Doubting Avatar

twebber55

Well-Known Member
The last rumour for a "Beastly Kingdomme" kind of area was to do something similar to Mysterious Island at Tokyo DisneySea, with versions of "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", as far as I am aware.
that would be really cool
 

Captain Chaos

Well-Known Member
I can just as easily say the same thing about your view on Avatar. I'm not throwing down from an emotional place...I'd really love it if you did the same.

To be quite honest, I don't hate Avatar. I really enjoyed the movie, even while recognizing just how unoriginal and reused the plot is....I also recognize the potential a land or attraction themed around the movie. Is it my first choice? No. Is it a viable choice. I would have to acquiesce and say yes.

Here's the point I have been making in this thread...the OP was wondering, out loud, why people doubt it. The reasoning is simple:
* No art for almost a year.
* Negative reaction by the CEO when pressed at shareholder meeting.
* General aire of knee-jerk, desperate reaction to Potter by Iger (while leaving Rhode out of it)


Also, if you read my post instead of desperately trying to defend your movie with emotions blazing, you'd realize that I clearly stated that *if* the sequels don't perform, you will see Disney react and reduce the scope of this...if it hasn't already been canceled. There's a lot of *ifs* in my statements. I hardly consider what I am speaking to be clairvoyant with so many conditionals in my line of thinking.

I was pointing out the argument that Disney would back out of Avatar is Avatar 2 bombs in the box office is really silly... here is why...

CMM seems to be getting prepped for closure... People here have said the idea is to have the Avatar area opened in 2016... Construction is to begin in 2013, or should begin in 2013 if that 2016 time frame is to be met... Avatar 2 comes out in 2015, when Disney would be well into construction, if not almost done... Pre-fabricated rock work, attraction building up, ride vehicle built, and what ever else would be scheduled for the area would already be done and installed... So, according to your logic, and that yoda member, Disney would simply drop the project even though it is nearly complete... Ask yourself, does that make any sense????

If they drop Avatar, they will drop it before vertical construction begins...not in the middle or near completion...
 

PirateFrank

Well-Known Member
I was pointing out the argument that Disney would back out of Avatar is Avatar 2 bombs in the box office is really silly... here is why...

CMM seems to be getting prepped for closure... People here have said the idea is to have the Avatar area opened in 2016... Construction is to begin in 2013, or should begin in 2013 if that 2016 time frame is to be met... Avatar 2 comes out in 2015, when Disney would be well into construction, if not almost done... Pre-fabricated rock work, attraction building up, ride vehicle built, and what ever else would be scheduled for the area would already be done and installed... So, according to your logic, and that yoda member, Disney would simply drop the project even though it is nearly complete... Ask yourself, does that make any sense????

If they drop Avatar, they will drop it before vertical construction begins...not in the middle or near completion...

I agree to some extent. I personally believe that the likelihood of the project is getting deep-sixed is much higher between now and middle stage construction. However, I also believe that a contingency plan is in place, in the event that the Cameron deal falls apart.... If AL is canceled, mid-construction, it will be converted/re-imagined into a new land *not* tied to the blue people.

So yes, it does make perfect sense for a project to get halted prior to or after vertical construction. Like already stated here, vertical construction has been halted in Reedy Creek before....

Again, I also stress that I do not believe that construction will start on time nor will it remain timely throughout the process. It is not out of the ordinary to consider the possibility that actual erection of structure in the new land may not happen well into 2014...and happen slowly. Heck, they need to move an entire theater before they can start major construction. If Avatar II is released in 2015 (Wikipedia has it being released in 2014), that's not far removed from a stage of construction that is easily halted and re-imagined.

In fact, thinking out loud -- and perhaps I'm giving Iger too much credit here, there may be a very good reason why this process is currently so painfully slow....why it's taking at least a year to show some art. Maybe TWDC *wants* to be able to tuck-tail and run if Avatar II is a box-office abortion. Who knows....

