Walt Disney World - Disney's Animal Kingdom

[NeilHD]

I don't think having seen the film or not will make that much difference, really.

For example my son, who is 5, enjoyed many IP-based Rides that he'd never seen: ET, The Mummy, Spiderman etc. He's only ever seen about an hour of the first Harry Potter but enjoyed Forbidden Journey. He's got no idea who Aerosmith are but loved the Rock n' Rollercoaster.

He enjoyed all those rides - not knowing the films in detail didn't stop his enjoyment at all.

[AshleeK]

[quote=""Sam""]The IP won't last, like Dinosaur. But at least with Dinosaur, the ride is basically a dinosaur ride, and can work without any knowledge of the film. This will be a lot more specific. I know it's the highest grossing film of all time, but I never see it referenced in memes or popular culture, like Harry Potter or the Pixar films. Do even the people who like Avatar really care about Avatar that much...?
[/quote]

To be fair on Avatar, it hasn't been around that long (heck, not even two years), and it lacks the sequels that Harry Potter and the more popular Pixar films have. But I've seen Avatar referenced dosens of times in popular culture already, in shows like The Simpsons and such. Granted, there's also loads of references to it being Pocahontas meets The Smurfs (because any blue humanoid is blatantly a rip-off of The Smurfs), but give it time.

[Chris W]

Thought it's worth posting this here....

Big rumours coming from Disney fan websites that AVATAR has been cancelled. (very good) Sources are citing creative differences, delays to the 2nd and 3rd films and also how uninterested everyone was with the initial announcement.

OK, checked with a Spirited source this morning and Avatarland isn't dead ... yet. It seems to be a matter of when, not if.

Disney and Cameron have a distinct difference of opinion over how this should be done and, more importantly, how much it should cost. And because of the strange new world the movie showcases, turning this into a theme park world that isn't all screens (something Cameron put his foot down early as WDI did want a second generation Soarin where you flew on one of those dragon-creatures over and through and around Pandora as the highlight E-Ticket experience of the land) has proven very problematic.

Disney is also aware the general public (not simply crazy Disney fans who post on sites like this) gave a collective yawn to the announcement AND the two new films are behind schedule by quite a bit and knowing the perfectionist that Cameron is may be delayed by quite a while, giving Disney nothing in the pop culture of the times to play off of when the imaginary land opens.

I was told if they take this off life support to not expect any announcement 'if they can help it' ... that it will quietly be taken off the slate of working projects and hopefully no one will ask any questions.

So, I guess you can say it isn't dead ... but it's like a dying hanging upside down tree that no one is nurturing at this point ... and that fanbois want to see cut down so they can get a better view of Wishes and a fiberglass castle!

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.p ... 814&page=5

It certainly won't be the first time that Disney announced a major project and then cancelled it and hoped that nobody would bring it up :P

*cough* http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2 ... wn-disney/

[Sam]

The IP won't last, like Dinosaur. But at least with Dinosaur, the ride is basically a dinosaur ride, and can work without any knowledge of the film. This will be a lot more specific. I know it's the highest grossing film of all time, but I never see it referenced in memes or popular culture, like Harry Potter or the Pixar films. Do even the people who like Avatar really care about Avatar that much...?

Hey, whuddaya know, I was totally right.

Highest grossing film of all time, but not that it matters, I didn't like it therefore it's an awful idea...

Facepalm.

Facepalm.

The fact it's the highest grossing film in the world means nothing if it doesn't continue to be a strong brand in the years ahead. It was a crap film, therefore after everyone went to see it, the brand sort of died a bit, certainly below the level for a major Disney "land".

[NeilHD]

It certainly won't be the first time that Disney announced a major project and then cancelled it and hoped that nobody would bring it up :P

*cough* http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2 ... wn-disney/

Or, y'know, the original plan for EPCOT which was the original founding idea for Walt Disney World in the first place, and died on it's arse about 10 minutes after Walt did...

[lewis97]

After purchasing the theme park rights to Avatar a few years ago, Disney have now released their concept ideas and images for Avatar land, which will be their largest ever park expansion.



