'Avatar,' 'Coco' attractions are coming to Disneyland — and other big news from D23

[JerrodDragon89]

I don't see that as a problem. You keep the barn where it is.
The entrance to the ride would be roughly under the Quinjet. There would be a hallway/queue/pre-show building next to the barn. The show building would fill the current parking lot behind the barn.

There is also an Ironman ride going next door...like feet away.

I think they will move the barn

 

[OlliePop27]

I'm putting my bets on:

• Avatar is a revision/redesign of Grizzly River Run. There's no way I read the description of this ride and think "OH... a brand new get-soaked/exciting/emotional water ride IN ADDITION to GRR." This will almost certainly replace GRR.
• One of the Marvel/Avengers rides goes behind the Quinjet facade building into the parking lot.
• The other Marvel/Avengers ride goes into the Hyperion.
• Coco will be an extension of Pixar Pier in the area just north of Paradise Gardens Bandstand, possibly including the elimination of Goofy's Sky School.

Those are great predictions. We'll have to agree to disagree on Avatar and see where it ends up going.

The Avatar ride is not a "get wet" ride. It's like if Shanghai Pirates and AK Navi River Journey have a baby. Think Pirates or Small World, but more contemporary. You don't really get wet on those rides. The reason Disney's getting back into boat rides is they can build vehicles with massive hourly capacities. One of the reasons Small World seldom has a long line is not because it isn't popular, it's because it has one of the largest hourly capacities at the resort - several thousand people per hour. It's a people eater and Disney needs more of those.

 

[twitch]

By the way... I know that we love our GRR out here.
I rode it last week for the first time in years. I walked away thinking "boy, Kali River Rapids in WDW AK has this beat simply for the sake of story and impact."

GRR is a fun ride. But it has no story. If I were Disney Imagineering, I'd look for a way to take the existing ride and plus it with story. That's part of why I anticipate the Avatar ride is a redesign of GRR.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

• One of the Marvel/Avengers rides goes behind the Quinjet facade building into the parking lot.
• The other Marvel/Avengers ride goes into the Hyperion.

The concept art for the two rides shows them side by side. I am expecting both rides to build out into that parking lot area behind the Quinjet facade building.

 

[twitch]

The concept art for the two rides shows them side by side. I am expecting both rides to build out into that parking lot area behind the Quinjet facade building.

I think you're right. I came to that conclusion AFTER I made my predictions above. There's so much space out there... one ride enters under the Quinjet, and the other ride starts somewhere between the Quinjet and Luigi.

 

[twitch]

Those are great predictions. We'll have to agree to disagree on Avatar and see where it ends up going.

The Avatar ride is not a "get wet" ride. It's like if Shanghai Pirates and AK Navi River Journey have a baby. Think Pirates or Small World, but more contemporary. You don't really get wet on those rides. The reason Disney's getting back into boat rides is they can build vehicles with massive hourly capacities. One of the reasons Small World seldom has a long line is not because it isn't popular, it's because it has one of the largest hourly capacities at the resort - several thousand people per hour. It's a people eater and Disney needs more of those.

You certainly could be right. I read "dynamic, intense and an emotional experience on a grand scale" and think "you're going to get wet."

I see four new attractions and think: that's a lot of money to outlay. I wonder what existing buildings/structures can be repurposed in order to save money.

It will be interesting, for sure. We'll come back to this thread in 4-6 years and see what to make of our predictions.

 

[dina444444]

GRR won’t go anywhere. They need the rapid ride in the summertime.

From the video we saw at the presentation the buildout for the 2 new avengers campus rides will be to the right of the building where the quinjet is. That wall will go away.

I still think that both avatar and coco are probably going to go into the current simba lot and they will build a connector over Disneyland drive based on the Disneyland forward plans.

 

[Thecouch]

Yeah people think when they say these arent blue sky things and shovels in the ground means things will get built right away .for avatar to go into Disneyland forward area a new car park has to be built first and the shovel in the ground might just be phase 1 which could be the new parking lot

 

[Thecouch]

People who think they will replace GRR how do you think construction would happen. How would they get access the build site for all the trucks and machinery. You have Disneylands best hotel on one side.the main entrance on another and rest is the main part of the park that surrounds it

 

[OlliePop27]

People who think they will replace GRR how do you think construction would happen. How would they get access the build site for all the trucks and machinery. You have Disneylands best hotel on one side.the main entrance on another and rest is the main part of the park that surrounds it

Disney's cash cow...DVC...probably wouldn't be too happy with turning an in-theme mountain woods area to a water/fire area from the fictional foreign planet of Pandora.

 

[LKing]

If they put Avatar in that parking lot behind Cars, wouldn't it be visible from Carsland?

People who think they will replace GRR how do you think construction would happen. How would they get access the build site for all the trucks and machinery. You have Disneylands best hotel on one side.the main entrance on another and rest is the main part of the park that surrounds it

Isn't there access between Soarin and WOD?

 

[dina444444]

If they put Avatar in that parking lot behind Cars, wouldn't it be visible from Carsland?

Isn't there access between Soarin and WOD?

Which parking lot are you talking about? The one that’s to the right of Luigi’s is where the avengers campus expansion is going.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

If they put Avatar in that parking lot behind Cars, wouldn't it be visible from Carsland?

Isn't there access between Soarin and WOD?

Yep. Wasn't that where we had to enter the park back when they did Buena Vista street during the DCA reboot?

