Fantasyland & Avatar "blown" / compared to WWOHP (Really)? + Star Wars Land thoughts

[Yellowstonetim]

Two words engagement and immersion.

Just like clockwork, the fallback environmental tangent!

Given recent Disney performance and the glacial pace of Cameron, a lot, lot longer than most realize.

Pandora will have just as much engagement and immersion as any other ride. Just as much story, just as much setting to keep people interested. What great immersive engagement does pirates of the Caribbean have? It has pirates. In the Caribbean. That's it. It is not some great storyline. It is just a good theme. Pirates in the Caribbean. That is it. Same with Pandora. Cool creatures on a cool planet. With floating mountains and flying dragons. That is enough. Nothing else is needed.

The fallback environmental tangent is very common and works today, so why not use it in a park that already focuses on man & nature and conservation?

Can't say much about time frames. Disney and Cameron have been slow, but I think it will pay off in the end.

 

[gjroe78]

Still laughing about the comment on the first page about "the generation Star Wars captivated are now in their 60's" you will generally find that the biggest Star Wars fans are in their 30's and 40's
Star Wars Land would be awesome and would be an epic thing to see.
Harry Potter is good(for kids) but you really cannot compare the two series of films, Star Wars changed the way movies were filmed and marketed, If it wasn't for Star Wars Harry Potter would never have been possible
And if Avatar Land is anything like Pandora it will be a thing of wonder.

 

[dinolounger]

Pandora will have just as much engagement and immersion as any other ride.

Do you have details to prove this? Not vague PR announcements or speculation. Specifics of exactly what attractions will be in "Pandora."

Just as much story

Story about what? Blue people killing military earthlings?

What great immersive engagement does pirates of the Caribbean have?

Read what Disney says about this and ye shall learn:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/04/the-magic-of-disney-parks-storytelling-pirates-of-the-caribbean/

Can't say much about time frames. Disney and Cameron have been slow, but I think it will pay off in the end.

Let's hope the end is within our lifetimes.....

 

[surferdave]

Marvel short sightedness prior to Marvel Entertainment rears it's ugly head again. Just like the agreements they made with Sony for Spider-Man and Fox for X-Men. Now those properties can never be used in the new Marvel Entertainment films.

It wasn't shortsightedness. These agreements helped Marvel pull themselves out of bankruptcy. The late 1990's were not kind to the company and they weren't holding the cards.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Do you have details to prove this? Not vague PR announcements or speculation. Specifics of exactly what attractions will be in "Pandora."

Story about what? Blue people killing military earthlings?

Read what Disney says about this and ye shall learn:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-parks-storytelling-pirates-of-the-caribbean/

Let's hope the end is within our lifetimes.....

The announcement of rides is enough. Unless you don't want to believe them. I don't need specifics and proof. Avatar will provide plenty of source material and good story.

The blog post described the ride which has the most bare bones story. Here is the entire story: Pirates terrorize and burn a town. That is it. The whole story. Avatar wasn't about the military, by the way, it was about the "evil corporation" which happened to use ex-military. The story is perfect.

Dances with Wolves was an award winning major hit. It had the same exact story as Avatar. Good story. It will work.

I wouldn't worry about making Pandora's opening, but we better eat right and exercise so we can live to Star Wars opening.

 

[Suger Mag]

I wouldn't worry about making Pandora's opening, but we better eat right and exercise so we can live to Star Wars opening.

Hah

 

[dres40]

Love it! How cute!!

 

[dinolounger]

The announcement of rides is enough.

Announcement of rides? All Disney and Cameron have provided is "we're working on it" hype. Yes, it's easy to blow smoke, but when will they actually give us some heat?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/10/avatar-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-will-transport-transform-guests/

Here is the entire story: Pirates terrorize and burn a town.

Did we read the same blog? The preamble of POC (in the original and superior Disneyland version) starts you in a sleepy, backwater place and then gradually unveils the fact that long ago there was a sinister history there. It doesn't start out with showing you the specifics, but rather the haunting remains of those who engaged in what you will later see. Only after that context are you taken into the literal imagery of pirates engaging in mayhem.

