Is Phase 2 of Pandora: The World of Avatar ever coming to Animal Kingdom?

[wdwfan4ver]

They reduced attendance across the board by raising prices. Is Magic Kingdom collapsing?

Magic Kingdom is not collapsing, but you need to look deeper into Animal Kingdoms problems because its way deeper than raising prices.

There are big differences between the 2 parks. Animal Kingdom has the worst decline of attendance from 2019 to 2023. Animal Kingdom had the 2nd highest attendance for a WDW theme park in 2019 and is now the worst of the 4.

Animal Kingdom in 2023 only had around 63 or 64 percent of its attendance it had in 2019, and Magic Kingdom in 2023 had over 84 percent of its attendance it had in 2019. Also Magic Kingdom always been known as the park people first thought of when someone says Walt Disney World.

Disney really cut down on Animal Kingdom's park hours after WDW reopened in 2020 like closing the park at 6 at night.

Cutting down park hours on a theme park can effect attendance and that is what happened to Animal Kingdom besides Disney not doing anything for Animal Kingdom after Pandora opened. Disney under Iger gave Animal Kingdom multiple long dry spells after Iger became CEO. The problem is AK as a theme park was not fully built up for attractions and AK is going to hurt after Epic Universe opens next year till 2027 or 2028.

What Iger is doing right now with Animal Kingdom is lets replace current attractions instead of the real problem of taking advantage of expansion plots. Also Animal Kingdom not using the stage area is a big problem right now also.

 

[Ghost93]

Cutting down park hours on a theme park can effect attendance and that is what happened to Animal Kingdom besides Disney not doing anything for Animal Kingdom after Pandora opened. Disney under Iger gave Animal Kingdom multiple long dry spells after Iger became CEO. The problem is AK as a theme park was not fully built up for attractions and AK is going to hurt after Epic Universe opens next year till 2027 or 2028.

What Iger is doing right now with Animal Kingdom is lets replace current attractions instead of the real problem of taking advantage of expansion plots. Also Animal Kingdom not using the stage area is a big problem right now also.

One of the draws of Pandora was seeing it at night, so closing the park while it's still bright out takes away from that.

 

[Loose Pebble]

Magic Kingdom is not collapsing, but you need to look deeper into Animal Kingdoms problems because its way deeper than raising prices.

There are big differences between the 2 parks. Animal Kingdom has the worst decline of attendance from 2019 to 2023. Animal Kingdom had the 2nd highest attendance for a WDW theme park in 2019 and is now the worst of the 4.

Animal Kingdom in 2023 only had around 63 or 64 percent of its attendance it had in 2019, and Magic Kingdom in 2023 had over 84 percent of its attendance it had in 2019. Also Magic Kingdom always been known as the park people first thought of when someone says Walt Disney World.

Disney really cut down on Animal Kingdom's park hours after WDW reopened in 2020 like closing the park at 6 at night.

Cutting down park hours on a theme park can effect attendance and that is what happened to Animal Kingdom besides Disney not doing anything for Animal Kingdom after Pandora opened. Disney under Iger gave Animal Kingdom multiple long dry spells after Iger became CEO. The problem is AK as a theme park was not fully built up for attractions and AK is going to hurt after Epic Universe opens next year till 2027 or 2028.

What Iger is doing right now with Animal Kingdom is lets replace current attractions instead of the real problem of taking advantage of expansion plots. Also Animal Kingdom not using the stage area is a big problem right now also.

Yeah I agree with this. Imagine if we had a revamped Dinoland that wasn’t a parking lot and then we were getting Tropical Americas on top of it. All those extra rides would make the park still great at night even after the animals go to sleep.

 

[bwr827]

One of the draws of Pandora was seeing it at night, so closing the park while it's still bright out takes away from that.

They need to bring back later hours so more people can see this. I’m looking forward to experiencing Pandora at night this December.

 

[bwr827]

Magic Kingdom is not collapsing, but you need to look deeper into Animal Kingdoms problems because its way deeper than raising prices.

There are big differences between the 2 parks. Animal Kingdom has the worst decline of attendance from 2019 to 2023. Animal Kingdom had the 2nd highest attendance for a WDW theme park in 2019 and is now the worst of the 4.

Animal Kingdom in 2023 only had around 63 or 64 percent of its attendance it had in 2019, and Magic Kingdom in 2023 had over 84 percent of its attendance it had in 2019. Also Magic Kingdom always been known as the park people first thought of when someone says Walt Disney World.

Disney really cut down on Animal Kingdom's park hours after WDW reopened in 2020 like closing the park at 6 at night.

Cutting down park hours on a theme park can effect attendance and that is what happened to Animal Kingdom besides Disney not doing anything for Animal Kingdom after Pandora opened. Disney under Iger gave Animal Kingdom multiple long dry spells after Iger became CEO. The problem is AK as a theme park was not fully built up for attractions and AK is going to hurt after Epic Universe opens next year till 2027 or 2028.

What Iger is doing right now with Animal Kingdom is lets replace current attractions instead of the real problem of taking advantage of expansion plots. Also Animal Kingdom not using the stage area is a big problem right now also.

All fair points, thank you.

 

[Biff215]

Pandora definitely needs another attraction...or maybe two... Perhaps a water ride? Flume... rapids.... anything would be fine in WDW's hottest (temperature-wise) theme park...

