Avatar coming to DCA

[belloq87]

Swapping out Avatar for Zootopia would be a drastic step backwards, in my view.

Hot Pursuit offers nothing unique for the Disneyland Resort; an Avatar ride using the Shanghai POTC ride system would. The theme and place-making in the Avatar concept art would be unlike anything at those parks.

(Neither of them fit the theme of "California," of course, so that's a wash.)

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Josh? Josh? Don't do this to me Josh.

Of course this is something 'Jam' Shull would want, the king of cheap turnovers:


IDK, for me a Zootopia land itself makes sense. It would negate 90% of the infrastructural problems with the area by giving them a thematic excuse to integrate the monorail into the land. However, if we're getting a direct port of the land from China, then the ride itself is going to feel very outdated by 2030. How are you going to pretend that we're racing through a city by planting us in front of a screen in a ride vehicle without a motion base? When Avengers is right next door? And there's two better trackless rides across the esplanade?

In comparison, Monstropolis would have a better chance of increasing underutilized capacity (there would be a good 3D show) and the ride would be an innovative and worthy capper to this latest batch of DCA expansion rather than an underwhelming conclusion. It would also be a funny addition, because Disneyland would once again negate Disney Hollywood Studios' existence by porting over one of its rides a few years after it opened.

I'm personally okay with Avatar being moved, not cancelled, to the Simba Lot where it can flourish, because, as I think was becoming increasingly clear, this area was not viable for the level of ambition they had for the land in the form they displayed to us.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Lol

I do love the minute there is even fake rumors on this...now the Avatar "fans" come out.

Disney can't win...they announce avatar and no one cares...the minute you threaten it with IPs most people want...now its a bad thing. Love the internet

Also I'm not against Avatar...I've kept telling people the ride will be amazing and if we get a glowing forest people will mostly love it when they see it...but just funny to see people cheer leading a project with zero hype from fans year later.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I do love the minute there is even fake rumors on this...now the Avatar "fans" come out.

Dawg, you disrespect my game, I have been out here for Avatar for years bro. Jake Sully, Toruk Makto, Neytiri, Neteyem, Lo'ak, Tuktirey, Lyle Wainfleet, Kiri, Ronal, Tsutey, Payakan, Tonowari, the Metkayina, the Ometekaya, Varaang, those are my guys.

This is not sivakoing and you disrespect my sempul.

 

[Viator]

I don’t think Avatar for DCA is cancelled—but if it is, I don’t think it’s cancelled for DLR if that makes sense.

 

[Clive]

I guess the trouble is the Avatar DCA land never felt super real to me. More Blue Sky art and vague ideas than something that feels tangible and compelling. I dunno, I'd like to see what they could do with it, but I also see the wisdom of pivoting to something like Zootopia, even though that also has zero to do with California (and it'd mean Yet Another Trackless Dark Ride in a resort with too many of them).

 

[Viator]

Personally I think there is value and incentive to have the world of Pandora properly represented for Disneyland Resort and that if it wasn’t for how they did rezoning for Disneyland Forward—then the obvious element would be to have Avatar in DCA. They don’t have a Galaxy’s Edge equivalent in the modern sense (which feels funny when you consider Cars Land).

Personal spec: I think this moves to headline DL3. I think this gets the Super Nintendo World treatment where a last minute shifting of plans allows them to do two birds with one stone. Also allows them to “Cancel” this version but still having what they’ve developed be used in a place that can have better need of it.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I don’t think Avatar for DCA is cancelled—but if it is, I don’t think it’s cancelled for DLR if that makes sense

I agree. But the further we move away from movie three, the more outside externalities derail the chance of Avatar ever coming to California. It's one of the few hasty IP tie-in lands where Iger was oddly prescient about the enduring popularity of the concepts laten within the property outside of their financial viability at the movie theater (the other being Cars, though that was arguably a thoughtful confluence of interests between the park's needs and the merchandising potential of the franchise).

More Blue Sky art and vague ideas than something that feels tangible and compelling

To me, the ride seems like it's been designed and tracked. It always felt more solid than the land itself, and you can see where elements of the Pirates boat ride (which is still a technological showcase a decade later) would fit in.

Personal spec: I think this moves to headline DL3.

I don't want DL3 about as much as I want Avatar. They need an actual infrastructural plan and a buildout of the old areas of their resort that are still struggling. DCA is pretty much there after these latest expansions, but Disneyland needs to fix their Tomorrowland, and by that point, Avatar would get pushed off to 2035.

 

[Viator]

I don't want DL3 about as much as I want Avatar.

And I can understand that—I do, but I get the feeling in my gut once they got Disneyland Forward approved with the way they rezoned Toy Story Lot—that it opens themselves up completely to finally pull that trigger.

