AVATAR land construction progress

danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
egg said:
Incredible. Well done and thank you. I think you're close to correct, at least the big details are right. The lines are quite helpful and I had never put the whole thing together in my mind. Of course you not only did it in your mind, but then proceeded to illustrate it very nicely for us all to see.

It looks for sure like it loads on two levels. And I think there will be banshees in the ride, LOL. As for the number of floors, I am also confused, and hope someone like Dan knows. As for any other questions you have, I surely don't have any answers. But I do have more questions.

How do handicapped guests load? I'm guessing that there will be an evelator (or two) next to the exit stairs for theaters C and D, and they'll load on the same floors as regular guests.

How do regular guests get to floor 4 to begin with?

That's all for now. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

This picture give a good look at the structure of the building. It is either 5 or 6 levels including the ground floor. The bottom of the building is cropped off and behind a fence in other pictures so I am not sure if the bottom floor is extra tall or is there another complete floor, that's why I am not sure if it is 5 or 6. The leaked blueprints showed only three of the level. The top and bottom floor probably won't be used for loading so that would leave either 3 or 4 levels. The stock Vekoma Flight Simulator is 3 levels.

There was an article a while back where Iger talk about trying a prototype of the ride and stated that banshees were part of the ride vehicle, but it wasn't clear if you were actually sitting on them or not.

AVATAR-Land-Construction-Update-7.jpg
 
No Name

No Name

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
This picture give a good look at the structure of the building. It is either 5 or 6 levels including the ground floor. The bottom of the building is cropped off and behind a fence in other pictures so I am not sure if the bottom floor is extra tall or is there another complete floor, that's why I am not sure if it is 5 or 6. The leaked blueprints showed only three of the level. The top and bottom floor probably won't be used for loading so that would leave either 3 or 4 levels. The stock Vekoma Flight Simulator is 3 levels.

There was an article a while back where Iger talk about trying a prototype of the ride and stated that banshees were part of the ride vehicle, but it wasn't clear if you were actually sitting on them or not.

View attachment 157284
Click to expand...

Thank you. The floor thing is tricky. Maybe when I have more free time I'll try to figure it out, though not sure I'd get anywhere further than 180 got.

As for the banshees being part of the ride vehicle, here's the part of the Variety article that talks about Bob Iger having "ridden" a prototype:

Bob Iger said he was recently given the chance to try out the ride, which will enable guests to fly through “Avatar’s” Pandora on the back of a flying banshee.

“It felt so real, so lifelike,” Iger said of the prototype vehicle guests will board to travel through the fictional land. “There’s never been anything like it.”

Now, in human speak, that means that you'd be on the back of a flying banshee. But in Disney speak, I'm not so sure. It may be like saying that you'll ride the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars Land. I think it leaves open the possibility of the front of a banshee only existing on the screen in front of you and you made to feel like you're on its back. I hope and don't believe that's the case, but is there anything to 100% confirm that it isn't?

180º said:
I believe the elevated terrain of the park plus meandering, gradually inclining pathways– all outside the bounds of the building– will allow guests to reach the upper floors, so no need for elevators for the ADA theaters.
Click to expand...

Huh. Should be interesting. I'm having a tough time picturing it, but that does make sense, since the queue begins on the fourth floor.

Exciting times ahead.
 
Last edited:
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
Probably very wrong, but I think it's going to be set up more like tower of terror. Four completely separate theaters, but within each is actually two ongoing rides- an A side and a B side. Small vehicles (Banshees) loading and dispatching in alternating intervals. Each starts and ends using the smaller screens, but with the middle and majority of the experience spent with the larger screen.
So, side A begins by moving into its smaller screen, then after a minute or so, from either from above or below, enters the larger screen area. Side B begins by moving into it's own smaller screen, and when side A exits the larger screen, it moves in as side A goes back into the smaller for another bit of ride time before maneuvering for disembarkment on a different floor from the loading one. Once emptied, it moves to the loading floor. Two rides in tandem, much like how Tower has four elevators sharing two drop shafts.
 
