Cameron has given the OK ...

[MerlinTheGoat]

How have they NOT been correct? They told us that Cameron and Disney couldn't agree and the project was dying. Hence why we never saw a single piece of concept art, details, or anything at all and it's been well over a year since the announcement.

They told us that the best that Disney could muster to offer Cameron for the main E-ticket was some sort of Soarin' 2.0. Welp, look at the leaked blueprints - there you go. Speaking of said blueprints, it wasn't until they told us that Cameron finally gave Disney the "ok" that blueprints are leaked to the internet. As in, "the project is no longer dead, here you go."

Very well said, though you're not going to get anywhere with a troll. The insiders again exist not to tell you what will happen, they simply report the current intentions within the Disney company at that specific time.

Avatar has been troubled, now it looks like it may have gotten some life. And guess who was the first to report that Avatar was being pushed again? The insiders, specifically '74 and several others following suit and confirming this. And yet still nothing is a sure thing until we start seeing actual construction. Expansion plans are a volatile happening, things can and do change daily.

Another home run again for the insiders with the blueprints, Soarin 2.0 attraction is the headliner for them.

 

[flynnibus]

74 and Raven did have a "my junk is bigger than your junk" argument over Avatar. I remember cause that is when the term Spirit Dust was born (though I wonder why it hasn't caught on as much as pixie dust has LOL). But, I don't recall 74 saying, in that argument, that Avatar was dead, just limping along to a slow demise.

Well we have comments like this one from Sept 5th (after that god aweful IGN article the fanbase latched onto)

Except more and and more I hear this one is dead. And I'm on record saying I hope it does happen. DAK needs it. Fast.

And Lee commenting on the same thread..

The two sequels are in fact in a holding pattern, as is the AK project. IGN's report is correct.

Then as late as Oct 4.. WDW1974 said

Avatar is about as likely at this point to happen as I'm about to admit I'm really JT;

Calling it dead? No, calling it as close as dead as possible? Yup..
But then on the 19th, he said

I don't know that I'd say essentially dead. People have worked on it ... are working? But last I heard was that it was moving at a snail's pace and no one had much enthusiasm or thought it would happen and that Cameron was shooting down everything Glendale was tossing at him.

So I don't think it's questionable to say people have put it off as virtually dead. After all, its a ton of offhand comments (like ones above) that sparked numerous threads and tangents in several threads over it's likelyhood.

Have people called for the funeral outright? No, but there are plenty of passing comments like the WDW1974 one above like 'aint gonna happen' type comments. Through Sept and Oct comments got a lot less aggressive and more were like 'snails pace.. disagreements..' - but comments prior to that were much more aggressive.

 

[misterID]

I was not even going that far (not that I deny its occurring), just more based on how Raven has described his relationship with his sources. According to him, he works at a business at least a few people from Disney frequent and has developed a relationship with these people in which they share information with him. I just do not think that is the sort of relationship in which people will be as forthcoming regarding the headaches and nastiness of their job. Maybe I am wrong, as I am not present during these conversations, but it is just my opinion based on what has been said here.

I was always under the impression that Raven works at EPCOT.

 

[flynnibus]

I was always under the impression that Raven works at EPCOT.

Yeah, the 'pizza' stuff is just deflection and a coy answer.

 

[magicallactose]

Hogwarts Express will be the real deal! The train stations include highly detailed scenery and effects. The trains themselves will be very realistic including steam wafting from each car, scenic treatment and sounds. Each interior cabin includes period props and treatments. The window in each cabin will utlize an advanced optics display making it appear as though you are looking outside a window. As the train travels to the station riders will be treated to different storylines depending on which station they are going to. The cabins are also equipped with a full effects package including heat blast, leg ticklers, lighting etc. One storyline includes a dementors attack where it will get dark, the air will go cold and lights will flicker among other things.

