AVATAR land - the specifics

[zooey]

I think it looks amazing! It's going to be a wonderful addition to a wonderful park. It's entirely possible that all of the positivity is well deserved, but lets just be clear that these blogs were hand picked because they aren't much of a risk

But the images speak for themselves. Does it make you want to see it for yourself? If so, Disney got what it wanted. I think the blogger gushing means much less than the videos they shoot and post. They can lie about their true opinions but the images don't lie in the negative, only in the positive. Which is great for Disney.

 

[BrianLo]

This ride was five dead on.

Design time is just under 4.

Well. That's.... colourful. As expected.

Well that's mildly pleasant surprise. I swear the closer we were getting the shorter the ride was being rumored. I admit the sub four was harder to swallow for a scenic ride.

 

[BubbaQuest]

Please don't tell me the walkway bioluminescence is splatters of UV reactive paint illuminated by masterfully placed black lights? I was hoping for walkways that had some fiber optic /reactive effect.

Looks like black light

https://twitter.com/TheDIS/status/858498882866737152

Yep. Looks like black light and splattered UV paint to me
https://twitter.com/ThemeParkReview/status/858499102681772032

Like others have mentioned, it sounds like people were very limited on the location of nighttime shots so there may be something better somewhere....but I think I made better rave rooms in my college days.

 

[CosmicPrincess]

That animatronic of the Navi in water is impressive but I am so creeped out by it. The uncanny valley is strong in Pandora

 

[Daveeeeed]

Agreed besides 3. Kali in my opinion isn't really suppose to be an E-ticket. It's a water ride, it's themed beautifully, has a pretty clear and educational message, and the main goal is to get you wet. What i think would be the best course of action is having Africa and Asia to get 1 or 2 more filler attractions. They already have there E-ticket. (Safaria in Africa, Everest in Asia.)

Have you ridden Popeye's over at Universal? Sure Kali is more majestically themed, but the raft element is shameful on Kali.

 

[disney4life2008]

Have you ridden Popeye's over at Universal? Sure Kali is more majestically themed, but the raft element is shameful on Kali.

Kali was great when it first opened. However, the Disneyland version is much better. Popeye is great because you will get soaked lol

 

[Daveeeeed]

Kali was great when it first opened. However, the Disneyland version is much better. Popeye is great because you will get soaked lol

It also is choppy and more of the "pure fun" for nearly the entire ride that Kali only has for like 30 seconds.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I'm mostly excited by the size of the area you have to stow your gear.

"Grandma, you sit here while we go on the ride, OK?"

 

[Phroobar]

Is Flight of Passage nothing more than an a sit down arcade game similar to Super Hang On but in 3D? Do these Tron-like bikes go anywhere?

 

[CJR]

I think DAK is very much going to be the best done park at WDW, at least for a good while. MK is great, don't get me wrong and it's the original, but it's been "tweaked" so much over the years that it's a shadow of its formal self. Compared to DAK which will never have looked better come a month from now. The level of detail in "Avatarland" is really insane and that's on top of the already well done DAK.

Really, who would have thought 15 years ago that DAK would ever see such detailed theming in a new area that it would rival the ToL? I mean, if you enjoy the fruits this park has to offer from the trails to the thrilling rides, it will be a full day. Pandora might have been expensive to Disney, but we are the winners here. I'm excited to see this area of the park work itself in and grow over time.

I just had my cup of coffee today, can you tell? haha

 

[Magic Feather]

Is Flight of Passage nothing more than an a sit down arcade game similar to Super Hang On but in 3D? Do these Tron-like bikes go anywhere?

Much bigger screen, greater use of 4D effects, and a much greater RoM, alonside a high capacity and magnificent buildup.

 

[Bairstow]

Is Flight of Passage nothing more than an a sit down arcade game similar to Super Hang On but in 3D? Do these Tron-like bikes go anywhere?

The one account of the ride experience I've read described it as soarin' but with more vertical up-and-down motion.

 

[Casper Gutman]

So I've thought a lot (too much) about the AA in RJ - and Kong, and to a lesser extent LM. All of them have been bothering me, and I've been trying to articulate why.

AAs are a tool, an element to be integrated into an overall whole in order to further a narrative or mood. They are used as such in the best rides in the world - PoC and HM. None of those AAs in those are particularly mechanically spectacular by modern standards - what makes them remarkable is their art design (particularly their brilliantly caricatured faces) and the way they fit together to form the attraction as a whole.

