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

[Brian G.]

I could be wrong on this but maybe it's the whole zoo thing. We have an awesome zoo here in Cincinnati and another awesome one up the road in Columbus. $100 to go a zoo down there vs $15 up here is hard to swallow.

*ahem*

Nahtazu.

 

[Scott W.]

I think this is a big wait and see. All these "reports" tend to be just that. Even that recent Frozen ride which was supposed to be "so cheap" actually had a fair amount of AAs and budget. I think people seem to be overly pessimistic when it comes to Disney.

That's how I'm taking all this. Even as a 28 year old male Scot, I enjoyed Frozen a lot more than I should have.

 

[Disneyhead]

A lot of things Disney does these days are facepalm worthy. But let's not forget they are still the premier family entertainment company on the planet with a lot of talent on their payroll. No one should be shocked when a Disney product is..... impressive.

 

[chocotaco]

A lot of things Disney does these days are facepalm worthy. But let's not forget they are still the premier family entertainment company on the planet with a lot of talent on their payroll. No one should be shocked when a Disney product is..... impressive.

Yea, Disney has disappointed me a lot this last decade or so, but I'm genuinely looking forward to this land. I plan on going down there sometime next November, will be the first time in Disney in like 4 years. I don't really have much love for the franchise itself, but so far it's looking like it will be a nice addition to the park and one I want to check out.

 

[SkiBum]

*ahem*

Nahtazu.

I know but the feeling that people get is that it is a zoo. Maybe it is that the park hasn't been differentiated enough. Pandora certainly helps in that regard.

By the way, thanks for making me facepalm myself over figuring out what you meant. I was thinking, "Is that another place or what?" That was a bad as when I was trying to figure out what "helluva" meant. Kept thinking that the "u" was hard and where the accent should be. :bonk:

 

[Prototype_82]

Got an update that the boat ride is complete at this point (or nearly so) and got confirmation that yes, it is all screens with the one animatronic (and that's it), and is basically a copy of the Shanghai Pirates with screens showing Pandora instead of under water. That one animatronic they showed is it, but there are two so if one breaks down they can switch it out quickly. If I remember correctly there are 26 boats with a capacity of 8 guests each. Not sure the ride time.

Two of the four simulators are ready to go at the point with the other two nearing completion. The exterior work and queue areas seem to be the only thing keeping Pandora from opening sooner than summer at this point.

Question is, how much set layering is done with props in front of the screens? That could work...

 

[orlandoiloveyou]

I certainly don't have insider information, but I'm going to bet there are more than 1 animatronic in this land. Even with screen based technology for the river ride and the FoP I just don't see it happening. I will eat my words begrudgingly if I'm wrong however. I'm sure the Shaman is the most fluid and impressive, but there are bound to be animals lining the river banks and plants that move around like the film.
What was the deal with that article claiming we'd get to ride an actual Banshee? I mean I didn't believe that necessarily but not 1 Banshee AA?

I'm wondering how the FoP loading area will work in a way that doesn't break the illusion. Also I recall a while back someone saying there'd be set pieces incorporated with the screen somehow on FoP or was that speculative?

And finally to be more on topic; I love Animal Kingdom, and I'm glad it's getting some attention. However it is pretty frustrating how long Disney left it alone. EE was 10 years ago and the yeti has been broken most of the time. Dinosaur collected enough dust to become a Haunted Mansion surrogate. How did they not fast track something before this?

P.S. sorry to be all over the place, I haven't been able to post much lately so I just throw all my thoughts down at once.

 

[rioriz]

Question is, how much set layering is done with props in front of the screens? That could work...

Lots of layering, and of course there are tons of plan and wild life animated figures. I believe there are 6 scenes together the Shaman is in 5th or 6th...unclear if they are counting Load as a scene or not. The queue for this ride is seamless

 

[Nick]

I certainly don't have insider information, but I'm going to bet there are more than 1 animatronic in this land. Even with screen based technology for the river ride and the FoP I just don't see it happening. I will eat my words begrudgingly if I'm wrong however. I'm sure the Shaman is the most fluid and impressive, but there are bound to be animals lining the river banks and plants that move around like the film.
What was the deal with that article claiming we'd get to ride an actual Banshee? I mean I didn't believe that necessarily but not 1 Banshee AA?

