AVATAR land - the specifics

[doctornick]

people always use that word to describe the ride. "intimate"- but what do they really mean by that? Slow and detailed, (boring?)

I take that description to mean one or both of the following: (1) each boat is isolated from each other, so you don't really see other riders and feel like you are alone with just your boat in the environment rather than being on a "ride" with a lot of other folks in other boats and/or (2) you are close to the scenes and can see fine details as opposed to being in a large show scene where things are more distant.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

What is frustrating still is that for the money they're spending, we *should* be getting the Avatar version of Pirates. That's not to say I don't believe it will be good, but there should be more to it, even as the secondary attraction.

I guess we should pass judgement on the attraction when it actually opens to the public and the person rides the attraction.

 

[BrianLo]

If Pirates was a D-ticket (instead of a mega-E), more intimate and themed to Pandora. That's kind of it in a nutshell.

For people who don't mind youtube videos of foreign attractions, look up the opening Jack Sparrow AA in the attraction, the treasure scene and the Davy Jones Organ scenes. That's pretty much what the ride will be like, it'll be intimate because it won't have the Imax scenes, full sized set pieces like two pirate ships or an explosive battle scene with a kick of thrill at the end.

That's not an insult, this is the supporting attraction. I don't like the Universal trend that everything has to be an E-ticket. They need to have a balanced menu. It's a big problem for Disney when it goes the opposite way of balance and they forget to build any E-ticket at all (looking at you NFL). Fortunately, an E-ticket is literally above and/or next door.

It's another thing to talk about the money they spent on the whole land, but don't confuse 1+ billion dollars with what they actually spent just on the boat attraction. It didn't cost anything in the neighbourhood of Pirates, which I think is in the wheelhouse of RSR for most expensive attraction built.

 

[Mike S]

If Pirates was a D-ticket (instead of a mega-E), more intimate and themed to Pandora. That's kind of it in a nutshell.

For people who don't mind youtube videos of foreign attractions, look up the opening Jack Sparrow AA in the attraction, the treasure scene and the Davy Jones Organ scenes. That's pretty much what the ride will be like, it'll be intimate because it won't have the Imax scenes, full sized set pieces like two pirate ships or an explosive battle scene with a kick of thrill at the end.

That's not an insult, this is the supporting attraction. I don't like the Universal trend that everything has to be an E-ticket. They need to have a balanced menu. It's a big problem for Disney when it goes the opposite way of balance and they forget to build any E-ticket at all (looking at you NFL). Fortunately, an E-ticket is literally above and/or next door.

It's another thing to talk about the money they spent on the whole land, but don't confuse 1+ billion dollars with what they actually spent just on the boat attraction. It didn't cost anything in the neighbourhood of Pirates, which I think is in the wheelhouse of RSR for most expensive attraction built.

They have done quite a few and are ever expanding their offering of them but I'd say Despicable Me, Kang & Kodos, the Hogwarts Express, and possibly Jimmy Fallon do not classify as E Tickets.

Back to the topic I'm looking forward to this Pandora boat ride. If the Shaman scene matches Jack Sparrow and/or Davy Jones from Shanghai I'll be pretty happy. I really don't mind that the other AAs won't be as advanced as the showstopping one if the ride as a whole ends up being good. If I did I'd be a hypocrite as that's exactly how Kong is and I love that ride. The bigger thing to focus on should be that the third ride for this land shouldn't have been cut. AK needs all it can get.

 

[doctornick]

The bigger thing to focus on should be that the third ride for this land shouldn't have been cut. AK needs all it can get.

I'm not really that bothered by Pandora not getting a third ride -- that's a lot of rides for a single IP that isn't all that popular and would tend to dominate the park -- as much as that they aren't building additional rides elsewhere to help with the capacity and expected guess increase. They should have build a smaller dark ride in Africa as part of the theater expansion (there's plenty of room across from the bathrooms) or added a new ride to Asia (the recent Jungle Book is just screaming for placement in DAK) around this time.

 

[Mike S]

I'm not really that bothered by Pandora not getting a third ride -- that's a lot of rides for a single IP that isn't all that popular and would tend to dominate the park -- as much as that they aren't building additional rides elsewhere to help with the capacity and expected guess increase. They should have build a smaller dark ride in Africa as part of the theater expansion (there's plenty of room across from the bathrooms) or added a new ride to Asia (the recent Jungle Book is just screaming for placement in DAK) around this time.

