AVATAR land - the specifics

[Bairstow]

Is each seat on its own arm or is the entire row of 8 attached to one arm? It blows my mind to possibly think that each rider has its own motion system for a show of this size.

I've read conflicting reports, but the most credible explanation is that the individual seats have some limited rocking motion (among other embedded effects), but the macro motion including all rolling motion will be done for the entire row.

 

[Phroobar]

It would be nice if you could control your Banshee on screen. Maybe have dogfights with the other people in your group.

 

[Incomudro]

So you sit on a tron bike attached to an arm that puts you in front of a imax screen where you watch a set of eight Banshees flying in a CG world with no control over them. It's basically just Soarin' while sitting in an uncomfortable position. I think I would have liked the Super Hang On bikes better.

You can oversimplify any ride experience if you want to dumb it down.
Pirates is just a boat ride through a building with animatronics.

 

[CosmicPrincess]

I like how there's so much criticism of FoP for possibly being too simplistic as if we have the opportunity to ride something of this caliber in our every day lives. I know it's Disney so expectations are high but come on! We get to act and feel like we're riding dragons! That's not exactly a run of the mill experience!

 

[Bolt]

You can oversimplify any ride experience if you want to dumb it down.
Pirates is just a boat ride through a building with animatronics.

Space Mountain is a lazy coaster since there's no lights or props for most of it. I rather ride something at a fair where I can see stuff and junk.

 

[Incomudro]

Space Mountain is a lazy coaster since there's no lights or props for most of it. I rather ride something at a fair where I can see stuff and junk.

I kid you not, I've got an arrogant brother in law - thinks he's a big shot - who dismissed PotC as simply "a boat ride."

 

[MisterPenguin]

I'm imagining something a bit more strenuous than 'gentle rocking' if they have restraints forcing your back and legs to stay where they are.

 

[BubbaQuest]

Interestingly, in both lands the guest becomes the fictional character.
In Diagon Alley, you can acquire gear and training to become a wizard.
In flight of passage, you get transferred into a half-na'vi body.

...now that I think of it, how does that work exactly? If in flight of passage we jump right into an avatar body as it begins to go through a banshee-riding coming-of-age ritual, who was the poor schlub who had to do the hard work of climbing the mountain in those bodies and wrangling onto a wild banshee, just to hop out when the fun part starts?

And how are there enough Avatar bodies up there to ensure a compatible DNA match with all the guests Alpha Centauri Expeditions wants to accommodate? Do they keep a big pile of them sleeping up on the mountain, stacked up like cordwood? Do they have to pay some Na'vi to shoo away all the banshees that try to eat them? Is there a big conveyor belt set up to return all the Avatar bodies to the top of the mountain once the guests are done with them, like at a tube slide at a water park?

So reading through all these reports, if I understand correctly....I'm a tourist at a tourist trap but on another planet? Kind of like those Gator parks in Florida, but better cause it's in space. But unlike the gator parks, the only gators I can see are in a 3D simulator and maybe one singing at the end of a 4 minute boat ride?

And when I leave all this, I can get a green beer and call it a day? Transformative!

 

[180º]

Anyone seen this? If true, FOP would have around 60-80k resolution. That sounds excessive.

 

[Phroobar]

I like how there's so much criticism of FoP for possibly being too simplistic as if we have the opportunity to ride something of this caliber in our every day lives. I know it's Disney so expectations are high but come on! We get to act and feel like we're riding dragons! That's not exactly a run of the mill experience!

But we are NOT ON a dragon. We are on a bike. Why couldn't they have made a ride vehicle that looked like a dragon with a harness that holds eight people? It could be animated and fly in front of a screen. Here we have Soarin' in an uncomfortable third person position. We are not ON a dragon. We watch from behind. Or even worst we are in a first person position with no dragon on screen. This sounds no different from Back to the Future but on bikes.

 

[Casper Gutman]

So reading through all these reports, if I understand correctly....I'm a tourist at a tourist trap but on another planet? Kind of like those Gator parks in Florida, but better cause it's in space. But unlike the gator parks, the only gators I can see are in a 3D simulator and maybe one singing at the end of a 4 minute boat ride?

