AVATAR land - the specifics

Brian Swan

Well-Known Member
I still think that the structure to the left is something else entirely. When I go back and look at some of the photos of the expansion model, they have always been careful to not show anyone what is to the left of the floating mountain arch. Also, back during some conversation in the construction progress thread for Avatar, the following dialogue occurred.





That is why I still believe that the huge portion that we can with the large, curved sections of steel coming off the right is actually the first floating mountain from the model that has the water cascading off of it. What I am really curious about is how this is being built. The "arch" in the floating mountains is very wide with no supporting structures in the middle. What I am curious about is whether there will be temporary structures built to help with the construction until the entire arch is built and connected. Then, all temporary structures will be removed when the arch is complete and stable. IMHO, one of the mountains should act as a keystone and help hold the entire arch together.

I add the photos again as a frame of reference for what I am talking about.

View attachment 99497

And here is the steel image.

View attachment 99498

Again, I think that this is the left floating mountain in the above photo of the model.
And looking at the right of the photo, the curved structures have large plates at the end. I believe that this is where the next mountain module will be bolted on; it aligns quite closely to the concept art.
 

Mawg

Well-Known Member
I really hope Disney is taking nice photos of this thing getting created so that they can release a nice time lapse video when completed. The amount of scaffolding and/or cherry pickers to complete the steal work and rock work from the underneath to the top will be impressive and a massive structure unto itself.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
What part of this did you predict? Stop talking.

Simply the possibility the land would have one of each lettered attraction. Even when some said the land had been trimmed to one attraction due to cuts. Been a lot of disinformation floated about the scope of Pandora. Pretty much from day 1. Good that they are letting more accurate details out now. Kind of hard to deny with all that steel rising over DAK of late.

And I have to say that those who thought the franchise was all wrong and was doomed to underperform or even close after a short time are no longer anywhere to be found. Fortunately their posts remain in the magical archives.

I, of course thought it would be much more than a quickly thrown together project and thought it would also be much more on the scale of a Carsland rather than Dinorama. And that seems to be the case. Good thing I was here to add perspective when it was otherwise not present.

IMO.
 

Evolution

Active Member
Wait, so basically a retheme of two attractions that we already have at other parks? That takes 4-5 years to build? Yikes.

Hopefully this can be a truly immersive Pandora experience and the rides are a little bit more exciting than they sound.
 

DisDan

Well-Known Member
Wait, so basically a retheme of two attractions that we already have at other parks? That takes 4-5 years to build? Yikes.

Hopefully this can be a truly immersive Pandora experience and the rides are a little bit more exciting than they sound.


What 2 attractions are you referring to? This will be the ONE and only Avatar Land. They are not cloning ANY rides for this thing, all built and imagineered from scratch. Stop spreading non-sense please.
 

Evolution

Active Member
What 2 attractions are you referring to? This will be the ONE and only Avatar Land. They are not cloning ANY rides for this thing, all built and imagineered from scratch. Stop spreading non-sense please.

Did you not read the LA Times article? It literally said the E-ticket flying ride will be similar to Soarin' and the D-ticket boat ride will be similar to Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, I never said they are cloning anything.
 

DisDan

Well-Known Member
Did you not read the LA Times article? It literally said the E-ticket flying ride will be similar to Soarin' and the D-ticket boat ride will be similar to Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, I never said they are cloning anything.

So you go from reading that they will be "similar" (one is a BOAT ride and the other is a suspended screen based flight sim though with way more movement) to all of the sudden they are just clones of attractions? We don't know any of the specific details about the ride systems being used. You are way over simplifying it IMO.
 

Evolution

Active Member
So you go from reading that they will be "similar" (one is a BOAT ride and the other is a suspended screen based flight sim though with way more movement) to all of the sudden they are just clones of attractions? We don't know any of the specific details about the ride systems being used. You are way over simplifying it IMO.

That's fair. Maybe I am just over simplifying it (and I hope I am tbh). I'd love for these attractions to be unique experiences that can't be found anywhere else in WDW.

I won't hold my breath though.
 

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
That's fair. Maybe I am just over simplifying it (and I hope I am tbh). I'd love for these attractions to be unique experiences that can't be found anywhere else in WDW.

I won't hold my breath though.

