AVATAR land - the specifics

[Beholder]

Perhaps I should have put "winning" in quotes . . . I was just continuing with the boxing metaphor jt04 had set up, not implying that there is some contest to be won between WDW and Universal. I do feel that currently, the show quality standards being met by Universal's new attractions exceeds those of Walt Disney World, which I find unfortunate. Ultimately, what matters to me as a customer is where I feel my money is better spent. I feel my money is
better spent taking me to a place where I can experience the best in
beautifully designed and well maintained attractions, shows and theming.
Because of this I have been trending toward Disneyland in recent years
rather than Walt Disney World.


Does Walt Disney World have more to do than Disneyland and Universal
Studios? Yes, but for my money I'd prefer quality over quantity. I'm still
happy to give my dollars to the Walt Disney Company (hence why I've been
visiting Disneyland instead of Universal Studios Florida, even though it's
slightly less convenient for me to get to. I find the hassle to be worth it in
the end) because I feel when Disney is "swinging for the fences" they
achieve a result that I prefer to that of Universal.


WDW is not playing their best "game", and I see it as a customer. WDW
history and present Disneyland shows that the Walt Disney Company has a
better product to offer their theme parks than the one they are currently
putting out in Florida. Until they start offering that product there, I'll go
where I can get it.


Perhaps that's what bothers me the most. I KNOW Disney can do better, offer a superior product, but, they choose not to. Do I consider them the best. Yep, but I don't think (for whatever reason's) that they are creating the greatest, most innovative attractions/rides that they are VERY capable of. Wether it's lack of "political" will or general "vision", it's telling. Disney set this standard years ago, they grew this level of expectation with their execution of (maintained) quality and attention to detail. I don't what to see anyone beat Disney at their game, but sometimes, they get to play second fiddle to the competition. I love WDW, I just know what they are capable of.

Hope I didn't keep you waiting all that long for my response . . . rest assured that I'll be here for as long as I feel I have something to add to the conversation.

 

[jt04]

Good Gawd. I swear you only see things the way YOU want to see them. This says absolutely nothing about any new timetable for the films. The films are still in limbo. That doesn't mean, as I said in post earlier, that Cameron won't continue on development of the films – only that they haven't gone into production yet and are still years away from filming.

As for the article, it's from Superherohype.com and is from this morning. The reason it's a "game-changer" (that you missed completely) is that it means marine life may be coming to AK.

That is not what he said in the Empire Online article. Sounds like filming is set to commence quite soon.

Marine life would be welcome even if it is virtual reality. Like.

 

[marni1971]

Someone made the accusation then that you brought him here. On second thought it could have been EE or Martin even. I remember someone specifically saying they encouraged him to start posting here. I thought you, Epcot Explorer and spirit were all fanboys from somewhere in south Florida and had some personal connection.

Definately not me.

 

[Lee]

Someone made the accusation then that you brought him here. On second thought it could have been EE or Martin even. I remember someone specifically saying they encouraged him to start posting here. I thought you, Epcot Explorer and spirit were all fanboys from somewhere in south Florida and had some personal connection.

Yeah, I count both those guys as friends,but none of us knew each other until we were all posting here.

(As for South Florida, I have fled from there, Spirit is a bi-coastal and multi-dimensional spirit, leaving EE to represent down there.)

 

[tomman710]

Nobody wants to step up and claim responsibility for bringing him here. But I know someone did. Love the irony.

Maybe the spirit will tell us.

Who cares what brought him here? We all come here for talk and maybe mostly for insider information, he provides that ... actually he provides both.

I for one am glad he is here ... at least he can provide us with actual information (edit: not something he read off the internet) and I enjoy his love/realist take on WDW.

 

[Lee]

Spirit came here of his own accord after hearing others talk about some of us.
(Namely myself, Corrus and Martin)

He wasn't brought, he sought us out, and the boards immediately became all the better for it.

 

[wm49rs]

Spirit came here of his own accord after hearing others talk about some of us.
(Namely myself, Corrus and Martin)

He wasn't brought, he sought us out, and the boards immediately became all the better for it.

A fact I'm sure he will soon discover with his superior "research" skills....

 

[Lee]

Sorry but I specifically remember someone claiming credit for inviting him here. It is no coincidence he showed up right at the peak of the PI/AC controversy.

Oh, I have no doubt someone may have taken credit. But at most it was a matter of someone telling him that there were some intelligent, knowledgable and informative folks here (the three mentioned earlier).

And it was absolutely a coincidence that he started posting during the AC/PI mess. No agenda there. He has little more than a passing interest in that subject.

 

[jt04]

Oh, I have no doubt someone may have taken credit. But at most it was a matter of someone telling him that there were some intelligent, knowledgable and informative folks here (the three mentioned earlier).

And it was absolutely a coincidence that he started posting during the AC/PI mess. No agenda there. He has little more than a passing interest in that subject.[/i]

Perhaps someone will step up and admit claiming credit. If they are still here.

Moving on.

 

[The Mom]

Perhaps someone will step up and admit claiming credit. If they are still here.

Moving on.

I did it!

 

[unkadug]

I did it!

I was just trying to respond to a post...I couldn't for the life of me understand why i kept getting an error message....Now I understand!

 

[menamechris]

8 days until the 1-year anniversary of Avatar being announced. Woohoo!