Make no mistake the connector train ride is a full E-ticket! The R&D for the display system alone is staggering. Nothing like this has been done before on this scale and it will be spectacular. Avatar looks to be a joke compared to just this attraction. I haven't even mentioned the major new ride for Potter 2.0 yet.

That brings me to Gringott's. The queue, in my opinion, will be even better than Forbidden Journey's queue. Let's put it this way...the queue includes a really cool elevator ride that will simulate moving vertically and horizontally. You'll feel the air coming from the right side as you move to the right and you'll feel the air from below as you travel down. Each of the two elevator simulators include a projection dome above to enhance the visuals. That's just in the queue. Maybe I'll save the actual ride description for another time but suffice it to say that everything from the unique ride system to the exciting show elements will make this attraction one of the most impressive rides to date.

Wow! You just blew my mind. Thanks so much for the info. I'm even more jazzed about this expansion now. Also I'm now curious about the new additions to the Hogsmeade area you alluded to. Would this be something as major as a new walk-through attraction or a new store?

If the leaked Pandora plans are indeed accurate, and all we're getting as the big e-ticket is Soarin' 2.0, I'm extremely disappointed in Disney. Definitely Potter Phase 2 sounds like the real thing to get excited about. But maybe the C-ticket boat ride will turn out to be really really cool? Maybe?

 

[FigmentJedi]

Hogwarts Express will be the real deal! The train stations include highly detailed scenery and effects. The trains themselves will be very realistic including steam wafting from each car, scenic treatment and sounds. Each interior cabin includes period props and treatments. The window in each cabin will utlize an advanced optics display making it appear as though you are looking outside a window. As the train travels to the station riders will be treated to different storylines depending on which station they are going to. The cabins are also equipped with a full effects package including heat blast, leg ticklers, lighting etc. One storyline includes a dementors attack where it will get dark, the air will go cold and lights will flicker among other things.

Make no mistake the connector train ride is a full E-ticket! The R&D for the display system alone is staggering. Nothing like this has been done before on this scale and it will be spectacular. Avatar looks to be a joke compared to just this attraction. I haven't even mentioned the major new ride for Potter 2.0 yet.

That brings me to Gringott's. The queue, in my opinion, will be even better than Forbidden Journey's queue. Let's put it this way...the queue includes a really cool elevator ride that will simulate moving vertically and horizontally. You'll feel the air coming from the right side as you move to the right and you'll feel the air from below as you travel down. Each of the two elevator simulators include a projection dome above to enhance the visuals. That's just in the queue. Maybe I'll save the actual ride description for another time but suffice it to say that everything from the unique ride system to the exciting show elements will make this attraction one of the most impressive rides to date.

So a magic version of the Hydrolators/Elevators at Tokyo's Journey to the Center of the Earth? Now that's the sort of immersion we need more of again.

 

[Tom]

I just want to say that the people who have "Soarin 2.0" stuck in their minds need to take a better look at the Vekoma system that's been linked to about 10 times already, before they get all down in the dumps about the ride system and technology.

The E-Ticket (assuming it really does use the Vekoma system....which the design clearly accommodates), would be more like a Soarin 10.0. It combines the nearly 270-degrees of motion of Star Tours, with the cantilevered and "free-floating" suspension system of Soarin - with a MUCH faster load/unload time.

And, if the word Morpho means anything, perhaps it will make use of Cameron's videography and projection. Combine that with 3-D glasses and it could actually be extremely impressive and quite thrilling.

If they do it right, it will be an E-Ticket that I (and my extremely sensitive motion sickness) can't ride. But given the seating system, anyone who can ride Soarin should be able to ride it. And anyone who can ride Pirates can ride the C-Ticket.

Granted, they could also fail miserably and put in a giant, epic flight simulator about butterflies, which might as well mean, "Our next move is to just close and condemn the park like we did with River Country."

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

From what it sounds like, Cameron was the one holding the project back. Now that he and Disney have agreed to cooperate, the project looks like it will move a little faster. It's something that happened very abruptly it seems.

