DAK AVATAR breaks ground

[GoofGoof]

I never said it should not be discussed. I simply stated that no one should be terribly excited and making plans until we know more of what's coming.

I'm not packing a bag or anything...cautiously optimistic. IF the land looks close to as good as the concept art and if its look is on par with the quality of FLE it will at least be visually stunning. The E-ticket is at a minimum a 3D version of Soarin, but possibly even something more plus the boat ride is likely still in the plans. Add in a nighttime show and night safari and I think it's pretty exciting. If a bunch of these things later get cut I'll be the first person to say I'm disappointed.

 

[twebber55]

I'm not packing a bag or anything...cautiously optimistic. IF the land looks close to as good as the concept art and if its look is on par with the quality of FLE it will at least be visually stunning. The E-ticket is at a minimum a 3D version of Soarin, but possibly even something more plus the boat ride is likely still in the plans. Add in a nighttime show and night safari and I think it's pretty exciting. If a bunch of these things later get cut I'll be the first person to say I'm disappointed.

agree
think people are underselling the whole park expansion

 

[Tom]

Yeah, I am this surprises me also. I have searched the site every way I can think of and found nothing. There has even been another Reedy Creek permit in 2014 so they are definitely filing permits. I can't see anyway a project of this size wouldn't need a SFWMD permit. I am thinking it's going to have to pop up any day now so I am checking every day.

FLE plans did end up there at one point, right? I can't imagine they wouldn't have to file for Pandora, given the massive amount of surface area they'll be disturbing.

 

[GoofGoof]

agree
think people are underselling the whole park expansion

This gets more into speculation or possibly wishful thinking, but they gotta feed us if we are going to be staying at AK all day now. The park is terribly short on table service dinner options. I'm assuming (hoping?) that another part of this project is several new meal/dinner options. One will likely be part of Pandora, but they are going to need some additional options as well. How about an Asian food one in Asia (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai...a mix of everything). A big African style restaurant and dinner show. Maybe a T-Rex type dinosaur restaurant in Dinoland. They could also look to utilize "water view" locations with views of the night show and create a restaurant with show views like EPCOT. Obviously not all of this at once, but maybe 1 or 2 plus a Pandora eatery.

 

[danlb_2000]

FLE plans did end up there at one point, right? I can't imagine they wouldn't have to file for Pandora, given the massive amount of surface area they'll be disturbing.

FLE plans (the original one's with the M&Gs) were submitted on 10/30/09, 3 months before the construction walls went up and only a month and a half after the project was publicly announced.

 

[Next Big Thing]

FLE plans (the original one's with the M&Gs) were submitted on 10/30/09, 3 months before the construction walls went up and only a month and a half after the project was publicly announced.

So it's safe to say their a little late to the party on this project then...

 

[Tom]

FLE plans (the original one's with the M&Gs) were submitted on 10/30/09, 3 months before the construction walls went up and only a month and a half after the project was publicly announced.

OK, that's what I thought....just couldn't remember that far back. Projects like this usually have to go through several stages of review. Just can't figure out why they haven't surfaced yet.

 

[CDavid]

I've been going to WDW for over 30 years, been there hundreds of times. I can wait. And if it takes 4 years to build it, that's indicative of problems at Disney. But if you think that it is going to be cancelled I've got a bridge to sell you...

I highly doubt Avatar is going to be cancelled at this point, however, projects at Walt Disney World actually have got farther along than this one only to see construction halted, sometimes permanently.

Now, I would not be nearly so surprised to see the budget cut, and/or major portions of the expansion changed or removed, anytime in the next couple years.

 

[Magenta Panther]

So, you don't go there now at all?
What about the other parks? How often?

I go yearly. 10 day Park Hopper passes. One day, 5-6 hours max. @ DAK.

The completion of Pandora, a night time safari, and an evening show will probably extend our DAK time to 2 days - one morning (rope drop til just after lunch - Flame Tree Barbeque, Baby!) and a late afternoon/evening visit to see the night time show.

DAK may just remain my least favourite park, but I expect to enjoy it a whole lot more than we do now.

Since you ask, I haven't gone to AK the last 3 times I visited AK. But I visited all of the others. My fave park, BTW, is DHS, even with its problems. There's just something about the place. Plus it has my favorite ride, The Tower of Terror, the Imagineers' last great masterpiece. And by last, sadly, I mean just that.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Em this has nothing to do with Avatar or DAK ... but The Muppets are owned by Disney ergo its their IP. Or using Cars Land it is junk because it is a Pixar IP not Disney's ... you can't have it both ways.

