Avatar land coming to Animal Kingdom!!

[angelmav]

Ok, people are getting way too worked up over any perceived negativity towards Disney.

Suddenly Star Wars is only for Old Foggies, Harry Potter is forgettable and Avatar has the most memorable characters and lines ever...all because of this announcement?

Stop just for a minute and consider that tying this much capital up into this idea is going to prevent them from putting it to 1,000 other uses that I think most Disney fans would rather see.

FWIW, I liked Avatar ok, will probably buy the Blue-Ray at some point for the visuals, but dont remember anything about the story,characters etc, and I just saw it for the first time a couple of months ago.

I HATE the forced fit into my favorite park AK because I dont see this as a natural tie in.

Someone else on here made this point, but Pandora isnt a world I want to visit. Hogwarts, you bet! Middle Earth, Im there! Name your pick of the Star Wars worlds, training academies, death star etc, tell me where to stand in line! How about a land of earth based mythological creatures, Now I am intrigued!

 

[21hearts]

I have never seen the movie Avatar & I have no desire to. I'm not sure how Avatar fits into AK and a beastly kingdom doesn't? A little lost there.

I am happy that they are responding to people's comments about needing something else at AK.

 

[Wadecool]

It could be worse....it could be The Smurfs.....

Now that would most definitely be worse!

 

[Goofypop]

Let's face it. They're building it. Nothing anyone can say is going to change that. All you can do is deal with it. You can either be one of the "Glass Half Empty" people here or one of the "Glass Half Full" people here. But stop griping about how awful this idea is, that is going to happen whether you like it or not and start trying to put forth some ideas that might get some steam behind them and maybe an Imagineer or two might pick up on.

Me, I'm not a glass half empty or full person. I'm a "Where's my blue milk?" kinda of person. I don't care what's in the glass as long as it's different and good.

 

[Jennasis]

Wouldn't ask Peter Jackson... he doesn't own the rights.

Yes, I know that. I was merely explaining what another poster said. HOWEVER, I bet they could get PJ to front some coin for a LOTR land if they got the rights (though as others have pointed out it's unlikely since Tolkien apparently hated the mouse).

 

[nytimez]

Yes, I know that. I was merely explaining what another poster said. HOWEVER, I bet they could get PJ to front some coin for a LOTR land if they got the rights (though as others have pointed out it's unlikely since Tolkien apparently hated the mouse).

I'd say it would be quite the opposite -- if Disney got the rights to LOTR and wanted PJ to get involved, he wouldn't be fronting any coin. They'd have to pay him. A lot. I don't think he'd do it, though, but that's just a guess.

In any case, Tolkein did hate Disney but that wouldn't matter now -- the only thing that matters is $$$. The guy that owns the rights to LOTR is a real hardball player. He's the same guy who sued John Fogerty for sounding too much like himself when his solo songs had the same feel as his CCR work (this guy actually owned the rights to all the CCR music).

But that's waaaaay off-topic so I won't get into that here...

Back sorta on topic, Universal's "blue sky" surveys a year or two back asked guests if they'd be interested in an Avatar land... as well as a Lord of the Rings land. The surveys were detailed to the point of even mentioning specific locations, and asked whether it should be a land in Islands of Adventure or a separate park at Universal.

It seemed like an "out there" survey... but maybe they were negotiating or considering negotiating for Avatar and now that they've lost out will pursue Lord of the Rings.

 

[Jennasis]

I'd say it would be quite the opposite -- if Disney got the rights to LOTR and wanted PJ to get involved, he wouldn't be fronting any coin. They'd have to pay him. A lot. I don't think he'd do it, though, but that's just a guess.

In any case, Tolkein did hate Disney but that wouldn't matter now -- the only thing that matters is $$$. The guy that owns the rights to LOTR is a real hardball player. He's the same guy who sued John Fogerty for sounding too much like himself when his solo songs had the same feel as his CCR work (this guy actually owned the rights to all the CCR music).

But that's waaaaay off-topic so I won't get into that here...

Back sorta on topic, Universal's "blue sky" surveys a year or two back asked guests if they'd be interested in an Avatar land... as well as a Lord of the Rings land. The surveys were detailed to the point of even mentioning specific locations, and asked whether it should be a land in Islands of Adventure or a separate park at Universal.

It seemed like an "out there" survey... but maybe they were negotiating or considering negotiating for Avatar and now that they've lost out will pursue Lord of the Rings.

Oh, well then if you'd say that...

 

[nytimez]

Oh, well then if you'd say that...

Glad you find that funny. Would love to know why you think Peter Jackson would PAY to help Disney -- or anyone -- make a Lord of the Rings theme park, though.

But hey, if you'd say that...

 

[Jennasis]

Glad you find that funny. Would love to know why you think Peter Jackson would PAY to help Disney -- or anyone -- make a Lord of the Rings theme park, though.

But hey, if you'd say that...

I bet you would.

 

[nytimez]

I bet you would.

Not really. I was just being polite and trying to induce semi-intelligent conversation. I see now that it's a lost cause.