 

[Tom]

From what it sounds like, Cameron was the one holding the project back. Now that he and Disney have agreed to cooperate, the project looks like it will move a little faster. It's something that happened very abruptly it seems.

If Cameron holds to his guns and forces Disney to re-create the environment from the movie, this mini-land will be an attraction all on its own.

Let's just hope the cards fall in Cameron's favor at every decision point, which means they fall in our favor.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

If Cameron holds to his guns and forces Disney to re-create the environment from the movie, this mini-land will be an attraction all on its own.

Let's just hope the cards fall in Cameron's favor at every decision point, which means they fall in our favor.

Agreed. I'm not a big fan of the film from a story perspective, and still think there are much better fits for AK (like Mysterious Island or Beastly Kingdom). But at the same time the movie has lovely and well designed visuals. I can easily see it being a very lovely land in the hands of a competent designer. Both Cameron and WDI are incredibly talented in the detailing department, and WDI has proven they've still got it when given plenty of money (DisneySea and Cars Land are perfect examples). I can at least see potential and won't completely diss this until I see more about it.

Did you or anyone else with the full blueprints ever find out whether the boat ride will have drops like Pirates? Or is it a flat ride like Small World?

 

[magicallactose]

I just want to say that the people who have "Soarin 2.0" stuck in their minds need to take a better look at the Vekoma system that's been linked to about 10 times already, before they get all down in the dumps about the ride system and technology.

The E-Ticket (assuming it really does use the Vekoma system....which the design clearly accommodates), would be more like a Soarin 10.0. It combines the nearly 270-degrees of motion of Star Tours, with the cantilevered and "free-floating" suspension system of Soarin - with a MUCH faster load/unload time.

And, if the word Morpho means anything, perhaps it will make use of Cameron's videography and projection. Combine that with 3-D glasses and it could actually be extremely impressive and quite thrilling.

If they do it right, it will be an E-Ticket that I (and my extremely sensitive motion sickness) can't ride. But given the seating system, anyone who can ride Soarin should be able to ride it. And anyone who can ride Pirates can ride the C-Ticket.

Granted, they could also fail miserably and put in a giant, epic flight simulator about butterflies, which might as well mean, "Our next move is to just close and condemn the park like we did with River Country."

I've seen the link to the Panoramic Flight Simulator on the Vekoma site. It describes the ride system as being able to move " in six ways: heave, sway, surge, pitch, roll and yaw". While I agree that it is a big improvement from the relative immobility of the Soarin' system, I still think it is a let down as a new E-ticket attraction. It's not that I have an issue with screen simulators (I enjoy Star Wars 2.0 and Despicable Me, for example). But they are simply not as effective as rides that combine actual forward momentum (and sets) with screen technology. That is why Spiderman and Forbidden Journey and Transformers work so well.

Now, of course, there could be a lot more to these blueprints and to the ride we don't know. I'm not completely writing off Pandora. But what I'm hearing is not making me super excited. (But I do agree, that I expect the land to look stunning....we better get floating islands )

 

[disney fan 13]

I just want to say that the people who have "Soarin 2.0" stuck in their minds need to take a better look at the Vekoma system that's been linked to about 10 times already, before they get all down in the dumps about the ride system and technology.

The E-Ticket (assuming it really does use the Vekoma system....which the design clearly accommodates), would be more like a Soarin 10.0. It combines the nearly 270-degrees of motion of Star Tours, with the cantilevered and "free-floating" suspension system of Soarin - with a MUCH faster load/unload time.

And, if the word Morpho means anything, perhaps it will make use of Cameron's videography and projection. Combine that with 3-D glasses and it could actually be extremely impressive and quite thrilling.

If they do it right, it will be an E-Ticket that I (and my extremely sensitive motion sickness) can't ride. But given the seating system, anyone who can ride Soarin should be able to ride it. And anyone who can ride Pirates can ride the C-Ticket.