The Shaman, Kong, to a lesser extent Ursula, exist almost entirely as pure spectacle. They are positioned at the end of the ride, the payoff. They sit alone in a scene, the sole point of interest, rather than grouped with other characters - the set design screams "hey, look at this." Instead of being integrated into the rest of the attraction, they stand apart from it, mechanical marvels that exist for their own sake rather then for the mood or story of the ride.

This seems to be a problem in modern ride design - attractions are conceived of as a collection of individual "cool" elements rather than as an integrated whole. As I said earlier, I'm fairly convinced RJ would have been better off with a wide collection of basic AAs rather then the single, admittedly amazing Shaman.

Hope this made sense.

 

[Bairstow]

So I've thought a lot (too much) about the AA in RJ - and Kong, and to a lesser extent LM. All of them have been bothering me, and I've been trying to articulate why.

AAs are a tool, an element to be integrated into an overall whole in order to further a narrative or mood. They are used as such in the best rides in the world - PoC and HM. None of those AAs in those are particularly mechanically spectacular by modern standards - what makes them remarkable is their art design (particularly their brilliantly caricatured faces) and the way they fit together to form the attraction as a whole.

The Shaman, Kong, to a lesser extent Ursula, exist almost entirely as pure spectacle. They are positioned at the end of the ride, the payoff. They sit alone in a scene, the sole point of interest, rather than grouped with other characters - the set design screams "hey, look at this." Instead of being integrated into the rest of the attraction, they stand apart from it, mechanical marvels that exist for their own sake rather then for the mood or story of the ride.

This seems to be a problem in modern ride design - attractions are conceived of as a collection of individual "cool" elements rather than as an integrated whole. As I said earlier, I'm fairly convinced RJ would have been better off with a wide collection of basic AAs rather then the single, admittedly amazing Shaman.

Hope this made sense.

I guess there's always been a question of quality vs quantity. When an individual figure is such a significant part of an attraction's budget, you want to make sure that figure is front-and-center and not just window dressing to pass by. Even back in the day there was a big difference between the figures in the Peter Pan ride and the showpiece in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, or even the Pirates Auctioneer when he came along. That said, I do think everyone expected there to be more than one big animatronic in the River Journey ride.

...speaking of which, I've read some outlets talking about River Journey featuring "3d holograms". This is complete nonsense, right? I've seen the videos and I didn't even see anything that could be confused with a hologram, like museon eyeliner projection.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I guess there's always been a question of quality vs quantity. When an individual figure is such a significant part of an attraction's budget, you want to make sure that figure is front-and-center and not just window dressing to pass by. Even back in the day there was a big difference between the figures in the Peter Pan ride and the showpiece in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, or even the Pirates Auctioneer when he came along. That said, I do think everyone expected there to be more than one big animatronic in the River Journey ride.

...speaking of which, I've read some outlets talking about River Journey featuring "3d holograms". This is complete nonsense, right? I've seen the videos and I didn't even see anything that could be confused with a hologram, like museon eyeliner projection.

True, but there has to be a happy medium.

Imagine a scene in which the Shaman figure is set a bit back from the ride, sitting at the base of a large and very impressive tree set, and surrounded by reveling Na'Vi represented by stationary figures or AAs with very minimal movement. There, she would be integrated into a whole scene - the ceremony you're supposedly going to see.

Instead, she sits isolated on the rivers edge, positioned in a way that says "Look at how much I move! Look at how technologically advanced I am! Look at how much money Disney spent!" rather than being a part of the narrative climax of the rides simple story.

Again, this is not a problem isolated to RJ. It also ties back into the idea that bleeding-edge tech and tech that makes a good attraction may not be the same thing. TT and M:S were both state-of-the-art attractions - but not really great ones. To paraphrase an off-brand IP, modern Imagineers spend so much time thinking whether they can do something, they don't stop to think if they should.

 

[Bairstow]

True, but there has to be a happy medium.

Imagine a scene in which the Shaman figure is set a bit back from the ride, sitting at the base of a large and very impressive tree set, and surrounded by reveling Na'Vi represented by stationary figures or AAs with very minimal movement. There, she would be integrated into a whole scene - the ceremony you're supposedly going to see.

