Was Avatarland really the best idea?

[JimmyV]

I've never seen the movie in its entirety. That's how much I care about it, and I can't believe I'm the only one.

Movies I have not seen in their entirety (or slept through while my daughter watched them):

• Pinocchio
• Ichabod and Mr. Toad
• Pocahontas
• Mulan
• Dinosaur
• Princess and the Frog
• Cars 2
• Brave
• All but the first PoTC movies
• Wreck It Ralph
• Swiss Family Robinson
• Johnny Tremaine
• The Robin Williams Flubber movie

And those are the ones off the top of my head. But this does not deter me from enjoying WDW.

 

[meridascurls]

IMO Avatarland was a terrible idea. It's years since the film came out. I'm sure Disney will do a fantastic job of it but I don't think it was the right thing to do or is at all Disney/AK related.

 

[momtosam]

In response to OP's question, NO

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

It was a huge movie and I'm sure the sequels will do well. However, I'm not
certain that it has the draw and iconic status to pull this move. It is a huge risk by Disney, IMO. Was it a knee jerk reaction to Harry Potter over at Universal? I know at the time this decision was made Disney did not own Star Wars, but a Star Wars section at HS (not just Star Tours but an entire "land")?or even a whole stand alone Star Wars theme park seems a more viable option to compete
with Harry Potter. Thoughts?

Avatarland is a great idea because of the elements that require AK to become a night-time park. If they follow through with their promise of a night-time safari it should be a huge turning point in AK's fortunes. I've been there at night and will never forget it. EE at night is one of the best experiences in all of WDW, imo. 2017 can't get here fast enough.

 

[wareagle57]

A Star Wars park would crush Universal. It would be the most exciting thing Disney ever announced. Avatar land will probably look really cool, but it's not something that people around the country come to see like Harry Potter world.

Make a giant Death Star the size of spaceship earth and have a ride inside it. Another part of it could be a Death Star walk thru tour. Have Storm Troopers shooting at you while your guide shoots back and they fall to their death. Get stuck inside a track compacter that starts contracting!

Theme the different lands with the different planets. Hoth, Endor, Tatooine, MUSTAFAR! You want to talk about visually amazing? How about a land with freaking rivers of lava? Maybe have a section of the park only open at night to represent space? Or just build a giant indoor section that has stars all over the ceiling.

I'm not even creative and that's what I came up with after 5 minutes of thinking. I know it will never happen but it would be a homerun. Star Wars is timeless. It's been huge for 40 years and it will be huge 40 years from now.

 

[crazydaisy00]

I enjoyed the movie and am very excited to see what Disney creates with this concept. Seeing it in person and being able to walk or ride through will be a unique experience. I remember how beautiful the tree of souls and the Hallelujah mountains were on screen and think they will bring it to life like Disney tends to do so well. Also I can't wait to experience AK at night

 

[tanyaandallie]

I enjoyed Avatar though I did not see it in the theaters. I am surprised that they are basing an entire land off of 1 movie. Sure, it was a wildly popular movie but still only 1 movie. I realize there is a sequel in the works but I just read online that it will not go in to production until 2015, 6 years after the original was released. WOW.

I am interested to see what Avatarland will be like. I bet it will be cool. However, given how long it has taken them to build the Mine Train, I'm guessing I'll be dead before Avatarland actually opens.

 

[AndreaA]

​

Movies I have not seen in their entirety (or slept through while my daughter watched them):

• Pinocchio
• Ichabod and Mr. Toad
• Pocahontas
• Mulan
• Dinosaur
• Princess and the Frog
• Cars 2
• Brave
• All but the first PoTC movies
• Wreck It Ralph
• Swiss Family Robinson
• Johnny Tremaine
• The Robin Williams Flubber movie

And those are the ones off the top of my head. But this does not deter me from enjoying WDW.

How many total LANDS in WDW revolve around any of those movies? Heck, how many LANDS in WDW revolve around ANY movie? Zero. To suddenly have an entire LAND spring up around one not-so-great-but-good-looking-and-getting-old movie is simply strange.

As for wasting money, I was referring to the billions spent on MDE/MB/FP+ rather than actually creating new rides. Disney is good at spending money to give people things they never asked for. Avatarland seems like one of them.