 

[Taylor]

8 days until the 1-year anniversary of Avatar being announced. Woohoo!

And still have learned nothing new

 

[SleepingMonk]

Marine life represented in any form would be a game changer...Of course it would all depend on the execution...

Welcome to the oceans of Pandora...we've made some changes due to budget concerns and toned down the intensity to fit our target demo....behold the wonder.....and be sure to stop by our meet & greet with our Pandora princesses.

 

[M.rudolf]

So I just read that Avatar 4 is going to be a prequel to the first 3. We already read that the 4th was going to be delayed and not shot at the same time as 2 and 3 like it was originally going to be. Could it be that Disney said we are not going to wait around for you to finish your Avatar story to get started on the new land so finish up the story in 2 more movies that will be release about the time we finish the land. So, Cameron decided the fourth movie would be a prequel that would not change the end of the story. Would Disney have that much influence on Cameron?

No one influences cameron when it comes to these type of things, if Disney tried he'd spite them somehow. Avatar is in flux due to Disney and Cameron not seeing eye to eye on numerous things. Scope being the number one thing. Also time is another problem. How does Cameron balance this with the movies, conservation work, family and his other duties with lightstorm? His hands on approach can be a help and a hinderence. He's probably wearing himself thin. I remember before titanic And avatar where released how many people said the films would flop. They didn't, so I still have faith that Cameron can pull all this off. The reason for not shooting the fourth film back to back is due to the delay it would cause filming the other two. The scripts aren't finished on those so adding another would cause an additional delay. Also the fourth being a prequel it may not benefit a back to back to back shoot. If Cameron does not gets what he wants artistically from Disney he will walk and not look back. He will not half this and that's a great thing. If it is built it will be one of the best things in a Disney park. Cutting edge the technology will be amazing

 

[M.rudolf]

I specifically pointed out that financing for the film may be the hold up for the films. Please remember that the only source for the rumor are our local "experts" who, for the most part, never liked the idea of the franchise coming to WDW in the first place. The same "experts" also universally critisize anything and everything happening at WDW. They want one thing and that is management heads to roll at TDO. Lee brought the spirit here after the AC closed for that specific purpose and he has said as much on several occasions. Everything coming from them must be taken with a grain of salt when discussing WDW.


Hmmm. So are you now backtracking? Was this a recent quote? Can you provide the source article? Is an apology in order? Will the people who said the films are in limbo apologize to us and screamscape?

And at least Cameron has admitted he is on a mission now and his films are propaganda to influence people's thinking. He sounds noble but I think the "consensus" in the scientific community that man causes or can do anything about theorized warming is in more and more dispute.

And just to add, the real threat to the oceans, in my opinion, is what gets dumped into rivers by nations who can't afford or refuse to keep their waterways clean.

Financing for the films is in place,that's not the issue. The hold up is the scripts aren't finished. Avatar 2/3 probably won't begin shooting till 2014 with a release date of Christmas 2016. I have never seen Spirit or Lee ask for heads to roll. I believe they both want a positive change for the parks and for the Disney company in general. How can you say they should be taken with a grain of salt at least they have insider info. The only info you have is from the deductions you make from guys like Lee and Wd74. Please don't belittle the sources we do have here,maybe one day they won't share the info they have and they will be missed. I promise you that avatar won't begin shooting before fall 2013. Due to the fact weta is booked solid until then. That's not a rumor that's a fact. With hobbit now being three films and using the soundstages that avatar will be using, that's the proof you need to prove that avatar is in limbo. The first avatar took over 7 years from start to finish. If the 2 films are shot back to back how long do you think it will take to complete these

 

[M.rudolf]

Long live the spirit

 

[Ignohippo]

Financing for the films is in place,that's not the issue. The hold up is the scripts aren't finished. Avatar 2/3 probably won't begin shooting till 2014 with a release date of Christmas 2016. I have never seen Spirit or Lee ask for heads to roll. I believe they both want a positive change for the parks and for the Disney company in general. How can you say they should be taken with a grain of salt at least they have insider info. The only info you have is from the deductions you make from guys like Lee and Wd74. Please don't belittle the sources we do have here,maybe one day they won't share the info they have and they will be missed. I promise you that avatar won't begin shooting before fall 2013. Due to the fact weta is booked solid until then. That's not a rumor that's a fact. With hobbit now being three films and using the soundstages that avatar will be using, that's the proof you need to prove that avatar is in limbo. The first avatar took over 7 years from start to finish. If the 2 films are shot back to back how long do you think it will take to complete these

Great post. As I understand it however, the special effects (and costs) are at the core issue. The scripts are still being worked on because there's no rush – they can't get the movies into production now regardless, so Cameron's using the additional time for additional development, design and fine-tuning the screenplay.

 

[Beholder]

It's to bad that Disney seems to be the recipient of this "backlash", if you will, of the Avatar movie delays. Cameron, being the property owner, dictates when, if, and how any theme park attraction will be (if) implemented. Maybe a little more thought and research should've went into this "partnership" before it was announced. Cameron could, I imagine, care very little about any theme park tie in, while Disney looks kind of foolish. Again, not their fault, but maybe some forward thinking and a little self reliance (in house property) would have prevented this. Just my thoughts on it.

 

[janoimagine]

Disney has great ideas of their own that do not rely on Cameron and his IP ... Why Staggs and Iger thought this was better route to go is beyond me.