AVATAR land - the specifics

Beholder

Beholder

Well-Known Member
I'm cautiously excited. I know it's Joes job to be excited and to "sell" the idea, but it's nice to see someone enthusiastic about a new Disney project. It's been argued both ways about the appropriateness of Avatar/Pandora in AK, but it's coming and I want to enjoy it. It may be the greatest "land" ever, or not, but either way, I'm looking forward to it.
 
JediMasterMatt

JediMasterMatt

Well-Known Member
GrandCanyonConcourse said:
The insiders said the system is similar to Soarin. The article says: "The flying sequences will be brought to life through large video screens — similar to “Soarin'” — with vehicles moving with the 3D action inside a massive theater."

The insiders haven't mentioned much about the animatronic banshee we keep hearing about, so we don't really know if it's original or not.
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Massive theater = we rightfully can set our expectation using Soarin' as the mental example we can set.

Vehicles moving/animatronic banshee = while we may want to set our expectations at climbing on top of our own beast and flying away, there is no practical way from a capacity perspective to expect 1:1 banshees. Granted, we know that there are 4 theaters and multiple loading levels inside of it; but, I don't think we should expect the "Bob Iger Experience" of climbing up on our own dragon. Also, how would that work from an ADA perspective is beyond me. The restraint mechanism alone for individual banshees suspended in front a screen would be quite a challenge even without ADA concerns. Of course, they could take the Nemo Sub route and make a separate viewing booth for ADA; but, the leaked plans showed disability access going into the main theater (likely the ground floor), so maybe it would be non-motion only viewing.

I still believe that this is the RV system that will be used: http://www.vekoma.com/index.php/specialities-and-attractions/panoramic-flight-simulator

Now, if they do want to take Vekoma's RV and change the seating so that instead of 4 seat benches it has 4 banshee saddles on small creatures, I guess they could cannibalize the restraint system used by their MotoCoaster cars. It's kind of a clamshell that closes on your back and causes the rider to lean forward into the chassis.

We should be happy at least it isn't a hub and spoke spinner like Dumbo in a movie theater at least.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
Massive theater = we rightfully can set our expectation using Soarin' as the mental example we can set.

Vehicles moving/animatronic banshee = while we may want to set our expectations at climbing on top of our own beast and flying away, there is no practical way from a capacity perspective to expect 1:1 banshees. Granted, we know that there are 4 theaters and multiple loading levels inside of it; but, I don't think we should expect the "Bob Iger Experience" of climbing up on our own dragon. Also, how would that work from an ADA perspective is beyond me. The restraint mechanism alone for individual banshees suspended in front a screen would be quite a challenge even without ADA concerns. Of course, they could take the Nemo Sub route and make a separate viewing booth for ADA; but, the leaked plans showed disability access going into the main theater (likely the ground floor), so maybe it would be non-motion only viewing.

I still believe that this is the RV system that will be used: http://www.vekoma.com/index.php/specialities-and-attractions/panoramic-flight-simulator

Now, if they do want to take Vekoma's RV and change the seating so that instead of 4 seat benches it has 4 banshee saddles on small creatures, I guess they could cannibalize the restraint system used by their MotoCoaster cars. It's kind of a clamshell that closes on your back and causes the rider to lean forward into the chassis.

We should be happy at least it isn't a hub and spoke spinner like Dumbo in a movie theater at least.
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The Banshees don't have to be 1:1 to each rider. If you remember from the movie all the creatures are MUCH larger when compared to Humans rather than the Na'vi. I could see it being like 4-5 people to a Banshee *maybe*.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Mike S said:
The Banshees don't have to be 1:1 to each rider. If you remember from the movie all the creatures are MUCH larger when compared to Humans rather than the Na'vi. I could see it being like 4-5 people to a Banshee *maybe*.
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But they would have to ride side by side, not quite sure how that would work.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
But they would have to ride side by side, not quite sure how that would work.
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I'm sure they would find a way. Then again I'm just spitballing here based on the fact that the vehicles *might* actually look like Banshees.

EDIT: I just had a thought..... What if we weren't riding them at all, but being carried? That would totally explain the bench setup and if there were moving Banshees they would be pretty out of reach unless you're really tall.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
I'm sure they would find a way. Then again I'm just spitballing here based on the fact that the vehicles *might* actually look like Banshees.

