Is Avatar the Potter killer?

[Lucky]

I don't take spelling advice from tanned blondettes.

She knows how it's spelled because she lives in Rohde Island.

 

[KeithVH]

Not the next big thing. Too much will be neutered from the public's movie going perception. Do you honestly think the will be AMPs stomping around and any mention of conflict? Regardless of the messaging of the movie and why it's being built at AK (I'm being generous in how I think of the connection myself), the public is going to remember boom-boom and pew-pew-pew from the movie. That will totally be missing from this land. And I'm still unconvinced, just because it made money, that the movie resonates with the public as much as some think. Star Wars and Marvel do a much better job. Do you think people are anxiously waiting for the Avatar 2? Do you think some people even remember they went to see it?

 

[FettFan]

This would depend entirely on whether or not Disney has learned that content, not brand, is the true king.

LOL. Middle-Earth is practically DRIPPING with content!

Went and saw Desolation of Smaug the other day....the entire movie had me daydreaming about theme park lands.
The barrel escape from Mirkwood? RIVER RAFT RIDE! The queue could wind through the Wood-elves' fortress, where the guests would be loaded into rafts designed to look like giant wine barrels!
Legolas, Tauriel, and Thranduil would be available for meet and greets.

Erebor? MINE TRAIN ROLLER COASTER FEATURING A 50-FOOT TALL FIRE BREATHING ANIMATRONIC SMAUG!

Hobbiton? Kid-friendly area with Hobbit meet-and-greets, quick service restaurants (with elevenses!), flower gardens and hedge-mazes!

Then there's the Gollum/Misty Mountains themed log flume (with fish rawww and wrigglin', precious!), the Minas Tirith tour/dark ride, the Riders of Rohan Carousel, Radagast's Rabbit-Racers ("Tomorrowland Indy Speedway" but with less gasoline and more focus on green energy), and the Mount Doom Drop ("Tower of Terror").

 

[FettFan]

Firstly, it spelled Joe Rodeh.

Secondly: Dinoland USA. Kali River Rubbish.

Thirdly: Rodhe took Indy, an awesome IP, with an awesome Ride, already tried and testes, and managed to turn gold into dust by turning Indy into Dinosaur. No, Roehd, 'large animatronics lunging at you in the dark' does not for great rides make. Not even if you try it twice- in the same park.

Fourthly: Disco Yeti.

 

[Mr.Skunkape]

To me Avatar has more to do with the WDW competition for the #2 spot in attendance. MK will always be the big draw but will a completed Avatar land be enough for AK to jump over EPCOT for #2 ? Now if they do a large full out Star Wars land in DHS I could see that fan base driving it up to the #2 spot.

 

[luv]

There is nothing comparable to Harry Potter. An extraordinarily popular series of books with characters that were beloved by many adults and children...it was just a dream theme park land. (Popular movies, too.)

There just isn't anything that could top it or even compete with it, really.

I've long been of the opinion that Disney doesn't need to compete with Harry Potter, especially with any high-priced movie/TV thing.

Disney, left to be Disney, with the imagineers hard at work, could've been a hug success. They do what they do (or did) very well.

I'm still kind of hoping it never comes to fruition, but since it seems they're hell-bent on this ridiculous Avatar thing, I hope it's at least very pretty and has a good ride that isn't a copy of some other ride. (And, please Lord, no riding past screens.)

 

[luv]

She knows how it's spelled because she lives in Rohde Island.

I believe that's Road Iland.

 

[lazyboy97o]

LOL. Middle-Earth is practically DRIPPING with content!

Went and saw Desolation of Smaug the other day....the entire movie had me daydreaming about theme park lands.
The barrel escape from Mirkwood? RIVER RAFT RIDE! The queue could wind through the Wood-elves' fortress, where the guests would be loaded into rafts designed to look like giant wine barrels!
Legolas, Tauriel, and Thranduil would be available for meet and greets.

Erebor? MINE TRAIN ROLLER COASTER FEATURING A 50-FOOT TALL FIRE BREATHING ANIMATRONIC SMAUG!

Hobbiton? Kid-friendly area with Hobbit meet-and-greets, quick service restaurants (with elevenses!), flower gardens and hedge-mazes!

Then there's the Gollum/Misty Mountains themed log flume (with fish rawww and wrigglin', precious!), the Minas Tirith tour/dark ride, the Riders of Rohan Carousel, Radagast's Rabbit-Racers ("Tomorrowland Indy Speedway" but with less gasoline and more focus on green energy), and the Mount Doom Drop ("Tower of Terror").

Good for you. That doesn't mean content in one medium guarantees content in another.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Here is what Iam hopeful for.

First off, Uni did it right by opening Potter with everything done or repackaged all at once.

Disney did it wrong with FLE in my opinion, they should have waited until all of it was complete, it would have been even bigger.

I want Disney to keep Avatar closed off until it is 100% complete. No previews for no one but the bare minimum to get things right. I want it all when its finished.

Jimmy Thick- If we get what they promised, I think we all are willing to wait it out.

