FoTLK To Close in January?

[John]

JT, I'm curious. How good are your sources inside the company? Do you have friends in imagineering/parks that give you the inside scoop?

Surely you jest.......He has absolutely none....nada, nope....no more then you do. To his credit he always preface what he says as it being his opinion...just one he thinks very highly of. He has no inside scoop, he reads the boards as we do and comes up with his very own brand of conjecture. He has so much confidence in his stance that you think to yourself....this guy must know somebody. Nope, just believes his own hype.

 

[GrumpyFan]

I made a point to check out the theatre structure for FotLK when I was there in March, and it appears to me that the entire structure (with exception to the newer enclosure walls) could be dismantled and moved. Knowing how tight the Orlando team is with its pennies, I'd have to guess that the entire structure is going to be taken apart, and moved to it's new home in Harambe.

Agreed. To call it a theater is a stretch. Essentially it is a flat concrete pad with rails for the floats, temporary style bleacher seating, and a steel beam octagon or pentagon shaped structure erected over the top of it. I think the tech booth is essentially a shipping container that would seem easily moved as well. Of course, this is all wild speculation, but it seems like a pretty simple.

Rough guess here, but IF they wanted to do it cheaply and were just going to re-build it as is without any modification, the whole move re-location process could probably be done in just a few short weeks, with the most timely part being disassembling the structure and transporting to the new pad. If they budget for it and build a new structure, it could only be closed for a couple of weeks while they move the floats and props.

 

[El Grupo]

Actually I think it could be done rather quickly as these things go. We are just talking a well themed shell with seats. And I would guess they would want to target 2013 or 2014 for marketing purposes. Just a wild guess though.

No doubt it could be built quickly. EPCOT opened 3.5 years after the ground-breaking ceremony. Most of the AoA resort was open 2 years after construction began. A simple shell should not take long at all. The question is how committed they are to getting it done fast.

Seems like construction should begin immediately if they wanted it moved asap.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I was very underwhelmed by FotLK when I saw it last December. Just a bunch of big puppets and acrobats bouncing on trampolines. Big deal! It ought to be closed permanently IMO, and the money allocated for that stupid Avatar attraction redirected towards a really smashing Lion King dark ride!

 

[Magenta Panther]

I read it as Pandora is still coming, despite Cameron's nitpicking and the fan community's overall lack of enthusiasm.

Well, if Cameron's not enthused and the fan community isn't either nor is the general public, then why don't they just plain CANCEL IT???

 

[HenryMystic]

Well, if Cameron's not enthused and the fan community isn't either nor is the general public, then why don't they just plain CANCEL IT???

Bob Iger.

 

[threeyoda]

Well, if Cameron's not enthused and the fan community isn't either nor is the general public, then why don't they just plain CANCEL IT???

You misunderstood. I said I read it as Cameron's enthused, but nitpicking on the project (which was expected by many knowing the kind of person he is). The fan community, referring to mainly wdwmagic, is overall not enthused. Looking at other boards I frequent (Theme park review, MiceChat) people over there are much, much more optimistic. And I don't know where you got the idea that the general public isn't enthused. Most people don't even know about it. This board is not a good meter to judge the feelings of an average Disney guest.

 

[JimboJones123]

Well, the area where multiple CMs have said it is going is still undeveloped. Given how long it's taking them to build a simple kiddie coaster in MK, a new and improved theater might take the better part of a decade.

Plenty of matada this morning...

They tore down and built a McDonalds by us in 7 weeks flat.

Just sayin'.

 

[Condorman]

Bob Iger.

Actually, it's Tom Staggs. The "Avatarland" idea was his baby from the start.

 

[Condorman]

You misunderstood. I said I read it as Cameron's enthused, but nitpicking on the project (which was expected by many knowing the kind of person he is). The fan community, referring to mainly wdwmagic, is overall not enthused. Looking at other boards I frequent (Theme park review, MiceChat) people over there are much, much more optimistic. And I don't know where you got the idea that the general public isn't enthused. Most people don't even know about it. This board is not a good meter to judge the feelings of an average Disney guest.

