AVATAR land - the specifics

[danlb_2000]

I'm sure those same people thought they would actually be standing in an elevator on tower of terror.

No reason to knock people for thinking they would be ridding a banshee since it's pretty clear Disney did attempt that design.

 

[peter11435]

No reason to knock people for thinking they would be ridding a banshee since it's pretty clear Disney did attempt that design.

I'm not knocking them for thinking they would ride a banshee. I was referring to thinking you'd ride an AA.

 

[AndrewsJ]

I think people should be able to give honest critiques without others calling it bashing. Everything can always be made better. I think it might have some flaws to what is actually in the movie but is pretty darn close. Well done Imagineering!
Here's my one critique so far, adding some misters/foggers around the waterfalls might fuzz the waterfalls a bit and help create the illusion that they are further away by the details lost through the fog. Maybe the fog would just dissipate too quickly to work. I'm sure they thought of ways to try and make it as real as possible and maybe in the end it just wasn't all feasible.

I agree. But with some of the opinions I've read lately you would think some folks are actually theme park attraction engineering geniuses. But wait, they aren't. They are regular everyday people like you and me and if their ideas were really all that incredible they'd be in the theme park business.

 

[Kylo Ken]

It amazes me how people can draw strong conclusions from a 6 minute preview. I swear, a lot of you just look for reasons to nit pick and complain. Like most things (especially after RoL) you have to experience it for yourself.

The video was awesome (guess I must be a pixie duster) but I'm reserving judgement until I'm there. Yeah not flying on actual Banshee is a bit of a bummer but like most said, how practical was that to begin with? The land itself looks impressive (even in person at the moment it looks great) but of course I can't wait to see it at night. I'm really hoping that this is a home run for Disney.

 

[KrzyKtty]

Regardless, I am sure I will love the ride because it will be new. I could probably find something to nick pick if I tried after a few rides, but that is true for anything. My biggest disappointment is my daughter at 41-42 inches by then will be to small.

 

[Jeremy Geertsema]

Will the individual seats move or will it be the entire row that is doing the same movement? And these "link-seats" will they still do all that breathing and what not?

 

[Incomudro]

It amazes me how people can draw strong conclusions from a 6 minute preview. I swear, a lot of you just look for reasons to nit pick and complain. Like most things (especially after RoL) you have to experience it for yourself.

The video was awesome (guess I must be a pixie duster) but I'm reserving judgement until I'm there. Yeah not flying on actual Banshee is a bit of a bummer but like most said, how practical was that to begin with? The land itself looks impressive (even in person at the moment it looks great) but of course I can't wait to see it at night. I'm really hoping that this is a home run for Disney.

For sure.
I can apply the find the flaws concept to anything in WDW if I wanted to.
Honestly, I wonder how anything can be enjoyed with this mindset.

 

[brb1006]

Except, you really don't see Mickey. You see someone in a giant Mickey suit. We've been trained to think that that is a fairly good representation of the cartoon Mickey, but if you really did an objective comparison, you'd see how off the costumed person is because you don't have 3 foot tall people with impossibly thin necks and limbs available to portray Mickey. And you don't see realistic portrayals of dragons or maleficent because of the impossibility to do that realistically... for now.

And so, you have the same problem with the Na'vi. You don't have nine foot tall people with impossibly thin necks, waists, and limbs (thanks to lesser gravity) to portray them. And a suit would make it worse.

Sometimes the IP makes it impossible to portray certain characters in the real world in such a fashion that they're walking around amongst us.

That's the actual Mickey not a guy in a suit.

 

[tissandtully]

Yes this is the key part to the experience.

Guests will be riding in a "link-chair," which will link the rider with his or her Avatar, with the Avatar actually riding the banshee. The "link-chair" is somewhat like the glider mechanism in Soarin'. Guests will not actually be sitting on a banshee.

Didn't a press release yesterday say you could feel the banshee breathe beneath you?

 

[Princess Leia]

The River journey looks gorgeous.

