Disney release preview of avatar attractions

skier_pete said:

I mean, c'mon your really going to complain that they are "only" spending HALF A BILLION DOLLARS on a single LAND? Can you name ONE time Disney has spent that much?

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sachilles said:

I think Dinoland was done poorly, and I don't think I'll get much resistance on that. However, I do think dinosaurs in general is a good theme for part the park. It really needs a do over. Easier said than done I guess.

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lockedoutlogic said:

The Dream
The Fantasy
Leveraged Bailout of Euro
Island construction for Hong Kong park and subsequent bad park construction
Bailout of California adventure
Blackhole development in smog capital of central china

I know... Not a "single land"...but you see what I'm getting at...and what those things don't do in comparison to Florida?

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momtosam said:

Sorry, not impressed. Looks like a Michael Jackson floor and Chihuly glass. Really wish they had picked different theming.

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lockedoutlogic said:

100%

I think it was rushed and unfinished... As much of the park feels...

Probably because we know it was rushed and unfinished...that might be it.

Ctx is good Disney... But the rest is disjointed...Chester and Hester was a hasty stopgap thrown up with little thought...and that whole McDonald's/restrantosaurus hybrid was silly from the start.
I know I'm paying through the nose...why the heck would I want McDonald? You
Might as well charge me more for something slightly more interesting...

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rteetz said:

I believe carsland cost around that. NFL was in the 400-450 range.

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ThistleMae said:

I love avatar! This was one of the most visually stunning movies ever made. And the story...classic! I can hardly wait to see it. I hope they can do it justice.

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DDLand said:

Carsland was like 800 million, plus something like an additonal 200+ million for RSRs. That was expensive.

With that said @skier_pete, you really hit the head on the nail. Well said.

I think what a lot of people forget is the Imagineers have every incentive to make the projects as big and as grand as possible. This not only fuels egos, but also keeps them in the job long term. So those internal numbers are likely the pie in the sky dream lists. They know they're not going to get everything they want but they put it out there anyway. Then Disney's budget guys determine what's best for the company. We read way too much into those internal figures.

I don't have any indication that it's been enormously cut. It seems like the plans were more in flux when announced then any of us Disboards people imagined. It was still taking its time to solidify. Basically it seems Disney and Cameron had like no plans at all.

The only thing I'm left intrigued about is this post from 2011:
"we’re just beginning the Blue Sky process so I don’t have much to share about how we are going to execute our vision for our first AVATAR land but we’re focused on this being an important addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom."

"Our AVATAR lands will give guests the chance to see, hear and touch the world of Pandora and we can’t wait to dive in with James Cameron and his team as we create new experiences that will delight and thrill our guests."

"You can be sure that these are the same themes that we will explore throughout our AVATAR lands."

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/09/answering-your-questions-about-avatar-at-disney-parks/

Lots of plural or foreshadowing. We know they were gunning for Oriental Land to build it (wouldn't you guys say that spot in TDS that's likely now Frozen related would've fit the bill?) but we're rejected flat out. They even hinted that they wanted foreign partners to work with them in that article. However it does seem like the Avatarland we're getting may have been one of several themes that would've been explored. We know they're going underwater for the some of the new movies. Lands of Avatar leaves you thinking...

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rteetz said:

I haven't seen an indication that Tokyo would do avatar. There have been some rumors that avatar may show up in Paris eventually.

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DDLand said:

Carsland was like 800 million, plus something like an additonal 200+ million for RSRs. That was expensive.

.

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rteetz said:

I haven't seen an indication that Tokyo would do avatar. There have been some rumors that avatar may show up in Paris eventually.

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skier_pete said:

The total of everything that was done in the refurb of DCA was about a billion. But that covers the whole park, including World of Color. Admittedly much of that went into Carsland, but the estimates I've seen were around $500-600 million for Carsland. If Pandora is at the same level as Carsland, we should all be pretty happy, though I guess I am expecting even a little more

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DDLand said:

Carsland was like 800 million, plus something like an additonal 200+ million for RSRs. That was expensive.

With that said @skier_pete, you really hit the head on the nail. Well said.

I think what a lot of people forget is the Imagineers have every incentive to make the projects as big and as grand as possible. This not only fuels egos, but also keeps them in the job long term. So those internal numbers are likely the pie in the sky dream lists. They know they're not going to get everything they want but they put it out there anyway. Then Disney's budget guys determine what's best for the company. We read way too much into those internal figures.

I don't have any indication that it's been enormously cut. It seems like the plans were more in flux when announced then any of us Disboards people imagined. It was still taking its time to solidify. Basically it seems Disney and Cameron had like no plans at all.

The only thing I'm left intrigued about is this post from 2011:
"we’re just beginning the Blue Sky process so I don’t have much to share about how we are going to execute our vision for our first AVATAR land but we’re focused on this being an important addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom."

"Our AVATAR lands will give guests the chance to see, hear and touch the world of Pandora and we can’t wait to dive in with James Cameron and his team as we create new experiences that will delight and thrill our guests."

"You can be sure that these are the same themes that we will explore throughout our AVATAR lands."

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/09/answering-your-questions-about-avatar-at-disney-parks/

Lots of plural or foreshadowing. We know they were gunning for Oriental Land to build it (wouldn't you guys say that spot in TDS that's likely now Frozen related would've fit the bill?) but we're rejected flat out. They even hinted that they wanted foreign partners to work with them in that article. However it does seem like the Avatarland we're getting may have been one of several themes that would've been explored. We know they're going underwater for the some of the new movies. Lands of Avatar leaves you thinking...

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DDLand said:

Nah, that was the entire plan for Disney when they released it. I'll find the article in just a second.

Update: Alright @rteetz this JMH one seems pretty logical.
http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/jimhillmedia?url=http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2013/10/14/monday-mouse-watch-why-that-avatar-concept-art-got-unveiled-in-japan-rather-than-stateside-and-what-s-in-the-works-for-the-disneyland-resort-in-regards-to-quot-star-wars-quot.aspx#2825

Though the case gets even stronger with:

"I should also note that as we determine our future locations, we look forward to working with our international theme park partners as our plans evolve."

We all know what they were really after... Too bad Japan had taste.

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rteetz said:

Not even the mountains? I'm not this really has the potential to be one of the best themed lands Disney has done in a long time. Last being carsland. The guy who did the rock work for that is working on the mountains.

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DDLand said:

Interestingly that appears not to be the case. That is the stated public figure though. Articos over at WDWmagic said the numbers I cited were the actual figures and he's pretty darn good. I can get you that link.

Imagineering always goes over budget.

It's one of the sad things about all the content these forums generate. It's lost pretty quickly. All those great facts, and figures are gone buried under thousands of other posts.

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