 

[ellindea]

Does anyone who is more in the know than I am have any sense as to whether any of the attractions besides the Walt show will be wheelchair accessible (as in, you can stay in your wheelchair)? I’m worried after reading people say that the Coco boat looks similar to the Frozen ride since it’s not wheelchair accessible, right? That’s the one that I figured would probably be the best chance at being accessible. I’d love for the Avatar ride to be accessible but have a feeling it won’t be…I know that there is more demand for higher excitement rides these days and that they need to stay innovative (and keep the rides safe for everyone), but it’s so discouraging seeing new rides come out only to have nothing accessible! I can for now still transfer to a few rides with assistance, but it’s a lot harder now than it used to be, and my mom can’t transfer to any. If it turns out none of the new rides are accessible, what I really hope and am crossing my fingers on is that they won’t get rid of any currently-accessible rides to make room ! One more thought - they’ve made all these cool innovations with rides and have incorporated impressive technology — let’s use those same brains and technical know-how to create accessible ride vehicles! Toy Story Midway Mania has decent g-forces, and they still found a great way to make it accessible. (Btw I obviously realize the test flight ride cannot be wheelchair accessible ha.)

 

[dina444444]

Yep. Wasn't that where we had to enter the park back when they did Buena Vista street during the DCA reboot?

I believe the temp entrance was over by soarin with the wall that backs up to dtd, but I didn’t visit the parks between when my pass expired in March 2008 and I went back in June 2012 after Carsland opened.

 

[OlliePop27]

Does anyone who is more in the know than I am have any sense as to whether any of the attractions besides the Walt show will be wheelchair accessible (as in, you can stay in your wheelchair)? I’m worried after reading people say that the Coco boat looks similar to the Frozen ride since it’s not wheelchair accessible, right? That’s the one that I figured would probably be the best chance at being accessible. I’d love for the Avatar ride to be accessible but have a feeling it won’t be…I know that there is more demand for higher excitement rides these days and that they need to stay innovative (and keep the rides safe for everyone), but it’s so discouraging seeing new rides come out only to have nothing accessible! I can for now still transfer to a few rides with assistance, but it’s a lot harder now than it used to be, and my mom can’t transfer to any. If it turns out none of the new rides are accessible, what I really hope and am crossing my fingers on is that they won’t get rid of any currently-accessible rides to make room ! One more thought - they’ve made all these cool innovations with rides and have incorporated impressive technology — let’s use those same brains and technical know-how to create accessible ride vehicles! Toy Story Midway Mania has decent g-forces, and they still found a great way to make it accessible. (Btw I obviously realize the test flight ride cannot be wheelchair accessible ha.)

I think there's a decent chance since it's a new build. Frozen at Epcot is a retheme of an existing ride and they were probably limited on accessibility options.

 

[dina444444]

Does anyone who is more in the know than I am have any sense as to whether any of the attractions besides the Walt show will be wheelchair accessible (as in, you can stay in your wheelchair)? I’m worried after reading people say that the Coco boat looks similar to the Frozen ride since it’s not wheelchair accessible, right? That’s the one that I figured would probably be the best chance at being accessible. I’d love for the Avatar ride to be accessible but have a feeling it won’t be…I know that there is more demand for higher excitement rides these days and that they need to stay innovative (and keep the rides safe for everyone), but it’s so discouraging seeing new rides come out only to have nothing accessible! I can for now still transfer to a few rides with assistance, but it’s a lot harder now than it used to be, and my mom can’t transfer to any. If it turns out none of the new rides are accessible, what I really hope and am crossing my fingers on is that they won’t get rid of any currently-accessible rides to make room ! One more thought - they’ve made all these cool innovations with rides and have incorporated impressive technology — let’s use those same brains and technical know-how to create accessible ride vehicles! Toy Story Midway Mania has decent g-forces, and they still found a great way to make it accessible. (Btw I obviously realize the test flight ride cannot be wheelchair accessible ha.)

I don’t think avatar will have a handicap boat if it’s modeled after the Shanghai pirates. I think the coco ride could since I think that will be more like small world or gran fiesta.

 

[Pluto468]

I think Disney tries to make sure attractions ARE accessible, but it's hard to know until we see the ride vehicles in real life.

I can't imagine Grizzly River Run being replaced by Avatar. Aside from the logistical issues around a gigantic construction project right outside the Grand Californian for literally years, GRR is the closest thing DCA has to an iconic ride. As in, it's been there from opening and is still extremely popular. Plus the bear is like the DCA mascot if you know what I mean.

I like the idea of Avatar being across Harbor!

 

[Tinkaboo]

I think Disney tries to make sure attractions ARE accessible, but it's hard to know until we see the ride vehicles in real life.

I can't imagine Grizzly River Run being replaced by Avatar. Aside from the logistical issues around a gigantic construction project right outside the Grand Californian for literally years, GRR is the closest thing DCA has to an iconic ride. As in, it's been there from opening and is still extremely popular. Plus the bear is like the DCA mascot if you know what I mean.

I like the idea of Avatar being across Harbor!

I like the idea of Avatar remaining in Animal Kingdom

Seriously, I thought it was really cheap looking there…was not impressed with the boat ride and I couldn’t do the FOP. But I just thought it wasn’t attractive overall. So I definitely don’t think they would put it right outside their premium hotel. I think it will go over in Hollywood and that corner will be totally revamped. As someone previously pointed out, construction in the GRR/Redwood area would be disastrous.

But, it’s Disney…so who knows?

 

[Pluto468]

I like the idea of Avatar remaining in Animal Kingdom

So do I! A ride...ok, if they insist. But a whole land? No thanks.