Avatar wasn't about the military

Are you sure? Cameron seems to feel otherwise:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100020721/avatar-the-most-expensive-piece-of-anti-american-propaganda-ever-made/

Dances with Wolves was an award winning major hit. It had the same exact story as Avatar.

Little Big Man was an earlier, less pretentious and better revisionist Western, but I digress.....

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Announcement of rides? All Disney and Cameron have provided is "we're working on it" hype. Yes, it's easy to blow smoke, but when will they actually give us some heat?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...imal-kingdom-will-transport-transform-guests/

Did we read the same blog? The preamble of POC (in the original and superior Disneyland version) starts you in a sleepy, backwater place and then gradually unveils the fact that long ago there was a sinister history there. It doesn't start out with showing you the specifics, but rather the haunting remains of those who engaged in what you will later see. Only after that context are you taken into the literal imagery of pirates engaging in mayhem.

Are you sure? Cameron seems to feel otherwise:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/n...-piece-of-anti-american-propaganda-ever-made/

Little Big Man was an earlier, less pretentious and better revisionist Western, but I digress.....

I suppose the date and all the construction in AK are just smoke and mirrors to fool us all.

What you are describing is a well executed ride, that does a good job visualizing a simple story. A very simple story that needed a great deal of embellishment to make it into a movie. Great ride and enough story, but that is the point. Avatar has a far more detailed story, but that is because it is a movie. Themes and the basic story are what counts. Avatar has them in spades. You could turn a lot of Pixar shorts into good rides. Story is necessary, but it only needs to be simple.

I have read a number of articles about the military and Avatar, but if you watch the movie, every person is ex-military mercenaries, including the hero and the nasty instructor. As a pro military person, I didn't see this as anti-military since no nation/planets military was involved. Mercenaries were hired by a corporation. The corporation and it's lackey's are the bad guys.

Little Big Man was definitely good, but Dances with Wolves was a great movie. Not perfect but great. What is great about DwW is how it takes you with a Calvary man on a journey that ends with a classic western, only you are cheering for the Indians. Well executed, good music, great cinematography. The story is very good, even it uses some overdone elements. The military men had to be crazy suicidal maniacs or illiterate buffoons.

Anyway, we will need to agree to disagree. I can't wait for Pandora and I am glad Disney partnered with Cameron. He is a crazy genius inventor and I think we will get something special from Pandora.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Avatar is a springboard that Disney is using for one thing - nighttime hours to AK.

That in itself is good enough for me. Everyone should experience AK at night...it's magnificent! EE in the dark, Kali at night, night time Safari, the new Rivers Of Light show, plus Pandora will make AK a real blockbuster.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

That in itself is good enough for me. Everyone should experience AK at night...it's magnificent! EE in the dark, Kali at night, night time Safari, the new Rivers Of Light show, plus Pandora will make AK a real blockbuster.

 

[DOOM1001]

Totally disagree, 1000%.

U.S. is cashing in now with HP, but don't kid yourself into thinking that Disney won't have the last laugh with SW.

Unless they build a seriously themed area with amazing attractions it won't touch Potter.This is coming from someone who's a bigger fan of Star Wars than Potter.All you need to do is pay Diagon Alley a visit which is clearly without a doubt the most impressive themed area in any theme park in history.As far as Disney I just don't trust them to build something with that level of themed authenticity,as well as ride technology,they're just not where Universal is at right now,I don't know if it's that they lost imagineers to Universal or what but they're clearly playing catch up.

 

[Q-man]

StarWars will only appeal to boys.

Whoever wrote that hasn't taken notice that Disney Princesses haven't been saved by a Prince in quite sometime. My girls love StarWars too. Straight to Jedi training signup over TSMM for them.

