Avatar land coming to Animal Kingdom!!

[Goofypop]

Replace Dinoland with Avatar.


Let the flaming begin!

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

If you liked the idea of Beastly Kingdom why not Avatar?

There are lots of beasts in Avatar....it's really the same premise...a land where impossible creatures exist....mythological if you will.

Original Disney concept with awesome dragons vs someone else's blue world of environmental message shoved down our throats

Gee I wonder why I like Beastly Kingdom better?

 

[bedogged]

I LOVED Avatar and can't wait for the sequels to come out! I hope that Disney gives me a chance to ride an ikran.

 

[AmyBeth68]

I'm going to have to go against popular opinion here and say that I think it's really a great idea! I never even saw the first Avatar movie but having seen the beauty of the "landscape" the movie created along with the possibility to create some amazing new rides (hopefully a big time roller coaster to add to the other mountains at Disney) make me extremely optimistic. I just think the Imagineers will have a field day developing Avatar Land with some new ground breaking thrill rides, new restaurants and hopefully a fantastic night show along the lines of Fantasmic/Illuminations. I'm seeing this as something that will draw me back to WDW....and a welcome addition to my favorite park. Additionally, if I have any knowledge of the film, I believe there is a big environmental/ecological aspect to it that melds well into the AK concept. But what do I know .

Staying positive...expansion is good for Disney.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

And if the sequels flop??

that's a gamble.

I love it.

I would bet there were many meetings with Cameron and his team....Disney will know exactly where the sequels are heading and they must like the direction.

I don't think anyone would get rich betting against Disney's vision for what entertains and their ability to create it.

Anyway...it's one part of one park it seems. Disney will be fine. Avatar haters can just chill out in the new FantasyLand.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

"Over the top" is the phrase people generally use to say "crazy" without actually saying it.

James Cameron took the story of the Titanic and instead of doing the actual, very moving stories that took place on that ship...decided to do a love story with nudity and have a gun chase.

Avatar was not a good movie. It had good special effects, which is all that is needed to impress young people today...but the movie actually sucked.

James Cameron does not impress me. At all. Well, except for Terminator. Have to give him props for that.

You mean to tell me that you didn't see Titanic on the big screen at least three times?!? Where is your pulse? I agree that some aspects of the movie were unnecessary, but I still loved it. I cried for weeks.

He is a narcissist or he is quite good at pretending to be one. I don't like how he treats people, that's the truth. I'm just going by his work and vision as they are "extreme". I haven't seen the Avatar movie yet, but didn't it make billions or something like that? I'm going to have to rent it soon.

What I mean by over the top is that he stays on the cutting edge of technology and he's very ambitious. He does seem like a mad man. He only likes huge projects with huge budgets and huge profits. The more that I think about about it -- can Disney handle somebody like him, lol?!? I hope this project doesn't blow up in smoke because of "creative differences" aka "the budget".

 

[max'sdad]

The problem is that it's really polarizing--Avatar, while being very pretty, was the sort of annoying environmental extmism that alienates about half of the country. And the sort of leftist who salivated over Avatar isn't a large part of Disney's demographic; they'd rather go somewhere "authentic."

The environmentalism certainly fits in with Animal Kingdom, but is likely to do so less in the "reasonable steward of the Earth" style that permeates most of AK, and more in the nagging "people are evil" style found more at Rafiki's Planet Watch. And that's the reason I don't go to Rafiki's Planet Watch any more.

They should be able to make some good rides out of it, but Beastly Kingdomme or Night Kingdom were better ideas.

A bit sad that the notion of taking care of the environment is polarizing. Perhaps an Exxon-land would give it some balance and appease your political sensitivities.

Interested to hear what they're going to do with it before passing judgment. Certainly the concept of the symbiotic relationship between living things that permeates the movie is something that fits in very well with the overall Animal Kingdom concept.

If the message that people's actions can harm the environment and destroy living things bothers you, maybe Animal Kingdom isn't the best park for you.

 

[Pixie Princess]

I think this could be an interesting partnership, but I think the concept is much better suited for DHS. Not only could you get all the fantasic Avatar world stuff in, but imagine all the cool behind the scenes, SFX stuff that could go there as well. That is far more interesting than simply a land set in the Avatar world. Well to me anyway, but I'm total geek for that sort of stuff.


I would prefer to see an expansion at AK include animals on this planet.

 

[TDC Nala]

I would prefer not to be hit over the head with the conservation message at the theme parks. Disney's done okay with working it into AK without hitting you with it (Rafikis Planet Watch excepted). They might be able to do that with Avatar. I'll wait till I see it.

 

[KatieCollette]

I didn't like the movie, at all! But I think this has the potential to be AWESOME!

 

[rachel09985]

I am excited about the possibilty about what is to come, but was confused at first as to Why Avatar? The movie was good and beautiful and I think it will be an amazing addition to Animal Kingdom! It might be nice to have a focus that is not a Disney movie. I am very curious as to what kind of attractions will be there. Thoughts???