And when I leave all this, I can get a green beer and call it a day? Transformative!

So it's Dinoland in space!

 

[bhg469]

I like how there's so much criticism of FoP for possibly being too simplistic as if we have the opportunity to ride something of this caliber in our every day lives. I know it's Disney so expectations are high but come on! We get to act and feel like we're riding dragons! That's not exactly a run of the mill experience!

I have a feeling the restraints are more to simulate the animals movement and breathing and less to keep you in the ride. Somewhat like the "restraints" on stitch..

We were told that you would feel this animal beneath you. This is probably a way to make sure you are properly in position to feel the bladders or actuators.

 

[bhg469]

Anyone seen this? If true, FOP would have around 60-80k resolution. That sounds excessive.

View attachment 202296

It is... He may be exaggerating or misusing the terminology.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Anyone seen this? If true, FOP would have around 60-80k resolution. That sounds excessive.

View attachment 202296

It is... He may be exaggerating or misusing the terminology.

Could it be the total of the two alternating frames for the 3D effect? If so, divide by 2.

 

[Incomudro]

But we are NOT ON a dragon. We are on a bike. Why couldn't they have made a ride vehicle that looked like a dragon with a harness that holds eight people? It could be animated and fly in front of a screen. Here we have Soarin' in an uncomfortable third person position. We are not ON a dragon. We watch from behind. Or even worst we are in a first person position with no dragon on screen. This sounds no different from Back to the Future but on bikes.

If they put you on the back of something that looked like a dragon, would it have been more realistic?
They couldn't have used flexible skins, because people would tear them up and destroy them.
So, they would have had to use something like fiberglass and paint it.
So much for the realistic feel of being on the back of an animal.
I'm certain this was all thought out by the imagineers.
What would work, what wouldn't, how best to convey they experience and explain how the guest participates in the flight.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

But we are NOT ON a dragon. We are on a bike. Why couldn't they have made a ride vehicle that looked like a dragon with a harness that holds eight people? It could be animated and fly in front of a screen. Here we have Soarin' in an uncomfortable third person position. We are not ON a dragon. We watch from behind. Or even worst we are in a first person position with no dragon on screen. This sounds no different from Back to the Future but on bikes.

The entire conceit of the movie is that humans are interacting with Pandora by use of link through Avatars.

Maybe it sounds less fun on paper than just hopping on the back of a flying beast, but the idea in the movie and on the ride is that once you link the experience of operating the Avatar feels no different than it would if you were living it yourself.

Haven't been on the ride, so I can't say how well that plays or how good it is, but building a ride where you hop directly on the back of a Banshee ride vehicle would skip the entire premise of the movie (for better or worse).

 

[MisterPenguin]

The entire conceit of the movie is that humans are interacting with Pandora by use of link through Avatars.

Indeed, it seems part of the queue is geared toward that and I think it may have a feature where your face is blended with a Na'vi.

If it doesn't, then you can get that done in the store. There's a machine that photographs you, blends it in with a Na'vi face, and you can get that 3D printed.

Funny how the use of avatars is featured in Avatar Land.

 

[jmmc]

Yeah, TSL is just... there. It represents a lot of negative trends at WDW and missed potential in the MGM redo, so people (and me) will grumble, but it never held any promise. Avatar did, and I actually think its realized quite a bit of it, so the spots where it missed or cut corners are more obvious and grating.

Now, if SWL isn't a grand slam, Potter Swatter, best-of-all-timer... THEN people will erupt.

Agreed. They way they've been talking about Star Wars Land, they really have to knock it out of the park. If all they say it true about it, then I think it could.

 

[danlb_2000]

Ready for downvotes: This new land, and their attractions, are completely disappointing and half-assed other than the landscaping.

Have you ridden Flight of Passage?

 

[danlb_2000]

No. I don't have to. it's Soarin' 2.0. Period. That's awful.

So you are saying no ride where you sit in front of a large screen can ever be a good ride?