AVATAR land - the specifics

[Next Big Thing]

Fair enough. It will be so awesome if Cameron were to make an appearance. It is important for me to see his involvement with this project. And, Cameron likes to engage the media and press with all of his ongoing commitments, so Avatarland should be no exception.

The D23 Expo is bigger this year than ever before with more eyes on it and more attending. It was the #1 trending topic for much of yesterday in the US on twitter as well. I'd think Cameron want's to get the Avatar BRAND back out there and really sell it, this is his chance. Tomorrow, people all over the country are going to be talking about Avatar for the first time in years.

 

[Siren]

So with 3 sequels in the works, is there any expansion room on the land if the movies see's major success over the course of the three films and it proves itself as a major sci-fi franchise and not just a one-off hit?

Unfortunately, no. Iger was successful in using Avatarland as a mechanism tool to leverage Lucas into selling Star Wars for a feasible amount. Now, that Disney owns Star Wars outright, I can't imagine them investing an additional cent more into Avatarland. At this point, I just hope Disney is not cutting things, like the boat ride.

The D23 Expo is bigger this year than ever before with more eyes on it and more attending. It was the #1 trending topic for much of yesterday in the US on twitter as well. I'd think Cameron want's to get the Avatar BRAND back out there and really sell it, this is his chance. Tomorrow, people all over the country are going to be talking about Avatar for the first time in years.

I sure hope so! When you put it that way, it does sound exciting -- can't wait for more details.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Unfortunately, no. Iger was successful in using Avatarland as a mechanism tool to leverage Lucas into selling Star Wars for a feasible amount. Now, that Disney owns Star Wars outright, I can't imagine them investing an additional cent more into Avatarland. At this point, I just hope Disney is not cutting things, like the boat ride.

I'm pretty sure the boat ride is still there from what I see in the model and they even mention a "canoe ride" or something of the sort in the promo video.

As for potential to expand in the future... yes, they're going to be building Star Wars Land. However, if down the line Avatar is a major Sci-fi franchise, there could be incentive to adding an additional ride if they see demand is there.

I mean, they're spending all this money to put this IP in the park, it's not like this is something they can just tear on out quickly if the sequels fail. So on the flip side, if it does really well, why not invest in it again (as long as the movies see continued success) if it's going to be a permanent fixture to the park?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I have a feeling that Avatar 2 will be the biggest flop in cinema history. But I'm probably the only one who thinks that. So, we'll see.

 

[Next Big Thing]

I have a feeling that Avatar 2 will be the biggest flop in cinema history. But I'm probably the only one who thinks that. So, we'll see.

I personally think waiting so long between films will help it. Cameron knows how to get the hype machine rolling for films and people are going to be a little nostalgic tbh by the time the movie comes out. Even people who don't really pay much attention to this stuff know Avatar is the highest grossing film in history... people will be interested in how good it is for that simple fact alone. I think reviews will play a big factor into it (the way I look at reviews is I don't read them, but if I look at Rotten Tomatoes and see it's got a low score, i'm probably not seeing the movie).

Point is: The movie may suck, but I highly doubt it grosses less than $1.5B just off hype alone. Age of Ultron was pretty mediocre to bad imo and it still got all the way up to $1.5B... pretty much all off of hype. And you have to consider the movie did gangbusters overseas too.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Oh, and @Siren, if you had any doubts about the boat ride, i'd put them away:

 

[Steel City Magic]

Maybe the big surprise is that disney bought DC and ACE expeditions is really a ploy by ACE chemicals... sorry, haven't slept. The anticipation for P&R is killing me!

 

[danlb_2000]

We'll see. It's so hard for me to believe that Cameron would find this model presentable for public display.

Why do you think he would have a problem with it, it's a beautiful model and likely a very accurate representation of what is being built.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Is there a nasty rumor going around that Pandora might not open till 2018? The model looks impressive - a lot bigger than what I thought it would turn out. I guess we find out more tomorrow"

Disney continues to say 2017. I would accept their assessment. Unless there is a problem with ride tech, there is no way the fully-enclosed ride building with rock work being applied takes another 3 years to open. Not even on Disney time scale. Granted, there is some new technology here, so it could always pull a Test Track. But Disney wouldn't know that is going to happen until sometime next year when they start testing the ride system.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Disney continues to say 2017. I would accept their assessment. Unless there is a problem with ride tech, there is no way the fully-enclosed ride building with rock work being applied takes another 3 years to open. Not even on Disney time scale. Granted, there is some new technology here, so it could always pull a Test Track. But Disney wouldn't know that is going to happen until sometime next year when they start testing the ride system.

I'm hearing late 2017 is possible, but not likely. Early 2018 is a safer bet. Apparently, wiring a jungle to glow is tedious.

 

[danlb_2000]

I'm hearing late 2017 is possible, but not likely. Early 2018 is a safer bet. Apparently, wiring a jungle to glow is tedious.

This is the one thing that I could see that would stretch out the construction. Every part of this land has to look alien, meaning that they can't just plant a bunch of trees and be done with the landscaping. A lot of this is going to have to be artificial and designed to look alien. If there are going to do a lot of the bio-luminescent effects then that would make the process even more complex.

 

[flyerjab]

Regarding Cameron being there or not, it has no bearing on me whatsoever. I believe that I saw some tweets with photos of Joe Rohde and Jon Landau at the Avatar model. Jon has been very heavily involved with this project from Cameron's team and I believe really is the main point of contact now for the expansion project. He would be ideal considering he has worked on several movies projects with Cameron, including Avatar.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Yeah, wouldn't be surpsied if Landau sort of steps in for Cameron at the presentation.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I bet there will be a short Cameron video presentation.

 

[MagicGoofy]

Avatar and shanghai will take up most of the panel, so expect a lot of stuff coming out of it. including probably a new video, more concept art, some details on the attractions and maybe even attraction names.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Avatar and shanghai will take up most of the panel, so expect a lot of stuff coming out of it. including probably a new video, more concept art, some details on the attractions and maybe even attraction names.

I think there's a decent chance we get an announcement of two new cruise ships...

 

[flyerjab]

I bet there will be a short Cameron video presentation.

That would not surprise me either. Especially now since the debut of the 2nd Avatar film seems to be lining up with the opening of this park expansion. He could use this opportunity for some advertising.

 

[WDWLover#1]

Yeah, wouldn't be surpsied if Landau sort of steps in for Cameron at the presentation.

Wasn't that Landau in the film they're showing at the expo?

 

[Next Big Thing]

Wasn't that Landau in the film they're showing at the expo?

Yep

 

[danlb_2000]

Wasn't that Landau in the film they're showing at the expo?

t looks like him.