AVATAR land - the specifics

[Beholder]

Between James Cameron and Peter Jackson, I'd much rather see what comes out of Jackson's detail oriented brain.

I'd probably add Guillermo del Toronto that list.

It would interesting to see Disney take a little known resource, the book, and grab some ideas that way. Pan, Winnie the Pooh, most of the faerie tales all started as written stories long before they were films. I get that maximum exposure comes from film (and now Internet) but there is really an endless supply of material to generate amazing themes or attractions from. And if licensing is the issue, well, money talks. Be nice to see interest generated in a novel for a change. Another reason J. Carter was a blown opportunity.

 

[marni1971]

Wow. 24, 60fps, 120mhz?

And I was hoping PAL v NTSC was long gone! Those figures mean nothing over here!

 

[Master Yoda]

Wow. 24, 60fps, 120mhz?

And I was hoping PAL v NTSC was long gone! Those figures mean nothing over here!

Fps is a very big deal in the video game portion of my life. 60 fps or greater seems to be the ideal that everyone shoots for. I know that there is a noticeable difference in a game running 24 fps vs 60 fps. I could only assume that the same would be true under similar conditions for a movie.

 

[The MaD Hatter]

I was re-watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland over the weekend, and thought to myself that I'd much rather see a land themed to Underland than Avatar's Pandora. Not that either would really belong in the AK though.

 

[FabulousFigment]

I was re-watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland over the weekend, and thought to myself that I'd much rather see a land themed to Underland than Avatar's Pandora. Not that either would really belong in the AK though.

That would be really cool. It would bring in mythical creatures with the whole bandersnatch and Jabberwlkie (sp?). Haha, bit of a stretch but sounds great!

 

[The MaD Hatter]

That would be really cool. It would bring in mythical creatures with the whole bandersnatch and Jabberwlkie (sp?). Haha, bit of a stretch but sounds great!

Yep, and at least it would feel more like Disney and not just a knee-jerk reaction to Harry Potter.

 

[baymenxpac]

I was re-watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland over the weekend, and thought to myself that I'd much rather see a land themed to Underland than Avatar's Pandora. Not that either would really belong in the AK though.

eh. i feel like we should all just say, "i really wish disney would build a really cool, immersive land that they've proven they're capable of when they're motivated so that i wouldn't have to keep looking over at universe with angst and wondering why the so-called second fiddle is doing better stuff than the company i prefer."

whether it's pandora, star wars, LOTR, underworld, beastly kingdom, heck i'll take a freakin' duckberg if it's done right.

 

[fbp]

I was re-watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland over the weekend, and thought to myself that I'd much rather see a land themed to Underland than Avatar's Pandora. Not that either would really belong in the AK though.

Interesting. Personally you'd prefer this, or you think it would be better source material to develop part of a theme park?

 

[dman1373]

i understand why some people dont like this, because they want beastly kingdom there, its not disney, and its bad movie(i agree). And this made me not like the idea at first either. But you have to understand beastly kingdom would be to expensive, and with no brand to build it off of it probably wouldn't wouldn't return the way they want it too. Also plenty of non disney products are in disney world. And finally just because it was a bad movie doesn't mean they would make a bad area out of it. I mean i heard(i never saw it) that song of the south wasn't a good movie, and they made one of the best rides in disney world out of it. And also after this is built it will help the flow of animal kingdom better. It will allow for some major refurbs like finally there will be no more disco yeti. Maybe even a night show will come out of it. I just think that animal kingdom with avatarland would be better than an avatarland without.

And if its the name, i just call it pandora. Its the same thing i do with radiator springs, i just hate the franchiseland names.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Fps is a very big deal in the video game portion of my life. 60 fps or greater seems to be the ideal that everyone shoots for. I know that there is a noticeable difference in a game running 24 fps vs 60 fps. I could only assume that the same would be true under similar conditions for a movie.

I'm also a gamer and I agree with you. I can easily tell the difference between 24-30fps and 60fps. I am fine with 30fps if it's the max available, i've played a lot of games that are that rate, but 60 is definitely ideal and it most definitely makes the experience a joy. 3D can also enhance games nicely as well. I'm not a hater of 3D in the first place like some people are, but playing games in 3D is quite a cool experience.