Granted, they could also fail miserably and put in a giant, epic flight simulator about butterflies, which might as well mean, "Our next move is to just close and condemn the park like we did with River Country."

Hope your right...

 

[dreamscometrue]

Hope your right...

He's always right! I mean that, seriously.

 

[Tom]

I've seen the link to the Panoramic Flight Simulator on the Vekoma site. It describes the ride system as being able to move " in six ways: heave, sway, surge, pitch, roll and yaw". While I agree that it is a big improvement from the relative immobility of the Soarin' system, I still think it is a let down as a new E-ticket attraction. It's not that I have an issue with screen simulators (I enjoy Star Wars 2.0 and Despicable Me, for example). But they are simply not as effective as rides that combine actual forward momentum (and sets) with screen technology. That is why Spiderman and Forbidden Journey and Transformers work so well.

Now, of course, there could be a lot more to these blueprints and to the ride we don't know. I'm not completely writing off Pandora. But what I'm hearing is not making me super excited. (But I do agree, that I expect the land to look stunning....we better get floating islands )

How one person views an attraction is determined simply by the level of "wow-ness" they experience upon unloading. The letters are what Disney uses to rate them from their point of view, or based on their goal. However, each of us is entitled to categorize an attraction ourselves after experiencing it.

Humans are "wow'd" based completely upon the level of combined stimulation of their senses. At Disney, in the early days, that was almost primarily visual and auditory. Today, with the technologies available, an attraction can stimulate every sense except taste (for sanitation reasons).

Everyone will admit that the first time the rode Soarin, they were wow'd. If you don't say that, don't even bother replying to my post because I'm not interested in your negative opinion. The soundtrack, video and brand new ride system simply overwhelmed. We were touched by wind, smelled scents, heard the music, and saw the stunning video.

Every one of those stimuli has to be stepped up this time to meet the growing expectation of the iGeneration. Not only do we need to feel wind and smell scents, but the ride needs to roll and pitch with the tilting of the video so that we ACTUALLY feel like we're flying. And the video needs to be so stunning - so perfectly perfect - that our eyes think we're seeing real life and not a grainy, dirty film projection. Throw on the 3-D glasses and BAM, the perfect visual element has become even more perfect (if don't right).

Please understand that I am in no way pro-Avatar. I've never watched the movie, and outside of Titanic, I have nothing positive to say about James Cameron. I also never saw Harry Potter, but was overwhelmed when we saw Potter land in May. I am just hoping that Disney latches onto a franchise that is so sensory stimulating, and reproduces it in a way that teeters on the cliff of impossible feats.

They can deliver us "just a E and a C" ride, but if they do this right, guests won't want to leave the land. And they'll want to come back again, at night.

That's what I WANT for Disney, the fans, and for Animal Kingdom...and I think it can happen, if the right people are in charge of making decisions.

 

[unkadug]

The Vekoma artwork looks fairly impressive. Vekoma estimates 900 people per hour per bay. Times four bays...this attraction will be a people eater!

 

[Hakunamatata]

The Vekoma artwork looks fairly impressive. Vekoma estimates 900 people per hour per bay. Times four bays...this attraction will be a people eater!

And based off of zero knowledge, but looking at the schematic above, the ride "units" appear to be independent of each other? If that is the case, if one unit goes down, the attraction can still function.

 

[unkadug]

And based off of zero knowledge, but looking at the schematic above, the ride "units" appear to be independent of each other? If that is the case, if one unit goes down, the attraction can still function.

It's also possible that there could be a tame "car" for those prone to motion sickness as well, a la M:S

 

[magicallactose]

How one person views an attraction is determined simply by the level of "wow-ness" they experience upon unloading. The letters are what Disney uses to rate them from their point of view, or based on their goal. However, each of us is entitled to categorize an attraction ourselves after experiencing it.

Humans are "wow'd" based completely upon the level of combined stimulation of their senses. At Disney, in the early days, that was almost primarily visual and auditory. Today, with the technologies available, an attraction can stimulate every sense except taste (for sanitation reasons).