Like I said, all it can get. If only Disney could control their budgets a bit better.

 

[danlb_2000]

I guess we should pass judgement on the attraction when it actually opens to the public and the person rides the attraction.

Now that's just crazy talk!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Now that's just crazy talk!

I know. They would have to shut this web site down if that were to happen.

 

[Incomudro]

Thus the second part of my post. The scale, however, as every insider for months has said, is not on the same level as Pirates. Period. For a billion dollars, we should be getting more. Don't have to have ridden something to know scale, just execution.

For a billion dollars, you're getting massive floating mountains, and a fully constructed land.

 

[Jones14]

For a billion dollars, you're getting massive floating mountains, and a fully constructed land.

And I'm excited for all of it. But, it doesn't change the frustration that comes from knowing that the land is way over budget and will likely come at the cost of other additions. For the initial budget, what we're getting is great. For a billion dollars, not so much, regardless of how jaw dropping it is (and I'm sure it will be stunning).

Sorry if it's coming across as confrontational, but it (to me) is another example of WDI underdelivering for the money they're spending. It's a Toy Story Land situation on a much bigger scale, and I don't think that the final product being better makes it any more excusable.

 

[RSoxNo1]

LOL. According to wdwmagic posters, the river journey is now a cross between gran fiesta tour and jungle cruise and only has one aa. Gotta love this place.

The report is that it has one humanoid animatronic.

 

[Goofyernmost]

people always use that word to describe the ride. "intimate"- but what do they really mean by that? Slow and detailed, (boring?)

Crowded??? So many people it can't help but get intimate?

 

[Magic Feather]

How strong/direct should we expect the environmental messages to be? Avatar was said to fit into DAK because of (among some other things) a common theme about living in harmony with the natural environment rather than destroying it, etc. Is that going to be expressed in the attractions somehow?

It will be VERY relevant in the boat ride, not so much in FoP.

 

[Siren]

I love Living w/the Land, it's so calm and tranquil even with the lightning bolt. I just wish the dark ride portion was a little longer -- in the same way that people feel about the 7DMT dark ride portion. So, I think I am going to love the Pandora boat ride.

 

[Dizney Crew]

Really disappointed that the boat ride is going to be so short (under 4mins I believe I read somewhere?) as this was the attraction that I was looking forward to the most when it was announced. I'm sure its going to be amazing to look at, first time through at least. But hearing that its only going to be a ride through a forest with glow in the dark plants and 1 AA doesn't sound like its all that exciting, which is a shame. Also the building that houses this attraction looks HUGE, so I'm really puzzled how this ride can be so short!!

As far as FOP, this attraction doesn't really move the needle for me, Soarin' on steroids is what I keep hearing, which to me just sounds like a more intense simulator, not really a big deal since thats all pretty much Universal has. To me what makes any of the Disney parks special/a cut above the rest is their Dark rides, no one else can compare. I really wish that Navi boat ride got all the love in Pandora and ended up being a 7+ min adventure with multiple scenes and environments, if they added thrills great, but just more AA's would have been fine also.

None of us will know how good/bad these attractions are till we ride them, but I'm setting the bar low as far as the rides are concerned so hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[dm11]

I'm not really that bothered by Pandora not getting a third ride -- that's a lot of rides for a single IP that isn't all that popular and would tend to dominate the park -- as much as that they aren't building additional rides elsewhere to help with the capacity and expected guess increase. They should have build a smaller dark ride in Africa as part of the theater expansion (there's plenty of room across from the bathrooms) or added a new ride to Asia (the recent Jungle Book is just screaming for placement in DAK) around this time.

Looked in isolation I think this makes perfect sense - an immersive Pandora land with 2 good rides (an E and a D ticket) are perfectly fine. Heck, more than fine

The real issue is that it cost $1B+. That should have landed way more. Either two extra rides in the land or third ride there plus something else in the park. And yes, I get it that it's their money but from a visitor's perspective I do expect more.

 

[Rteetz]

 

[twebber55]

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View attachment 180887

what is this from?

 

[Rteetz]

what is this from?

The Hub. They are going to be releasing "hype" videos soon to get CMs excited for the new land.

 

[twebber55]

The Hub. They are going to be releasing "hype" videos soon to get CMs excited for the new land.

let the build up begin...