Ah, but Pixar and Disney have much much closer ties than Muppets. John Lasseter worked for Disney. Pixar is a success largely because of the support of Disney. It's hard to even say that Pixar is a non-Disney-created entity, since the two companies are so intertwined. Muppets, on the other hand, had NOTHING to do with Disney until Eisner finally completed his bizarre personal quest to own them. And they've contributed little or nothing to Disney since their purchase. Please, Muppet fanbois, don't quote box office figures to me. Even the reviled movie "Chicken Little" made nearly twice what "The Muppets" made - $314,432,837 to $165,184,237 worldwide. Disney doesn't need them. And Disney doesn't need "Avatar" either. But at least Iger only bought the rights to the blue kitties, and not the entire property. (Although the blue kitties will be just as unsightly and unseemly in the parks as the pop-eyed puppets in my opinion. Yuck.)

 

[Matt_Black]

... You realize that Pixar was originally part of Lucasfilm, yes?

 

[Sped2424]

Since you ask, I haven't gone to AK the last 3 times I visited AK. But I visited all of the others. My fave park, BTW, is DHS, even with its problems. There's just something about the place. Plus it has my favorite ride, The Tower of Terror, the Imagineers' last great masterpiece. And by last, sadly, I mean just that.

You don't consider Everest and imagineering masterpiece? (Besides the broken yeti)

 

[Magenta Panther]

You don't consider Everest and imagineering masterpiece? (Besides the broken yeti)

No, it's lame in my opinion, primarily because of the broken yeti. Its queue, after all, is all ABOUT the yeti. But thanks to TDO's indifference, the only glimpse we get of the yeti is that fake-looking animation where he's tearing up the tracks. It is obviously animation, obviously on a screen. And doesn't a Windows menu pop up on it occasionally? Kinda kills the mood. Without the yeti payoff at the end, Everest is just a roller coaster with some nice fiberglass-mountain theming. That's enough for some folks, I guess...

 

[Tom Morrow]

No, it's lame in my opinion, primarily because of the broken yeti. Its queue, after all, is all ABOUT the yeti. But thanks to TDO's indifference, the only glimpse we get of the yeti is that fake-looking animation where he's tearing up the tracks. It is obviously animation, obviously on a screen. And doesn't a Windows menu pop up on it occasionally? Kinda kills the mood. Without the yeti payoff at the end, Everest is just a roller coaster with some nice fiberglass-mountain theming. That's enough for some folks, I guess...

I've literally ridden Everest hundreds of times, never seen a windows menu pop up. Never heard of it happening for anyone else, either. There just happens to be a popular POV video on YouTube where it does happen.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I've literally ridden Everest hundreds of times, never seen a windows menu pop up. Never heard of it happening for anyone else, either. There just happens to be a popular POV video on YouTube where it does happen.

I've personally witnessed it happen from my own rides (not talking about youtube). I don't know whether it still occurs now, but it certainly happened more than once from my frequent rides during the general 2010-2012 time frame. It definitely happens, or did at least. I haven't visited WDW since early 2012 though so I don't know whether it still happens.

Even assuming all the effects were still working on the ride, Everest still fell a bit short of the classic Disney standard. A good ride certainly, and with amazing potential. And i've not ever had the privilege of seeing the yeti working in person, but the videos look awesome. But even with all of that it still feels incomplete compared to the now ancient (but still as awesome as ever) Big Thunder. One major thing that bugs me immensely is the backwards part that goes inside the mountain. They made no attempt to theme this part and it completely ruins the immersion when you can see the obviously completely naked steel structure inside (made even more obvious with all the light pouring in from the holes in the rockwork that further illuminate the cheapness). Enclosing that tunnel with an ice crystal lined cavern would go a long way to improving the ride. I don't know if this is even possible to do at this point (probably), but that would fix my biggest complaint with the core concept of the ride (this is again not including the obvious broken effects which should go without saying).

 

[marni1971]

You don't consider Everest and imagineering masterpiece? (Besides the broken yeti)

Up to the end of the queue? Yes.

 

[Sped2424]

Up to the end of the queue? Yes.

You don't like the ride?

 

[wdwmagic]

You don't like the ride?

The ride could have been so much more. Imagine three or four show scenes along the way.

 

[Clowd Nyne]

I've rode this ride many times and apart from the yeti I've never felt a reason to complain. It's a smooth, innovative, well themed coaster that I consider one of my favorites. We can all say what it could have been. It could have been anything. It could have been a ride a tiger spinner. But instead a great coaster.

 

[xdan0920]

I've rode this ride many times and apart from the yeti I've never felt a reason to complain. It's a smooth, innovative, well themed coaster that I consider one of my favorites. We can all say what it could have been. It could have been anything. It could have been a ride a tiger spinner. But instead a great coaster.

You just missed the point by a country mile.