From everything I have read, the boat ride is going to be both spectacular and immersive. I think a comparison to PotC is only because it will be a somewhat lengthy, indoor dark ride. After that the comparison will end. I have heard that the boat ride will completely immerse everyone in an Pandoran rain forest setting, and that the boats will be stalked by creatures in the forest. What intrigues me is that, although initially billed as a C-Ticket on the original "leaked" blueprints, this boat ride sounds like it has been revisited and repurposed into an attraction that is going to be truly unique and also more recently classified as a solid D-Ticket level experience. To get a sense of what this should look like, watch the part of Avatar when Jake Scully's avatar is stranded in the rain forest at night. It is great to watch the forest light up after his torch is put out in the water. Also, people should get an idea of what might be stalking the boats from that scene.

And as far as the huge E-Ticket attraction is concerned, I believe that the comparison can stop at the fact that it will be a simulator. I believe that the experience of this particular ride will be absolutely nothing like Soarin'. The popular Epcot simulator is a high capacity ride because most people can handle the physics of that ride. It is meant to evoke a more easy experience of flying. The Soaring Over Pandora experience I would imagine is going to be pretty intense. Again, I would always direct people to go and watch the scene when Jake's avatar catches his banshee and then flies it for the first time. After he understands how to properly make the connection with the banshee work, there are some incredible flying scenes in that movie. The scene when the fly at high speed down the face of the floating mountains could look incredible as a simulation. During the Japan D23 event the other year, there was a Pandora video that was released where James Cameron and Joe Rohde talk about the expansion. During the video there is a brief clip of some silhouetted figures watching a flying sequence on a huge projector screen. That has to be footage of early concept for a flight simulation movie. And even from that you can tell that it will be a very different experience from Soarin'.

The other possibility that I am hoping for is that there are multiple story simulations similar what is done in Star Tours 2.0. That would really lead to re-ridability. I just watched Avatar over the weekend (my kids wanted to see it and they loved it). One thing that I am wondering is that if they do have multiple scenes, would Disney have a battle sequence similar to the one in the end of the movie. I highly doubt that they would, but man would that look incredible in a huge simulator.
 

lobelia

Well-Known Member
I appreciate your optimism regarding this project @flyerjab. One point I might disagree with is that I do not believe they will create a ride in which the animals are stalking the riders/boats. That doesn't support the conservation message and the vision of the park theme. Perhaps the riders are searching for a creature to save from danger or return to mom. But the more I think of it, what was the Dinosaur ride about?
 

UpAllNight

Well-Known Member
Would it actually have caused them much financial distress if they'd have opted to build a medium sized family coaster as well as the 2 other attractions, to truly round off this area of the park?

I'm looking forward to this massively. I'm not looking forward to this expansion justifying another 5 years of no further expansion. DAK still needs more, as much as I love it.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Depends how easily you are pleased.

Or how low your bar is. Still, in a world where Everest is still considered a solid E standards have slipped.

Giving certain Imagineers new powers can correct past mistakes. I'm increasingly optimistic.

IMO
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
When you've never posted a fact, the IMO is unnecessary.

Yep, never said major investment was coming to WDW after other divisions were fixed. Never once mentioned the business cycle was like a pendulum that always swings back and that people should be patient. Never said that people should stop thinking of Disney theme park adds as a drive through a fast food lane. And never said that DTD 3.0 (4.0 if you count HW) would be much more than a strip mall. I could go on but I have been on the record for several years and not months like some 'fair weather fans'.

Opportunists :rolleyes:

It is all fun though. :geek:
 

bakntime

Well-Known Member
Wait, so basically a retheme of two attractions that we already have at other parks? That takes 4-5 years to build? Yikes.

Hopefully this can be a truly immersive Pandora experience and the rides are a little bit more exciting than they sound.
Wizarding World of Wizards had 1 new attraction built from scratch. One (forbidden journey). It took 2.5 years to build.

Pandora at AK broke ground on January 2014, and is estimated to take a little over 3 years. It has a budget more than twice the size of Wizarding World (according to reported numbers, ~500M vs. ~200M). It has two new attractions built from scratch, and extensive, unprecedented mountain/rockwork and "floating" mountains. They are reusing exactly zero existing rides and structures.
 

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