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

[Truecoat]

Being that a majority of the second Avatar movie takes place underwater, that opens up new ride possibilities. We could use another submarine ride of some sorts.

- - - Updated - - -

And concerning movie franchises, I would put James Bond and Star Trek up there with Harry Potter and Star Wars.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

This. I last visited AK back in summer 2006 (shortly after EE opened). I've since been back to Orlando twice in the 6-7 years since then and neither time did we visit AK. There's nothing there!

I wouldn't say nothing is there because Dinosaur, Everest, and the Safari are great rides. And rapids and Bugs Life are good but not excellent attractions. But I do agree they need more in the park. Especially considering the possibilities they could have in a animal themed park like AK. I mean where is the Lion King and Jungle Book rides?! lol I also believe it needs another major coaster. I could also see a Chronicles Of Narnia attraction/land, Nation Treasure attraction, or maybe Tarzan and OZ possibly?

 

[twebber55]

I wouldn't say nothing is there because Dinosaur, Everest, and the Safari are great rides. And rapids and Bugs Life are good but not excellent attractions. But I do agree they need more in the park. Especially considering the possibilities they could have in a animal themed park like AK. I mean where is the Lion King and Jungle Book rides?! lol I also believe it needs another major coaster. I could also see a Chronicles Of Narnia attraction/land, Nation Treasure attraction, or maybe Tarzan and OZ possibly?

Seems like a national treasure attraction would be a no brainer some where on property. A dark ride to find the city of cibola or something

 

[Oscar]

Animal Kingdom has potential to be great I doubt it ever will be though:'(

 

[ynnoj]

I wouldn't say nothing is there because Dinosaur, Everest, and the Safari are great rides. And rapids and Bugs Life are good but not excellent attractions. But I do agree they need more in the park. Especially considering the possibilities they could have in a animal themed park like AK. I mean where is the Lion King and Jungle Book rides?! lol I also believe it needs another major coaster. I could also see a Chronicles Of Narnia attraction/land, Nation Treasure attraction, or maybe Tarzan and OZ possibly?

I should have phrased my post a little better. As a tourist who has limited time in Orlando, I'd rather spend an extra day in IOA or USO over AK. There's nothing that makes me want to visit AK right now, it doesn't have that *must* ride attraction.

 

[Shadow Carelli]

i get the since that the majority of this land will be indoors with a large area to walk around and be engulfed in pandora with the rides off of this show room...similar to The Land at Epcot but bigger

- - - Updated - - -


Since you ve worked in the biz for so long i ve always wondered when i pay my 10.00 for a movie what % goes to the theatre and what goes to Movie Co?

50% goes to the theater and the other 50% goes to the movie studio. For Iron Man 3 Disney wanted way more than 50%, so the major theater chains: AMC, Regal, Cinemark, etc. boycotted Disney by canceling the sales of advanced tickets for Iron Man 3.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

I should have phrased my post a little better. As a tourist who has limited time in Orlando, I'd rather spend an extra day in IOA or USO over AK. There's nothing that makes me want to visit AK right now, it doesn't have that *must* ride attraction.

Oh I agree all the way. Universal Orlando always keep me entertained with there attractions. And 9 times out of 10 I will always pick to go to Universal over Disney.

 

[twebber55]

I should have phrased my post a little better. As a tourist who has limited time in Orlando, I'd rather spend an extra day in IOA or USO over AK. There's nothing that makes me want to visit AK right now, it doesn't have that *must* ride attraction.

I agree. Especially without a parkhopper. The parkhopper really does save DAK and DHS.

 

[ynnoj]

I agree. Especially without a parkhopper. The parkhopper really does save DAK and DHS.

When I was in Orlando last September, we did DHS and MK with a hopper in one day. Whilst it was a little frantic, we pretty much hit every big attraction and saw every show we wanted to see. Little planning goes a long way.

 

[AndyP]

Since you ve worked in the biz for so long i ve always wondered when i pay my 10.00 for a movie what % goes to the theatre and what goes to Movie Co?

50% goes to the theater and the other 50% goes to the movie studio. For Iron Man 3 Disney wanted way more than 50%, so the major theater chains: AMC, Regal, Cinemark, etc. boycotted Disney by canceling the sales of advanced tickets for Iron Man 3.

