AVATAR land - the specifics

[doctornick]

With that said, I purposefully jumped to the merchandise and restaurants pics on twitter to see if Disney had bumped up their immersion game since Cars Land. And sadly, was heartbroken. A handful of unique merchandise surrounded by branded generic stuff I'll find at Target or any other trashy amusement park.

I'm not sure what you mean. What I saw seemed to indicate that everything in Windtraders was unique to Pandora and related to the land. I'm guessing you mean that they had stuff like plush or pins or mugs, etc. (albeit specific to Pandora) but I don't know what else one could expect -- that's the stuff that guests actually buy from theme parks and actually fits in well with the conceit of this being a wildlife/nature trip on an alien moon because that is what they would sell in such an environment were it real. I mean, if you put too much esoteric stuff, it ends up being a place where people will look around and ultimately not buy much.

Personally, I was pretty impressed by the merch for Pandora which is much more varied and interesting looking than I expected. It wasn't generic Disney merch that you could buy at other shops and even things like shirts, hats, mugs, etc looked more classy than typical Disney things.

The one thing I would say is that I'm a little surprised there is only one merch location given the variety of items. I think having at least two stores with different goods would have been good, but I'm guessing they wanted to minimize the number of artificial structures (not nature) for the greater vibe of the land. But I could have seen one shop being more "roadside" kitschy things run by a local with a second shop being more fancy sophisticated stuff run by ACE.

More importantly, another QS restaurant with that bizarre "have everyone wait at the counter" setup that I've never seen work successfully at any Disney property. This is the best Disney has to offer after 5 years? Traveling to Pandora, only to end up at a Cashier that looks directly out of my local McDonalds? I don't get it.

I have no love of Disney quick serves, but I'm curious as to what you would suggest a better setup would be. They added the "ordering ahead on your device" feature, but other than that, how do you get around people going up to a counter to order?

 

[BrianLo]

I'm not watching any of the ride/queue vids since I'll hopefully get to check it out during previews.

But it's a disappointment that the nighttime stuff isn't more groundbreaking than it is. The "reactive" bioluminescence, which sounds like it would've been a real attraction, apparently wasn't implemented; the result is the area at night is bathed in blue lights and fake light-up plants that look like props out of Universal's ET ride. Hardly groundbreaking.

That's nice, as far as it goes. But it doesn't live up to the hype that the land at night would be a "not to be missed" feature.

More than that, I'd be concerned that after the blogger/press preview, there hasn't been much talk of a "sleeper" hit in the land. We all knew the two rides were there, but I think a lot of us were hoping that the trails or the area at night (or something) would emerge as a third "attraction." At Diagon, Knockturn Alley is a kind of "sleeper." So is the money exchange. So is the ice cream shop.

For the amount of money spent on Avatar, the land feels like it's missing one or two more sleeper diversions.

I guess the one slightly nice thing (apart from the night time stuff, which is hopefully pending) is it is more or less what we expected.

Diagon Alley blew past expectations for the land and Hogwarts Express, but completely dropped the ball on the headliner.

But Pandora and Diagon Alley to me are opposite ends of the newish land spectrums. One is the purely atmosphic akin to Mysterious Island. The second is the amalgamation of taking the shopping, dining and interactivity and making it an attraction in itself. Really Diagon Alley is a complex walk through.

I've long stated Pandora (the land itself) is a plused up version of Mysterious Island. I think Star Wars is what you should look towards for Disney's plussed up version of Potter. The only thing this land was truly going to break into first place for is being the prettiest... sounds like the reaction towards that is great so far. I'm soft avoiding the ride stuff.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

For the amount of money spent on Avatar, the land feels like it's missing one or two more sleeper diversions.

They've built two solid attractions and an above average CS restuarant, but that's basically it.* The things that normally round out a land are in short supply (shopping/dining) or not there at all (live entertainment). I agree that it coud use one or two more things.

I guess they felt with more in Africa, Tiffins, RoL, etc that there wasn't much of a need or would be a desire for AVATAR secondary offerings.

*not that we were promised more

 

[Casper Gutman]

They've built two solid attractions and an above average CS restuarant, but that's basically it.* The things that normally round out a land are in short supply (shopping/dining) or not there at all (live entertainment). I agree that it coud use one or two more things.

I guess they felt with more in Africa, Tiffins, RoL, etc that there wasn't much of a need or would be a desire for AVATAR secondary offerings.

*not that we were promised more

One of the very oddest things to me is that you can't find a Na'Vi village anywhere in the land - in the river ride or simply outside in the land itself. The Na'Vi presence is really pretty minimal.

