AVATAR land coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom

[danlb_2000]

I never thought about the similarities in the two stories until now. Right down to Grandma Willow/Tree of Souls.

Everything old is new again!

I always find it ironic that people often site Disney's Pocahontas when trying to criticize Avatar for not being original, when Pocahontas isn't an original Disney idea either.

 

[fosse76]

Seems like they could create a backstory to make it work. I hope the land is not too 'green' if you get my drift. The so-called science behind climate change is in complete and total shambles on at least 3 fronts. So lets get back to good ol' fun and less 'message' at DAK. imo

No, it's not. At least not by anyone who actually studies science.

Personally, the miliotary aspect of the film were the most forced part of the movie. I can see a thrill ride were the military themes can be utilized effectively.

 

[Bairstow]

If the de-weaponizing of Kilimanjaro Safaris is any indication, I think we can discount the possibility of seeing much of the military aspect of Avatar represented in the pavilion. There will probably be something like a broken, vine-covered AmpSuit sitting off as a decoration somewhere, or the wreckage of a Dragonfly gunship or something, and I anticipate that some if not most of the show buildings are going to be re-purposed "barracks" now serving as a visitor's center or something, but the emphasis will probably be on exploration rather than shootin' stuff.

I could be wrong though, and an interactive infrared shooting gallery ride with machine guns would be a lot cooler than an alien "Listen to the Land," but I don't think they'll go that direction.

 

[NoChesterHester]

Did anyone see the patent filing by Disney today? New ride technology using multiple cables to create a suspended flying vehicle type experience. Has Avatar written all over it.

I dont know if this link will work here....

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-patent-application-flight-motion-simulator-vehicle-18796/

 

[Bairstow]

Did anyone see the patent filing by Disney today? New ride technology using multiple cables to create a suspended flying vehicle type experience. Has Avatar written all over it.

I dont know if this link will work here....

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-patent-application-flight-motion-simulator-vehicle-18796/

That is interesting...
http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110300957

[0007] The present invention addresses the above problems by providing a ride that provides cable-suspended passenger vehicles that may be moved through a ride environment within a variable work space. Briefly, the ride includes one or more tracks that define a path(s) for a ride, and each vehicle is suspended by two or more winches or cable drives that can selectively adjust the length of a cable attached at a support/attachment point on a body of the vehicle (e.g., two, three, or more spaced-apart cable-attachment locations on each vehicle body). The winches may be fixed in place or mounted on individual carriers or mounted on a single carrier, with each carrier being motor or otherwise driven on the track to allow the carriers and the anchor points for the suspension cables to be moved during the ride. By selective operation of the winches and positioning of the carrier(s), the vehicle can be positioned at numerous X-Y positions within the facility (e.g., looking downward on the ride) as well as in numerous Z or vertical positions relative to the track. As a result, the vehicle may be moved through a large work space or volume, and, through the use of differing cable lengths (which may be dynamically set) the orientation of the vehicle body may also adjusted during the ride (e.g., to provide pitch, yaw, roll, and the like).

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110300957#ixzz1g0Zs2s6Z

 

[GrumpyFan]

Here's an image from the Patent Application.

Not sure how this would be used in regards to Avatar, or even if it's being considered for that purpose, but it is an interesting, if not somewhat complex design.

 

[Bairstow]

Reminds me of stadium aerial cable cameras.
http://image.freecy.tk/images/152_big_nyt_graphic.jpg

 

[GrumpyFan]

Reminds me of stadium aerial cable cameras.

Based on the descriptions and pictures it appears to work very similar.

The winches may be operated concurrently to drop or raise the vehicle to define the work space for the vehicle in the vertical direction. Passenger input may interactively control motion of the vehicle.

 

[G00fyDad]

With all of the improvements that Disney is making are we sure that this is going into the Avatar section? Or even into AK? Those buildings (yes, I know that they are not indicative of the final work) look more modern and not like anything in Avatar. More like something in DHS. Of course the general consensus would be for Avatar but maybe this is going elsewhere?

I'd love to see something like this in Any of the parks sort of like a contemporary version of the Skyway.

 

[danlb_2000]

With all of the improvements that Disney is making are we sure that this is going into the Avatar section? Or even into AK? Those buildings (yes, I know that they are not indicative of the final work) look more modern and not like anything in Avatar. More like something in DHS. Of course the general consensus would be for Avatar but maybe this is going elsewhere?

Just because they have filed a patent doesn't mean there are plans to use it anywhere at this point.

Dan

 

[unkadug]

Just because they have filed a patent doesn't mean there are plans to use it anywhere at this point.

