Avatar coming to Animal Kingdom

[Faldred]

Hard to say. It could fall into the category of "relatively closer to our historic level of spending," since they do open a big new attraction every few years. And I can't imagine they'll ignore DHS until 2016.

I think this officially ends the pipe dreams of Lucas Land, though. On the other hand, Avatar sorta proves that all the rumors and speculation don't mean a whole heckuva lot!

Of course, they could project "relatively closer to our historic level of spending", but if an opportunity to strike a major deal comes along, they can always revise those estimates.

 

[johnGorski]

Not sure if this was posted?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...isney-avatar-092211-20110921,0,5826653.column

seems like all over this project is getting slammed left and right, besides on this board I am sure if BK was to be announced folks would be slamming that calling it another dino land flop. TDO decided on a 500million dollar expansion in a park that needs added attractions, i am still in shock with them budgeting that much to spend that much in a park after FLE.

Now lets hope they get this executed right.

 

[nytimez]

seems like all over this project is getting slammed left and right, besides on this board I am sure if BK was to be announced folks would be slamming that calling it another dino land flop. TDO decided on a 500million dollar expansion in a park that needs added attractions, i am still in shock with them budgeting that much to spend that much in a park after FLE.

Now lets hope they get this executed right.

It's kinda funny because I'm usually one of the lead bashers around here, at least when it comes to the overall vision and future of Disney... and I can't find anything to slam about this.

I'm also not some Avatar uber-fan. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the film -- but I thought the villains were cartoon characters and the plot was derivative.

Those shortcomings, however, were easily topped by the fantastic world that was created -- and that's what has me excited about this project. Actually, two things have me excited:

1) The fantastic world of Pandora and what they can do with it in a theme park.
2) Disney is actually investing big in Florida... and on a project that involves no princesses or comic book characters. That's huge.

 

[Golf4food]

Not sure if this was posted?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...isney-avatar-092211-20110921,0,5826653.column

He makes a lot of valid points.

I can agree with the people who say this is a horrible idea. I can agree with the people who say it could turn out to be very cool.

In the end I will not be surprised if we don't end up with a scaled back Avatar ride only and not a whole Avatar land, or that it winds up in DHS instead of AK, etc. The FLE expansion was modified based on feedback, and if that is any precedent, then they'll certainly have plenty of feedback on Avatarland!

 

[nytimez]

He makes a lot of valid points.

I can agree with the people who say this is a horrible idea. I can agree with the people who say it could turn out to be very cool.

In the end I will not be surprised if we don't end up with a scaled back Avatar ride only and not a whole Avatar land, or that it winds up in DHS instead of AK, etc. The FLE expansion was modified based on feedback, and if that is any precedent, then they'll certainly have plenty of feedback on Avatarland!

I believe the FLE changes weren't due to guest feedback -- they were due to a change in leadership at the parks, with Staggs taking over just in time to put his own stamp on the project instead of preceding with what had been laid out by his predecessor.

Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with the changes -- but I don't think they were influenced by some outpouring of anger on the Internet. If they were that easy to influence, the Adventurer's Club would be open right now.

 

[Faldred]

I believe the FLE changes weren't due to guest feedback -- they were due to a change in leadership at the parks, with Staggs taking over just in time to put his own stamp on the project instead of preceding with what had been laid out by his predecessor.

Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with the changes -- but I don't think they were influenced by some outpouring of anger on the Internet. If they were that easy to influence, the Adventurer's Club would be open right now.

I think in the case of FLE, though, a large part of it was the pointing out how much they were going to spend on building what amounted to little more than permanent M&G stations. That may have caused a serious second look at the plans. Edited to add: Especially if such feedback confirmed internal misgivings that were already present, but not strong enough to have changed decisions on without confirmation.

The Adventurer's Club feedback, on the other hand, probably didn't tell them anything they didn't already know.

I haven't seen anything in terms of the Avatar proposal that leads me to think that there's any backlash that's going to change minds. It appears a lot of folks don't like the concept from a property or "fit" standpoint, but Disney has already considered all of that and still decided to move ahead. And frankly, no one's saying that DAK shouldn't be expanded, especially with what will likely be an E-ticket and probably a D-ticket at the minimum, they're just whining about the specifics, of which they're mostly just projecting.

 

[johnGorski]

It's kinda funny because I'm usually one of the lead bashers around here, at least when it comes to the overall vision and future of Disney... and I can't find anything to slam about this.

I'm also not some Avatar uber-fan. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the film -- but I thought the villains were cartoon characters and the plot was derivative.