 

[Jennasis]

Not really. I was just being polite and trying to induce semi-intelligent conversation. I see now that it's a lost cause.

I knew you would disagree with me (even on your own statement), and there is nothing polite about your post. As I've said in previous posts, PLEASE continue...hopefully Avatar will become a forbidden topic on the DIS eventually.

 

[nytimez]

I knew you would disagree with me (even on your own statement), and there is nothing polite about your post. As I've said in previous posts, PLEASE continue...hopefully Avatar will become a forbidden topic on the DIS eventually.

Ummm... right. Ok. Enjoy arguing with yourself and trying to get "Avatar" banned from the Dis for whatever reason.

 

[Goofypop]

Oh, well then if you'd say that...

Do you have to be rude all of the time or are you on some sort of system you have worked out?

 

[ScaryTales]

I'm not very thrilled with this. I didn't like Avatar.. at all.

 

[Planogirl]

One thing that a PP said that rings true is that it will be built and we can either like it or not. It's irrelevant what a small group of DISers thinks. You can squabble like kids on a playground all you want but it's probably going to happen.

With that in mind, I think that I'll just drop this subject for now until we know more. It's been fun though. (Sarcasm off.)

 

[kidd_freeper]

Back sorta on topic, Universal's "blue sky" surveys a year or two back asked guests if they'd be interested in an Avatar land... as well as a Lord of the Rings land. The surveys were detailed to the point of even mentioning specific locations, and asked whether it should be a land in Islands of Adventure or a separate park at Universal.

It seemed like an "out there" survey... but maybe they were negotiating or considering negotiating for Avatar and now that they've lost out will pursue Lord of the Rings.

Wow. Universal could have BOTH Harry Potter AND LOTR???

I'm a Disney loyalist and haven't been to Universal since the year it first opened.

But unless Disney does Pandora up REALLY eye-popping big (like DisneySea big), then I really have little interest, and I would easily shift my AK/Pandora dollars to Universal to see those.

 

[nytimez]

Wow. Universal could have BOTH Harry Potter AND LOTR???

I'm a Disney loyalist and haven't been to Universal since the year it first opened.

But unless Disney does Pandora up REALLY eye-popping big (like DisneySea big), then I really have little interest, and I would easily shift my AK/Pandora dollars to Universal to see those.

Absolutely -- but the key word is "could." I was very excited about the survey when I got it but it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to build a LOTR park or land... it was pure "blue sky" -- it even said "blue sky" on the survey.

But who knows. Maybe Avatar will push Universal in that direction. I'm inclined to think it'll just push them more towards the inevitable Potter expansion, though. And after all the money Comcast paid for NBCU and the extra money they shelled out to buy Blackstone out of the parks, I don't know how much of a stomach the company has to keep shelling out cash for theme park improvements...

 

[LilyWDW]

Do you have to be rude all of the time or are you on some sort of system you have worked out?

Actually, Jennasis is one of my favorite people here on the boards and has been here for many people over the years. We don't always agree, but I will always respect their opinion and thoughts on the matter.

That said, I think people are getting way to emotionally caught up in this. Disney is building it. You can choose to see it or not. I, however, choose to wait and see what they are going to do with it. As of this point, I don't care one way or another because I don't know what is going to happen. It's silly to get so worked up about something that you have NO details about.

 

[Planogirl]

Absolutely -- but the key word is "could." I was very excited about the survey when I got it but it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to build a LOTR park or land... it was pure "blue sky" -- it even said "blue sky" on the survey.

But who knows. Maybe Avatar will push Universal in that direction. I'm inclined to think it'll just push them more towards the inevitable Potter expansion, though. And after all the money Comcast paid for NBCU and the extra money they shelled out to buy Blackstone out of the parks, I don't know how much of a stomach the company has to keep shelling out cash for theme park improvements...

At least not for now... They are apparently doing quite well with Harry Potter so I can see expansion but adding LOTR? I doubt it. Besides where would they put LOTR? I think that this would require a lot of space to be done correctly and Universal has little space.

Disney has a lot though. I wish.

 

[ronDisney]

Like some on the thread I have mixed feelings about AVATAR being part of the "World". But, I reserve judgement until more news and facts come out.

After listening to a WDW Today PODCAST (933) I have to agree with some of the statements made by those guys in that this venture is entirely a BIG gamble and that its success will be heavily achored by the success of the next 2 AVATAR films.

But...if those films do great, Disney will have given themselves an amazing fanchise with which to work with.

My initial thoughts about what this whole Avatar thing could mean are...
- 3D simulation based attraction...to paraphrase a statement on the podcast "Soarin' over Pandora"
- A franchise in which to attract tween boys. Though perhaps they could've done something with the Marvel franchise.
- Perhaps they could use the environment of Pandora, to bring another one of the Parks to more "nocturnal" hours. MK seems to be the only park, that tends to stay open pretty late (1-2am sometimes). Perhaps (and I use the term very very lightly) the addition of AVATAR-LAND, and it's neon looking Pandora landscape, will give AK the opportunity to keep it's doors open longer and cater to the nighttime crowd.