But I don't think you can state my times are off and don't make sense. Your assuming that things are going to start Jan 1, 2013 at a break-neck pace. I just don't think you have history on your side....
 

yoda_5729

Well-Known Member
I was pointing out the argument that Disney would back out of Avatar is Avatar 2 bombs in the box office is really silly... here is why...

CMM seems to be getting prepped for closure... People here have said the idea is to have the Avatar area opened in 2016... Construction is to begin in 2013, or should begin in 2013 if that 2016 time frame is to be met... Avatar 2 comes out in 2015, when Disney would be well into construction, if not almost done... Pre-fabricated rock work, attraction building up, ride vehicle built, and what ever else would be scheduled for the area would already be done and installed... So, according to your logic, and that yoda member, Disney would simply drop the project even though it is nearly complete... Ask yourself, does that make any sense????

If they drop Avatar, they will drop it before vertical construction begins...not in the middle or near completion...

Just so there was no misunderstandings, if that comment was meant for me, I never said they would stop the process if it began in terms of building. I think the idea is bad and don't like it, but it would be a bigger risk in my eyes to start building and stop half way through since the company would've already spent some money on the supplies.

I was more hopefully looking towards other avenues for a land in Disney, but I do think Avatarland will happen, and it may even be cool, but for how long? That's my question. No one knows the answer though, including me.
 

Mike K

Active Member
James Cameron and his producer on the Avatar films have stated that the second and third chapter of the series won't be ready until 2015 and 2016. It's later then they were expecting but it has a lot to do with them pushing the boundaries of the technology there using again. I wouldn't be surprised if the slow progress of seeing Avatarland art is because Cameron must be simultaneously working on both films while developing things for the expansion that we'll see in the sequels. I believe Cameron mentioned he was going to explore Pandora's sea-life so I'm sure ironing out the details for the film while prepping the plans for the park must take a lot of time and ease.
 

ebof1023

Active Member
Ignoring how ridiculous this thread is, who's watching Avatar on FX right now?
watching it right now and to those people who dont think that it will fit in with Ak just watch the movie, the scenery of the movie just looks like it should be in the park, at first i was against avatar being in the park but now watching the movie i think that Disney was a possible amazing land
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Wait.. is this going to replace Dino-Land? -DING DING!- GIVE IT A GREEN LIGHT!!:) But keep Dinosaur.

-WondersOfLife


The last original pavilion
 

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
i agree, not a big fan of dino-land myself...reminds me too much of a carnival.
Primeval Whirl especially always reminds me of carnivals. That might be just me bit for some reason it does. And I really hate carnival rides and even though I know the attraction is much safer and better built than a rusty carnival ride I can't get the association out of my head. So thats why ive never ridden the ride...well that and that it doesn't seem like a ride worth waiting a long time for.
 

jumblue

Active Member
James Cameron and his producer on the Avatar films have stated that the second and third chapter of the series won't be ready until 2015 and 2016. It's later then they were expecting but it has a lot to do with them pushing the boundaries of the technology there using again. I wouldn't be surprised if the slow progress of seeing Avatarland art is because Cameron must be simultaneously working on both films while developing things for the expansion that we'll see in the sequels. I believe Cameron mentioned he was going to explore Pandora's sea-life so I'm sure ironing out the details for the film while prepping the plans for the park must take a lot of time and ease.

Disney may have some sort of non-disclosure agreement regarding what's in the two sequels, which could have a major impact as to what art can be made available. I'm guessing the Imagineers have full access to his Encyclopedia Pandorica, it's just not for the general public (as Cameron probably understands the need for WOW-factor).

Of course, if this all (movies and land) come together around the same time, I'd expect Disney to be overdosing on that brand-synergy they like so much...

