PANDORA Revealed

[twebber55]

I would put that at a definite no. Avatar Land is not going to be anywhere close to 47 acres of continuous used space. Not only would it be insanely expensive and expansive, but also it would actually make for bad show. That's not the most obvious problem with the project being 47 acres either; Avatar is boxed on 4 sides making further development almost impossible.

If they were to proceed with a 47 acre behemoth, it would be the largest single land based off an IP in a Disney Theme Park if not any theme park. Keep in mind this is Joe Rohde we're talking about. The man's many things (perhaps the definition of Renaissance man), but first and foremost he's an artists. Every little details is a paint stoke in his masterpieces. Each rock has a story. Every stream is placed with precision. All the plants are alive and conveying their own messages.

This makes for some of the most exciting and cool stories in theme parks. Really immersive lands. Everything with a purpose, and those purposes range from the small themes to the largest most complex. There's more depth in his park than perhaps any other.

This all makes for a usually awesome guest experience, and a fun time for fans to contemplate and decipher his messages and subtleties. That also means costs get bloated out of this world. A 47 Acre Joe Rohde signature piece about Avatar, which I might remind you is more niche then several other of their properties, would be the single most expensive theme park land ever. The level of detail displayed in concept videos and models is simply insane:

While I'm not saying it's impossible that Iger would authorize a 47 acre Avatar land thats prospects are in question, I am saying it's very very unlikely.

Additionally you need to recall that the strategy that has been used since Imagineering's beginning is to hide ugly buildings behind a facade that creates a sense of place. Most recently Expedition Everest, Cars Land, and Adventure Isle have followed this mold (I'd say Weiss and Rohde have used this tactic beautifully). This almost diorama-like finish completes a picture and presents greater depth than one of my personnel favorite Tony Baxter attractions Big Thunder or the Matterhorn in which you can walk all the way around. Everest and RSRs feel much taller then both those attractions even though they're in the same ball park because of this tactic of controlling perspective. Avatar seems to be following a similar solution. Build a diorama and let people explore it. A look at the model:

I borrowed a photo from a past thread (http://www.disboards.com/threads/aerial-construction-photos.3440030/#post-54265807) and I think it's enlightening.


View attachment 131378

The red arrow is where you're coming from. The line is the mural or facade. If they moved beyond the mural, people would be exposed to a show building. They could fix it up by building Rockwork all the way around, but the sense of perspective found in the other Disney attractions would be destroyed. That would also be costly. Bad show with a huge price tag doesn't help. Now could they have designed it from the start to work? Yeah. But they didn't.

Finally because we know this mural and show building is in place, they can't move directly west. They also can't really move North because they bump up against other park areas. They also can't move East because you have the park entrance and other park areas. There seems to be some small unused space to the South. That could be an option for expansion. Maybe that's where a some other attraction was planned. Even then, it's far from 47 acres.

More likely is this is project Morpho. A project that Tom Staggs thinks has all the potential of the DCA renovation and rebranding. This is Disney "fixing" DAK. We're going to have our first test to see how it's working next year with ROL and later park hours. I'm excited.

I think it very well could be that 47 acres were affected for project Morpho. I don't think think it all has to do with Avatar unless they plan to make separate satellite lands in the park. Unlikely...

Additionally since we can't see the work being done, and that Disney's investment schedule is getting crowded, it would be the mid 2020s before Avatar the next generation opened unless people just loved it to extreme creepy levels.

obviously Pandora is not 47 acres its about 10 so any debate or further discussion should be over
maybe park wide expansion
the interesting thing to me is figuring out what that third attraction is

 

[McKelly]

Nope still on pace for 2017. Star wars on the other hand could be 2020.

Spring 2017? Summer 2017? My daughter graduates high school in 2017 and she LOVES Avatar and Disney, this would be a great grad present. Hoping it's done by June of 2017.

 

[beer dave]

obviously Pandora is not 47 acres its about 10 so any debate or further discussion should be over
maybe park wide expansion
the interesting thing to me is figuring out what that third attraction is

Maybe there will be a separate entrance option where you can take an ACE tour to enter the land-- could be from the north. Ala Potter and Polar Express....

