khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
Completely agree and share the same feelings with you about Avatarland. When they first announced the project, it just didn't seem like a good fit. James Cameron (as much as I love most of his movies, Avatar not so much) has such a singular vision of his own projects that I didn't think he would be able to mesh and work well with the Disney Imagineers. Disney has such a huge cache of Pixar movies to tap into for its future projects, I would rather have them spend the money and time on those rather than Avatar.
I"ve heard it's been pushed back already because Cameron & Disney have 'creative differences.' You think? I never thought it was a good idea because while there are sequels planned, right now there is only one movie. It may not have any staying power. It's not like Harry Potter. A better option would have been Lord of the Rings but I don't see how that would tie in with AK either. As long as they don't build a Twilightland, we're good.
Oh man, would I love to see a LOTR land/park ANYWHERE! Love it, probably even a little more than Harry Potter. I would love to walk through the Shire, the mines of Moria, Mordor, etc. That would be AMAZING! Doesn't fit with AK for sure, probably would be better suited for Universal, but only if they could go big with it, I think. I actually enjoyed Twilight for what it is (definitely NOT a literary masterpiece or a memorable film, but enjoyable), but Twilightland is an absolute NO NO!!
Not to go too far OT, but I don't get all the dislike for "Avatarland". The movie wasn't great, but the concept for Animal Kingdom is actually pretty fitting - you do realize that "Avatar" was essentially "Pocahantas" with Sci-Fi trappings.
I look at it this way...most Disney fans wanted "Beastly Kingdom" built at AK, right? Well, if done right, this is essentially "Beastly Kingdom", just with different versions of Dragons and Unicorns.
I think Disney made a big mistake announcing that deal without any details or concept art. However, they wanted an investment of that size (half a billion $) to have some sort of name recognition. And not just in the US, worldwide. "Beastly Kingdom" peaks very little interest, "Avatar" at least gets people interested. In the end it will be quality of the product that gets you going and going back. If Universal had bought "Harry Potter" and then put up a shoddy park, no one would be going by now.
I agree, it's the same basic conservation story as Pocahontas, so why not do something with Pocahontas? I get it, Pocahontas is not as cool as trying to recreate Pandora. But I guess I would rather see the long rumored Australia section of the park come to fruition WAY more than Avatar. I just didn't think the movie was all that great to need or deserve a section of a Disney park, regardless of its message. But that's just my opinion, of course. I guess the powers that be at Disney must have some insight on this being a good idea or they wouldn't be pouring so much money into it. I guess what bugs me the most is that I could see them doing so much more with the money that is instead being put into an Avatar attraction/land.
Carsland just looks absolutely incredible. I would definitely love to see it added to WDW. Anything to add more attractions that can be enjoyed by the whole family would be a nice addition to the Studios for sure.
I'm glad that you were able to get there early enough to take a couple of rides on RSR before the line got really backed up.
As for the Avatar discussion... well, let's just say I'm not that excited about that prospect. I really didn't even like the movie. I guess Disney's gonna do what they wanna do though. I just hope that if they do go forward with it, they make it something awesome, but I would definitely rather see Disney or Pixar movies represented in the parks.
Totally agree on the Studios. It used to be our favorite park after MK until we brought DS for the first time and realized that aside from shows and TSM, there wasn't a lot we could enjoy as a family. I'm hoping DS will at least sit through a show or two this year to make visiting DHS worthwhile.
I agree, I would rather see them do more with their own library of movies and characters instead of putting a lot of money and time into Avatar. But again, that's just my opinion. And I hope like you that if they do move forward with Avatar, they at least make it something spectacular instead of thrown together and mediocre.