Most people probably wouldn't even know what you were talking about if you started mentioning framerates. For anyone who wants an example of the difference between a video that runs at 30fps and 60fps, here's a couple of examples (using a game called Rayman Origins)-

30fps trailer (youtube videos are capped at this rate)-


60fps trailer (this site allows higher framerates and this is the rate the game actually runs at)-
http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_rayman_origins_10_ways_to_travel_en-24516_en.html

It's when the framerate drops considerably below the 30 mark that there's some trouble. A low or unstable framerate actually makes me feel physically dizzy and can give me a headache or in some cases nausea. Not to mention it can make my eyes hurt. Having been there in the early polygonal games era and owned systems like Playstation and Nintendo 64, i've had plenty of experience with low framerates. Same effect can be achieved by trying to run games on PC's that are too weak to play them. I recently played the newest Kingdom Hearts game on 3DS. While I really enjoyed the game, it had some very nasty framerate drops. The game is normally supposed to run at 30fps, but the framerate can drop rather tremendously when a lot is happening onscreen. The framerate can dip well into the teens or single digits in the worst scenarios. It's very annoying.

Eh this is all rather offtopic though. Sorry mods.

 

[twebber55]

Yep, and at least it would feel more like Disney and not just a knee-jerk reaction to Harry Potter.

i just dont see how disney choosing avatar 2 years after HP is a knee jerk reaction..sure it had influence

 

[bubbles1812]

i just dont see how disney choosing avatar 2 years after HP is a knee jerk reaction..sure it had influence

Simple. They saw HP was making Universal oodles and oodles of cash, more than probably Universal or Disney ever expected. They also saw attendance at that park rise by a crazy amount and realized, hey, this could actually start to hurt us. What's more, Disney probably knew that a second edition of Potter was coming. (It was in the contract Uni signed that later movies would have to get represented some way and it's not exactly hard to surmise that something so successful would get something big thing). So Disney decided to go out and search for another hottest property they could find and...found Avatar... Without Potter, I guarantee Disney would have never ever given Avatar a look ever. That's why it's still a knee-jerk reaction.

 

[twebber55]

Simple. They saw HP was making Universal oodles and oodles of cash, more than probably Universal or Disney ever expected. They also saw attendance at that park rise by a crazy amount and realized, hey, this could actually start to hurt us. What's more, Disney probably knew that a second edition of Potter was coming. (It was in the contract Uni signed that later movies would have to get represented some way and it's not exactly hard to surmise that something so successful would get something another big thing). So Disney decided to go out and search for another hottest property they could find and...found Avatar... No Potter, I guarantee Disney would have ever given Avatar a look. That's why it's still a knee-jerk reaction.

i get why they did it i just dont see it as a knee jerk reaction 2 YEARS LATER

 

[bubbles1812]

i get why they did it i just dont see it as a knee jerk reaction 2 YEARS LATER

It was a knee jerk response to Potter's success. It was clear Potter was going to be a success but it took a little while to measure that.

Knee jerk:

made or occurring as a predictable and automatic response

I'd say what Disney did fits fairly well in this definition. Yeah, it was two years later but there isn't any talk of "time" in that definition. I said Disney would do something like this easily the first day I found out Potter was announced, not yet even built. It wasn't hard to see that Disney was making a mistake (I guess that's debatable but from a business standpoint...it was really really stupid not to invest. The clearly underestimated how popular Potter could be and the amount of revenue it would generate/impact it would have). I figured they'd try to go find another property of some kind, though I wouldn't have said Avatar for certain. But they were going to have to respond somehow and sought Cameron out, it wasn't the other way around I don't believe right? (Even if they now are dragging their heals on the project to the point that I don't even know if Avatar will get built. But that's TDO for you).

 

[twebber55]

It was a knee jerk response to Potter's success. It was clear Potter was going to be a success but it took a little while to measure that.

Knee jerk:

made or occurring as a predictable and automatic response

I'd say what Disney did fits fairly well in this definition. Yeah, it was two years later but there isn't any talk of "time" in that definition. I said Disney would do something like this easily the first day I found out Potter was announced, not yet even built. It wasn't hard to see that Disney was making a mistake (I guess that's debatable but from a business standpoint...it was really really stupid not to invest. The clearly underestimated how popular Potter could be and the amount of revenue it would generate/impact it would have). I figured they'd try to go find another property of some kind, though I wouldn't have said Avatar for certain. But they were going to have to respond somehow and sought Cameron out, it wasn't the other way around I don't believe right? (Even if they now are dragging their heals on the project to the point that I don't even know if Avatar will get built. But that's TDO for you).