Dan

You can bet that if they spent the money on development that there IS a plan to use it.

No company develops new product just for humanity. That's not the way business works.

 

[G00fyDad]

Just because they have filed a patent doesn't mean there are plans to use it anywhere at this point.

Dan

Fair point. I hadn't considered that. :wave:

 

[jt04]

You can bet that if they spent the money on development that there IS a plan to use it.

No company develops new product just for humanity. That's not the way business works.

I agree. While I am sure they have filed patents for concepts they have never used this just seems to perfect a fit for Avatar and if I have a hunch we will see this built.

It reminds me a bit of the old Kongfrontation ride and has awesome possibilities as both a multiple passenger application such as ToT or applications as a one or two seater. The omnimover may have seen its last days. My guess is this IS the future of ride tech.

The person who compared this to the "skycam" often seen hovering over stadium fields has it exactly right I think. Move over Kuka, the future is here.

 

[danlb_2000]

You can bet that if they spent the money on development that there IS a plan to use it.

No company develops new product just for humanity. That's not the way business works.

I disagree. I worked for a technology company that encourages engineers to create patentable ideas even if it was something that might never actually get used in a product. Patent portfolios are a very valuable asset these days so the value of a patent could far out way the cost of developing and patenting the idea especially since there is not a longer a requirement to provide a working example of your patented idea.

It's also possible they are coming up with a lot of ideas for Avatarland and just patenting even though they haven't actually decided if they will use the ideas or not.

Remember patents are good for 20 years. That gives them plenty of time to use the idea, not to mention the value of simply preventing a competitor from using the idea.

 

[GrumpyFan]

You can bet that if they spent the money on development that there IS a plan to use it.

Not necessarily. While many times a project might birth new patents in its design and implementation process, sometimes imagineers and other creative types may come up with an idea that just sounds good without a project attached and in order to keep it from being used by a competitor, they might patent it to protect. They may at sometime down the road decide to use it, if they can craft a decent story/project around it.

I don't know that there has been any development of this yet, just a design concept.

No company develops new product just for humanity. That's not the way business works.

As a generality, this is probably true for most companies, there are a few companies where it's not so much, but those, in my experience seem to be rare. Most companies are very tight and (overly) protective of their intellectual capital, sometimes with good reason to maintain their competitive edge, other times when it's just about greed and all-mighty dollar.

 

[JEANYLASER]

awesome!

 

[GrumpyFan]

Another picture from the Patent Application, and a thought about what it could be for.

Sometime back, our good friend Jim Hill, posted an article about Unrealized Epcot rides, in that article he talked about a bullet train type of ride for the Japan pavilion. Here's the description, with pictures following:

Once these Epcot visitors got inside, they would have been treated to a unique variation of Disney's CircleVision 360 show. These WDW guests would have found themselves standing on board a vibrating recreation of the passenger compartment of a Japanese bullet train. And -- by looking out through the over-sized faux windows in this passenger car -- these folks would then have been treated to a high speed travelogue. As some of Japan's most beautiful scenery continually whizzed by all of the windows.

And, finally, the image from the recent patent application:

Thinking out loud here, but if the open spaces on this are encircled with walls, then they could project moving images on there from almost anywhere, including Japan as if riding a bullet train or from Avatar as if moving through space, or anything else.

 

[Atomicmickey]

Now THAT hanging diagram makes sense.

You'd be floating around inside a 3D movie. Looks cool. I'd wait in line for that.

They could lower the car into hole, where you'd board. Then you'd be "lifted up into the sky".

Soarin' 2.0, 360, 3D, all axes of movement, on Pandora.

Cool. I like it.

 

[danlb_2000]

Now THAT hanging diagram makes sense.

You'd be floating around inside a 3D movie. Looks cool. I'd wait in line for that.

They could lower the car into hole, where you'd board. Then you'd be "lifted up into the sky".

Soarin' 2.0, 360, 3D, all axes of movement, on Pandora.

Cool. I like it.

Yeah, I like this idea. The problem with the first picture is although it would make a cool ride, it would probably take up a lot of space. I would like think it is much more likely that something like this would become a reality.

Dan

 

[JEANYLASER]

Now THAT hanging diagram makes sense.

You'd be floating around inside a 3D movie. Looks cool. I'd wait in line for that.

They could lower the car into hole, where you'd board. Then you'd be "lifted up into the sky".

Soarin' 2.0, 360, 3D, all axes of movement, on Pandora.

Cool. I like it.

yeah! I like it! awesome!:wave: