I loved Avatar, but.... Well, if anyone can make a theme park around a movie, it's Disney.
We'll see.
True, I'm sure Disney will do a great job with it. I'm just not sure I'll care.
Kind of like Harry Potter at that other park. They did a phenomenal job with the land and the rides. But it isn't a franchise I've watched and gotten interested in, so as amazing as all of it is, I just don't feel the need to spend much time there. Basically hit RD, ride the ride and move on to the Hulk or something.
I guess saying it sucked might have been harsh. I watched it once. I didn't turn it off before it ended. I just kind of felt indifferent about it and I've never watched it a second time, nor do I have any desire to do so. But I tend to not be a James Cameron fan either. I'll give credit where credit is due when it comes to the Terminator franchise, but in general, his movies just don't usually do much for me.
Ok. Fine. I'll go see it. My kids gave it a so-so. My hubs a nah, too in your face save the planet-y for him.
I wouldn't tell anyone not to see it. Especially with it coming to AK, you probably should. It isn't a movie that I turned off halfway through, but I just don't have any desire to see it again. And I may or may not watch the sequels. DW did like Avatar, so I'm sure I'll end up seeing them, but it isn't necessarily something I'm eagerly anticipating.
Are you even kidding me?! I guess I just pushed "Delete Draft" instead of saving it, Andy... Because I'm nice (and only slightly OCD) I'll start over and try to remember everything I just spent typing for 20 minutes.
I'm sorry that happened, but I just want to note that I do appreciate the effort.
Stupid movies I have liked:
Princess Bride
My Cousin Vinnie (watch the vile language, but funny story line)
Anything Monty Python
Out Cold - I'm sure you've never seen it or heard of it. I don't think many people saw it, but my college roommate and I watched it way more times than we ever should have. Funny, but really, really stupid.
AK was the lowest ranked for me too after my very first trip there in 2000. It was dismally lacking in anything to do and HOT. The landscaping was immature and we wandered around for a couple of hours wondering, "What the HECK?" I don't remember if we had PHs, but I remember going back to MK and feeling better that we'd redeemed our day. I vaguely remember something like every ticket back then was a PH??
That's pretty much how I felt about it in 1998. I think the fact that I experienced it then, and then had a 10 year gap between visits is what really made it hard for AK to really grab me. I didn't really get to see and experience the park growing. I just remembered it as this Zoo-ish park that really didn't even seem to have all that many animals to begin with... and then when I got back it was a zoo-ish park with Expedition Everest.
Anyway, since then, the park has really grown on me. After our trip in 2010, and I was just getting excited about photography, it was "grown up". The plants had provided more shade, there was more to do.... BUT most of all, and this is what was the game changer for me: I had done my homework. I knew the backstory (those are really important to me), I knew what there was to do, what I wanted to see, where things were, etc... made all the difference in the world! I tend to think that of all the parks, it shows better than any other the detail and thought that went into the story and feel they wanted.
Definitely! I do know the backstory, and as I said, I feel like AK definitely does this the best of any of the parks. It still isn't enough to move it up the list though.
As for Avatar coming. Here's what I like about it- even having not seen the movie... yet. I like that every single time I go to WDW there is something new to see or do. I will go without a preconceived opinion and if I don't like it, I don't have to go back and there will STILL be plenty left to do at WDW for me to try out. Having said that, I doubt very highly that the new Land will be devoid of animals. Their overarching mission is animal preservation and it's the common theme that ties the entire park together. Well, that and sucking every last dollar from your wallet. Which is what ties every park, resort, snack, and souvenir together.
I agree. I love new additions to the parks. I'm sure they'll do an awesome job with Avatar. I know a lot of people love the movies and will love the land. I
hope that I will love the land. I'll definitely give it a chance.
