Avatar coming to Animal Kingdom

[Galen_50]

Wow nothing fits a theme park bout animals and conservation like Avatar!!

See, I totally do not understand your comment. The whole story of Avatar was about protecting their world, their resources, and their animals.

If done right, I can see this land being very big. It would have to look like you stepped out of the human base camp into the forest. And I think the forest and the animals in Avatar are the reasons Disney went with it instead of say Middle Earth or Narnia. They are completely different and full of imagination.

 

[crocko]

Funny you mentioned Middle Earth.

My wife and I were talking recently about if IOA managed to bring Middle Earth into its park. Between Wizarding World and Middle Earth, Universal would REALLY start tugging at my heart/purse-strings.

 

[Figment632]

See, I totally do not understand your comment. The whole story of Avatar was about protecting their world, their resources, and their animals.

If done right, I can see this land being very big. It would have to look like you stepped out of the human base camp into the forest. And I think the forest and the animals in Avatar are the reasons Disney went with it instead of say Middle Earth or Narnia. They are completely different and full of imagination.

Calm down was in shock I am for this. It's a great move Scfi just isn't the first thing to one to mind when thinking of DAK. While Beastly Kingdom is still a better fit IMO this great news!

 

[anthony2k7]

Holy Blank!

I am cautiously optimistic. An entire Avatar themed land could be spectacular -- and also bring back elements of Beastly Kingdom into the park, although in a way no one could have anticipated.

I'd love to see the concepts for the rides and attractions -- I'm sure everyone here does -- but this has the potential to be something truly exciting, AND help give AK the boost it needs.

And finally... who says you can't keep secrets in the Internet age? Find me one person who leaked this rumor!

I saw rumours that something Avatar related was going to Universal - so they were half right

 

[Figment632]

I saw rumours that something Avatar related was going to Universal - so they were half right

Yup the rumor was Avatar was to replace T2! Thus is better a whole new land to explore!

 

[nytimez]

I saw rumours that something Avatar related was going to Universal - so they were half right

I saw those rumors too but no one connected Avatar to Disney -- and I mean no one.

 

[ASteelersMidget]

I saw those rumors too but no one connected Avatar to Disney -- and I mean no one.

Iger did.................

 

[doconeill]

Could this have been the Harry Potter mistake in reverse? Disney, having learned their lesson, and with the ability to work with Cameron who could probably bring a lot to the table (including some of the money?), didn't offer just one attraction. Universal, feeling a little smug having pulled off Harry Potter and wanting to replace one of their older Cameron attractions, offer up only the attraction...

Pure speculation on my part of course.

 

[skier_pete]

Hmmmm...I wonder how the haters are going to turn around and make this one a negative.

Actually, THIS is the first really good response to Harry Potter. Truthfully it's going to be 3-5 years late, but if Universal DOES expand Harry Potter, it'll be a good competitor to this. Because...

1) There is no more new Harry Potter stuff to come.

2) Cameron has plans for at least TWO Avatar sequels, with the first currently pegged for 2014, though his notoriously slow pace (Remember it was 10 YEARS between Titantic and Avatar.) This should keep Avatar quite relevant.

3) If Disney does it right (and here's where the haters will come out and say "Oh they are going to screw it up" before any news is even out) it will both turn Animal Kingdom into a "full day park" (which IMO it already is) and hopefully bring about some cutting edge technology.

4) I agree its not a perfect fit for AK as it is rather Sci-FI, however there is a heavy environmental message in the movie and it could definitely fill the niche that Beastly Kingdom was supposed to fill (Imaginary creatures). I picture one major E-ticket "thrill" ride which will encompass both the original Avatar as well as the sequel which is supposed to at least partly be set in the oceans of the avatar planet. I picture something where you would be placed into an avatar, and it would scan your face to make the avatar in your image.

Then an environmental area where you would be able to interact with the creatures of avatar. As someone else pointed out, I could well see the themed area arriving on a very similar timeline to the sequel, though if construction starts in 2013, I would think we won't see it until 2015.

But, just WOW, WOW, WOW.

SkierPete

 

[tfc3rid]

Perhaps it is finally a realization that Disney Parks and Resorts has paid too little attention to Orlando and the results are obvious... They are fighting for people's hard earned and dwindling vacation funds...

 

[mike the canuck]

I must misunderstand Avatar- I haven't seen it but I didn't think it was family/ 4 year old appropriate.

It's not any worse than Pirates of the Caribbean for being "family/ 4 year old appropriate"

 

[mrsklamc]

I'm starting to wonder if the total secrecy was at the expense of doing focus groups since this seems so unpopular.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

While I have a multitude of reservations and doubts I also have at least as many expectations and hopes.

AK certainly needs more, although personally I'd like another REAL animal attraction at some point BUT Avatar seems big enough in scope and broad enough in imagination to be a positive answer to WWoHP (which many on here said wouldn't need addressing, btw).

The timeline is worrisome. Will I still be alive to go there when it opens? But I think it could be a big a step in the right direction for Orlando ... Certainly better than all of the 5th gate nonsense.