Those shortcomings, however, were easily topped by the fantastic world that was created -- and that's what has me excited about this project. Actually, two things have me excited:

1) The fantastic world of Pandora and what they can do with it in a theme park.
2) Disney is actually investing big in Florida... and on a project that involves no princesses or comic book characters. That's huge.

yep i agree with you 100%. I and not a ultra Avatar fan myself, however its a nice brand for a BK concept. I am sure in the next two films we will even see more mythical creatures.

Now I am wondering where this will be, camp minnie mickey no more with lion king to be relocated. maybe a WoC like fountain show in the front? or back by EE by the rail road? I am sure there will be a HUGE e-ticket.

I guess the new slogan is Let's the Guessing Begin on this project.

 

[nytimez]

I think in the case of FLE, though, a large part of it was the pointing out how much they were going to spend on building what amounted to little more than permanent M&G stations. That may have caused a serious second look at the plans.

That would suggest the blue skied, created, budgeted and announced a project with entire roomfuls of people not knowing it was little more than permanent M&G stations.

While that level of mass incompetence/ignorance isn't unheard of, it's hard for me to picture unfolding in reality.

I think they knew full well what they were doing, but a new boss decided he wanted something else in there.

Also, I think it was pointed out in this thread that in the time after the plans were released the company was getting numbers from its "Disney Fairies" product lines, which they had projected to be almost as valuable as "Disney Princesses" and they weren't very good... which led them to think investing big in Pixie Hollow might not be the way to go. So, that's a form of feedback, I guess -- not buying stuff -- but I think the changes had more to do with the personalities in charge.

Anytime someone takes over a company or part of a company there's immediate pressure to put your own stamp on things and outdo the old boss. Snow White Coaster accomplished that... and the data on the diminished power of Pixies helped to justify it.

But that's just my guess.

 

[Faldred]

Oh, I don't disagree. I just think that "fan" backlash might have also had an impact if it confirmed misgivings that had already been discussed internally.

 

[Figment632]

What I really think is on my blog but I'm not allowed to post a link so here it is.


So for years IMO Disney’s Animal Kingdom has been a three hour or half day park.

DAK was to open with another whole land called Beastly Kingdom, a land based on Mythical creatures. Evidence of how close this was to being built is the dragon in the DAK logo.

So that is a story for another day for more on BK please visit the following link.

http://www.theneverlandfiles.com/tnf/disneyworld/beastlykingdom.php

My first reaction was this doesn’t fit the theme of Animal Kingdom. I was wrong Avatar’s main theme was one of conservation. Conservation is one of DAK’s main themes as well, while it fits it will still stick out a bit and is a clear sign that DAK is headed in a new direction. A land based off of a SCFI film is a drastic change in direction for the theme park. However it is also proof that Disney’s and Joe Rhodes’s original view of DAK was a failure. The attendance figures point to this being true. That is why for years theme park fans have demanded the expansion of DAK. We are now getting this and here was what I really think.

This is a really good thing and DAK needs this land and expansion far more than any other theme park Disney owns. Also DAK suffered from everything being the same no matter what the land is. Don’t get me wrong the theme of Asia, Africa, and Dinoland are very different but the underlying theme was very similar. One of the things that make Islands of Adventure so great is its clashing lands. The whole park has the main theme of its attractions being based off of literature. What I love is you have Marvel, next to Dr. Sues, and next to that Harry Potter and Jurassic Park. You might think that all of these themes clash but having such different environments is a throwback to the original Disneyland theme. This is what makes IOA work and what will make DAK so much better than it is now. But it won’t suffer the cluster effect that DHS and DCA have. Which is slapping in attraction that really don’t fit that park at all, this will work because it still has the same underlying theme of conservation.

So we have all positives, the only real negative is Avatar’s lack of story. It also seems that Disney was very desperate to compete with Wizarding World of Harry Potter. While the Fantasyland Expansion is needed and will be nice it just doesn’t compete. Disney for the last decade has offered nothing for males over the age of 10. This is why the company purchased Marvel. Since they can’t use Marvel in WDW they needed something else. They missed out on Potter and rushed to find anything that could compete. It is a little sad that Disney couldn’t come up with something on their own that was original.

All in all I give this expansion 8 out of 10. This will be a great thing for DAK.

 

[ChrisFL]

He makes a lot of valid points.

I can agree with the people who say this is a horrible idea. I can agree with the people who say it could turn out to be very cool.

