AVATAR land construction progress

[msteel]

Haven't people been saying that the banshee ride will load on multiple (3?) levels? That would be consistent with having the boat ride on the lower level and banshee queue above it.

Yeah. What @danlb_2000 said.

 

[Master Yoda]

Here are the relevant plans:

One that has part of boat ride

One that has queue

They look like the same footprint to me, just at different levels. But I'm no expert.

I think you are correct in that they are at different levels with the boat ride being the lower level and the queue being the upper level.

If someone has a link to the full pages and not the small snapshots, I should be able confirm this.

 

[danlb_2000]

Also note that the boat ride level has many doors along the edge of the building which would make sense if it was on the lower level.

 

[doctornick]

Haven't people been saying that the banshee ride will load on multiple (3?) levels? That would be consistent with having the boat ride on the lower level and banshee queue above it.

Yeah. What @danlb_2000 said.

I thought that as well -- might even enable a cool integration with people in the Banshee queue being able to see some of the scenes for the boat ride.

My question would then be -- how do guests get to the upper level for the queue then? Is Pandora as a land going to be designed where the regular guest ground is technically the second floor (as is the case with the Utilidors and MK)? That would enable the "real" ground level to be the bottom of the Banshee ride and the show building of the boat ride. But you enter the rides on floor 2 (I would think that in that case, the boat ride would have a drop like POTC to get to the level of the show building). I would think this would make it easier to load for the Banshee ride since you start off above the ground when you get into the queue.

Also, if the queue for the Banshee ride is above the show building for the boat ride, then it would make even more sense that they would build the rides simultaneously and open together. Otherwise, are they going to be constructing the boat ride when guests are walking in the same structure?

Edit: I'd also note from looking at the plans that the stairwells line up perfectly which is further suggesting that the queue and the boat ride pathway are different levels of the same building.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

I think you are correct in that they are at different levels with the boat ride being the lower level and the queue being the upper level.

If someone has a link to the full pages and not the small snapshots, I should be able confirm this.

Agreed, larger images would be helpful.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

I would say that the queue it's above the boat ride. You will notice that there are stair cases all around the queue which would probably be emergency exits back to ground level.

I think you are correct in that they are at different levels with the boat ride being the lower level and the queue being the upper level.

If someone has a link to the full pages and not the small snapshots, I should be able confirm this.

In that case, what would the "zig zaggy" lines be above the queue in the black and white drawing?

 

[doctornick]

In that case, what would the "zig zaggy" lines be above the queue in the black and white drawing?

If you mean the area in the upper right corner of the B&W drawing, that is the queue.

If you look at a larger picture (hope this works), you can see how a straighter more direct queue on the left side (next to where the theater is for the Banshee ride) connects with the circuitous queue and it is labelled "merge" suggesting that is where the longer standby line joins with the shorter more direct FP+ line.

 

[danlb_2000]

I thought that as well -- might even enable a cool integration with people in the Banshee queue being able to see some of the scenes for the boat ride.

My question would then be -- how do guests get to the upper level for the queue then? Is Pandora as a land going to be designed where the regular guest ground is technically the second floor (as is the case with the Utilidors and MK)? That would enable the "real" ground level to be the bottom of the Banshee ride and the show building of the boat ride. But you enter the rides on floor 2 (I would think that in that case, the boat ride would have a drop like POTC to get to the level of the show building). I would think this would make it easier to load for the Banshee ride since you start off above the ground when you get into the queue.

Also, if the queue for the Banshee ride is above the show building for the boat ride, then it would make even more sense that they would build the rides simultaneously and open together. Otherwise, are they going to be constructing the boat ride when guests are walking in the same structure?

If they are trying to make this like the flying experience in the movie then the multiple level's make sense since the characters in the movie had to a actually climb to get to where the banshees were. The boat ride seems to be sunken down a little based on the aerial photos so I could see the actual ground level being half way up the first level, and then some ramps to get you to the second. I really hope most of the access to the other levels is via ramps and not stairs which I find very awkward in a queue.

I always assumed that the basic structure of the boat ride would be built at the same time as the flying ride, but that still doesn't mean that they will finish the boat ride at the same time as the rest of the land.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

If you mean the area in the upper right corner of the B&W drawing, that is the queue.

If you look at a larger picture (hope this works), you can see how a straighter more direct queue on the left side (next to where the theater is for the Banshee ride) connects with the circuitous queue and it is labelled "merge" suggesting that is where the longer standby line joins with the shorter more direct FP+ line.

Ahh it's much clearer on that image. I see how it's the same "line." Thanks.

 

[Master Yoda]

In that case, what would the "zig zaggy" lines be above the queue in the black and white drawing?

The stair cases can be seen in the colored drawing. There is one in the upper left and the area is not colored so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

The stair cases can be seen in the colored drawing. There is one in the upper left and the area is not colored so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I was referring to the squiggly queue area; I can see it now on the bigger image.