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
sedati said:
Just speculating, but I think what I'm seeing is four separate ride systems, but each containing two sets of vehicles. One will load and "take flight," where, aside from it's simulator type movements, the rig itself will travel horizontally and vertically amongst not one, but several curves screens of varying sizes. The smaller box type theaters on the lower floor could be quite tall, and would be where the vehicle would rise to the upper portion. On the upper floor the widest screen will allow the system to cross over, switching place with the still loading second rig. Think of Tower of Terror and how it handles multiple vehicles sharing each shaft.
Click to expand...
Realized I said pretty much the same thing a year and a half ago. Fun to speculate either way. I think whatever we do get, it's going to be pretty great.
 
180º

180º

Well-Known Member
sedati said:
Realized I said pretty much the same thing a year and a half ago. Fun to speculate either way. I think whatever we do get, it's going to be pretty great.
Click to expand...
That's a cool idea! Although @marni1971 said the system should be more or less the same as the Vekoma panoramic flight simulator, but with a twist.
 
toolsnspools

toolsnspools

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
This picture give a good look at the structure of the building. It is either 5 or 6 levels including the ground floor. The bottom of the building is cropped off and behind a fence in other pictures so I am not sure if the bottom floor is extra tall or is there another complete floor, that's why I am not sure if it is 5 or 6. The leaked blueprints showed only three of the level. The top and bottom floor probably won't be used for loading so that would leave either 3 or 4 levels. The stock Vekoma Flight Simulator is 3 levels.

There was an article a while back where Iger talk about trying a prototype of the ride and stated that banshees were part of the ride vehicle, but it wasn't clear if you were actually sitting on them or not.

View attachment 157284
Click to expand...
So I went looking for a good open shot of the building and found the exact same one... If you look closely, you can see the finished beams that will be part of the ride mechanism when it is done -

Avatar Shell.jpg


You can tell that they are not structural because they are finish painted, much like the permanent grey emergency stairs in the front of the picture. I would bet that whatever is moving up and down in the theaters is attached to them.
 
180º

180º

Well-Known Member
toolsnspools said:
So I went looking for a good open shot of the building and found the exact same one... If you look closely, you can see the finished beams that will be part of the ride mechanism when it is done -

View attachment 157376

You can tell that they are not structural because they are finish painted, much like the permanent grey emergency stairs in the front of the picture. I would bet that whatever is moving up and down in the theaters is attached to them.
Click to expand...
Good catch. I wonder if those are the marks indicated in the building on the water permit. If you compare the permit to the blueprints, those little hashes don't match up with the structural framework, so I guess they may be supports for the ride vehicles, and the same ones you pointed out in the construction photo above.
close_details.png
 
rioriz

rioriz

Well-Known Member
180º said:
Like I said earlier, I've been poring over the blueprints lately with nothing to guide me except my own imagination and hints from our esteemed insiders. For the sake of discussion (and for those who can't bear to look at fuzzy blueprints), I'm posting my incomplete interpretation of the plans based on the blueprints, construction photos, and what's been said in this thread lately. Aside from probably being wrong on all counts, I still have SO MANY QUESTIONS.

View attachment 157213

View attachment 157215

View attachment 157216

View attachment 157214

View attachment 157217

Some more notes:
• I didn't bother labeling the backstage areas, though I'm fairly certain what they contain.
• I didn't label what the blueprints call "shafts," but they're the skinny horizontal rectangles in the middle of the building that appear on each level and I'm pretty sure they're for the transportation of 3D glasses from Cleaning on the lower level to Pick-Up on the upper levels.
• Some details from the blueprints don't align with construction photos, namely the exit staircase from Theaters A and B Level 5. In construction photos it looks like just a regular emergency exit stairwell extending the height of the building.
• I may be off on the level placement. Is level 4 really level 3 and level 3, level 2? Is level 5 actually level 4? Etc.
• Does it load on two levels or three? Or just one?
• The ride itself still confounds me. One idea that intrigues me is that rather than running all levels of one theater at a time (à la Soarin'), only one level of ride vehicles is in the ride at a time, while the other level unloads and loads guests. That's roughly the same system used at Tower of Terror in California and Paris. If it's a two-level system, this method could offer the same capacity as running both levels at the same time. If the ride is involved with so many moving screens, possibly props, and other effects, this system could simplify the show quite a bit by reducing the number of vehicles in the show at any given time to half. These reported moving screens could also rise or lower to meet whichever level is about to enter the ride.

