AVATAR land construction progress

[WDWtraveler]

Photo update as of Friday, July 10.

View from the rear exit for Rainforest Café. The mountain on the left now has steel mesh covering the structure. The steel beams sticking out of the structure at odd locations was indeed for the scaffolding platform seen here, to facilitate building the outer shell.

Looking to the right, the larger of the mountains.

Finally, here is the view from the park entrance turnstiles. The larger mountain is on the left here, with a new structure gaining height on the right. For scale, note the men on the orange lift in front of the smaller structure in the center of the photo. Not shown here, but the ride building behind these mountains now has some siding on the side facing the Disney transportation bus road entrance, and can be seen from the parking lot.

 

[zachrupertdsn]

So exciting seeing the mesh going on the rock work, more then it probably should be.

 

[danlb_2000]

Photo update as of Friday, July 10.

View from the rear exit for Rainforest Café. The mountain on the left now has steel mesh covering the structure. The steel beams sticking out of the structure at odd locations was indeed for the scaffolding platform seen here, to facilitate building the outer shell.

View attachment 100603

Looking to the right, the larger of the mountains.

View attachment 100604

Finally, here is the view from the park entrance turnstiles. The larger mountain is on the left here, with a new structure gaining height on the right. For scale, note the men on the orange lift in front of the smaller structure in the center of the photo. Not shown here, but the ride building behind these mountains now has some siding on the side facing the Disney transportation bus road entrance, and can be seen from the parking lot.

View attachment 100605

I am not sure why I didn't realize that all those steel pieces sticking out would be the "toothpicks" for the scaffolding. Mesh went up quick so we might start seeing texture in the next few weeks, unless they plan to do most of the mesh first.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

I am not sure why I didn't realize that all those steel pieces sticking out would be the "toothpicks" for the scaffolding. Mesh went up quick so we might start seeing texture in the next few weeks, unless they plan to do most of the mesh first.

I'm surprised at how fast it seems now. Is it just my perspective, or has the pace picked up considerably? I know steel goes up quick, but I wasn't expecting to see mesh already.

 

[Mawg]

Mesh surprises me, I would have thought we would have seen more of the structure built before they started the mesh.

 

[sedati]

Mesh surprises me, I would have thought we would have seen more of the structure built before they started the mesh.

I believe the mountain that has been meshed stands alone and is not part of the large central "arch" formation. Most of the artwork shows some individual floating mountains off to the side.

 

[twebber55]

another floating mtn?

 

[BrianLo]

another floating mtn?

Yup, I think there are going to be three "major" ones. The two in this concept art and the big arch we've seen quite a few pics from. This is what you will see if you take a path to the left when entering from Discovery Island. If you veer to the right instead you'll see the arch and likely walk under it.

Humour me as I've spent a now countless amount of time staring at these pictures trying to orient myself... The problem being that I haven't yet seen the new steel in relation to our current meshed range.


I believe this photo is the second big mountain on the right of the above concept art, it's just missing all the extra appendages (aka it should nearly double from the current size). The first big one (which is new steel going up) should be just obscured to the left of this photo and will be visible as you round the bend from Discovery Island. The show building will be hidden with more rock work from the looks of things.

Again - the brand new steel going up here I believe belongs to the large mountain on the left. You cannot see it in @WDWtraveler's first photo above as it is behind the left side of the trees, and likewise you cannot see the right sided mountain in this second picture as we are now looking at it from about roughly 145 degrees around the backside.

 

[Tom]

I am not sure why I didn't realize that all those steel pieces sticking out would be the "toothpicks" for the scaffolding. Mesh went up quick so we might start seeing texture in the next few weeks, unless they plan to do most of the mesh first.

Yeah, and those scaffold supports appear to be galvanized, which is a good idea. Keeps them from rusting while they're supporting a big load.

Mesh surprises me, I would have thought we would have seen more of the structure built before they started the mesh.

I too am surprised they're starting mesh already. Must be compressing the schedule to get back on track.

 

[NeXuS1000]

I think it makes a lot of sense to put on the mesh and texture quickly / asap. Consider what Universal is doing with Kong, where all the exterior is almost done now, leaving a lot of interior work. Why does that make sense? Because you'll start selling the attraction long before it's even ready and not have a big construction site covering your park. If people get the mountains done soon, people will further understand what's being built and be more excited about it (not everyone are excited about construction sites), and it keeps the overall park impression higher.

Then Disney can take their time on everything that's not immediately visible.