 

[chiefs11]

Looking at that larger image, it looks to me like the direct queue (Fastpass lane) actually has two lanes. Possibly a single riders line maybe? or would that be for disabled access? or just a dual laned fastpass line...?

 

[nepalostparks]

http://www.pixelsattheparks.com/2015/01/05/vertical-construction-at-avatar-land-at-animal-kingdom/

Thanks for sharing the link to my story

 

[doctornick]

I would say that the queue it's above the boat ride. You will notice that there are stair cases all around the queue which would probably be emergency exits back to ground level.

So, going along with this and looking closely at the pictures, there appears to be a rectangular area within the Banshee queue that the queue pathway goes around. If indeed the Banshee queue is on a level above indoor part of the boat ride, it looks like this rectangular area might be open to allow people in the queue to look down at a show scene for the boat ride.

Does that seem right to anyone else?

 

[Tom]

Here's a question: on the leaked blueprints, the one image has what appears to be a queue on it to the side of the show building for the E-ticket:

The queue appears to be in the same footprint at the boat ride show building (unless that is just the plan orientation and it is actually on the far side of the E-ticket show building from the water ride). If the queue is indeed on the same footprint as the boat ride, is it above or below the ride? Whether it is above or below, each would seem to have unnecessary problems.

Anyone who is better at reading these things want to comment?

I would say that the queue it's above the boat ride. You will notice that there are stair cases all around the queue which would probably be emergency exits back to ground level.

Haven't people been saying that the banshee ride will load on multiple (3?) levels? That would be consistent with having the boat ride on the lower level and banshee queue above it.

Yeah. What @danlb_2000 said.

E-ticket queue is above a portion of the C-ticket boat ride. Boat ride is at grade (ground level) with a 2-story-ish tall show building. Queue is above that.

Since that portion of the queue is flat, I'm assuming it ramps up through the mountain on the outside of the building, or at least north of the extent of these plans.

Queue for E-ticket enters that show building around the "3rd floor" height. From there, guests are distributed up and down to the various boarding levels of the simulator ride.

And from everything I've been able to tell, guests exit the simulator ride via multi-story staircases (which can be seen at the quadrants of the building). There is no evidence of long down ramps, but there are elevators for those who are not ambulatory.

Sort of like the Aladdin show at DCA.

 

[Atomicmickey]

I would hope that all this up and down the staircase stuff is heavily themed, for one. Does anyone else think it's a bit odd that Disney would have it's frequently stroller and ECV equipped audience mounting multiple stairwells to get to an attraction? I can't get my mind around it. Even if there are elevators . . .

I can get the idea of 'climbing the rocks to get to the Banshees' in concept--and it wouldn't bother me to do so, but I am interested to see how they deal with it.

What other Disney attractions require a lot of stairs? Hmm. A little at Splash Mountain, a little at Big Thunder . . . what else?

 

[EdC]

Thanks for sharing the link to my story

From your photos, it looks like there is space for 5 levels currently.

 

[Zac Skellington]

I would hope that all this up and down the staircase stuff is heavily themed, for one. Does anyone else think it's a bit odd that Disney would have it's frequently stroller and ECV equipped audience mounting multiple stairwells to get to an attraction? I can't get my mind around it. Even if there are elevators . . .

I can get the idea of 'climbing the rocks to get to the Banshees' in concept--and it wouldn't bother me to do so, but I am interested to see how they deal with it.

What other Disney attractions require a lot of stairs? Hmm. A little at Splash Mountain, a little at Big Thunder . . . what else?

I don't really care. This isn't the Magic Kingdom, keep the strollers away! Gringotts uses stairs, and it's wonderful.

 

[Tom]

I would hope that all this up and down the staircase stuff is heavily themed, for one. Does anyone else think it's a bit odd that Disney would have it's frequently stroller and ECV equipped audience mounting multiple stairwells to get to an attraction? I can't get my mind around it. Even if there are elevators . . .

I can get the idea of 'climbing the rocks to get to the Banshees' in concept--and it wouldn't bother me to do so, but I am interested to see how they deal with it.

What other Disney attractions require a lot of stairs? Hmm. A little at Splash Mountain, a little at Big Thunder . . . what else?

I agree that it's odd. I can't say for sure that there won't be exit ramps, but on those plans we all saw, there was no evidence of any....just lots of wide staircases outside each theater.

 

[JohnWD]

I would hope that all this up and down the staircase stuff is heavily themed, for one. Does anyone else think it's a bit odd that Disney would have it's frequently stroller and ECV equipped audience mounting multiple stairwells to get to an attraction? I can't get my mind around it. Even if there are elevators . . .

I can get the idea of 'climbing the rocks to get to the Banshees' in concept--and it wouldn't bother me to do so, but I am interested to see how they deal with it.

What other Disney attractions require a lot of stairs? Hmm. A little at Splash Mountain, a little at Big Thunder . . . what else?

Soarin has a 40 inch height requirement so I don't think its a problem with limited stroller access. For wheelchairs I expect enough throughput from wheelchair friendly lines.