I'm not saying it will be horrible. I'm not saying I'm going to boycott it. I'm answering the question, "Was Avatarland really the best idea?". No, no it was not.

 

[minniemous]

I have no doubt it will be done really well, but I would certainly enjoy a star wars land over Avatar but Avatar goes better with AK. I really think that AK needs something else.

There are some great aspects of Ak...namely the animal. However on my last trip in which we were there 12 days we spent one at AK and the rest divided between the other parks. I did not feel the need fro go back another day.

 

[Rosanne]

I think an Avatar land would be a big fail.

Maybe some ride/scene experiences could be cool but I really don't know many people who are into the Avatar thing. A few Christmases ago at our huge extended family gathering several of the fam went to see Avatar when it came out. Some of them liked it fine but not one of them said, "Wow. You need to see this movie." Also, none of them saw it again, rented it, talked about it, etc. I still have not seen it. I'm not against the movie, I just don't know anyone who was into it enough to inspire me to take the time to see it.

On the other hand, a large percentage of students and family members refer to Star Wars and have seen the movies multiple times. I have at least seen most of the movies. Even if I hadn't, I would feel inspired to see more of them.

As far as an Avatar Land goes, I figure maybe if some people are pulled to it it could make some of the other parks less busy. At this time I would have no interest in going to AK any more or less than I do now if there were an Avatar Land there. Right now we go to AK about every third visit. It's the only park where we don't find any major draw. Avatar won't change that.

I don't care that much one way or another except that it seems like money could be better spent in another way... hey... maybe ME+!

 

[glohoffman]

I think it will be beautiful. The movie had a great message, and I would love to see all the things they create for this land. In my opinion they aren't doing it for "movie" pull like a star wars land would be, they are doing it for beauty and message. Plus AK will be night time, that's awesome!

 

[cigar95]

At this time I would have no interest in going to AK any more or less than I do now if there were an Avatar Land there. Right now we go to AK about every third visit. It's the only park where we don't find any major draw. Avatar won't change that.

Would you be more interested in visiting AK if you heard descriptions of a new area that was an incredibly well-themed immerse experience, with two or three extremely well-done attractions that the whole family could ride together? And with a couple of good places to eat? Does that sound any more attractive than "an Avatar Land"?

I don't think there are a lot of folks who expect that "it's Avatar" will by itself be enough to make Pandora a success. Heck, I'm among those who didn't care for the story at all in the film, for a host of reasons. If I thought that story was going to be re-created, I would have no enthusiasm at all.

But I'm among the ones who believe that WDI can take the concept of the world in which Cameron's movie was set and create a world that will make someone who's never even seen the movie say "wow". I can't promise that they *will* manage to do that, but from everything I hear, they're going to put a lot of time effort, and money into this, and the early concept art is indeed jaw-dropping.

 

[mom2rtk]

If Disney was quicker to add things in the parks, I wouldn't really care about Avatarland. I'm not a fan of the movie, but would be like "sure, I'll give it a chance and take a peek".

To me though, it's the fact that Disney is so painstakingly slow at adding to the parks, that for me the biggest loss here is that it takes the place of something else that could be added.

With that happening, how many more years will we have to wait for something big to be added?

 

[rteetz]

A Star Wars park would crush Universal. It would be the most exciting thing Disney ever announced. Avatar land will probably look really cool, but it's not something that people around the country come to see like Harry Potter world. Make a giant Death Star the size of spaceship earth and have a ride inside it. Another part of it could be a Death Star walk thru tour. Have Storm Troopers shooting at you while your guide shoots back and they fall to their death. Get stuck inside a track compacter that starts contracting! Theme the different lands with the different planets. Hoth, Endor, Tatooine, MUSTAFAR! You want to talk about visually amazing? How about a land with freaking rivers of lava? Maybe have a section of the park only open at night to represent space? Or just build a giant indoor section that has stars all over the ceiling. I'm not even creative and that's what I came up with after 5 minutes of thinking. I know it will never happen but it would be a homerun. Star Wars is timeless. It's been huge for 40 years and it will be huge 40 years from now.