I'm wondering how the FoP loading area will work in a way that doesn't break the illusion. Also I recall a while back someone saying there'd be set pieces incorporated with the screen somehow on FoP or was that speculative?

And finally to be more on topic; I love Animal Kingdom, and I'm glad it's getting some attention. However it is pretty frustrating how long Disney left it alone. EE was 10 years ago and the yeti has been broken most of the time. Dinosaur collected enough dust to become a Haunted Mansion surrogate. How did they not fast track something before this?

P.S. sorry to be all over the place, I haven't been able to post much lately so I just throw all my thoughts down at once.

Oh it's already been confirmed there's more than 1 AA even in the Boat ride alone. The AA showcased is just the only Na'vi. The others will be more animal based AAs. This is coming from @Marni1971 over on Magic.

 

[orlandoiloveyou]

Oh it's already been confirmed there's more than 1 AA even in the Boat ride alone. The AA showcased is just the only Na'vi. The others will be more animal based AAs. This is coming from @Marni1971 over on Magic.

Welllllll egg all over my face then! lol I had not seen that or i read it wrong if i did. I kept thinking over and over how that could possibly happen in such a major project! I am disappointed to hear that about the Na'vi but IMO they were the least interesting part of that movie. Although it is called Avatar so it is a bit weird to only have 1 Na'vi and no Avatars. I wonder how this will read with guests?

 

[Nick]

Welllllll egg all over my face then! lol I had not seen that or i read it wrong if i did. I kept thinking over and over how that could possibly happen in such a major project! I am disappointed to hear that about the Na'vi but IMO they were the least interesting part of that movie. Although it is called Avatar so it is a bit weird to only have 1 Na'vi and no Avatars. I wonder how this will read with guests?

I think the premise of the ride, is that WE are the Avatar, experiencing the Na'vi world first hand (much like Jake Sully did). So with that in mind, it's not weird to not have any Avatar for the ride.

Also, the AA thing seems to be a bit confusing for many people still so no worries.

 

[orlandoiloveyou]

I think the premise of the ride, is that WE are the Avatar, experiencing the Na'vi world first hand (much like Jake Sully did). So with that in mind, it's not weird to not have any Avatar for the ride.

Ah okay i can get behind that I guess.

 

[Nick]

 

[Joel]

okay.. I'm getting that tingly excited feeling now

 

[twebber55]

okay.. I'm getting that tingly excited feeling now

i would encourage you to go to wdwmagic for some recent aerials

 

[Joel]

i would encourage you to go to wdwmagic for some recent aerials

Awesome photos!

Couple things I noticed from this image:


First, the tunnel openings in the mountain.. playground type area or ride entrance/exits? (look for worker in orange shirt)



the other thing is this random wall.. it doesn't separate the backstage because both sides will be public areas.. maybe it's to separate where the queue will be for a ride from the general public? If you look closely, you can see what looks like junction boxes along the wall, actual utilities or just theming?



I have a feeling the wall could be the queue separation because of the ramps towards the right of the photo with the vertical poles which appear to be the beginning of a shade structure:

 

[Lucas C]

For peoples fascinated by rockwork (like me), this is absolutely insane !
Who's the contractor ? Nassal ?

 

[Scott W.]

Awesome photos!

Couple things I noticed from this image:
View attachment 3429

First, the tunnel openings in the mountain.. playground type area or ride entrance/exits? (look for worker in orange shirt)

View attachment 3429

the other thing is this random wall.. it doesn't separate the backstage because both sides will be public areas.. maybe it's to separate where the queue will be for a ride from the general public? If you look closely, you can see what looks like junction boxes along the wall, actual utilities or just theming?

View attachment 3431

I have a feeling the wall could be the queue separation because of the ramps towards the right of the photo with the vertical poles which appear to be the beginning of a shade structure:

View attachment 3432

Wow. This actually almost overwhelming.

 

[bob albert]

For everyone's sake I hope Disney hid some of the details and we are surprised by this land. Given the budget I would almost count on it.

 

[WAJAS]

For everyone's sake I hope Disney hid some of the details and we are surprised by this land. Given the budget I would alost count n it.

I think the "nature" trails are gonna be the unsuspected hit for this land. With the glowing floors and stuff, they'll be the kind of stuff that goes viral (not really but you get what I mean) on Facebook, Youtube, and twitter.