EDIT: I just had a thought..... What if we weren't riding them at all, but being carried? That would totally explain the bench setup and if there were moving Banshees they would be pretty out of reach unless you're really tall.
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Excellent thought. That would be a reasonable work-around, perhaps with a Na'Vi actually riding the beast and controlling it, which would make thematic sense. Sort of like the premise of Forbidden Journey which always struck me as a practical way to have people "fly on broomsticks" in a ride, even though broomsticks would not be practical.
 
RayTheFirefly

RayTheFirefly

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
I'm sure they would find a way. Then again I'm just spitballing here based on the fact that the vehicles *might* actually look like Banshees.

EDIT: I just had a thought..... What if we weren't riding them at all, but being carried? That would totally explain the bench setup and if there were moving Banshees they would be pretty out of reach unless you're really tall.
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I sure hope you're on to something! That sounds super cool. And doable.
 
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lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Next Big Thing said:
The coolest way to do a ride system like this would be to actually physically lay straight down on one's stomach, be strapped in by arms and legs (like Manta at Sea World) and ACTUALLY have the experience of flying on the Banshee.

However, with the average size of a WDW guest, I doubt this would be doable...
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There was a story that Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Over Georgia received updated trains for its second season following an embarrassing moment when the then head of Six Flags could not fit for a ride near the end of its first season. Such trains can apparently be accommodating.
 
ChrisM

ChrisM

Well-Known Member
Next Big Thing said:
The coolest way to do a ride system like this would be to actually physically lay straight down on one's stomach, be strapped in by arms and legs (like Manta at Sea World) and ACTUALLY have the experience of flying on the Banshee.

However, with the average size of a WDW guest, I doubt this would be doable...
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Just waiting for the inevitable "Soarin' Over Pandora for BIG People!" thread.
 
flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
Something else I am wondering about (I do a lot of that) concerns the video element of this ride. With four separate theaters, will the experience be the same in each one? The only reason I ask this is because obviously it has been billed as riding on the back of a banshee through the rain forests of Pandora. No doubt that could prove to be an incredible experience. I just wonder if it will be the exact same video in each theater, or will this turn out to be more of a Star Tours type experience where there could be different ride videos playing in each theater.

Another video that comes to mind would be one where you fly through an action sequence involving a battle scene with the humans that occurred in the movie. I know that it isn't necessarily in line with Disney's kid friendly approach, but it wouldn't have to be a visually violent battle scene either. There are definitely battle sequences in Star Tours that are great rides but aren't 'violent' either. I think something like this could be done with the simulator ride. Another could be based on riding a banshee for the first time through the floating mountains. Another could be the journey through the rain forests and seeing a lot of the other animals that populate Pandora. There could be another along the coastlines and plains of Pandora. There could be quite a few scenes that could be created for this ride that would really help it stand out as a major E-Ticket ride.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
flyerjab said:
Something else I am wondering about (I do a lot of that) concerns the video element of this ride. With four separate theaters, will the experience be the same in each one? The only reason I ask this is because obviously it has been billed as riding on the back of a banshee through the rain forests of Pandora. No doubt that could prove to be an incredible experience. I just wonder if it will be the exact same video in each theater, or will this turn out to be more of a Star Tours type experience where there could be different ride videos playing in each theater.

Another video that comes to mind would be one where you fly through an action sequence involving a battle scene with the humans that occurred in the movie. I know that it isn't necessarily in line with Disney's kid friendly approach, but it wouldn't have to be a visually violent battle scene either. There are definitely battle sequences in Star Tours that are great rides but aren't 'violent' either. I think something like this could be done with the simulator ride. Another could be based on riding a banshee for the first time through the floating mountains. Another could be the journey through the rain forests and seeing a lot of the other animals that populate Pandora. There could be another along the coastlines and plains of Pandora. There could be quite a few scenes that could be created for this ride that would really help it stand out as a major E-Ticket ride.
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My guess is that each theater would be the same, but I think it's very likely that they will do random scenes like Star Tours. There are indications that this land is set after events of the first movie. This doesn't rule out a battle scene but I think Disney is going to lean more towards the natural elements of Avatar then the conflict shown in the first movie.
 

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