Yes Star Wars is a huge franchise but we will never see an entire Star Wars park any theme park brand wouldn't do that. No theme park is built on one movie franchise especially disney. That's what makes WDW what it is every park has their own unique things that make them special. It's almost certain we will see more Star Wars attractions in the near future but not a Star Wars park.

 

[Owlpost23]

A Star Wars park would crush Universal. It would be the most exciting thing Disney ever announced. Avatar land will probably look really cool, but it's not something that people around the country come to see like Harry Potter world.

Make a giant Death Star the size of spaceship earth and have a ride inside it. Another part of it could be a Death Star walk thru tour. Have Storm Troopers shooting at you while your guide shoots back and they fall to their death. Get stuck inside a track compacter that starts contracting!

Theme the different lands with the different planets. Hoth, Endor, Tatooine, MUSTAFAR! You want to talk about visually amazing? How about a land with freaking rivers of lava? Maybe have a section of the park only open at night to represent space? Or just build a giant indoor section that has stars all over the ceiling.

I'm not even creative and that's what I came up with after 5 minutes of thinking. I know it will never happen but it would be a homerun. Star Wars is timeless. It's been huge for 40 years and it will be huge 40 years from now.

Why would you want this to "crush" Universal? You want to be "right"? They're two different resorts,and it's great to have choices.As far as you not being in creative,the folks in creative don't have an interest in a full-out Star Wars Land.They wristbands to worry about.

 

[rteetz]

How many total LANDS in WDW revolve around any of those movies? Heck, how many LANDS in WDW revolve around ANY movie? Zero. To suddenly have an entire LAND spring up around one not-so-great-but-good-looking-and-getting-old movie is simply strange. As for wasting money, I was referring to the billions spent on MDE/MB/FP+ rather than actually creating new rides. Disney is good at spending money to give people things they never asked for. Avatarland seems like one of them. I'm not saying it will be horrible. I'm not saying I'm going to boycott it. I'm answering the question, "Was Avatarland really the best idea?". No, no it was not.

Carsland in DCA is based on a movie.

I truly don't believe disney has wasted money on mymagic+. This is something disney was going to have to spend money on at some point it's infrastructure work. This system is tying everything together making it simpler for the consumer. For disney this system is a goldmine, they can track which rides get most traffic at certain times during the day, which restaurants are popular at what times, what merchandise is selling at what time, etc the consumer tracking for disney is endless. Disney parks are all still at the top and still have a huge lead on universal, disney really doesn't have to add more rides for attendance. And really new rides only boost attendance for short term not long term so disney isn't going to do something that isn't going to last. In our eyes (the extreme disney fans who go to the parks more than anyone else) we see it as it not being the best idea but again for disney its a great idea. If you look at the vast majority of rides added over the last ten years most of them have had a movie tie in. Everything that was part of new fantasyland has a movie tie in. What we should truly be looking at is why can't disney put in attractions like the old days like HM, pirates, CoP, people mover, space mountain, big thunder, etc. all of those rides don't have movie ties and they were all huge successes for disney.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I think it is the most ridiculous decision ever made by Disney. Absolutely ZERO interest in this. When it finally opens, hopefully everyone will be over there and there will be less crowds for my family in the other areas.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Ok I know I'm in the minority but I thought Avatar was awful. I will never understand why they are doing something like this when they have a small portion of Star Wars at H.S. Even before Disney bought out Lucas for the franchise, I never understood why Disney Executives didn't pursue this attraction for a park in itself. I'm really hoping they pull the plug on Avatar and now do something with Star Wars. I'm by no means a Star Wars freak but hoping this gets done over Avatar. I also think if they ever expand Star Wars it would make more sense to have it at Epcot.

 

[rteetz]

I think it is the most ridiculous decision ever made by Disney. Absolutely ZERO interest in this. When it finally opens, hopefully everyone will be over there and there will be less crowds for my family in the other areas.

Good luck with that thinking. That's what people were saying when FP+ came out and people said they were not coming back to Disney.

 

[prudence64]

I the attractions are fun or cool, then connection to the movie won't matter. Hope so anyway b/c I've never seen it.