AVATAR land coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom

[Kitchandro]

Huh? You mean the highest grossing film of all time? The $2.8B worldwide box office would disagree.

I'll go back to the old argument: how many people have seen Song of the South? Does it make Splash Mountain a bad ride?

That was a children's film made by Disney. And Splash Mountain is a ride, not a land. Not really comparable then.

Of course it's the highest grossing film of all time, that's called inflation.

That doesn't mean it's a great film or even a good family film. I could think of hundreds of films that did great at the box office but were utter pants and barely anyone has a good word to say about.

An Avatar land is not suited to Disney World, period. There is nothing about it that makes it qualify - it's not a classic film, it's not a beloved children's film, it's not a popular film and it's not a Disney film.

 

[Kitchandro]

Ask someone now to sum up any episode of The Twilight Zone and you'd get a similar vague ramble that may or may not be accurate. Is Tower of Terror a bad ride?

The Twilight one is a very old show that was extremely popular in it's day and certainly could be considered a classic show. It's certainly iconic (The narrator, the music for example). Avatar is none of those things.

Not to mention the fact The Tower of Terror is only one ride.

 

[flyerjab]

The Twilight one is a very old show that was extremely popular in it's day and certainly could be considered a classic show. It's certainly iconic (The narrator, the music for example). Avatar is none of those things.

Not to mention the fact The Tower of Terror is only one ride.

And your opinion is only one opinion.

 

[GoofGoof]

Splash Mountain is a ride, not a land. Not really comparable then.

Avatarland is 2 rides. Not much different.

An Avatar land is not suited to Disney World, period. There is nothing about it that makes it qualify - it's not a classic film, it's not a beloved children's film, it's not a popular film and it's not a Disney film.

Song of the South is also not a classic film, not a beloved children's film and it's not popular. The only thing it has from your list is it was made by Disney. Doesn't stop Splash Mountain from being arguably the best ride in any Disney park. Was Star Tours suited for a Disney park? When the ride was first introduced Lucasfilms was not owned by Disney. How about MuppetVision? Same there. Most of the movies represented in the Great Movie Ride aren't Disney movies and most aren't kids movies. Is TGMR not suited for Disney World?

 

[GoofGoof]

Of course it's the highest grossing film of all time, that's called inflation.

Adjusted for inflation Avatar is still in the top 5 in worldwide box office. It's a little more than just inflation.

Having a huge box office doesn't make it a great fit for a theme park, but in the original post I was quoting the person said it was a dumb idea because nobody has even seen the movies. The worldwide box office numbers would disagree with that statement .

 

[Matt_Black]

Avatarland is 2 rides. Not much different.


Song of the South is also not a classic film, not a beloved children's film and it's not popular.

Elements of it are VERY popular, however. Even before Splash Mountain was a twinkle in an Imagineer's eye, "Zip-a-dee-do-dah" was already considered one of the best Disney songs to date, and had been covered by numerous artists.

 

[twebber55]

Wow. Cannot believe people are genuinely excited by this. You people have terrible taste in films.

Regardless of how I feel though, you're kidding yourselves if you think Avatar is popular enough to warrant it's own land. People were barely impressed when it came out, it's completely off the radar now. If I asked someone about it they'd say 'oh yeh, that film with all the special effects. What was that about again? Those blue people?'.

In any case it's certainly not something that should have it's own land in a park based on some of the most iconic films ever made.

hey welcome to the boards!

 

[DVCOwner]

Wow. Cannot believe people are genuinely excited by this. You people have terrible taste in films.

Regardless of how I feel though, you're kidding yourselves if you think Avatar is popular enough to warrant it's own land. People were barely impressed when it came out, it's completely off the radar now. If I asked someone about it they'd say 'oh yeh, that film with all the special effects. What was that about again? Those blue people?'.

In any case it's certainly not something that should have it's own land in a park based on some of the most iconic films ever made.

What you are saying is your opinion and feelings talking with people you know, it is not back by the facts that the movie had a great box office and was very popular. In my opinion - If Disney does a great job on recreating Pandora in this "land", along with the other new additions coming, the attendance at Animal Kingdom will sky rocket.

 

[danlb_2000]

Wow. Cannot believe people are genuinely excited by this. You people have terrible taste in films.

Regardless of how I feel though, you're kidding yourselves if you think Avatar is popular enough to warrant it's own land. People were barely impressed when it came out, it's completely off the radar now. If I asked someone about it they'd say 'oh yeh, that film with all the special effects. What was that about again? Those blue people?'.

In any case it's certainly not something that should have it's own land in a park based on some of the most iconic films ever made.

I'm excited about it because it's material that could lend it self to an amazingly immersive experience. Sure there are plenty of other IP's they could have used, but that IP matters less to me then the execution. I had very little interest in the movie Cars, saw it once and really wasn't interested in seeing it again, yet I was blown away by Carsland at DCA.

 

[WED Purist]

An Avatar land is not suited to Disney World, period. There is nothing about it that makes it qualify - it's not a classic film, it's not a beloved children's film, it's not a popular film and it's not a Disney film.