Whether it fits in AK or not... eh, I really don't care. I think I'm just disappointed that they're pouring so many resources into attractions based on a movie I didn't like when they could be using them to do attractions for other Disney films. But that's just me being selfish. It's just kind of like what I said about Harry Potter. It just isn't a franchise I've gotten into. But I've actually enjoyed the one movie I've seen. When I go to Universal though, as great as the ride is and as amazing as all the detail in the land is, it just doesn't do a lot for me.
As for the animals... we'll see. In Dinoland, the animals are fake dinosaurs. I'd imagine that in Avatarland, any animals would likely be natives of the fictional planet Pandora.
Although I love a lot about the PNW, I would still move to Florida at the first chance I get. That said, we have alpine, desert, rugged coast/beach, temperate, AND rain forest, riverfront, urban, and steppe-ish landscapes all within a 6 hour drive of anything else listed. "Hey, Hon, what kind of camping trip would you like to go on this holiday weekend?" You can choose ANY of them. That's pretty cool. AND to top it off, we have excellent craft beer (from what I'm told- I detest beer) to take along with you. If you don't like beer, we have the finest Pinot Noir in the country. If you still don't like that, we have the Trailblazers, who happened to kinda suck right now, compared to years past. Although that's still fair to middling relatively speaking.
Yes, the beer is great. The land is diverse and beautiful - I think my favorite part of the geography out there is driving along the Snake River or Columbia River. Some beautiful sights to see along there! I'll admit though, as much as I enjoyed the countryside out there, I have no desire to ever go back to Portland. I had to stay in Portland for a week for a conference. I'm trying to remember exactly where I stayed, but the hotels I've stayed in just run together. It was somewhere downtown, near the river. Not directly across from where the Trailblazers play, but we weren't far from there. It just wasn't a good experience. We had homeless people sleeping on hotel property every evening when we'd come back from dinner. And look, I understand people have problems. I don't want to sound heartless, but is it really a good image for your city when people are sleeping I the bushes outside of a hotel used for conference attendees? That was just a minor detail though. I had 2 co-workers who had computers stolen from their rooms and we were waiting for a train to take us across town for dinner one evening when someone rode by on a bike and spit on us. Then another night, we went to a bar. It was just a small little place with a craft beer menu, but we just really didn't feel welcome there at all. In hindsight, I think it might have been a hipster place that we visited before I even knew what a hipster was. Sorry, not to bash Portland, but like we've mentioned, first impressions are lasting impressions and we certainly didn't have a great week
Some ya win and some ya lose. POP was a loser for me, in general. Loud, obnoxious, rude guests, and just not very relaxing. I suppose if you're ok with a crowd who is there to party, cuss, smoke wherever they want and cut in lines at the Food Court, then I guess that's the resort for. I'm sure it's not always like that, but it left a bad taste in my mouth for sure. Sorry,
@englishrose47!! I know this is your home away from home!! It just wasn't my cup of tea.
See above remarks.
I totally get you. Your Pop is my CSR. And Pop is also one of my favorites. Our experience there was fantastic.
This is actually a worthy debate! Since I haven't seen it, I'll reserve judgement on how I think they'll conceptualize it. I think they'll pull it off just fine. I'd rather go into thinking the better over going in thinking it's gonna suck, since that'll sway my opinion more than the other. Does that even make sense? Ugh, time for this all-nighter shift to get going... Hope your night/evening goes well Gentlemen.
Yeah, I think they'll do a great job with it. I don't question the imagineers' ability to polish that turd.
I'll definitely give it a chance. I want to be blown away by it. I really do!
and 
and 
and 
. And I feel like the DIS is cathartic, too! Even when I'm dog tired, I find myself wanting to relax and check in with my Disney homies.
(I apologize to those who have seen this on FB already!) Mark has already done the honors of making sure I get my usual 88% with the usual meme (which I love by the way) but I'll let you know if pig's leave a contrail above my house tomorrow. Wish me luck, say a little prayer, and do a decent-grade dance if you're so inclined. Make it groovy, and post a video of it if you do.