 

[Incomudro]

Didn't a press release yesterday say you could feel the banshee breathe beneath you?

Yes.
I'm of the belief that impression will be done very well without rider needing to be on something that's a physical animatronic.

 

[Atomicmickey]

A couple thoughts in response to the past few pages.

-this is not Star Tours. There are massive screens, you won't be sitting in a box looking at a tiny screen like Star Tours. I don't know for sure but we have seen the blueprints, we have seen the inside. Giant screens.

-I think the news story used "virtual reality" in a very loose sense. Let's not try to read too much into that.

-The movie "links" a human brain with a Na'Vi Avatar. I suspect the same conceit will be used, and you will experience
the feeling of being on a Banshee, using the "link technology" that is from the film. If you really traveled to Pandora as
a human, you wouldn't be able to ride a Banshee, you'd need to get into a link machine, and then "dream with your eyes
wide open" as you were neurally linked with an Avatar, then did the ponytail-hook-up thing with a Banshee. So the
link chairs are perfectly in aligment with story, and theme, and . . . . it seems that you will experience what it is like
to fly on a banshee with breathing and all that. And so we shall see.

 

[motox7]

Will the individual seats move or will it be the entire row that is doing the same movement? And these "link-seats" will they still do all that breathing and what not?

Yes the breathing will happen I imagine on that seat that you are straddling, because it does seem like we will still be straddling a seat. Tbh It looks like we will be in the same riding position as you would be on the tron cycle vehicle at shanghai. You have handles that you lean forward to grab and you are in that straddling hunched over position where you are basically hugging the thing. The only thing is it doesn't seem like there was a back restraint to keep you in the vehicle. I have to imagine they just haven't installed it yet? Idk how she would have ridden the ride then. Hmmm.

 

[DrewmanS]

No she said when she got on the ride it's a virtual reality experience. I was just wondering if it is or not.

She said VR not VR goggles. Your experience is not real (you are not flying on a winged animal) but it feels real. So it is a virtual reality ride.

My pure speculation piecing together comments, construction pictures, and recent PR clips is this. When you board the ride you will be a human linking to your avatar so it will look like you are entering a booth and sitting down. Once you connect to your avatar, your view is now through the eyes of the avatar. The booth will "vanish", you feel like you are on the banshee, and your field of vision is the full screen (like Sorin'). At the end, you will disconnect from the avatar and find you are back in the booth.

 

[Incomudro]

She said VR not VR goggles. Your experience is not real (you are not flying on a winged animal) but it feels real. So it is a virtual reality ride.

My pure speculation piecing together comments, construction pictures, and recent PR clips is this. When you board the ride you will be a human linking to your avatar so it will look like you are entering a booth and sitting down. Once you connect to your avatar, your view is now through the eyes of the avatar. The booth will "vanish", you feel like you are on the banshee, and your field of vision is the full screen (like Sorin'). At the end, you will disconnect from the avatar and find you are back in the booth.

Best summation.
We have ourselves a winner!
Like The Matrix.

 

[Kylo Ken]

For sure.
I can apply the find the flaws concept to anything in WDW if I wanted to.
Honestly, I wonder how anything can be enjoyed with this mindset.

Totally agree. It's a sad way to live but far be it for me to tell anyone how to live

 

[Incomudro]

Totally agree. It's a sad way to live but far be it for me to tell anyone how to live

I've got a father in law and brother in law that are the kind of guys, who when you show them your new car - the first thing they do is point out a flaw in the paint.

 

[flynnibus]

Didn't a press release yesterday say you could feel the banshee breathe beneath you?

And this is why people need to be careful with how far they leap based on individual statements from the company Leaps based upon leaps usually crash

 

[DisneyWorld30th]

I am curious if the locking harness will fit people of larger size.

 

[Daveeeeed]

I am curious if the locking harness will fit people of larger size.

There could potentially be a few seats that are designed for larger guests. I doubt a 7 foot NBA player would be very comfortable in those chairs, but we'll see. Forbidden Journey accomplished it, but I suppose there will always be a few dedicated.