AVATAR land construction progress

[PorterRedkey]

Absurdly ridiculous and detached from all logic for people to be "upset" at this point.

Trolling to create astroturfed rage is no longer operable. Just sad at this point. Those tropes are kaput.

I am not an angry person, so it is not rage. It's just that my expectation that if you have a theme park, you build rides. Sure there is room for other types of experiences, but rides bring people to the parks. 11 years is just too long, IMHO, to wait for a new crowd puller.

Oh AK is my favorite park by the way.

 

[danlb_2000]

Two permits today for Adirondack Scenic. The contractors has done a few things for Disney in the past like the Gaston Fountain and some show sets for the new Dumbo (I assume the stuff in the queue tent). They have also done some ride work for Universal as well as theater sets and museum installations.

521 Savannah Circle - Morpho 800 -Show Set Install
521 Savannah Circle - Morpho 801 - Show Set Install

 

[RSoxNo1]

Absurdly ridiculous and detached from all logic for people to be "upset" at this point.

Trolling to create astroturfed rage is no longer operable. Just sad at this point. Those tropes are kaput.

I think the issue has been that from 1998 to 2014 the only thing added to the park that wasn't a disappointment in some respect was Everest and even that has a huge flaw in it's broken animatronic. When the park opened the expectation was the following:

• More elaborate Rapids ride
• Possible Excavator attraction going to Dinoland USA
• Beastly Kingdom anchored by Dragon Coaster

The Rapids ride got stripped down, the Excavator became dinorama, and Beastly Kingdom went to IoA / was replaced by Expedition Everest. I love the Animal Kingdom as much as anyone on these boards, but it started with a shallow attraction lineup and hasn't done enough to catch up. By the time Avatar opens the park will be moving in the right direction but it doesn't mean the park will be complete.

 

[RSoxNo1]

They need a jungle book themed area.

Can people please stop recommending intellectual property based attractions.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Can people please stop recommending intellectual property based attractions.

I with you on that. I'd love South America to educate people on saving the Rain Forest plus there are some cool animals from that area.

 

[MagicGoofy]

So I know there will be a lot of vegetation and some of it will be man made for the pandora specific plants but for the majority of the plants/trees they will have to be natural to keep it like a forest. I don't remember a single land project that needed as much vegetation. So how do you guys think they will do it?

 

[DarthMileZ]

Can people please stop recommending intellectual property based attractions.

Why?

its disney

 

[RSoxNo1]

I with you on that. I'd love South America to educate people on saving the Rain Forest plus there are some cool animals from that area.

These are the steps I would take in that park after Avatar:

• Fix the yeti
• Upgrade DINOSAUR, potentially stealing animatronics from Universe of Energy
• Add another Africa walk through / viewing area on the path way from Harambe Theater to Avatar. Ideally this would be another viewing area for lions.
  
• Close Primeval Whirl and potentially the rest of Dinorama. Use that area for either Dinoland USA expansion or Australia
• Close or extend Maharajah Jungle Trek and/or Kali River Rapids. One or both of those things needs to be modified in order to get to the huge area of land North of Asia. Asia needs another ride and while the Maharajah Jungle Trek is beautifully themed, the animal lineup is weak.
  
• Find a solution to the train/Rafiki's Planet Watch issue. This would probably be related to the Asia changes.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I with you on that. I'd love South America to educate people on saving the Rain Forest plus there are some cool animals from that area.

I think a COLD land would be awesome (though expensive, as the whole thing would have to be enclosed). My problem with South America is that a lot of the park is already rain forest and most zoos already have a rainforest pavilion. I'd like something more unique. I also don't think Australia has adequate species diversity.

 

[msteel]

Two permits today for Adirondack Scenic. The contractors has done a few things for Disney in the past like the Gaston Fountain and some show sets for the new Dumbo (I assume the stuff in the queue tent). They have also done some ride work for Universal as well as theater sets and museum installations.

521 Savannah Circle - Morpho 800 -Show Set Install
521 Savannah Circle - Morpho 801 - Show Set Install

With no expiration date these should be done in a year or less. I guess there could be other things unfinished by then, but aren't show sets pretty much the last thing done on the interior?

 

[FigmentForver96]

Why?

its disney

That doesn't mean it's ok to just throw disney stuff anywhere. Let those rides go to Magic Kingdom. I don't need to walk from Harambe into the world of King Louie. That kind of thinking gave us Frozen at Epcot.

 

[twebber55]

some new pictures from damouse.com

 

[bakntime]

Can people please stop recommending intellectual property based attractions.

Nobody seems to have an issue with it at Universal+IOA ... where every single current* and planned future attraction is IP based.