 

[spideymike]

I'm a bit confused about the need for an Avatar Land myself. Maybe the new movies will reignite interest, but I never hear anything buzz about it years later after it came out in theaters. No one cosplays from it. But Star Wars? Star Wars is forever. I'd rather have an Ewok village/Endor at Animal Kingdom rather than an Avatar Land. My 9-year-old son loves it and I'm glad that Disney took over the license. Can't wait for what the future holds for SW at Disney. Just hurry up already! I want a Star Wars Land to be completed by my 50th birthday in 7 more years!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I'm a bit confused about the need for an Avatar Land myself. Maybe the new movies will reignite interest, but I never hear anything buzz about it years later after it came out in theaters. No one cosplays from it. But Star Wars? Star Wars is forever. I'd rather have an Ewok village/Endor at Animal Kingdom rather than an Avatar Land. My 9-year-old son loves it and I'm glad that Disney took over the license. Can't wait for what the future holds for SW at Disney. Just hurry up already! I want a Star Wars Land to be completed by my 50th birthday in 7 more years!

It doesn't matter, really. If the rides and themed land are awesome...it's a hit. AND...it turns AK into a night-time park and ALL that entails.

 

[think-like-tink]

I am not excited about avatar land. I do like the concept art of animal kingdom at night. I'm excited to see the tree of life sparkle. I know how lame that sounds. That's really where I'm at. We watched the movie on the way down to Florida, I was not impressed. Lots of language I could have without... Hope the next one is a bit cleaner.

 

[Disneychick75]

WDW developing Star Wars first would make me happy. Avatar is not even meh. The movie was preachy and a yawn.

 

[Kimosabe]

It doesn't matter, really. If the rides and themed land are awesome...it's a hit. AND...it turns AK into a night-time park and ALL that entails.

Bingo! Regardless of the underlying theming of the new attractions coming to DAK, early descriptions of the couple of new rides (plus the knowledge that Cameron is a detail freak) make it sound like a pretty great addition to the park, which I think we can all agree needs an added boost. In my mind, these rides have the potential to be good even if someone has never heard of Avatar and never cares to see the movie (and eventual sequels that have been promised). If necessary, just pretend they actually created Beastly Kingdom but with more bells and whistles (and floating mountains and very tall blue people). Two new rides, a new nighttime light show, and the option to ride the existing rides at night/in the dark can only be a good thing. Would I rather they overhaul DHS first with Star Wars and Pixar (and more)? Sure. But I'll take what I can get at this point, and DAK is much closer to being a complete park than DHS at this point (and I love DHS, to be clear, but it desperately needs some help), so if Pandora and the new light show can tie a bow around DAK as a complete park (for the foreseeable future anyway), then I'm all for it.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Bingo! Regardless of the underlying theming of the new attractions coming to DAK, early descriptions of the couple of new rides (plus the knowledge that Cameron is a detail freak) make it sound like a pretty great addition to the park, which I think we can all agree needs an added boost. In my mind, these rides have the potential to be good even if someone has never heard of Avatar and never cares to see the movie (and eventual sequels that have been promised). If necessary, just pretend they actually created Beastly Kingdom but with more bells and whistles (and floating mountains and very tall blue people). Two new rides, a new nighttime light show, and the option to ride the existing rides at night/in the dark can only be a good thing. Would I rather they overhaul DHS first with Star Wars and Pixar (and more)? Sure. But I'll take what I can get at this point, and DAK is much closer to being a complete park than DHS at this point (and I love DHS, to be clear, but it desperately needs some help), so if Pandora and the new light show can tie a bow around DAK as a complete park (for the foreseeable future anyway), then I'm all for it.

So true.

Look...whether you like the Avatar film(or it's upcoming sequels) is not hugely important. A great ride experience is where it's at. I really think the rides and overall theme of Pandora will deliver.

Animal Kingdom is a park that is *made* to be a night-time park. If they follow through with the night-time safari and the other things it will be a spectacular change for this park.

 

[beer dave]

So true.

Look...whether you like the Avatar film(or it's upcoming sequels) is not hugely important. A great ride experience is where it's at. I really think the rides and overall theme of Pandora will deliver.

Animal Kingdom is a park that is *made* to be a night-time park. If they follow through with the night-time safari and the other things it will be a spectacular change for this park.

Ah, the voices of reason. Just add some kiosks from African/Asian villages around the tree, maybe in february, and a canal from the lodge, and it's all set.