Look i get your point i really do, but when i take two years to make a decision its typically an informed decision....i think they saw the success of HP and realized DAK needed an addition and went with a very immersive environment

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Disney is such a behemoth organization that it takes 2 years for a simple knee jerk reaction.

And, I too, see this as a knee jerk reaction to Potter's success. But remember, it took Disney a year to even catch on that there needs to be a reaction.

 

[themonkeyisthesultan]

Part of the article linked to in the thread about the automation of the monorail system my be relevant to the discussion about Pandora coming to Animal kingdom:

Another new turn lane is planned for Osceola Parkway and Serbeth Road near Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

For those unfamiliar with this intersection, this is where resort busses turn into Animal Kingdom and is also where the stoplight is just before you enter the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

The construction has already started, and basically consists of them widening Sherberth road (the road's name is apparently misspelled in the original article). Anyone can see this going on if they're in the area, it's in a public area.

The odd thing about this is that there are no guest areas down Sherberth Road, it leads to the Maingate area of 192. So, why would Disney widen this road?

Cast members are speculating this may be to make the area easier for construction equipment to enter property, but there may be a bigger reason. The Animal Kingdom costuming building is located on Sherberth Road and it has a HUGE parking lot that only has a very tiny portion that is actually utilized (the vast majority is fenced off and is used for equipment storage and bus driver training). So, it looks like Disney may be planning on moving cast parking from Animal Kingdom's main lot to costuming. This would enable them to use the current cast parking lot as a staging area for construction and for construction crew parking. Once construction is complete, the lot could then be converted to guest parking to keep up with (hopefully) increased attendance.

As an added bonus, the cast member lot is unnamed, so they can name it "Na'vi" or "banshee" or whatever other Pandora creature they feel like naming it after.

 

[twebber55]

Part of the article linked to in the thread about the automation of the monorail system my be relevant to the discussion about Pandora coming to Animal kingdom:

Another new turn lane is planned for Osceola Parkway and Serbeth Road near Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

For those unfamiliar with this intersection, this is where resort busses turn into Animal Kingdom and is also where the stoplight is just before you enter the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

The construction has already started, and basically consists of them widening Sherberth road (the road's name is apparently misspelled in the original article). Anyone can see this going on if they're in the area, it's in a public area.

The odd thing about this is that there are no guest areas down Sherberth Road, it leads to the Maingate area of 192. So, why would Disney widen this road?

Cast members are speculating this may be to make the area easier for construction equipment to enter property, but there may be a bigger reason. The Animal Kingdom costuming building is located on Sherberth Road and it has a HUGE parking lot that only has a very tiny portion that is actually utilized (the vast majority is fenced off and is used for equipment storage and bus driver training). So, it looks like Disney may be planning on moving cast parking from Animal Kingdom's main lot to costuming. This would enable them to use the current cast parking lot as a staging area for construction and for construction crew parking. Once construction is complete, the lot could then be converted to guest parking to keep up with (hopefully) increased attendance.

As an added bonus, the cast member lot is unnamed, so they can name it "Na'vi" or "banshee" or whatever other Pandora creature they feel like naming it after.

that is interesting

 

[Alektronic]

Cast members are speculating this may be to make the area easier for construction equipment to enter property, but there may be a bigger reason. The Animal Kingdom costuming building is located on Sherberth Road and it has a HUGE parking lot that only has a very tiny portion that is actually utilized (the vast majority is fenced off and is used for equipment storage and bus driver training). So, it looks like Disney may be planning on moving cast parking from Animal Kingdom's main lot to costuming. This would enable them to use the current cast parking lot as a staging area for construction and for construction crew parking. Once construction is complete, the lot could then be converted to guest parking to keep up with (hopefully) increased attendance.

As an added bonus, the cast member lot is unnamed, so they can name it "Na'vi" or "banshee" or whatever other Pandora creature they feel like naming it after.

That was the original cast member parking lot. They would park in the wardrobe lot, go inside wardrobe and get their costume and exit in the back and there is a bus loop there and then they would take the bus to DAK and the bus had several different stops along the perimeter road.

 

[Dukeblue1227]

Yeah... Every time I go in for a physical the doctor hits my knee with his little hammer and...

Bam.... Two years later.... Knee jerk.

I don't think someone needed to quote a definition of knee jerk from an online source and exploit the omission of time.

The exact essence of the phrase knee jerk implies an immediate, almost without thought or time to process, reaction.