 

[nytimez]

It's not any worse than Pirates of the Caribbean for being "family/ 4 year old appropriate"

Pirates of the Caribbean isn't appropriate for a 4-year-old either, and I think most of the parenting guides to film would agree on that. Both of these films are more appropriate for older kids/teens.

But I'll let other people raise their own kids. If folks want to show either film to their 4-year-old, they're certainly welcome to do so.

One of my favorite signs of all time is the one at one of the local big chain movie theaters that asks customers not to bring children under the age of 6 to R-rated films after 6 p.m.

 

[DCTooTall]

It's not any worse than Pirates of the Caribbean for being "family/ 4 year old appropriate"

Hmmmm... Ride wise, PoTC isn't that bad.... and it came first.

Avatar however did have some violence and sexual themes that could be considered not-so-kiddy-friendly.

Then again... just because a movie isn't the most kid friendly, doesn't mean that an attraction based on it couldn't be. Technically Star Wars and Indiana Jones weren't the most kid friendly films, but their attractions are perfectly fine.

I'm starting to wonder if the total secrecy was at the expense of doing focus groups since this seems so unpopular.

Rule #1.... don't expect the DIS reaction to in any way reflect the opinion of the General Public. The people who post on the DIS are likely to be much more vocal or opinionated when it comes to anything Disney than the general public.

Perfect example..... You might see a huge argument on the DIS based off the fact that XYZ character has been moved from one country at the World Showcase to another country..... all because we feel "they aren't as good a fit". General public however could care less, because as far as they are concerned, XYZ character is still available to meet and get a picture of.

While I have a multitude of reservations and doubts I also have at least as many expectations and hopes.

AK certainly needs more, although personally I'd like another REAL animal attraction at some point BUT Avatar seems big enough in scope and broad enough in imagination to be a positive answer to WWoHP (which many on here said wouldn't need addressing, btw).

The timeline is worrisome. Will I still be alive to go there when it opens? But I think it could be a big a step in the right direction for Orlando ... Certainly better than all of the 5th gate nonsense.

5 years doesn't seem so bad of a timeline. I'd be more concerned if they said it was going to open in 2 or 3 years since the FLE construction is taking that long. 5 years to basically imagineer the entire concept and feel of a land, the attractions within it, and contruct it seems much more reasonable if we want anything approaching what we all feel is "Disney Quality".

If you want some trees, fiber optic lights, a guy in blue makeup on stilts, and some off-the-shelf carny rides with an Avatar paint job, then a shorter timeline would be doable.

 

[Oglet]

I'm not sure how I feel about this, It's great that they are doing something to help out DAK however I have mixed feelings about the whole Avatar direction.

Personally I would have liked Disney to not partner with someone and license the place, I feel it would have been a much nicer addition if WDI had come up with a unique concept based on one of their own ideas.

Either way its great news for Animal Kingdom, hopefully whatever they do they will do it right.

 

[Figment632]

This post over at DK sones up my feelings!

Now that I'm home from work and have fed myself, I'll give my final thoughts.

I think the property is terrific for DAK, and is just what the resort needs. A big name franchise that will get people over the age of 10 excited. When I first saw the announcement I was amazingly surprised, in a good way. Can't say that about most of the things announced in the past few years. Also, I think it fits in very well with DAK.

That being said, we know almost nothing about what the project will entail, and I can't get overly excited about that.

I also can't let Disney off the hook for the maintenance over the last few years. It needs to improve along with adding things.

And while FLE isn't a response to Potter, this definitely is. Ceding control to a creator of a popular franchise and funding a lot of money to it (which they refused with Potter) obviously shows that they realize a mistake that they made.

That being said, we really are the winners here. A respected source on another site said USF's new E-ticket(presumably Transformers) and WWoHP 2.0 will be open by the time this opens. We're getting a lot of presents here. Everyone should be happy.

 

[Disneyman_10]

Can I get a show of hands on who would never have seen this coming?

 

[Rence]

I find the posts that talk about Avatar having limited appeal to be curious - I mean this was the biggest money making movie of all time and you don't get there by having "limited" appeal.

The success or failure of an attraction is not tied to the success or failure of the movie. One of the biggest attractions at the Disney parks is based on a movie that most people haven't seen and couldn't see even if they wanted to - Splash Mountain.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is another attraction where most folks have not seen the movie - you can hunt it down if you really want to see it, but it was never a major Disney movie - it's still at Disneyland and most DISers screamed bloody murder when WDW took it out to replace it with a more successful franchise (Pooh).

At Disneyland we have the Matterhorn - which has a movie tie in with another movie that most folks have never seen (Third Man on the Mountain)

Of course many of the most popular attractions had no movie tie in at all when they were built (Pirates, Haunted Mansion etc). So a successful attraction is not dependent on a successful movie or a movie with staying power. If the attraction is done right - 50 years from now it will still be popular even if most visitors have never seen the movies.

 

[DCTooTall]

Can I get a show of hands on who would never have seen this coming?

It'd probably be easier to count the hands of those who DID see this coming.