I would think a Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey type ride where you become an avator and then go through the jungle with that new amazing ride technology. I think a big ride like this would be key to Avatar Land!

A 3D show is an obvious thought but I doubt they would add another 3D show to AK.

Character Meet and Greets will be pretty awesome if I must say so!

Maybe a high flying ride similar to Jurassic Park at IOA where you go on a ride and are able to see the whole land.

Does anyone have any thoughts of what Disney will do???

 

[AmyBeth68]

A bit sad that the notion of taking care of the environment is polarizing. Perhaps an Exxon-land would give it some balance and appease your political sensitivities.

Interested to hear what they're going to do with it before passing judgment. Certainly the concept of the symbiotic relationship between living things that permeates the movie is something that fits in very well with the overall Animal Kingdom concept.

If the message that people's actions can harm the environment and destroy living things bothers you, maybe Animal Kingdom isn't the best park for you.

I agree 100%.

 

[fairyprincess88]

Lame? There were EIGHT Potter movies and they did around $7.7b gross worldwide.

There was ONE Avatar and it did $2.8b by itself. The sequels are the key....if they are anything close to the original Avatar will far and away be the most valuable movie franchise of all-time...except for maybe Star Wars.

Really? Potter has already topped Star Wars for the most profitable film series, Deathly Hallows Pt 2 has already brought in 1.5 billion. Plus there are is the whole 7 best seller books in the mult-billion dollar range of sales thing.

Yes, I am a Potter nerd, so yes that makes me biased and I admit it. But comparing Avatar to the worldwide phenom that is Potter is just a little out there.

 

[verlee]

And if the sequels flop??

My thoughts exactly. I am sure Disney will make the new land look great. I am sure we will all be saying "Wow! It is so much more then I expected, why did I doubt".....

But HP was a popular book series, then a popular movie series. Millions of kids followed the saga for their entire childhood. It is in our culture, much like Star Wars and to a lesser extent Indiana Jones. Avatar was one movie. Who knows if the next two movies will be any good? Not to mention, lots of people did not even like the first one.

I can see this land being built and then renamed/rethemed in a few years because no one cares about Avatar. This decision seems short sighted and shallow.

 

[excited4disney2012]

I agree 100%.

wow...theres alot of negativity here!
P.S. I also agree 100%

 

[OhioDisneyDad]

I think many myopic DISers tend to forget that the VAST majority of folks who go to WDW are not diehard Disney nuts who go multiple times per year. Avatar was a hugely successful movie (3 Oscars, many, many other awards) and the general public will flock to an Avatar-themed land at WDW. The only catch will be if James Cameron falls and hits his head and forgets how to make blockbuster movies out of the sequels.

I think a bigger problem will be how Cameron and WDW work together. Cameron's not known for being a penny-pincher and WDW lately is doing nothing BUT penny-pinching. That should make for an interesting marriage. It's probably 60-40 as to whether or not it will actually happen. It's one thing to be super creative in the digital world, it's another to do it in real life when engineering and physics are in control.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Really? Potter has already topped Star Wars for the most profitable film series, Deathly Hallows Pt 2 has already brought in 1.5 billion. Plus there are is the whole 7 best seller books in the mult-billion dollar range of sales thing.

Yes, I am a Potter nerd, so yes that makes me biased and I admit it. But comparing Avatar to the worldwide phenom that is Potter is just a little out there.

You have to adjust for inflation. Star Wars was released in 1977 and a movie was like $4.

See this list. All 6 Star Wars movies are in the top 100 and 5 of them are ahead of the only HP movie there (in slot #67). Avatar is 14 btw I know you are a self professed nerd and I mean no disrespect....but you can't compare Potter to Star Wars....

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

 

[KellyNY]

Really? Potter has already topped Star Wars for the most profitable film series, Deathly Hallows Pt 2 has already brought in 1.5 billion. Plus there are is the whole 7 best seller books in the mult-billion dollar range of sales thing.

Yes, I am a Potter nerd, so yes that makes me biased and I admit it. But comparing Avatar to the worldwide phenom that is Potter is just a little out there.

I also love Harry Potter but Avatar is just at the beginning and honestly we have no idea how many movies will be filmed and there is a huge possibility that it will be worldwide phenom just like Potter. Both stories while totally different share same idea of creating a totally different worlds and it usually sells.

 

[travelgirl11]

I would have been thrilled to hear that Disney was using the technology from Avatar to create original content. I can't deny that visually and technically the movie was amazing. It was the story line that was horrible. At the most I could see Disney creating a ride but not a whole land. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, HP were all proven franchises before Disney/Universal bought into them. This isn't a proven franchise and a HUGE risk for Disney.

 

[pgowder]

Not that it won't be great, but....

They could have stayed in house with Muppets, Cars, Toy Story, Villains? Or go with an existing partnership in Star Wars.