MiceChat is a pro-Disneyland site through and through. If they're in favor of the Avatar concept, it's only as a side-joke/back-handed compliment to WDW lovers. And if those who post on this site aren't too crazy about the idea, and those who post on this site are die-hard fanatics, it's actually a pretty good barometer of how the general public feels. No one hates the idea, but it's hardly exciting. Avatar was Dances With Smurfs, no more, no less, not great, not bad, just meh. Hardly the kind of concept in which you invest $350-500m.

 

[twebber55]

You misunderstood. I said I read it as Cameron's enthused, but nitpicking on the project (which was expected by many knowing the kind of person he is). The fan community, referring to mainly wdwmagic, is overall not enthused. Looking at other boards I frequent (Theme park review, MiceChat) people over there are much, much more optimistic. And I don't know where you got the idea that the general public isn't enthused. Most people don't even know about it. This board is not a good meter to judge the feelings of an average Disney guest.

dont bother magenta is a known hater o the idea of avatar (which is fine with me) but to claim that the fan community is not excited about it is silly

 

[GLaDOS]

dont bother magenta is a known hater o the idea of avatar (which is fine with me) but to claim that the fan community is not excited about it is silly

But it's not really all that false, either. More than any other project, I think I've seen more people either just tolerating the Avatar project or flat out against it.

 

[ellie-badge]

dont bother magenta is a known hater o the idea of avatar (which is fine with me) but to claim that the fan community is not excited about it is silly

Magenta Panther, from what I can assume, is a conservative. She finds most anything that isn't or wasn't necessarily related to Disney fairly objectionable, which is completely fine (the boards would be very bland if everybody agreed with everything all of the time). While being so attached to Walt DIsney's original traditions, values, and quality is admirable, one of her only cons is that her strong opinions tend to cloud her from seeing the bigger picture in a lot of things. She doesn't deserve to be hated otherwise, though.

I do agree with her about Pandora being built in Animal Kingdom, however. I thought the idea was odd from the very beginning and I wouldn't be what you'd exactly call excited for it, though I do expect that the new land will look very nice once it's complete. I am curious as to why Disney is deciding to put up with the extremely demanding James Cameron while they weren't even willing to put up with JK Rowling when she apporached them about building The Wizarding World of Harry Potter eons ago.

 

[tirian]

Oh no... this makes perfect sense. Say it ain't so!

No, no, no.

 

[tirian]

Oh snap.

Am I reading the above correctly that Cameron has an overall lack of enthusiam for DAK? Or are "Cameron's nitpicking" and "overall lack of enthusiasm for DAK" separate attributions?

Cameron understandably wants Pandora to be perfect, but he was not initially impressed with the massive areas of few attractions in DAK.

 

[threeyoda]

MiceChat is a pro-Disneyland site through and through. If they're in favor of the Avatar concept, it's only as a side-joke/back-handed compliment to WDW lovers. And if those who post on this site aren't too crazy about the idea, and those who post on this site are die-hard fanatics, it's actually a pretty good barometer of how the general public feels. No one hates the idea, but it's hardly exciting. Avatar was Dances With Smurfs, no more, no less, not great, not bad, just meh. Hardly the kind of concept in which you invest $350-500m.

Not really, because the general public are not die-hard fanatics. The general public could care less if it fits in with the theme or makes sense in the park. The general public does not care if the franchise is Disney or not. As long as the land has good rides and cool visuals throughout, people will come, no mater what it's themed to.

 

[threeyoda]

Cameron understandably wants Pandora to be perfect, but he was not initially impressed with the massive areas of few attractions in DAK.

Ok, that's understandable.

 

[twebber55]

But it's not really all that false, either. More than any other project, I think I've seen more people either just tolerating the Avatar project or flat out against it.

lets see if thats the feeling when things become visable...i think most people are taking it as lets wait until we see some concept art

 

[GLaDOS]

lets see if thats the feeling when things become visable...i think most people are taking it as lets wait until we see some concept art

I dunno. There's a lot of just dislike for the franchise. I'm personally indifferent, as it's not something that's going to get me to go to DAK, but nor is it something that will keep me out of it.

 

[twebber55]

I dunno. There's a lot of just dislike for the franchise. I'm personally indifferent, as it's not something that's going to get me to go to DAK, but nor is it something that will keep me out of it.

i definitely get the political tentions in the movie...
i think the biggest argument against avatar is the merchandise angle
still think it will be incredibly immersive