Disney Imagineering Testing Dragon

ellie-badge

ellie-badge

Well-Known Member
Wow! If this thing really is for Avatar Land, then my skepticism regarding the planned area in Animal Kingdom may have just totally changed. If this is just a small glimpse into what we may be getting in the distant future... WOW!

I know this is a shot in the dark, but if Disney decides not to proceed with Avatar Land, they could move along with Beastly Kingdom and use this dragon thing for it instead. Highly unlikely, but a gal can wish. ;)
 
Biff215

Biff215

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
Doubtful its a show element, if it indeed related to AVATAR. At this time frame, how about the possibility that its for a media event to announce the specifics of AVATARland? The system could later be used in some kind of show.
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I think that's a strong possibility. As others have said, this thing has been in the works for a while, probably well before Iger even thought about bringing Cameron and Avatar on board. Now that the Avatar Land rumors seem to be heating up, temporarily repurposing something like this for a big announcement seems plausible, even though it might ultimately be used someplace else.
 
DisDadEddie

DisDadEddie

Active Member
Who knows what the drangon if for but as the photo shows it isn't a finished products yet. They also said it will be heading to Orlando this summer. Does that mean for storge or will there be a dragon flying over the parks in Orlando. I'll keep a lookout in the sky when I visit in August!
 
themoose

themoose

Active Member
It is way too early in the timeline for it to be for Avatar. Weren't there rumors about a new night show for Magic Kingdom and a Fantasmic replacement? Or possibly as part of a new Illuminations for the 30th? Steve is probably onto something with the announcements.

Is there a chance that Beastly Kingdom will be built with Avatar as a section within? And weren't people talking about WoC coming to AK?
 
threeyoda

threeyoda

Active Member
themoose said:
It is way too early in the timeline for it to be for Avatar. Weren't there rumors about a new night show for Magic Kingdom and a Fantasmic replacement? Or possibly as part of a new Illuminations for the 30th? Steve is probably onto something with the announcements.

Is there a chance that Beastly Kingdom will be built with Avatar as a section within? And weren't people talking about WoC coming to AK?
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I believe Beastly Kingdom is long dead. And the WOC rumor was just fanboy chatter. But I think that he's right in that it could be for an announcement or new show.
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
Oh, I hope this cool-looking dragon thing won't be wasted on Avatar. I'm still wishing on a star that Beastly Kingdomme will happen. Lee has already stated, in fact, that the dragon isn't for Avatar. And if Lee says something's so, it's so. I hope we find out soon what the dragon IS for. It looks amazing! (Wow, breathes fire, huh? AWESOMENESS!!!)
 
M

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
I can see them shipping it to Orlando to try and avoid prying eyes by testing it over swamp land.

I'm sure they tried getting the USAF to let them test at Nellis/Area 51, but the government was worried they might gain access to the aliens and their equipment and ruin the myth with an ultra-realistic attraction as a result.
 
Bob

Bob

Bo0bi3$
Premium Member
Someone may have made this point already but I can't see how they would want to fly something over AK. The noise would be highly agitating to the animals in the park.
 
AmongMadPeople

AmongMadPeople

Active Member
Pixiedustmaker said:
My source told me that it is related to the Malificent movie, perhaps as a promo and addition for a show.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/06/19/first-look-maleficent/
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How long ago was this patent published and discussed on this forum? If this ultralight is being used in any way connected to this movie, it's been re-purposed. Considering the movie won't be in theaters for two more years, I'd consider it a peculiar waste of money and innovation to debut this contraption as a promo for a movie that already has Angelina Jolie in horns as a major draw.
 