Agree completely on AK being the hottest park by far, shocked that anyone would suggest otherwise. While the park is largely outdoor queues and attractions, Pandora is the exception to that and we need more. More dark rides, more water rides, more A/C.

So much potential at AK and just tragic that it’s 25+ years old and still not fully built out.

 

[doctornick]

The best thing Animal Kingdom has going for it is the atmosphere as it doesn't have that many rides. The entertainment they've removed is a big part of that atmosphere.

Maybe they will extend the hours and bring that stuff back once South America land opens?

I've got to imagine that there is plans for a RoL replacement, but they probably don't think they can justify longer hours until they have more stuff open. The park is going to be a mess while they change out Dinoland and the ITTBAB.

They should be adding a TLK ride and another ride to Pandora first before closing stuff in Dinoland or the ToL

 

[Surferboy567]

I would love to get another ride in Pandora the franchise absolutely deserves one. I originally thought they would clone the boat ride coming to California Adventure but I guess that’s not in the cards. Maybe they don’t like it shares a ride system with Navi River Journey.

 

[doctornick]

I would love to get another ride in Pandora the franchise absolutely deserves one. I originally thought they would clone the boat ride coming to California Adventure but I guess that’s not in the cards. Maybe they don’t like it shares a ride system with Navi River Journey.

It seemed like the DCA Pandora ride might use the Shanghai POTC tech, but I don't know if that is clear. Is there a second attraction being considered for DCA? It would be nice if they could do a secondary ride that can be shared by both DCA and DAK.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

I actually think Epcot is with all of the concrete and very few shade structures

Studios genuinely feels like a concrete jungle. Toy Story Land is abysmal in the heat there's barely any shade. At least in Epcot there's a lot more shade and greenery so it doesn't feel as concrete jungle-y anymore

 

[doctornick]

Studios genuinely feels like a concrete jungle. Toy Story Land is abysmal in the heat there's barely any shade. At least in Epcot there's a lot more shade and greenery so it doesn't feel as concrete jungle-y anymore

Epcot generally has a lot more indoor areas to explore as well.

I think in general, we can see the effects of having WDI based in California when the designs for WDW don't seem to account for the need for indoor spaces or shade.

 

[Rosso11]

Epcot generally has a lot more indoor areas to explore as well.

I think in general, we can see the effects of having WDI based in California when the designs for WDW don't seem to account for the need for indoor spaces or shade.

That’s true so it will be interesting to see how/if that changes now, since all of these new enhancements are coming out of WDI Florida.

 

[marni1971]

They need to bring back later hours so more people can see this.

The park isn’t viewed as a full day park. There’s not enough guests left consistently by late afternoon to justify staffing costs to keep it open. They messed up removed the night show. And so there’s not enough guests left by late afternoon. Rinse and repeat.

 

[doctornick]

The park isn’t viewed as a full day park. There’s not enough guests left consistently by late afternoon to justify staffing costs to keep it open. They messed up removed the night show. And so there’s not enough guests left by late afternoon. Rinse and repeat.

But rather than "fix" that by giving guests more total stuff to do to warrant longer days and more hours spend in the park... they instead are going to simply replace existing (or former in the case of PW) attractions without significantly increasing the capacity of the park.

It's just a bizarre way of addressing the park's needs for a company that allegedly is all about guest satisfaction. But hey at least they don't have to pay extra CMs to keep the park open into the evening.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

They're gonna put it where Kilimanjaro Safaris is now, because it is a huge underutilized space that no one goes to.

We jest, but all our sarcastic jokes are reality a decade later.

There is no place in current Disney for Kilimanjaro Safari. Safe for an angle whereby it survives out of representational value.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

The park isn’t viewed as a full day park. There’s not enough guests left consistently by late afternoon to justify staffing costs to keep it open. They messed up removed the night show. And so there’s not enough guests left by late afternoon. Rinse and repeat.

Are there no advocates for re-doing DAK as a full night time park?

To reverse the order. Currently there is no nighttime entertainment because there are no guests. Is there nobody who would argue that with a great evening line-up there would be?

For a brief while, 2017-2019, DAK was so suberb. Pandora at night, the lovely tree projections and RoL (with shamans) added so much. Plus some of the finest dining options.

 

[marni1971]

For a brief while, 2017-2019, DAK was so suberb. Pandora at night, the lovely tree projections and RoL (with shamans) added so much.

Absolutely

 

[doctornick]

Are there no advocates for re-doing DAK as a full night time park?

To reverse the order. Currently there is no nighttime entertainment because there are no guests. Is there nobody who would argue that with a great evening line-up there would be?

For a brief while, 2017-2019, DAK was so suberb. Pandora at night, the lovely tree projections and RoL (with shamans) added so much. Plus some of the finest dining options.

Yes. And honestly all that is "missing" to restore that is to add back in entertainment that was removed and even add some new stuff.

Even the twilight safari was interesting, even if there were fewer animals out.

Putting in an extra ride in Africa and/or Pandora wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Raineman]

We jest, but all our sarcastic jokes are reality a decade later.

There is no place in current Disney for Kilimanjaro Safari. Safe for an angle whereby it survives out of representational value.

I really, really hate that you're right. The Safari, Maharajah Jungle Trek, Gorilla Falls and Rafiki's Planet Watch are the heart and soul of DAK.

 

[ednamodedarling]

Considering PANDORA is the main draw for Animal Kingdom currently ... I have no doubt that an expansion is in the cards.

** Though I would much rather a Lion King attraction before this happens.