Instead, she sits isolated on the rivers edge, positioned in a way that says "Look at how much I move! Look at how technologically advanced I am! Look at how much money Disney spent!" rather than being a part of the narrative climax of the rides simple story.

Again, this is not a problem isolated to RJ. It also ties back into the idea that bleeding-edge tech and tech that makes a good attraction may not be the same thing. TT and M:S were both state-of-the-art attractions - but not really great ones. To paraphrase an off-brand IP, modern Imagineers spend so much time thinking whether they can do something, they don't stop to think if they should.

Well now we're talking about simply increasing the size of the show scenes to add room for all these things... and is she supposed to be addressing the guests or an assembled Na'vi throng?

 

[BubbaQuest]

All the usual caveats - very pretty, Shaman slick, FoP queue awesome...

I'm really surprised by two things. The first is minor: it seems like RJ only has an exterior, holding pen line. That's a bit weird.

The second thing is major. The shop and restaurant are very empty and generic. WindTraders in particular looks very much like all the shops on Discovery Island. It's odd to think that this land was opened after Diagon and Cars Land - it seems to hail from a different era.

Pretty much my thoughts too. I want to be very clear before the "you're just a hater" attacks start....

The land looks amazing. Congrats to WDI. I hope at some point in the future I get a chance to sit and enjoy a cool beverage on a warm evening and take it all in.

With that said, I purposefully jumped to the merchandise and restaurants pics on twitter to see if Disney had bumped up their immersion game since Cars Land. And sadly, was heartbroken. A handful of unique merchandise surrounded by branded generic stuff I'll find at Target or any other trashy amusement park.

More importantly, another QS restaurant with that bizarre "have everyone wait at the counter" setup that I've never seen work successfully at any Disney property. This is the best Disney has to offer after 5 years? Traveling to Pandora, only to end up at a Cashier that looks directly out of my local McDonalds? I don't get it.

It appears that there were 4 sites given this extremely early access to Pandora.

You can be sure that their response will be overwhelming positive. Anything less will result in that privilege being taken away next time.

And I'm not saying I have any power on Twitter. I have 10 followers at best (and 7 are probably bots). But after I posted some comments about some of the generic looking merchandise, suddenly I saw no more pics of generic merchandise. Again, I have no power on twitter, but I would assume everything in #VisitPandora is being heavily monitored right now.

 

[Daveeeeed]

So I've thought a lot (too much) about the AA in RJ - and Kong, and to a lesser extent LM. All of them have been bothering me, and I've been trying to articulate why.

AAs are a tool, an element to be integrated into an overall whole in order to further a narrative or mood. They are used as such in the best rides in the world - PoC and HM. None of those AAs in those are particularly mechanically spectacular by modern standards - what makes them remarkable is their art design (particularly their brilliantly caricatured faces) and the way they fit together to form the attraction as a whole.

The Shaman, Kong, to a lesser extent Ursula, exist almost entirely as pure spectacle. They are positioned at the end of the ride, the payoff. They sit alone in a scene, the sole point of interest, rather than grouped with other characters - the set design screams "hey, look at this." Instead of being integrated into the rest of the attraction, they stand apart from it, mechanical marvels that exist for their own sake rather then for the mood or story of the ride.

This seems to be a problem in modern ride design - attractions are conceived of as a collection of individual "cool" elements rather than as an integrated whole. As I said earlier, I'm fairly convinced RJ would have been better off with a wide collection of basic AAs rather then the single, admittedly amazing Shaman.

Hope this made sense.

It definitely does. I feel like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was great because of that and even sort of Frozen (though they were only the leads and the backgrounds except for the beginning were kind of ugly. Not to mention the story's bad pacing).
SDMT may be too short but the story is there for having those characters. One of the best D-tickets ever made IMO.

 

[Bairstow]

I actually thought the merch looks pretty neat.
Especially these things. Whatever they are.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Well now we're talking about simply increasing the size of the show scenes to add room for all these things... and is she supposed to be addressing the guests or an assembled Na'vi throng?

The point is less the exact layout of the scene then the figures integration into a narrative or mood.

And my impression was that the guests were joining the Na'Vi throng (which we see marching) at a ceremony - so ideally she's addressing both. At the moment, I don't feel she reads as "addressing the guest" so much as "sitting there showing off her impressive range of movement." Again, however, this all just an example of a larger issue.