P

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
threeyoda said:
Yes, interesting... Most people seem to agree its not for Avatar, but then most people also say its going to Orlando. So it could be for a nighttime show in Disney World, maybe Fantasmic or a new unannounced thing (rumored Steve Davison show?). But I guess it could also just be for more testing before shipping off to Asia. I could really only see this working in a reinvented Fantasmic, a new show, or a show in Avatarland, even though its already been said its not for that.
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Yeah, I got the impression from my source that it would be used as a way to promote Maleficent, and added to an existing show that was having show issues as a way to plus it. Makes sense to have the Maleficent dragon, or I guess that's Maleficent in her dragon-form, fly around the show area, and then imply that it "landed" and have the dragon come out.

Does WDW even have a "murphy" scale dragon like in DLR? I'm hoping they make two for each park.
 
P

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
AmongMadPeople said:
How long ago was this patent published and discussed on this forum? If this ultralight is being used in any way connected to this movie, it's been re-purposed. Considering the movie won't be in theaters for two more years, I'd consider it a peculiar waste of money and innovation to debut this contraption as a promo for a movie that already has Angelina Jolie in horns as a major draw.
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Expensive films with big stars have pretty big advertising budgets as you don't rely on star power alone to sell a film. The Maleficent movie looks like they hope it will be a tent-pole, and they don't want to make the same mistake as John Carter, which the advertising department bungled. Given that they will spend +$120 million on marketing alone for Maleficent, an ultra-light dragon that breathes fire, and pulls people back into Fantasmic, seems like a smart move.

When compared to an animatronic Maleficent dragon, the flying Maleficent dragon is a cheaper effect. And it is still being tested, working the dragon into Fantasmic and figuring out how to work it into promotions will take months and months. They advertised Tron way in advance of its release (worked for a film that wasn't as good as it could have been), same thing with Maleficent, they want the audience to have awareness of the film, unlike John Carter.

All speculation on my part as they could add the dragon to the fireworks too, though I think that is still popular.
 
tl77

tl77

Well-Known Member
The Duck said:
This was the first thing that popped in my head. Does anyone else remember this from the early 90's?
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This was the first thing I thought of too, I don't know where the "Surprise in the Skies" gliders took off from, but they turned the original WDW air strip into employee parking a while back

I looks great though
 
wdw71fan

wdw71fan

Well-Known Member
tl77 said:
This was the first thing I thought of too, I don't know where the "Surprise in the Skies" gliders took off from, but they turned the original WDW air strip into employee parking a while back

I looks great though
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a process that can be easily revered by simply not parking there .... :)
 
AmongMadPeople

AmongMadPeople

Active Member
Pixiedustmaker said:
Expensive films with big stars have pretty big advertising budgets as you don't rely on star power alone to sell a film. The Maleficent movie looks like they hope it will be a tent-pole, and they don't want to make the same mistake as John Carter, which the advertising department bungled. Given that they will spend +$120 million on marketing alone for Maleficent, an ultra-light dragon that breathes fire, and pulls people back into Fantasmic, seems like a smart move.

When compared to an animatronic Maleficent dragon, the flying Maleficent dragon is a cheaper effect. And it is still being tested, working the dragon into Fantasmic and figuring out how to work it into promotions will take months and months. They advertised Tron way in advance of its release, same thing with Maleficent, they want the audience to have awareness of the film, unlike John Carter.

All speculation on my part as they could add the dragon to the fireworks too, though I think that is still popular.
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The way I see it (anyone is free to disagree), connections between this ultralight and the movie's marketing campaign are happenstance. It would absolutely boggle my mind if WDI was creating flying, fire breathing dragons to market a movie in the parks.

I'm going to make up a statistic and say that 90% of park guests don't know Malificent's name, don't know what movie she's from, and don't know the dragon in Fantasmic is related to her or Sleeping Beauty. It will take an education campaign for people to connect this new flying contraption in a park to the movie.
 
Alektronic

Alektronic

Well-Known Member
tl77 said:
This was the first thing I thought of too, I don't know where the "Surprise in the Skies" gliders took off from, but they turned the original WDW air strip into employee parking a while back

I looks great though
Click to expand...

They took off from behind the Caribbean Beach resort, we always called the Surprise show "Mistake by the Lake"
 

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