 

[DManRightHere]

The next movies will have to be really good. I wouldnt call it a "potter killer", but avatarland could be done very well and give a good competition. This is of course talking an avatar opening 3 years after HP phase 2. We'll see.

 

[HDS]

Adding that they should get hopping on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings. They should also cap on Doctor Who me thinks.

 

[stevehousse]

I don't think avatar will be a potter swatter, but Star Wars, if done properly, would be...

 

[marni1971]

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Thanks for the laugh

 

[John]

Potter Swatter? No, Potter bumped attendance at UNI by double digits. I don't think that's possible for WDW to do. And I don't think its because Avland wont be amazing. I just think the fact that WDW is so big that adding that type of increase is extremely difficult to do. For the sake of conversation lets say that attendance at WDW is 40 million ( number thrown around here) and you add lets say 10%, what are 4 million people going to do? How in the world are you going to spread that many people? Yes I understand that is over the course of a year, but IMO MK can maybe handle the increase but what about DHS? Does Epcot? Yes EPCOT has the space but do they have the attractions?

Are we talking will Avland in content be a Potter Swatter? As been said I think the problem here is that Avatar just doesn't resonate with people like Potter does. I think the next movie installment will have a lot to do with that. Right now Jimmy as much as you have said Potter was just a fad. Avatar is nothing more then just that.
But....and here is the BIG but! It doesn't matter if it is a fad or a monster hit. It comes down to execution. If WDI absolutely kills this project with content and give us something to scream about a lot of the negativity that you see around here will subside (not all, some people are never happy).

IMO this is at least one of the most important projects Disney has undertaken at WDW in a long time. If they cut this thing to death and we get some weak "C" ticket ride, a M&G, a restaurant and a shop all hell will break loose. The plans that were leaked mean nothing. The comments Corlis mentioned also mean nothing. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. The Fantasyland project is a good example of this. The area is beautiful....amazing! but very little content. Hopefully the mine coaster changes this. But will it? Seems like its going to be a nice addition. But I think that TWDC thought it was going to compete with Potter. It hardly made a noise. So will Avland be a Potter swatter? I doubt it. Uni is in the middle of completing what looks to be something truly amazing. Its there second installment. Disney is playing catch up. Jimmy you specifically asked about Avatar and Potter.....IMO there is to big of a gap for this to even come close. We'll see.

 

[copcarguyp71]

Disney, left to be Disney, with the imagineers hard at work, could've been a huge success. They do what they do (or did) very well.

Well said....

At the end of the day should it really be about "slaying Potter" or should it be about offering an exceptional guest experience and value for their vacation dollar? I vote for the latter and let the experience speak for itself. New and shiny is not necessarily better, I would rather see some love for the old chestnuts...

 

[BryceM]

To harken back to your first post about their not even being a Spidey-swatter yet: Disney hasn't learned the lesson that content, not brand, is the true king. On the contrary.

Spidey was the most amazing ride on the planet. Nobody visited.
Potter was the next most amazing ride. IoA exploded.

Cartoon comic book Spiderman, before the Marvel movie mania didn't do anything for attendance. Potter, supported by books and movies and merchandise, drove attendance through the roof. Disney, as well as UNI, learns that IP, not content, is decisive.

I am glad for Potter, because it did give IoA (and Spidey) the attention and attendance that it deserved. But Universal's marketing techniques in the early days of IoA were... Poor.

 

[LucyK]

I can't vote because your pool is biased and has no option where Disney doesn't come up winning. And when it comes down to anything x Harry Potter, Potter will win, every single time.

Potter is huge, way bigger than avatar is ever going to be. I'm not even talking technology, I'm talking fan base.

Even though there's no more books or movies being made, Potters still make fans when someone new reads the old books for the first time and when parents who are already Potter fans introduce their own kids to the books. So there'll always be demand for a park that can demonstrate at least a bit of what the Wizarding World is and give fans a view into the world of Harry Potter.

How many true Avatar fans there is? 100K? 200K? Do you see people renting/downloading the movie and going crazy over it, becoming a fan and demanding to be part of that world? I don't.

Avatarland will be nothing but one more area of Animal Kingdom. An amazing, fantastically themed area, I certainly agree with that but still just one more area to visit while visiting AK. People won't book vacation solely to visit Avatar as they do it for Harry Potter.

So no, Avatar won't be the Potter Killer. It won't even make a blip into Universal's radar.

 

[Matt_Black]

Nothing about the movie was particularly memorable or made an impact on pop culture.

I've poked around enough corners of the internet to learn that folks like the Na'vi (or however that's spelled). Fact- nerds LOVE hot alien people with weird skin tones.

 

[Launchpad79]

If disney had a Lord Voldemort meet and greet, that would technically be THE Potter killer.....am I right? (Crickets.....more crickets....). Ah never mind.

 

[Launchpad79]

But in all seriousness, I think that disney should have done something with Endor from Star Wars. They could have had a whole village for Ewoks as well as possibly there own speeder bike ride. That would have given Harry Potter a run for its money.