~ Like advertising Narnia for Fox!~
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Avatar is "out-of-date and stale" but Beastly Kingdom, a design which is over 15 years old and has had its signature attraction already effectively built in a competing theme park which has already been re-themed, is somehow still relevant and fresh? Of course we still have folks pining away for the Western River Expedition. Nothing really packs that "wow" factor like a 50 year old concept.

No mental gymnastics are required to rationalize your preferences for attractions. Just saying you like something more than something else is perfectly acceptable.

Call off the dogs, sir. I was merely advocating for Beastly Kingdom as a more interesting concept with a longer shelf-life and more creative potential, not suggesting that whatever attractions were originally planned for it should be resurrected and slavishly replicated in toto.
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
CMM seems to be getting prepped for closure... People here have said the idea is to have the Avatar area opened in 2016... Construction is to begin in 2013, or should begin in 2013 if that 2016 time frame is to be met...

Shanghai Disneyland is supposed to open in late 2015. The company will own 43% of the resort, so in terms of financial investment it will be more like Hong Kong Disneyland, and if it opens with few rides and/or the Chinese economy takes a nosedive, then the Mouse will be scrambling to make sure it doesn't turn into a financial disaster, like EuroDisney was until relatively recently, and how Hong Kong Disneyland is getting a lot of new stuff. In other words, a couple years after it opens, the Mouse may need to shell out more $$$ to keep it afloat and/or add new attractions.

Hong Kong was supposed to do killer business as it would supposedly attract tourists by the boat load from China. I don' think that Chinese tourtists, or any type of tourists, are stupid, meaning that if they open Shanghai Disneyland with a lot of fancy landscaping, and few attractions, then it will have real problems.

Also, Iger will be stepping down in 2015 as CEO. He'll still be Chairman but he won't have a whole lot of power. It seems like an odd time to quit, right in the middle of construction of your "pet project".

If Avatar 2 isn't coming out until 2016, with Avatar 3 on the way, why not wait until 2016 to decide on making this land?

Avatar was a good film, but like E.T., where exactly would a sequel go? The paralyzed marine guy is now a blue person, I guess the military will come back and hunt him under the ocean as payback? Or maybe they'll try to rip out the mineral like before? At some point it is going to get pretty derivative. This isn't Star Wars, there isn't some nebulous emperor and a Darth Vader walking around, there isn't some big mystery like the force, its more of a Star Trek episode where a crew member sides with the local natives over Star Fleet. Not much of an ongoing story. Plus, will the man character be the blue guy the marine became? If so, its harder to relate to CG characters than humans. Though I liked Avatar, I'm not really interested in seeing a sequel as its feel that the story ended.

I still don't get why Disney is pushing a non-Disney franchise which could take business away from whatever Disney film is in theaters when Avatar 2 comes out. And like people have said, who is going to buy a plush blue-guy/girl? The characters aren't lovable like in Disney films, maybe they could make a Sigourney Weaver action figurer with a fake cigarette that lits up and spews smoke and makes crabby remarks. The Godfather was also a big franchise, but you don't see anybody talking about making a Godfather-land with Italian restaurants, drive-by shootings, and a mob-land boat ride through the underworld.

Avatar-land is dead.
Long-live Avengers-land.
 

muse1983

Well-Known Member
It just makes me wonder why they would pass over Beastly Kingdom again and go to Avatar instead. Acquiring the rights to the film from Cameron certainly wasn't cheap. They could have instead at least completed half of the originally proposed Beastly Kingdom plan with the 250-300 mill they will most likely dump into a franchise that will be all but forgotten 25 years from now....it's sad that BK will probably never see the light of day...
 

alissafalco

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know what Disney would be using the "test flying avatar creature" for? A show perhaps? I really wasn't impressed with it. I agree with other posts that Disney really shouldn't do anything until avatar 2 comes out. They need to see how the movie does. If its a bomb then forget the whole thing!! Even if its a another blockbuster, maybe just do 1 attraction or show, but not a whole land. They could do so much more like Journey to the Center of the earth. That ride is supposed to be amazing.
 

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