really bad.

 

[Nick]

The boat ride is in 3D, no?

This troubles me, as i've gotten to the point where 3D rides like Kong give me a headache.. so a longer attraction would be really bad.

No, only Flight of Passage is 3D.

Although, like Shanghai pirates, there will be a lot of screens as if it were a 3D ride.

 

[belloq87]

Expect it to be like Shanghai Pirates as far as presentation

I doubt it'll be even close to that good (Pirates at least has more than one AA), and I'm not in love with what I've seen in ride videos for that one to begin with.

What a colossal waste. Given the nature of the franchise and the emphasis on the outdoor environment being just as strong as the emphasis on the attractions, this would have been a prime opportunity for clusters of 2-3 animatronic characters in the undergrowth next to the pathways in the 'wild', JPRA style. That could have actually made the environment an attraction, and would have been as revolutionary as they seem to want this project to be. Seeing guests standing and watching -- even interacting with, in some way -- animatronics just 'there' and not even in an attraction would have been the ultimate show-off tactic to one-up Universal, and would have given the land both some character and a genuine USP. I'm not usually a 'screeeennzzzz' complainer, but this laziness / cheapness is indicative of a whole attitude on this occasion.

Doing a nature trail-style attraction (like the park has in Africa and Asia) with AAs along the pathways would have been fantastic. It makes too much sense, so naturally Disney has no interest in such a thing.

Martin is now saying "4 proper AAs" in the land, although the Shaman is the only "humanoid" AA. For the money they spent though, it's ridiculous either way.

Four is still far too few, and you're right about it being ridiculous with respect to the land's budget.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think the Imagineers need to stop going on these expensive "research" trips and taking money away from the budget

 

[Mad Dog]

Four bats in the beginning Kong indoor scene. 5 animatronic drivers, Shaman witch, Bug, Kong ....Total 12....Universal terms the drivers AA's therefore I counted them. I did have a couple next to us while boarding that saw them for the second time and thought they were live drivers