Furthermore, what the heck will we ride in? Is it similar enough to the Vekoma system that we will be suspended from above in benches, feet dangling and all? Will the mechanism actually be below us, hoisting us into the sky like Astro Orbiter? Will we mount banshees on the loading platform, or will animatronic banshees appear from pits behind the lower screen after the top section splits? Will the banshees just be part of the projected video? Are there even banshees in the ride? What holds up the ride vehicles? What supports the moving screens?

Offer up your suggestions!
Click to expand...


Wow great individual effort here! Lot's of accurate Imagineering here leading up to your Banshee flight. You will surely have plenty of time to understand the journey you are about to take through a "Poseidon's Fury Like" set up leading to load. Like the exterior of the land, the inside of the show buildings will be top notch.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
rioriz said:
Wow great individual effort here! Lot's of accurate Imagineering here leading up to your Banshee flight. You will surely have plenty of time to understand the journey you are about to take through a "Poseidon's Journey Like" set up leading to load. Like the exterior of the land, the inside of the show buildings will be top notch.
Click to expand...
Do you mean Poseidon's Fury at IoA? If so that sounds incredible with an actual ride attached to it.
 
Slowjack

Slowjack

Well-Known Member
rioriz said:
Sorry, Fury I meant...love the original version of that show much better.

While I cannot confirm an actual human guide throughout the queue/rooms, expect a story to follow as we head towards our banshee. No Soarin' Airport ramps here.
Click to expand...
Do you know anything about what we see on the way out? Looking at @180º 's diagram, which certainly looks reasonable, I'm worried about a "Mission: Space" situation for the people coming out of the southern theaters: a long, unthemed hallway.
 
180º

180º

Well-Known Member
Slowjack said:
Do you know anything about what we see on the way out? Looking at @180º 's diagram, which certainly looks reasonable, I'm worried about a "Mission: Space" situation for the people coming out of the southern theaters: a long, unthemed hallway.
Click to expand...
It's a long hallway, but the blueprints show two labeled "showboxes" along that path, so there may even be a couple of dioramas in addition to theming in the hallway. On the other hand, it would be unusual practice to add scenes to exit walkways. The only such elaborate exit I can think of is Space Mountain 40 years ago.
 
rioriz

rioriz

Well-Known Member
180º said:
It's a long hallway, but the blueprints show two labeled "showboxes" along that path, so there may even be a couple of dioramas in addition to theming in the hallway. On the other hand, it would be unusual practice to add scenes to exit walkways. The only such elaborate exit I can think of is Space Mountain 40 years ago.
Click to expand...

That is as much as I can confirm also...I would not be surprised even if Disney put in one of those (Rhode impression coming in 3...2...1..) "elaborate, truly Pandorian, one of a kind Photo Op Stops where you can purchase a picture to prove you really rode a living, breathing Pandorian Banshee in the through the AHHMazing Floating Mountians and organic Bioluminescent environment that can only be found in Disney Animal Kindgom, Pandora: James Camerons World of Avatar"
 
Slowjack

Slowjack

Well-Known Member
rioriz said:
That is as much as I can confirm also...I would not be surprised even if Disney put in one of those (Rhode impression coming in 3...2...1..) "elaborate, truly Pandorian, one of a kind Photo Op Stops where you can purchase a picture to prove you really rode a living, breathing Pandorian Banshee in the through the AHHMazing Floating Mountians and organic Bioluminescent environment that can only be found in Disney Animal Kindgom, Pandora: James Camerons World of Avatar"
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. And the impression is spot-on, enough that for a moment I worried that your earlobe might come loose.
 
Slowjack

Slowjack

Well-Known Member
180º said:
It's a long hallway, but the blueprints show two labeled "showboxes" along that path, so there may even be a couple of dioramas in addition to theming in the hallway. On the other hand, it would be unusual practice to add scenes to exit walkways. The only such elaborate exit I can think of is Space Mountain 40 years ago.
Click to expand...
Well, the usual solution to the problem has been to avoid long exits. "Showboxes" sounds potentially encouraging, at least.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom