AVATAR land - the specifics

[DisDan]

Hopefully we see another project for DAK not too far down the road, whether it be an expansion and a new continent (Australia?... or they could really stick it to Sea World and do Antarctica right...) or re-doing the Chester/Hester area into something that fits the quality of the rest of the park.

Epcot definitely needs help after DHS, but DAK is still gonna need some love in the meantime if they really plan on keeping this park open at night.

For the folks that go to the park with the agenda of trying to fit in as many "rides" as possible, DAK will never be adequate. Because DAK is not ONLY about rides but I know many folks who look at Disney and only think of Rides, sad as that is.

 

[Next Big Thing]

RFC is accessible from both inside and outside the park.

Yes, but it's all the way at the exit. And you need to scan your ticket to get back in the park. It's not convenient and as far as i'm concerned, if you need to scan your ticket to get back in, you aren't in the park in the first place.

 

[doctornick]

For the folks that go to the park with the agenda of trying to fit in as many "rides" as possible, DAK will never be adequate. Because DAK is not ONLY about rides but I know many folks who look at Disney and only think of Rides, sad as that is.

I think it is true that DAK will likely never satisfy those who want a ride heavy park, but it does need to increase the number of rides to a more baseline acceptable level. After Pandora, the park will have 9 rides (I'm counting the train), which is still very light for a major theme park. I think it's very reasonable to have DAK be on the lighter side of rides given the number and breadth of non-ride experiences but it should probably get to a level of around 12-15 rides to be able to satisfy the vast majority of guests. That's around the baseline that I think a "ride light" theme park with other attractions should achieve.

Something like DHS should probably have more like 20 rides, though, even with the shows (many of which are going away anyway). Which is part of the reason why I think DHS needs a ton of help/investment, which seemingly is coming to some degree.

 

[Next Big Thing]

For the folks that go to the park with the agenda of trying to fit in as many "rides" as possible, DAK will never be adequate. Because DAK is not ONLY about rides but I know many folks who look at Disney and only think of Rides, sad as that is.

I don't look at DAK as that at all. It's actually my second favorite park and I consistently spend full days at the park when we go.

However, a few more rides can't hurt. I love walking through the trails, seeing the shows, even doing the Wilderness Explorers thing with my younger sister has you exploring parts of the park you barely know exist. But you can only do that for so long. There needs to be at least an adequate number of rides in a park so that if you skip a few or some people can't go one them due to height restrictions, there's still others for them. That's DAK's biggest problem is most of it's rides have height requirements.

The park needs a few dark rides. The new boat ride should be a wonderful start, now let's get a few more rides that are accessible to the whole family AND are quality attractions.

 

[Eoghann]

I think it is true that DAK will likely never satisfy those who want a ride heavy park, but it does need to increase the number of rides to a more baseline acceptable level. After Pandora, the park will have 9 rides (I'm counting the train), which is still very light for a major theme park. I think it's very reasonable to have DAK be on the lighter side of rides given the number and breadth of non-ride experiences but it should probably get to a level of around 12-15 rides to be able to satisfy the vast majority of guests. That's around the baseline that I think a "ride light" theme park with other attractions should achieve.

Something like DHS should probably have more like 20 rides, though, even with the shows (many of which are going away anyway). Which is part of the reason why I think DHS needs a ton of help/investment, which seemingly is coming to some degree.

I think this depends on whether the park is being viewed as a primary destination or an add on to the Magic Kingdom. I get the feeling that since Disney really emphasizes the multi-day park hopper, that's not how they are looking at it.

 

[DisDan]

I never buy the Park Hopper option when we go to WDW, my family likes to enjoy the day at a park and we like to take in everything the park has to offer... so on a 7-10 day 5 park trip we usually spend 1 day at each park and 2 days at MK. That is our typical visit, sure, the days at DAK and DHS are usually the shortest (hopefully that changes soon) but on those days it's nice to get back to the hotel, have some down time and a shower then have a very nice dinner out somewhere at one of the resorts. For our family, at least, the Park Hopper does not provide any value.

 

[Eoghann]

I never buy the Park Hopper option when we go to WDW, my family likes to enjoy the day at a park and we like to take in everything the park has to offer... so on a 7-10 day 5 park trip we usually spend 1 day at each park and 2 days at MK. That is our typical visit, sure, the days at DAK and DHS are usually the shortest (hopefully that changes soon) but on those days it's nice to get back to the hotel, have some down time and a shower then have a very nice dinner out somewhere at one of the resorts. For our family, at least, the Park Hopper does not provide any value.

I get that not everybody does that, and on our last 10 day trip we didn't either. But in this context it's about how Disney views it, not how we view it.

My thought is that Disney doesn't feel the need to pack the "secondary" parks with rides because they don't see them as stand alone parks. Yes they want to spread the people around, but the draw remains the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Siren]

Disney should really adjust the secondary parks with secondary admission fees. It is not fair to charge MK prices at the other parks, with only a fraction of the rides.

With FP+, Disney needs to add more rides and attractions to eliminate the tiering imposed at DHS and Epcot. I was surprised that AK didn't require tiering but the park really needed some more rides, anyway.

We used to buy park hoppers all the time as part of the package and never use them. When I discovered that you could add park hoppers anytime during the trip, I haven't purchased them since. My trips to Disney are always short -- I just want one full day in each park and no park hoppers.

ETA: I think Disney should add a modern table service restaurant that spins around Avatarland like that one at The Land or at least offer up some awesome views like Sanaa. Or even a themed interactive restaurant like Dinosaur at DTD.

 

[bakntime]

Disney should really adjust the secondary parks with secondary admission fees. It is not fair to charge MK prices at the other parks, with only a fraction of the rides.

One day tickets do cost more for the MK.

But as far as multi-day and hoppers go, they are already heavily discounted as it is, so that's sort of their way of subsidizing MK admission by charging an equal price for all parks on all multi-day tickets. Starting with at four day ticket @ $305, it's only $10 for each additional day you add. That's it. $10 for day 5, $10 for day 6, $10 for day 7, all the way up to day 10 (4 days is $305, 10 days is $365). Sure, it's their way of encouraging longer stays at the hotels, but it's hard to turn down $10/day for any park, especially for someone like me who doesn't go that often. 1 day at each park leaves me feeling terribly rushed. Maybe the Studios is currently exempt from that, but generally speaking, I like to experience the parks at a very casual pace, so 2-3 days is necessary for each one (again, Studios notwithstanding until Star Wars and Toy Story and whatever else are finished).

But really it's no different than an all you can eat buffet. You can go in and choose to eat the expensive menu items (Magic Kingdom), or you can just fill up on something else (the other parks). Regardless of what you eat, you still pay one price. The MK being the same price as the other parks is really no different than what happens inside an individual park when it comes to choosing what to do. Once you're in the park, you could ride all e-tickets, or you could spread it around, or you could ride nothing at all. No matter what you do, though, the price for admission doesn't change.

It doesn't really matter to me what the breakdown is in cost per ticket or that MK is a better value for a use of a ticket. I see it as an overall budget, and from there, I choose how I want to distribute the time I've purchased.

 

[UpAllNight]

Whatever happened to 'the customer is always right?' (Anyone who works in retail can tell you that's a load of rubbish mind!). The point is is that some paying guests are not happy with the lineup of rides at some Disney parks and regardless of if another person is happy to go and see all the wildlife and shows etc, they are all paying guests and it would be naive to ignore customer feedback.

I love Animal Kingdom but let's get real, the park has not had 20 years worth of investment. This is a place where there is nothing to do when it rains, and people are whacking out $10 bills for a poncho. They're raking it in so let's not offer Disney any excuses here. I'm excited for this area but I fear it's going to be another 5 years before we start hearing suggestions of further expansion - in reality this phase, or the equivillant of, should have been done 10 years ago. And we should be eagerly awaiting an expansion 2 or 3 stages ahead of where we're out. Maybe by 2050 this park will be up to scratch as a full day THEME park (as it's advertised)

 

[danlb_2000]

Whatever happened to 'the customer is always right?' (Anyone who works in retail can tell you that's a load of rubbish mind!). The point is is that some paying guests are not happy with the lineup of rides at some Disney parks and regardless of if another person is happy to go and see all the wildlife and shows etc, they are all paying guests and it would be naive to ignore customer feedback.

I love Animal Kingdom but let's get real, the park has not had 20 years worth of investment. This is a place where there is nothing to do when it rains, and people are whacking out $10 bills for a poncho. They're raking it in so let's not offer Disney any excuses here. I'm excited for this area but I fear it's going to be another 5 years before we start hearing suggestions of further expansion - in reality this phase, or the equivillant of, should have been done 10 years ago.

They do pay attention to customer feedback, when the customers stop going, more changes will happen.

 

[UpAllNight]

They do pay attention to customer feedback, when the customers stop going, more changes will happen.

Agreed but it's short sighted. There will always be a pool of customers who will go to Disney as a one off, every 2 or 3 years. I went this year with 3 people who had never been and they were somewhat disappointed in the ride count at 3 of the parks. It's significant because on future vacations, Disney will be, in their minds, not the be-all that they pictured pre-trip.

 

[WDWLover#1]

Alpha centauri expeditions are also the same company that runs space mountain. I noticed it when I was walking through the queue there's signs for alpha centauri everywhere.

 

[twebber55]

i dont know if this has been mentioned but looking at the model at night it looks like a large part of the walking trails will indeed light up when walking on them and not just inside a queue

 

[flyerjab]

i dont know if this has been mentioned but looking at the model at night it looks like a large part of the walking trails will indeed light up when walking on them and not just inside a queue

I also noticed that as well. That is a welcome surprise.

 

[doctornick]

im thinking we probably wont see a night sky because this cruise will be in a pandoran cave (just a guess)
i know this should be in the avatar the specifics thread sorry for thread drift

(Responding in this thread as it is more appropriate)

I don't know, but I feel like they are more likely to go with a setting of dense overhead canopy (so you cannot see the light of the sky) or perpetual night (i.e. the queue established that this is a nighttime cruise) with the sky rather than having the setting be a cave. Sure, they could make the cave idea work, but in the context of the movie, I think it would be more fitting to have the road ride be properly outdoors.

I don't recall D23 saying much one way or the other, can anyone find any reference that might illustrate the setting of the boat ride?

 

[Marlins1]

With FP+, Disney needs to add more rides and attractions to eliminate the tiering imposed at DHS and Epcot. I was surprised that AK didn't require tiering but the park really needed some more rides, anyway.

Eliminating the FP+ tiers is very high on my wish list too. I am the planner in our family. It is always embarrassing when my wife and daughter ask what fast passes we have for the day and I include Nemo, LWTL, Muppetvision or Ariel's show. I like all of those attractions but holding fast passes for them is pretty ridiculous. Of course it will take a few big new draws in each park to make the tiers go away.

 

[AEfx]

ETA: I think Disney should add a modern table service restaurant that spins around Avatarland like that one at The Land or at least offer up some awesome views like Sanaa. Or even a themed interactive restaurant like Dinosaur at DTD.

Ditto for Star Wars.

It's funny because for a destination that supposedly offers such unique dining experiences, WDW doesn't really try very hard. I mean, Sci-Fi is probably the most "themed" in terms of immersion and even it is half-assed when it really comes down to it. Whatever they call the restaurant at Nemo now (is that even still open?), is cool if you are sitting next to the tank. 50's is pretty well themed. Of course, I am forgetting the MM+ gated holy land known as BoG, but in that case they have probably the worst logistical set up that could have been imagined, so they fail there, too. Even something as conceptually cool as Cosmic Rays really is the same level as your average Chuck E Cheese.

If I were WDW I'd be embarrassed that the most "fun" themed restaurants on the property are owned by another company.

 

[Sandurz]

Alpha centauri expeditions are also the same company that runs space mountain. I noticed it when I was walking through the queue there's signs for alpha centauri everywhere.

*pushes up glasses* ACTUALLY Alpha Centauri is just the name of the closest star system to our solar system and is being named as a destination in the Space Mountain queue. The Alpha Centauri Expeditions company from the Pandora backstory just happens to be named after the same thing.

 

[msteel]

*pushes up glasses* ACTUALLY Alpha Centauri is just the name of the closest star system to our solar system and is being named as a destination in the Space Mountain queue. The Alpha Centauri Expeditions company from the Pandora backstory just happens to be named after the same thing.

ACTUALLY, Proxima Centuri is the closest known star. Alpha Centauri is one member of the binary system that is next closest (and closest that is visible to the naked eye).