It will be situated in the Animal Kingdom park, as they aim to attract more guests to the park, which is currently often under-capacity. This includes the addition of a nighttime show where live music, floating lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery all combine to bring a show to Discovery River.



Furthermore, there are plans for the addition of a new ride where guests will also discover what it feels like to soar into the sky riding a Banshee. Although a winged rollercoaster would seem like the obvious choice, I can see it being a more immersive experience that can appeal to the entire family.



There is a video including all the released concept art HERE, and a news article HERE.

[Burniel]

:O that's amazing!

[LoopyDan]

This will be brilliant!  :O

[iBacon]

This will be amazing, I'm thinking it may be a little bit like Jungala and Busch Gardens Tampa?

[Lottie.]

I am definitely looking forward to seeing how they execute this, and being Disney, it will be fantastic!

[TheOutpatient]

2017 is a long way off still, if only it went up overnight like Harry Potter Land.

And I notice the guy with the earring! I've seen him in documentaries!

[lewis97]

So it's been a while since any update, but some new artwork and a short video of the bioluminescent plants, among other things, has been released.

[Owen]

Not only have Disney announced "Star Wars Land" and "Toy Story Land" for Disney World's Hollywood Studios at D23, but more details of Pandora: The World of AVATAR have been announced! Avatar director James Cameron was at D23 to announce more details. Cameron explained "there is storytelling involved" and "After the war. The gunships are all down and rustling in the jungle. Humans are being welcomed to Pandora". Joe Rhode of Disney also explained that "you will not be revisiting great moments from the film. The adventure is yours."
The land will include the same design seem in the film, including floating islands and a bioluminescent forest. The bioluminescent is a big part of the area, especially at night. A video was shown, showing a park guest walking around the land - leaving lit up steps as they move through the area.

The main attraction will be "Flight of Passage" - a simulated flight through Pandora on the back on a Banshee. Disney state the E-Ticket attraction will "give guests a birds-eye view of the beauty and grander of the world Pandora on an aerial rite of passage". Cameron states that the technology used in the ride is "So advanced that you feel like you're flying. You literally feel like you're flying. I know you've heard that with other rides before, but this is on a whole other level". This leads me to believe the ride will not be similar to Soarin' in Epcot, and that Camerons' statement is a pretty big one to live up to!

Below is some new conceptual art, seemingly based on Flight of Passage -



This development certainly sounds intriguing! With this, "Star Wars Land" and "Toy Story Land" opening across Disney's Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, Disney are really pushing to make their Floridian park one of the very greats!

[Owen]

Small construction update on the floating islands

Credit to TheTimTracker Youtube channel



As you can see they are really coming along - and are surprisingly high! The yellow beams will be covered in vines so that they will not be visable for opening in 2017.

[inFusion]

On the topic of Avatar, has anyone seen the film and properly enjoyed it? I watched it but didn't really understand it, it was quite a strange film to be honest.

[Dom]

On the topic of Avatar, has anyone seen the film and properly enjoyed it? I watched it but didn't really understand it, it was quite a strange film to be honest.

Yes i have seen it and it does make sense. You sort of need to pay full attention to everything that is going on, or re-watch it to fully understand if you didn't understand it first time.

As for the constrution so far, i must say that is pretty cool. I am really looking forward to seeing this progress.

[Stan.H]

This looks incredible, but thats if it ever gets completed... :lol

[Owen]

Another floating islands update!

Here we have a close up picture of the peak island, showing ahole for the waterfall and how well themed it is, as well as a photo taken from Animal Kindons car park, which really shows the height of the islands!





Video here.

[Ladyofthelake]

Some recently submitted plans from Disney appear to show the route of the new Na'vi River Journey attraction which is set to open as part of the new Pandora: World of Avatar Land at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The straight blue section would appear to be an on-load/off-load section, with what would appear to be a maintenance bay off to the far right of the plans. It would also appear that, as has been rumoured, the attraction will be based fully indoors (similar to Pirates of the Caribbean over in Magic Kingdom).



Credit to Theme Park Tourist

[Owen]

Rumours suggest that Rivers of Light, the river show shown after dark will open in May if 2017, an entire 13 months after its original opening date. I must admit there is a point where I sit back and think "is this really good enough" from a company of Disney's caliber...