 

[bakntime]

Doing it that way also speeds up the construction process. The mesh goes up as soon as it's feasible (in other words, as soon as it can go up without being damaged or interfered with by other construction). So instead of having the steel skeleton sitting there collecting dust until they complete all the steel work, the mesh crew starts meshing as early as they possibly can, and work goes in phases across the whole structure. The same is true when it comes to the concrete/mortar artists and the painters. You might soon have all four "crews" working at once (steel, mesh, plaster, paint) rather than waiting until each phase is 100% complete before the next team takes over.

The Cars Land rock work was done this way. Take a look at this photo from mintcrocodile, where you can see each "phase" is in progress. Some of the paint is already nearly finished, while other parts are still receiving mesh. http://mintcrocodile.smugmug.com/photos/1204983911_GkpZf-X3.jpg

 

[George]

Indeed. Granted, anything in 2017 wouldn't be a delay as that is all that has been announced (after being delayed from 2015 in Bob Iger's original 2011 announcement). There is nothing to suggest that some of us won't be inside AVATAR land by 12/31/17.

Other than that, why rush? Let's get this thing done right. We've seen what happens when Disney rushes. Once they are done working, we are stuck with what they've built.

For me, it's a bit of a sticky situation since my birth certificate came with an expiration date of 10/2/17.

 

[George]

Doing it that way also speeds up the construction process. The mesh goes up as soon as it's feasible (in other words, as soon as it can go up without being damaged or interfered with by other construction). So instead of having the steel skeleton sitting there collecting dust until they complete all the steel work, the mesh crew starts meshing as early as they possibly can, and work goes in phases across the whole structure. The same is true when it comes to the concrete/mortar artists and the painters. You might soon have all four "crews" working at once (steel, mesh, plaster, paint) rather than waiting until each phase is 100% complete before the next team takes over.

The Cars Land rock work was done this way. Take a look at this photo from mintcrocodile, where you can see each "phase" is in progress. Some of the paint is already nearly finished, while other parts are still receiving mesh. http://mintcrocodile.smugmug.com/photos/1204983911_GkpZf-X3.jpg

Neat photo. Really cool. Thanks for sharing.

 

[The Tuna]

As a non Avatar fan I have to say....This looks awesome. Didn't like the movie at all but I have a feeling this is going to have a huge wow factor. Lot's of negativity towards this mostly because the movie was terrible in spite of its billions of dollars made. FF7 was terrible as well but made a boatload of cash so what do I know.

Sure it's two years out but when this opens I have a feeling even the naysayers are going to be impressed. One thign that always gets me is how people long for Beastly Kingdom. Imagine if they announced a land based on Unicorns and Dragons today, one that wasn't supposed to open with the park. Disney would be eaten alive on these boards.

 

[Mike S]

As a non Avatar fan I have to say....This looks awesome. Didn't like the movie at all but I have a feeling this is going to have a huge wow factor. Lot's of negativity towards this mostly because the movie was terrible in spite of its billions of dollars made. FF7 was terrible as well but made a boatload of cash so what do I know.

Sure it's two years out but when this opens I have a feeling even the naysayers are going to be impressed. One thign that always gets me is how people long for Beastly Kingdom. Imagine if they announced a land based on Unicorns and Dragons today, one that wasn't supposed to open with the park. Disney would be eaten alive on these boards.

No they wouldn't. Who doesn't love mythical animals?

 

[The Tuna]

No they wouldn't. Who doesn't love mythical animals?

They would get destroyed. A flying Unicorn ride maybe? I'm pretty sure they could cure diseases, end world hunger, and bring about world peace and it still wouldn't be applauded.

 

[Rteetz]

Attractions magazine had a couple pics on Facebook

 

[toolsnspools]

Anyone (@Tom ,@danlb_2000, others) know what the height requirement is for a construction railing? My guess is 4 feet. That would put approximately 8 feet between the layers of scaffolding. We may be able to figure out the height of each of these with a little expert info...

 

[danlb_2000]

Anyone (@Tom ,@danlb_2000, others) know what the height requirement is for a construction railing? My guess is 4 feet. That would put approximately 8 feet between the layers of scaffolding. We may be able to figure out the height of each of these with a little expert info...

The space between levels needs to be just large enough for a worker to reach the full height, so I would think 6 to 7 feet between levels. Ladder rungs are normally 1 foot apart which agrees with the 6 to 7 feet number.

 

[rioriz]

View attachment 100822 View attachment 100821 Attractions magazine had a couple pics on Facebook

What do we think is the steel structure going up over the show building to the left?