My only knowledge is in the UK. Here we regularly pay 60 to 65% of the ticket sales to the studio for major movies like Iron Man, Man Of Steel etc. Less "blockbuster" type movies would be 50 to 55%.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

I've said it before in this thread, but AK's main problem isn't so much a lack of rides but a lack of animal exhibits. While the exhibits they do have are second to none, there just aren't enough of them to make it a full day zoological visit, let alone a theme park visit. In addition, there are few animals at AK that cannot be seen at any number of regional zoos.

Sure, add some rides to appease general tourists, but the main attractions at ANIMAL Kingdom should be ANIMALS.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

Maybe Animal Kingdom should take a page out of Busch Gardens book. Besides building a million coasters, even though I wouldn't mind. I think they're missing the dark rides for families that the other parks have. I also feel like the park could use a new major THRILL ride whether it be a coaster or not I'm not sure.

 

[nmu]

I think this debate needs to be split into two different categories. First category. Is Avatar a good IP? Second category. Will Avatar as a concept translate to a great theme park land?

For me Avatar, as it stands, with one film released is a terrible IP and one that Disney doesn’t even own. They have so many IP options why buy in Avatar?

However Avatar as a concept for a theme park land COULD and should be amazing if executed right. Even if there was no film a theme park environment inhabited by strange blue alien creatures that is fluorescent has everything going for it.

Plus as others have already said it’s not all about the IP. Water World bombed yet we have that in theme parks and Uni have just built in Orlando Transformers which for me (it’s a personal thing) was an awful film but makes for a great ride.

 

[Cruiseshipfan]

Plus as others have already said it’s not all about the IP. Water World bombed yet we have that in theme parks and Uni have just built in Orlando Transformers which for me (it’s a personal thing) was an awful film but makes for a great ride.

I don't think Avatar would be one of the movie they could do that with however. The reason those attractions work whether or not you watch the movie is that they are basic and easy to understand, so you don't need to know any background information. Avatar is more like Terminator. If terminator was not successful The Terminator attraction would not be as great as it is, of course that is if you miss the pre-show, which needed to be done otherwise people who didn't know the story would not be able to follow allow quite as well and it wouldn't be as good for them. Avatar is one of those type of movies, where a back story needs to be know. Issue is the back story is just too large to tell and just wouldn't be that exciting.

 

[Splatter]

If one goes to a local Toys R Us or any store for that matter one finds pop culture merchandise in a mass variety for

Marvel, DC, Classic Disney Characters, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Transformers...

Even honorable mentions like Ghostbusters and Muppets have a bunch of merch vitality and current appeal than Avatar.

It was six months since the company's last big mention of it.

 

[nmu]

I don't think Avatar would be one of the movie they could do that with however. The reason those attractions work whether or not you watch the movie is that they are basic and easy to understand, so you don't need to know any background information. Avatar is more like Terminator. If terminator was not successful The Terminator attraction would not be as great as it is, of course that is if you miss the pre-show, which needed to be done otherwise people who didn't know the story would not be able to follow allow quite as well and it wouldn't be as good for them. Avatar is one of those type of movies, where a back story needs to be know. Issue is the back story is just too large to tell and just wouldn't be that exciting.

Disagree! You wouldn’t need to know the back story to enjoy Pandora as a place the visuals of the film would carry the land as Hogsmead does even if you have no idea who Potter is. It would be an amazing immersive place to experience and they can use it to create new stories in. Would I prefer Disney to use a different IP yes or even don’t use a movie at all build something completely original like Walt did. But that’s not going to happen as profit is key and it has been proven in recent times people will spend more money on merch of characters they know.

 

[twebber55]

if we use merchandise as sole reasoning for lands then the next two lands for disney should be hello kitty and WWE both make loads of cash in terms of merchandising even more so than HP......i have some what of an anecdotal story for you...my brother teaches middle school geography and was doing a unit on china...he was one day showing pictures of the huangshun mountains (mountains cameron based floating mountains on) anyway he asked each class what did these mountains remind them of...every class immediately said avatar.....keep in mind this movie was made when they were in elementary school, but this movie has a unique look that is very recognizable...im thinking this land will have a very unique and recognizable look whether you liked the movie or not much like mysterious island so as long as it has

great theming
great E ticket
unique look

it will be a huge success
without getting into the relevance and popularity of the IP which i could debate as well......d23 will hopefully be pretty exciting with avatar, carsland, star wars

btw they actually talked about it at disney springs media event
thanks good debate:thumbs:

 

[Thor]

If one goes to a local Toys R Us or any store for that matter one finds pop culture merchandise in a mass variety for

Marvel, DC, Classic Disney Characters, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Transformers...