 

[doctornick]

They've built two solid attractions and an above average CS restuarant, but that's basically it.* The things that normally round out a land are in short supply (shopping/dining) or not there at all (live entertainment). I agree that it coud use one or two more things.

Do we know there is not live entertainment? Is there that "drum circle" are on the one side of the land (as you walk from the entrance to NRJ) that is rumored to host some sort of show?

Also, is there interactive stuff in the land? I've been avoiding the specific videos so I wonder if anything has been show.

 

[disney4life2008]

Haven't visited this land yet, not until it open officially. But i'll provide some preliminary thoughts on the video of the River ride.

I don't think we should have to settle between having either one high quality AA (and no other AA's), or dozens of more limited motion AA's without anything really groundbreaking. I think it's perfectly reasonable based on traditional Disney standards to have at least one or two groundbreaking AAs, and a small army of somewhat less articulated ones to fill the rest of the ride out.

Many older Disney rides did this. Pirates of the Caribbean had a couple of extremely advanced (for the time) figures such as Blackbeard and the Auctioneer pirate, but it ALSO had a huge population of less impressive supplemental AAs as well. Great Movie Ride did this too, with the Wicked Witch being the first ever A100 animatronic, but the ride was still packed with TONS of supplemental AA's of lesser motion (A1 models and others). Splash Mountain also had a large population of AA's with a wide variety of motion (some quite well animated), with the hopping Brer Rabbit figure (at WDW and Tokyo anyways) being that ride's most impressive figure. It shouldn't have to be a choice. They can afford to provide a couple of advanced AAs but still have others in there that aren't as advanced. It's nice to have both.

But I will also say that besides the obvious factor of money and modern rides sadly going away from AA's, they may have had physical space limitations as well for this ride. The ride is both short, but also seems like the rooms are smaller and more cramped than I expected. They should have provided a larger show building. Compared to the likes of other boat rides like POTC and Small World for reference, which have extremely open and large scale scenes.

The river ride looks fun. But i dont really understand the excitement of a 4 minute journey looking at flowers

What we know is that flight of passage loads guests into platforms at multiple stacked tiers. When the ride starts the screens in front of the riders will retract to reveal the main screen and the restraint "bikes" and at least the front edge of the loading platform (where your feet are resting) will begin to move. Whether or not the bikes will move slightly forward towards the screen is not known, but is likely, as this would permit them more range of movement.

This is sounding less and less impressive.

 

[disney4life2008]

I'm not watching any of the ride/queue vids since I'll hopefully get to check it out during previews.

But it's a disappointment that the nighttime stuff isn't more groundbreaking than it is. The "reactive" bioluminescence, which sounds like it would've been a real attraction, apparently wasn't implemented; the result is the area at night is bathed in blue lights and fake light-up plants that look like props out of Universal's ET ride. Hardly groundbreaking.

That's nice, as far as it goes. But it doesn't live up to the hype that the land at night would be a "not to be missed" feature.

More than that, I'd be concerned that after the blogger/press preview, there hasn't been much talk of a "sleeper" hit in the land. We all knew the two rides were there, but I think a lot of us were hoping that the trails or the area at night (or something) would emerge as a third "attraction." At Diagon, Knockturn Alley is a kind of "sleeper." So is the money exchange. So is the ice cream shop.

For the amount of money spent on Avatar, the land feels like it's missing one or two more sleeper diversions.

And the amount of time it took to build this. What makes magic kingdom and animal kingdom come alive at night is the sights, lights, smells and music. From what I've seen it looks nothing more than ground lights (ala epcot) and plants with lights.

 

[disney4life2008]

Highly doubtful. You don't bring in press/bloggers, the biggest champions of the product, to withhold jaw-dropping features from them. I suspect the "wow" stuff was shown to them yesterday.

That is what I was thinking. I understand the land may not be 100 percent. But i would fully expect their mouthpieces to experience everything.

 

[twebber55]

The river ride looks fun. But i dont really understand the excitement of a 4 minute journey looking at flowers


This is sounding less and less impressive.

for posterity its 5 minutes
not saying your opinion is wrong

 

[Bairstow]

One of the very oddest things to me is that you can't find a Na'Vi village anywhere in the land - in the river ride or simply outside in the land itself. The Na'Vi presence is really pretty minimal.

If I have the story right, the land is based around a former RDA facility that's been taken over by Alpha Centauri Expeditions, so it wouldn't be that close to a Na'vi encampment. Don't those things live up in trees anyway?

