Well, Based on Beer Dave's last post you already know more that I did or ever thought was out there. I will say a couple things which I thought were most interesting to me. The most interesting thing of all was about the Africa section, because it was something i had never heard anywhere before. But you all seem to be pretty well informed so maybe you have.
He said they will be making Harambe much larger. It will be the size of a real African village. Apparently they need it to wrap around and meet Pandora so it will expand to the left of the Safari ride entrance if you're facing it. They will be for sure adding stores and restaurants but I don't think he mentioned additional attractions. That's not to say they won't make them, just that he didn't mention it.
He also talked a bit about night Safaris. He said they have developed an amazing lighting system that will keep it looking as though it's in a perpetual state of Sunset. I don't understand this and he didn't get technical, but he said they have already tried it and they animals are fine with it. So they will run the exact same safaris up until park close no matter what time of night that will be.
You appear to know already a lot about Pandora so all I'll say is the excitement and pride he exhibited about the plans was palpable. He never mentioned the Soarin type banshee ride that night. Only the boat ride which will look very much the same as the Forrest environment except with creatures and animals and a marine theme.
He said that they want Pandora to be so detail oriented and tactile, that it will look like an actual Forrest for people to walk trails through and explore. He always had envisioned AK as a place for people to slow down and enjoy the view,as opposed to running around like at MK. The floating mountains will be so high and plentiful that they will create a constant shade for the hot months. And at night time it will be completely different as the neon colored bio luminescent Forrest will come alive and rise up all around you. He said it will be a jaw dropping moment when that happens.
He also said the new night show that will float on the river will be by far the best night show they've ever done and will be considered an event. He didnt say so much about the details of this because he brought sketches. It looked like there were giant Japanese lanterns floating on the river in some pictures. It looked really beautiful. He said his biggest regret about AK was that people don't get to appreciate the park from the water level like it was originally intended so he hoping to remedy that with the night show at some point.
He was very enthusiastic and bent on making Pandora ( not Avatarland) perfection. He wants it to be so beautiful that the movie is in no way necessary to the enjoyment of it. Merchandising for the movies will be minor in comparison to the way Disney does their own movies.
He had an emphasis about the work and the construction zones and him knowing that it will be a challenging work environment for some time for the employees, but that they should hang in there and remain optimistic as it will all be more than worth it.