*Poseidon's Fury and Sinbad might not be explicitly IP-based, but are still based on existing stories, films, and mythology

 

[twebber55]

Nobody seems to have an issue with it at Universal+IOA ... where every single current* and planned future attraction is IP based.



*Poseidon's Fury and Sinbad might not be explicitly IP-based, but are still based on existing stories, films, and mythology

agree huge double standard and im pro universal but you cant have it both ways
you cant complain about IPs Disney is using in the parks then praise the work
Universal is doing

 

[DisneyRoy]

Here are a couple of the pics from damouse.com that I found interesting...

This one at the bottom, it looks like they are putting concrete over the steel support frames (vines) for the floating mtns.

This one looks like they may be using the big crane to do some work on that top little mountain.

 

[Monoblanco13]

These are the steps I would take in that park after Avatar:

• Fix the yeti
• Upgrade DINOSAUR, potentially stealing animatronics from Universe of Energy
• Add another Africa walk through / viewing area on the path way from Harambe Theater to Avatar. Ideally this would be another viewing area for lions.
  
• Close Primeval Whirl and potentially the rest of Dinorama. Use that area for either Dinoland USA expansion or Australia
• Close or extend Maharajah Jungle Trek and/or Kali River Rapids. One or both of those things needs to be modified in order to get to the huge area of land North of Asia. Asia needs another ride and while the Maharajah Jungle Trek is beautifully themed, the animal lineup is weak.
  
• Find a solution to the train/Rafiki's Planet Watch issue. This would probably be related to the Asia changes.

All this would be great, though would any of this really happen? I think it would probably be best to upgrade Dinoland before fixing the yeti. Though others have stated the yeti is a pretty quick fix, are they still thinking of a half marionette design for this yeti?

 

[Tay]

They need a jungle book themed area.

Yes! Hopefully they consider Jungle Book, Tarzan and Lion King mini lands after Pandora opens .

IMHO, Disney parks are evidence to the contrary. EPCOT, Disney-MGM (both in their original themes, of course), AK... definitely not heavy on rides. Several non-Disney brands have also shown that rides are not required. Universal Studios in Hollywood was extremely popular, without having any real rides for many years. Also, Sea World for many years had no real rides.

I think that is the difference between an amusement park and theme park. Each has a different business plan for attracting guests.

USH and SW attendance sucked for years until they actually started building rides. Plus tickets were very cheap. Other Studio Tours are like $50-$60 spend $20-30 more and you could get a tour and a handful of great rides for the day and Pre Potter the rest of the year free at UHS. What separates amusement parks from theme parks is the themed experience and better quality rides. Six Flags and 2nd tier theme parks has like 40-50 coasters and fair rides . A highly themed park imo should have at least 15-20 actual rides. Most people don't find spending $80 to walk around and look for half of the day amusing.

 

[lobelia]

Theme parks and amusement parks are different. Disney has immersive and themed rides. Cedar Point has great rides. We should stop trying to compare apples to oranges.

My recommendation for additional theme areas for AK is cryptozoological. It was a nice start with that Yeti ride.

 

[flyerjab]

It still would not shock me at all if after the Avatar construction is competed next year that Everest goes down for a moderate-length rehab that will include fixing the oft derided yeti.

No way that Chester and Hester's is removed/replaced. That was done on the cheap and I bet that WDW sees it as a large space that real small kids will appreciate. Not saying that they can't/won't appreciate Harambe and Anandapur, just that carni-games and cartoonish dino rides are much easier for them to appreciate. Do I wish that they would change it? I suppose. But I would rather that they add on to DAK first as opposed to change something.

As far as adding IPs, I am not completely against it, as long as it is done the right way. A dark ride of the legend of the Lion King would be nice, giving it a slightly different interpretation. I am for shutting down Kali and expanding it, with maybe adding a few more animal exhibits to that area. This one is also a pipe dream though.

Right now, I am just happy about the Avatar expansion - which is what we are supposed to be talking about.

 

[doctornick]

Can people please stop recommending intellectual property based attractions.

I don't think it is unreasonable to have IPs at DAK as long as they are appropriately used. I wouldn't put cartoon characters in the heart of Harambe or Anandapur. But I am a fan of the idea of having a separate land (say "Critter Country") which celebrates Disney cartoon animals. That way, it would be distinct from the more realistic portions of the park, but still have a presence -- I don't think it is "wrong" to have an attraction devoted to Bambi or 101 Dalmatians, etc. and wouldn't take away from the rest of the park.

That said, I'd rather see them put Australia or South America on the large northern plot with more "real world" attractions. Wouldn't mind seeing them doing expansions to the existing lands as well.