In the end I will not be surprised if we don't end up with a scaled back Avatar ride only and not a whole Avatar land, or that it winds up in DHS instead of AK, etc. The FLE expansion was modified based on feedback, and if that is any precedent, then they'll certainly have plenty of feedback on Avatarland!

I agree, I think after seeing tons of feedback the past 2 days that this may make Disney change their plans a bit.

 

[Wedway1971]

When I first read about the avatar project, my first reaction was No! The. It turned to meh. Now, I'm looking forward to this.

What WDI needs more than anything is a chance to shine. To build a fully immersive experience. Tom Staggs is right...Avatar gives that chance.

The complaints I've heard seem to be avatar has no plot and why DAK.

Let's talk plot...we have dumbo the flying elephant, test track, triceratops spin, sounds dangerous, the remnants of the backlot tour, and the tomorrowland speedway. Can anybody honestly say that any of these rides have half th plot potential of Avatar?

DAK has this huge waste of space called Camp Mickey Minnie. Everybody complains...where are the announcements for WDW at the D23 expo? Everybody complains...I hate animal kingdom because there's nothing to do. Everybody complains that WDI doesn't build any good e tickets. Everybody wonders how WDW will compete with Potter.

So after Jay Rasulo homogenized the parks to the point where you can't tell them apart, Tom Staggs comes in and says, let's take a chance. Let's build something huge that will allow WDI to shine. Let's build a huge E ticket in the park that needs it...DAK. And we as fans throw a fit?

I applaud Tom Staggs for trying something new, and for putting some TLC back into the parks. I also think that if Walt had blessed this, or if it had been announced at D23, there'd be an entirely different reaction to this news.

 

[rutgers1]

This seems like a short sighted move to revive the park to me. Avatar appeals to a specific group, certainly not everyone who goes to Disney Parks, which will leave a large portion of guests disinterested in this "land". I feel that WWoHP is the same thing--limited. Also, whenever you base a large area on a pop-culture movie or show, it will become dated very quickly. In 15-20 years, Disney will be scrambling to re-theme a large portion of the park so that they don't look like has-beens. Universal will have the same problem with their park. Imagine was DHS would be like if Eisner had succeeded in theming a large portion of the park after Roger Rabbit. It would be very long in the tooth by now. I can't say that I'm excited at all by Avaland, but perhaps the Imagineers will surprise me. They typically do.

There is little chance that Harry Potter will be outdated any time in our lifetime. The books and movies were the biggest things anyone under the age of 30 have experience first-hand, and odds are it will be a while until something that big hits again. It will certainly be "up there" with just about any movie/franchise that Disney has ever had. Disney just takes the cake in that it has multiple timeless franchises.

 

[johnGorski]

When I first read about the avatar project, my first reaction was No! The. It turned to meh. Now, I'm looking forward to this.

What WDI needs more than anything is a chance to shine. To build a fully immersive experience. Tom Staggs is right...Avatar gives that chance.

The complaints I've heard seem to be avatar has no plot and why DAK.

Let's talk plot...we have dumbo the flying elephant, test track, triceratops spin, sounds dangerous, the remnants of the backlot tour, and the tomorrowland speedway. Can anybody honestly say that any of these rides have half th plot potential of Avatar?

DAK has this huge waste of space called Camp Mickey Minnie. Everybody complains...where are the announcements for WDW at the D23 expo? Everybody complains...I hate animal kingdom because there's nothing to do. Everybody complains that WDI doesn't build any good e tickets. Everybody wonders how WDW will compete with Potter.

So after Jay Rasulo homogenized the parks to the point where you can't tell them apart, Tom Staggs comes in and says, let's take a chance. Let's build something huge that will allow WDI to shine. Let's build a huge E ticket in the park that needs it...DAK. And we as fans throw a fit?

I applaud Tom Staggs for trying something new, and for putting some TLC back into the parks. I also think that if Walt had blessed this, or if it had been announced at D23, there'd be an entirely different reaction to this news.

Exactly! its not like they came out said we teamed with Avatar and going to include it in the DAK. They said its going to be a major project costing 400-500million, thats HUGE. Staggs and Iger knew fans where upset of nothing new announced at D23 so here it is, now all of the negitive backlash. wow Maybe they should of waited until they developed this project on paper and had a plan on how this is going to be executed ie. where? timeline? what attractions? ect. I know there has been many commets out there saying maybe TDO will see the negitive response and pull this idea or downsize it. Then what pull the 500mill set aside for this project to open more meet and greet, shops and whats left over will go for bonuses

 

[lefthandrightfoot]

I just read through this whole post & am pretty shocked how negative many of the reactions are...