Even honorable mentions like Ghostbusters and Muppets have a bunch of merch vitality and current appeal than Avatar.

It was six months since the company's last big mention of it.

If one goes to a local Toys R Us, they will not find toys based on Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion,, Twilight Zone, Tower of Terror, yet those rides seemed to be loved. So this is another argument which needs to be ended. Merchandise on amazon or in Toys R us not not make an IP bad, unpopular, or a potential theme park ride/land an automatic failure.

The other argument which needs to be ended is NO KIDS DRESS AS NA'VI ON HALLOWEEN. Haters need to justify their hate. Too bad their arguments are weak.

 

[Splatter]

If one goes to a local Toys R Us, they will not find toys based on Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion,, Twilight Zone, Tower of Terror, yet those rides seemed to be loved. So this is another argument which needs to be ended. Merchandise on amazon or in Toys R us not not make an IP bad, unpopular, or a potential theme park ride/land an automatic failure.

The other argument which needs to be ended is NO KIDS DRESS AS NA'VI ON HALLOWEEN. Haters need to justify their hate. Too bad their arguments are weak.

Its not a weak argument. Its a legitimate business concern for the suits. They jumped on Avatar in 2010 when Iger wanted it. The movie had just left theaters with its records.

Quality of an actual attraction will out for sure. But clearly that is not what they are going for if they paid all the money to Fox to use the rights. Otherwise they would just build Beastly Kingdom. That would bring Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain to a more valid argument. But they are not. They have a lot of investment on this being just Avatar and having the rights to it. Same reason Pirates does not just stand on its own when they had the chance to cram synergy from movies to sell more merchandise. Same way they tried to make films have that success for other rides but have failed so far at others.

Also, as a funny side note you are wrong about Twlight Zone. Twilight Zone has merchandise at ToysRUs. I know because I was there the other day when I had this thought of Avatar not being represented in any appeal at placees in comparison to virtually anything else in pop culture. Although I am sure only the novelty collectors by them. There is a market for it. Its a pop culture staple. Same goes for Uncle Remus' stories of Brer Fox stories(especially to the adult generation of Baby Boomers when it opened and before the movie was banned. You do realize besides being a big hit for the company and a popular title it had a big theatrical re-release in 1980 right? But I agree quality will out. Just pointing out the facts.

Avatar is liike Independence Day. Everyone loved it when it came out. Now it is good for watching on TNT or TBS.

 

[twebber55]

Its not a weak argument. Its a legitimate business concern for the suits. They jumped on Avatar in 2010 when Iger wanted it. The movie had just left theaters with its records.

Quality of an actual attraction will out for sure. But clearly that is not what they are going for if they paid all the money to Fox to use the rights. Otherwise they would just build Beastly Kingdom. That would bring Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain to a more valid argument. But they are not. They have a lot of investment on this being just Avatar and having the rights to it. Same reason Pirates does not just stand on its own when they had the chance to cram synergy from movies to sell more merchandise. Same way they tried to make films have that success for other rides but have failed so far at others.

Also, as a funny side note you are wrong about Twlight Zone. Twilight Zone has merchandise at ToysRUs. I know because I was there the other day when I had this thought of Avatar not being represented in any appeal at placees in comparison to virtually anything else in pop culture. Although I am sure only the novelty collectors by them. There is a market for it. Its a pop culture staple. Same goes for Uncle Remus' stories of Brer Fox stories(especially to the adult generation of Baby Boomers when it opened and before the movie was banned. You do realize besides being a big hit for the company and a popular title it had a big theatrical re-release in 1980 right? But I agree quality will out. Just pointing out the facts.

Avatar is liike Independence Day. Everyone loved it when it came out. Now it is good for watching on TNT or TBS.

would you at least recognize that the bioluminesent flora and fauna along the with the floating mountains and pandoran nights could look incredible with a theme of conservation and living in harmony in nature...its hard to compare it to independance day in terms of theme park lands