I also think this allows them to have Avatar be specifically made to stand in as a key piece of what defines a new Gate. That it allows them to have the more advanced technology be excluded from the main two parks, and serve as a further boon to let people make the booking for the new destination.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

And I can understand that—I do, but I get the feeling in my gut once they got Disneyland Forward approved with the way they rezoned Toy Story Lot—that it opens themselves up completely to finally pull that trigger.

But the problem with the Toy Story Lot is there's no way to get there without using a bus or going through a dead mall. It's currently easier to maintain the on-property feel with the Simba Lot, which is why they proposed it for park expansion in 2021 using the Simba Lot rather than as Downtown Disney expansion despite the fact that there's much more space in Toy Story.

And then that puts the opening of a third park in 2035, 2040? What does Avatar even mean to people then?

 

[Clive]

I don't think Disneyland Forward was ever about Gate 3. It was about expanding Disneyland Park and DCA via awkward but sizable expansions similar in scope and configuration to Fantasy Springs. I'm not convinced Gate 3 is anywhere on the horizon.

 

[Jake S]

The latest Avatar movie was only short of the latest Zootopia by $20 million; what’s this insane argument that it’s somehow not popular or clearly less popular than the crappy animal cop franchise?

 

[Freak]

If they decide to scrap Avatar for Zootopia, I don’t blame them for doing that…but I’m not gonna lie, I’ll be disappointed if Avatar never comes to fruition. At least Avatar would be something different and would bring a ride system over here that’s yet to be seen in the US.

Zootopia would be a copy of something that will be about 10 years old at that point and would be something we’ve already seen.

The latest Avatar movie was only short of the latest Zootopia by $20 million; what’s this insane argument that it’s somehow not popular or clearly less popular than the crappy animal cop franchise?

“MOYCHENDISE! MOYCHENDISE! MOUCHENDISE!”

 

[DrStarlander]

And then that puts the opening of a third park in 2035, 2040? What does Avatar even mean to people then?

If an IP isn't going to mean much in 2035 or 2040, they probably shouldn't use it, right?

 

[TheUniC6]

The thing that would stop Avatar coming to Simba is the PPH hotel. The cost to block it out would be astronomical if that's even feasible at all. I'm personally of the belief that it's happening in the backlot, but if anything did change I guess we will find out at D23.

 

[DrStarlander]

The thing that would stop Avatar coming to Simba is the PPH hotel. The cost to block it out would be astronomical if that's even feasible at all. I'm personally of the belief that it's happening in the backlot, but if anything did change I guess we will find out at D23.

The Pixar Place hotel is inherently an unattractive piece of architecture. While not quite "Brutalist," it has a chunky, indelicate shape that imposes itself unapologetically on the skyline without any consideration. It will always detract from DCA so long as it stands.

But given its shape, I don't think it would have been difficult to re-theme it as a human base on Pandora. Surrounding lower floors with floating rocks and greenery, gray-tone paints, and putting a flying craft on the roof plus some radar dishes, etc., and it could become a thematic landmark and weenie. And with Cameron's involvement, the hotel could offer a unique immersive opportunity to stay on Pandora. I'm not talking Starcruiser here, I'm talking the right-sized amount of immersion for a hotel.

At least then, when seen from inside DCA, it's a thematic element of another land (like seeing Matterhorn from elsewhere in Disneyland) rather than seeing "the outside world."

 

[Jerroddragon]

Just going to leave this here

‘Zootopia: Hot Pursuit’ Is The Highest Rated Attraction at Shanghai Disney, Land Is Huge Driver of Attendance​

https://blogmickey.com/2026/03/zootopia-popular-shanghai-disneyland/

 

[Mad Dog]

If they decide to scrap Avatar for Zootopia, I don’t blame them for doing that…but I’m not gonna lie, I’ll be disappointed if Avatar never comes to fruition. At least Avatar would be something different and would bring a ride system over here that’s yet to be seen in the US.

Zootopia would be a copy of something that will be about 10 years old at that point and would be something we’ve already seen.

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“MOYCHENDISE! MOYCHENDISE! MOUCHENDISE!”

Funny, but a damn good point. If I was ever going to Disneyland/DCA, I'd prefer an Avatar land/attraction. I really like the AK Avatar land, more than GESWL, BUT, Avatar merchandise selection is sparse, and doesn't seem to sell all that great. That's a weakness.

 

[Jake S]

Just going to leave this here

https://blogmickey.com/2026/03/zootopia-popular-shanghai-disneyland/

zootopia is significantly more popular in china than in any other country on planet earth.

 

[Jerroddragon]

zootopia is significantly more popular in china than in any other country on planet earth.

The new film did very well here

Not trying to argue but if we get Zootipia, Monsters or Avatar.....I'm good

I think basically any of those would be a huge improvement from what we have now and while I think Avatar will do well if they put money into it...It's not like Zootopia or Monsters Inc would be unwelcome. I think Avatar could be the most interesting but also they have given us nothing and I hope at D23 Disney does a better job hyping it up.