Everyone will admit that the first time the rode Soarin, they were wow'd. If you don't say that, don't even bother replying to my post because I'm not interested in your negative opinion. The soundtrack, video and brand new ride system simply overwhelmed. We were touched by wind, smelled scents, heard the music, and saw the stunning video.

Every one of those stimuli has to be stepped up this time to meet the growing expectation of the iGeneration. Not only do we need to feel wind and smell scents, but the ride needs to roll and pitch with the tilting of the video so that we ACTUALLY feel like we're flying. And the video needs to be so stunning - so perfectly perfect - that our eyes think we're seeing real life and not a grainy, dirty film projection. Throw on the 3-D glasses and BAM, the perfect visual element has become even more perfect (if don't right).

Please understand that I am in no way pro-Avatar. I've never watched the movie, and outside of Titanic, I have nothing positive to say about James Cameron. I also never saw Harry Potter, but was overwhelmed when we saw Potter land in May. I am just hoping that Disney latches onto a franchise that is so sensory stimulating, and reproduces it in a way that teeters on the cliff of impossible feats.

They can deliver us "just a E and a C" ride, but if they do this right, guests won't want to leave the land. And they'll want to come back again, at night.

That's what I WANT for Disney, the fans, and for Animal Kingdom...and I think it can happen, if the right people are in charge of making decisions.

I am aware that the combination of difference sensory stimuli are what contribute to one's enjoyment of a ride. That goes without saying.

I also believe that nothing 'sells' going on a journey (whether a surreal one like that of the original Journey Into the Imagination, or a more straightforward one like Pirates of the Caribbean) like actual movement from point A to point B. I also think that audiences can now easily access increasingly advanced screen technologies outside of theme parks (Imax, 4K, digital 3D, Omnimax). What this means is that we need more 'mixed' stimuli to fool our senses into suspending disbelief. And by mixed stimuli, I mean a combination of screens, sets, simulated motion, and actual forward motion. On the other hand, attractions that only involve a simulated range of motion in front of a screen are much more easily dismissed by the viewer's mind as an 'inauthentic' or simulated experience.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The Vekoma artwork looks fairly impressive. Vekoma estimates 900 people per hour per bay. Times four bays...this attraction will be a people eater!

With only two columns of seating, that reduces this to about 600 per hour (assuming the film fits into the ride time window recommended by Vekoma) but that is still 2400 per hour with all theaters and seats running! I almost wonder if it is possible if instead of trying to create an exterior means of walking into Pandora, that Disney copies the old Living Seas or Wild Arctic at SeaWorld model. What if we actually fly on a spaceship to and through Pandora and then disembark on the planet?

And based off of zero knowledge, but looking at the schematic above, the ride "units" appear to be independent of each other? If that is the case, if one unit goes down, the attraction can still function.

Yes, they are independent ride vehicles.

 

[unkadug]

I am aware that the combination of difference sensory stimuli are what contribute to one's enjoyment of a ride. That goes without saying.

I also believe that nothing 'sells' going on a journey (whether a surreal one like that of the original Journey Into the Imagination, or a more straightforward one like Pirates of the Caribbean) like actual movement from point A to point B. I also think that audiences can now easily access increasingly advanced screen technologies outside of theme parks (Imax, 4K, digital 3D, Omnimax). What this means is that we need more 'mixed' stimuli to fool our senses into suspending disbelief. And by mixed stimuli, I mean a combination of screens, sets, simulated motion, and actual forward motion. On the other hand, attractions that only involve a simulated range of motion in front of a screen are much more easily dismissed by the viewer's mind as an 'inauthentic' or simulated experience.

The problem with your hypothesis lies in the fact that it is very difficult to tell where the screens start and stop from the actual sets. That is what makes it so fascinating.

Since you can't tell if it is a screen or a set, then how are you to know if it's all screen?

BTW the Vekoma ride vehicle does include forward movement (albeit limited).