This announcement is probably one of the best things I've heard for the Florida parks in years! I am not a huge Avatar fan by any means - I enjoyed the visuals, but thought the story was predictable & pretty bland. That said...

The possibilities for a Pandora land addition to AK is tremendous! The best part of the park (which I've only gone a few times, the last being about 5 years ago), is the lush surroundings & the feeling you get of being in places that many people will never get the opportunity to visit (Asia, Africa, etc.) I really wasn't that blown away with any of the existing rides (I enjoy the safari, the rapids ride is fun, the 3D & Dinosaur ride as well), but I could spend HOURS just walking around and letting myself be visually immersed in the beautiful landscape that Disney absolutely nailed! It's more then just a "theme park" - it's an experience...

Bringing an "out of this world" experience that has a heavy "nature" feel will fit in PERFECTLY at AK. No matter what you think of the movie itself, James Cameron made a truly outstanding new world from his imagination that is next to none. If you don't think so, watch the movie with the volume off...it's visually STUNNING.

Throw into the mix an E-Ticket ride that he has his hand in (T2 3D at Universal WAS pretty amazing when it first came out) this will be good - and I'd bet it will be damn good...

Stop hating on this, and enjoy the fact that Disney is putting 500 million into a park that most agree "needs it" (and I agree it could use a couple more cool rides to make it a more "all day" park) This announcement is indeed GREAT news...and I hope they don't listen to all the backlash & just concentrate on putting a Disney spin on bringing this new world to life in a way that hasn't been done before.

I for one am truly excited by this news, and hope to live long enough to see it come to fruition.

Stop *****ing & celebrate this! I got a feeling it will blow people's minds.

 

[Hoodie]

There is little chance that Harry Potter will be outdated any time in our lifetime. The books and movies were the biggest things anyone under the age of 30 have experience first-hand, and odds are it will be a while until something that big hits again. It will certainly be "up there" with just about any movie/franchise that Disney has ever had. Disney just takes the cake in that it has multiple timeless franchises.

I disagree to a point. Part of the hype with HP was the anticipation of the next book/movie, etc. I'm a huge HP fan, but can already see problems with it in the future. One of the best aspects of the HP series is that the books grew along with the readers. Now that there isn't a multi-year lag between the first and last book and movie, it's hard to determine when to introduce them as a series. The first few books are great for 8-10 year olds, and even younger, but the last couple would be really hard for that age range to handle. I think we're already starting to see it get a little dated.

 

[Donut23]

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

I guess after Iger's HP tour he decided that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. I think the 70% increase in merchandise sales last year didn't hurt either.

After all, it's all about $$$$ to fellow castmember Bob. He was probably drooling on his limo ride back to WDW.....and it's flat merchandise sales.

 

[Donut23]

There is little chance that Harry Potter will be outdated any time in our lifetime. The books and movies were the biggest things anyone under the age of 30 have experience first-hand, and odds are it will be a while until something that big hits again. It will certainly be "up there" with just about any movie/franchise that Disney has ever had. Disney just takes the cake in that it has multiple timeless franchises.

Don't worry about the HP doubters. They are the same people who said HP would fall flat. HAHAHAHAHA - that was funny - and way wrong.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

While i applaud ALL capital investment somewhere where they expect people to pay close to 100 bucks a day to pass through a gate...

...I don't know if this is the right way to go.

Avatar...beyond a vastly underwhelming movie for the pricetag and its box office gross...doesn't seem to have the staying power that would warrant this kind of committment and investment.

I mean...can anyone really (other than sci-fi/ tech geeks...i know you will defend anything that is pure ridicululous fantasy)...say that avatar is still at the front of their minds...

It reminds me of - ironically - titanic. A "huge" movie that got everyone to the theater and took the money out of their pockets....but was pushed outta most of the minds the minutes the credits rolled.

Maybe i'm wrong...but i don't think about that movie...ever. And that doesn't mean lots of other movies don't pop into my mind often....
That one doesn't.

I know they feel like they need a top of the line product and have to try to draw global interest...but i don't see this as the right horse to ride.

And unless this a big expansion to AK...its not denting the problem at AK. They need a large expansion - not "a thing" like they pulled with everest.

I would be more open to this if it were more definitive...and if it was part of a larger plan.

lots of doubts

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Don't worry about the HP doubters. They are the same people who said HP would fall flat. HAHAHAHAHA - that was funny - and way wrong.

nobody said it would fall flat....lots of people said it will fizzle.

And i'll stand by that...people are mentally lazy and will just get over it far more than the fan club members think.

Just wait.