 

[Bairstow]

And the amount of time it took to build this. What makes magic kingdom and animal kingdom come alive at night is the sights, lights, smells and music. From what I've seen it looks nothing more than ground lights (ala epcot) and plants with lights.

Don't forget the bridges over streams and small waterfalls, and the towering rockwork with additional water features and floodlights. With or without the interactive disco floor, I'm sure it will be lovely. With the possible exception of the Mine Train, when has WDI ever screwed something like this up?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Don't those things live up in trees anyway?

<gasp!>

 

[gmajew]

I will say I am everything looks amazing. All the reviews and stuff have been positive. What I have seen with my own eyes has been incredible in the videos. Cannot wait to explore it. For sure it is disneys best work at wdw in far as thematic experience. It has pushed the envelope for them on lands. Cannot wait to see what Star Wars does.

 

[Tick Tock]

Reading some of the YouTube comments on the River Journey....

Have we as a species devolved our attention spans so drastically, that it takes non-stop thrills, explosions, or being shaken up in front of simulators to keep us entertained? What is so wrong about a simple, slow-moving boat ride through forests..letting the detail & immersion do the work rather than having to always involve us as part of the experience? I don't need a sudden drop or a "You're the star" moment on every ride / attraction I go on. Sometimes a journey through a unique atmosphere with elaborate details is the only story needed.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Part of the story of the land is that a lot of navi are cautious of us tourist (still upset from previous conflicts), and if i remember correctly most navi lived from nature, lived in the trees ect, why would they need a village?

If I recall, they live inside the tree.

And yes, the story is that the Na'Vi don't want to hang out with us. But that story was created so the designers wouldn't have to worry about integrating the Na'Vi into the land more thoroughly - if they had wanted to, they could have developed a different story.

It's odd because the Na'Vi are the distinguishing element of the film - they have more screen time then the humans. Presumably, someone who likes the film Avatar likes Na'Vi and would like to hang out with them. They would presumably be more interested in seeing where the Na'Vi live then seeing a dilapidated military Quonset hut.

I find the Na'Vi off-putting, so I'm fine with minimal Na'Vi interaction. But it would be very strange if Disney built the land to accommodate people who didn't like the primary feature of the IP.

 

[Scuttle]

One of the very oddest things to me is that you can't find a Na'Vi village anywhere in the land - in the river ride or simply outside in the land itself. The Na'Vi presence is really pretty minimal.

I think that was to avoid the awkwardness of them being 10 feet tall. It's a different animal( no pun intended).

 

[Dizney Crew]

So far what I've seen in the videos look good, but nothing jaw dropping. The boat ride looks fairly repetitive (unfortunately, I was hoping for something new/ wasn't leaked so far). FOP is still a mystery as far as the ride is concerned, the queue looks massive and about a 3 hour wait if/when filled up. The overall land looks cool, rock work looks on par with Radiator springs at CA which is a good thing. The videos I think don't do the nighttime justice (at least thats what I'm hoping). But it is disappointing seeing the ground not light up when walked on.

 

[mergatroid]

If I recall, they live inside the tree.

And yes, the story is that the Na'Vi don't want to hang out with us. But that story was created so the designers wouldn't have to worry about integrating the Na'Vi into the land more thoroughly - if they had wanted to, they could have developed a different story.

It's odd because the Na'Vi are the distinguishing element of the film - they have more screen time then the humans. Presumably, someone who likes the film Avatar likes Na'Vi and would like to hang out with them. They would presumably be more interested in seeing where the Na'Vi live then seeing a dilapidated military Quonset hut.

I find the Na'Vi off-putting, so I'm fine with minimal Na'Vi interaction. But it would be very strange if Disney built the land to accommodate people who didn't like the primary feature of the IP.

Yes but let's be honest, had they done so you'd have found something to complain about that too wouldn't you

 

[mergatroid]

So far what I've seen in the videos look good, but nothing jaw dropping. The boat ride looks fairly repetitive (unfortunately, I was hoping for something new/ wasn't leaked so far). FOP is still a mystery as far as the ride is concerned, the queue looks massive and about a 3 hour wait if/when filled up. The overall land looks cool, rock work looks on par with Radiator springs at CA which is a good thing. The videos I think don't do the nighttime justice (at least thats what I'm hoping). But it is disappointing seeing the ground not light up when walked on.

This is the best one I've seen so far

 

[Casper Gutman]

Yes but let's be honest, had they done so you'd have found something to complain about that too wouldn't you

And you would have praised it.

I think I've been relatively fair here. I praised the beauty of the land and the FoP queue quite a bit above.

With what specific aspect of my argument do you have an issue?