But it is based on "the intrinsic value of nature", which is the underlying theme for all of Animal Kingdom. The way it's being built, you won't have to even heard of the movie, let alone have seen it or be a fan to enjoy the experience. But it helps.

 

[Hula Popper]

I've never seen Avatar and was very disappointed in the initial announcement - was hoping for the Beastly Kingdom land, and didn't think Avatar was a good fit at all. But after seeing the artwork and reading about what's coming, I'm very much looking forward to it. It has a chance to be amazing.

For me it's the experience, not the movie from which the attraction is based.

My favorite attractions in WDW continue to be Haunted Mansion and Pirates - and both our originals, not based on prior movies. Splash is another one of my favorites, but I don't think I've ever watched Song of the South in its entirety. Tower of Terror is another favorite, and although it's Twilight Zone themed, frankly, the Twilight Zone name and Rod Serling intro isn't what makes the ride at all, it's the theming of the hotel and the effects as the vehicle moves into place for the drop.

Now on the flip side, I was a huge fan of the original Star Wars movies, and it's always neat to see some of the Star Wars themeing at DHS, but frankly, Star Tours probably isn't even in my top 10 attraction list at WDW, maybe not top 15.

At the end of the day, we'll all see once it's done and opened.

 

[mgf]

Haven't been following this thread, but Variety just published the following:

http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/avatar-ride-coming-to-life-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-1201376587/

 

[FutureCEO]

Haven't been following this thread, but Variety just published the following:

http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/avatar-ride-coming-to-life-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-1201376587/

Sounds cool....like Disney is going less with the story which I'm happy about. Sounds like soarin though.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Wow. Cannot believe people are genuinely excited by this. You people have terrible taste in films.

Regardless of how I feel though, you're kidding yourselves if you think Avatar is popular enough to warrant it's own land.

People were barely impressed when it came out, it's completely off the radar now. If I asked someone about it they'd say 'oh yeh, that film with all the special effects. What was that about again? Those blue people?'.

In any case it's certainly not something that should have it's own land in a park based on some of the most iconic films ever made.

Well, the park that it will have it's own land in is Animal Kingdom. AK contains only a few Disney properties.
I will give you Lion King, but the movies Dinosaur and A Bug's Life I would not call iconic?

As far as popularity, Avatar is the highest-grossing movie of all time. Number 1 on the list. I don't know if you can get more popular than that. Sure the excitment has waned since it has been so long since the movie was out, but 2 years from now when the movie comes out the excitment will be stoked again.

I saw Avatar in the theater when it came out. I didn't really care much for the movie, but I DID want to go that world. A world filled with exotic creatures and plant life. A world that had floating mountains and forest that glowed at night. A world that Disney is creating at Animal Kingdom. This is why I am excited for Avatar land. Not so I can live the movie, but so I can visit the world of Pandora.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Sounds cool....like Disney is going less with the story which I'm happy about. Sounds like soarin though.

This is from D23 in Japan from about a year ago.

 

[Kman101]

And you have to remember Avatar *does* have fans who want to visit that world.

Would it have been my first choice? No. But the land looks like it could be incredible and I'm really looking forward to the boat ride. Soarin 2.0 better impress the heck out of me.

 

[bhg469]

Well, the park that it will have it's own land in is Animal Kingdom. AK contains only a few Disney properties.
I will give you Lion King, but the movies Dinosaur and A Bug's Life I would not call iconic?

As far as popularity, Avatar is the highest-grossing movie of all time. Number 1 on the list. I don't know if you can get more popular than that. Sure the excitment has waned since it has been so long since the movie was out, but 2 years from now when the movie comes out the excitment will be stoked again.

I saw Avatar in the theater when it came out. I didn't really care much for the movie, but I DID want to go that world. A world filled with exotic creatures and plant life. A world that had floating mountains and forest that glowed at night. A world that Disney is creating at Animal Kingdom. This is why I am excited for Avatar land. Not so I can live the movie, but so I can visit the world of Pandora.

I am so much more excited for the land and theming than I am for the ride. I do wish they waited a bit and we were talking about a star wars themed expansion in multiple parks but dak is the place where they need to do this perfectly and I hopened they do.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

Haven't been following this thread, but Variety just published the following:

http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/avatar-ride-coming-to-life-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-1201376587/

Wait did I read that correctly? It sounds like the physical "vehicle" or "vessel" that you ride on will basically be an animatronic??

 

[Rteetz]

Wait did I read that correctly? It sounds like the physical "vehicle" or "vessel" that you ride on will basically be an animatronic??

Yep this could be a very interesting attraction hopefully one of the best in a long time and one worth the decade between attractions at AK.

 

[Kman101]

It they mask it well, give me an amazing amazing queue and fully immerse me in the simulation, I'll stop knocking it as Soarin' 2.0 I mean, honestly, WDW is hardly the place to start getting on them about screens. Not everything's going to be a coaster.