 

[twebber55]

Maybe there will be a separate entrance option where you can take an ACE tour to enter the land-- could be from the north. Ala Potter and Polar Express....

didnt really think of a guided tour
good point

 

[steves100]

If it takes Disney 6 months to renovate a restroom and over a year to renovate a restaurant I'm guessing we should see Avatar land completed sometime in the year 2020.

Yeah an NEVER to renovate DVC property!

 

[rteetz]

Spring 2017? Summer 2017? My daughter graduates high school in 2017 and she LOVES Avatar and Disney, this would be a great grad present. Hoping it's done by June of 2017.

Disney hasn't really specified here. I've heard both spring and summer.

 

[ParrotBill]

Thanks to RustyScupper for posting his NDA-compliant teaser... fun to get anything on this!

 

[minnie mum]

This thread reminds me of when I was a kid and one of my friends would say "I know something you don't know but I can't tell you."

MTE. So aside from Rusty informing us that he got to go on a super duper secret preview of a model ( I can tell you, but then I'd have to kill you), and an argument over size ( you are all guys who are arguing, right?), that's about it?

 

[Tigger's ally]

MTE. So aside from Rusty informing us that he got to go on a super duper secret preview of a model ( I can tell you, but then I'd have to kill you), and an argument over size ( you are all guys who are arguing, right?), that's about it?

I prefer to look at it as an argument over acreage.

but I must admit that Rusty is going to great lengths to say that it is not him that is overstating his acreage!

 

[Disneychick75]

If it takes Disney 6 months to renovate a restroom and over a year to renovate a restaurant I'm guessing we should see Avatar land completed sometime in the year 2020.

Or maybe it's schedule for completion in August 2154. Avatar takes place at that time. It will be the Disney tie-in.

 

[anna08]

... and an argument over size ( you are all guys who are arguing, right?), that's about it?

Exactly what I was thinking. It's probably all men that are heading up the project by Disney too. 47 acres, haha.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

This thread reminds me of when I was a kid and one of my friends would say "I know something you don't know but I can't tell you."

1) Not at all.
2) People have speculated about Pandora (aka, "Avatarland") for a while.
3) This is just more info, without risking a major violation from WDW.
4) As more "Public" info is released, we shall publish it/them.

NOTE:
A fair comparison:
Wife says, "I'm four weeks pregnant."
Husband replies, "Boy or girl?"
Too early to say.

 

[mort1331]

Thanks for the update "tease" Rusty. Keeps us wanting more.

 

[MomtoDisneytrips]

They are probably going to do something with the water area or black lake or possibly includes acres for rethemeing dino land for the new movie coming out. Im thinking the only way it could be that big is if they were doing some sort of themed river ride outside the park boundrys

 

[MomtoDisneytrips]

Maybe they are going to somehow connect animal kingdom lodge with an entrance at pandora?

 

[twebber55]

Maybe they are going to somehow connect animal kingdom lodge with an entrance at pandora?

if you look at nearmap from aug 5th nothing suggest thats happening

 

[MomtoDisneytrips]

Yep but it's nov

 

[DanBoris]

Yep but it's nov

But something like that would be in the works by now so we would have seen permits.

 

[skier_pete]

Ya see - though it's not a lot of detail, I am more trusting of Rusty Scupper giving us the "real" scoop because he is doing what I would expect most CMs to do, tell us limited info.

When someone comes out and says "There's gonna be this, and this, and the queue will have this, and a meet and greet and blah, blah, blah" I tend to think BS anyways, because anyone with that much inside knowledge isn't going to post about it on a message board.

Rusty - keep posting what you can. Many of us really appreciate it!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Thanks for the update "tease" Rusty. Keeps us wanting more.

1) OK, an itty-bitty more.
2) The official language is Na'vi.
. . . hello = kaltxi (kahl-T'IH)
. . . goodbye = Eyah ngahu (EY-wah-NGAH-hoo)
. . . please = Rutxe (roo-T'EH)
. . . thank you = Irayo (ee-RAH-yo)
. . . where is rest room = FNGA'tseng peseng (FNGA-tseng-peh-SENG) . . . . . . [what else could it be ?]
.
NOTE: Try to practice them all before your visit, especially the last one. There WILL be a quiz.