Pandora vs. Harry Potter

[bhg469]

This thread is disappointing me so much. Where's the love for Pandora?!?

While I appreciate the comparison, I don't think it's exactly fair. HP is a magical, fantasy world built around magical creatures and magic wands in cities similar to our own. Obviously, there will be more shops and buildings that fit seamlessly into the world. Pandora is going for magical, but a much more realistic and natural portrayal of what the world of Pandora represents. That is, appreciating the beauty and nature of the land in Avatar, and much less on construction, buildings and stores.

I expect SWL to be more on par with HP in terms of the "city" feel to it, which may lead to a better comparison of the worlds overall.

My biggest issue with pandora are those fish things... They have the really immersive land, then they have some really plastic looking static figures. Some of the plants arent very attractive either. It seems like small touches they tried to do worked against them.

 

[disneygeek90]

My biggest issue with pandora are those fish things... They have the really immersive land, then they have some really plastic looking static figures. Some of the plants arent very attractive either. It seems like small touches they tried to do worked against them.

Fish things?

 

[Raineman]

For those bemoaning Pandora due to the lack of "big blue aliens" walking around, having those characters in Pandora would be a bit of a logistical nightmare. If you wanted to stay as screen accurate as possible, the Na'vi stand between 9 and 10 feet tall. There would be no easy way to have a normal sized human in a costume that is almost twice as tall as they are, and have it look natural. They would all be walking around like DiVine, looking like a freak of nature instead of just oversized blue humanoids. Also, if you delve into the backstory of Pandora at DAK, the Na'vi basically let humans have the Valley Of Mo'ara for themselves-part of the backstory states that some of the plants in the Valley Of Mo'ara were planted to change the Pandora air, which is toxic to humans, into air that humans can breathe when they visit, and this human-friendly air would be toxic to the Na'vi, which also explains why there are no Na'vi characters just strolling around. As long as the land and the attractions are immersive, I don't necessarily think that roaming characters are needed for maximum immersion.

 

[bhg469]

Fish things?

The Snail things that shoot water.

 

[disneygeek90]

The Snail things that shoot water.

Oh right. I actually only noticed those the last time I was there but it was night so didn't get a great close up view of them.

 

[bhg469]

Oh right. I actually only noticed those the last time I was there but it was night so didn't get a great close up view of them.

They look like someone put a lot of time into making a weird alien that would look cool in a late night B movie.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Pandora ended up a little bit too...

 

[Pixieish]

J.K. Rowling is a political nitwit and overrated writer, but Universal's Potter areas are awesome. Uni's artisans brought her world to life in a way her tepid writing never could. So there's that.

That is your opinion about her. History will see her as a rags-to-riches story akin to that of Walt Disney, if not even more remarkable than his.

 

[correcaminos]

The Snail things that shoot water.

My 9yo loved those things! Thought they were hilarious. Next time I'll have to take a closer peek at them

 

[correcaminos]

The fact that they don't have the technology to make "Blue Aliens" doesn't excuse the lack of the characters in Pandora land. In theory they could have stilt walkers but they probably really won't have the technology to populate Pandora land with Blue Aliens until hologram technology is more advanced.

Without the characters it just becomes a giant Na'vi backlot. The FOP ride is really what elevates it. To me that is the #1 ride over the Harry Potter ride. Both are awesome but FOP is amazing at this moment.

However, if you took away the FOP ride, then Pandora land would not be that great at all. The Harry Potter, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade can stand by itself without rides because of the activity, immersion and characters. I believe that Starwarsland will be the same because you will have cast members in costume and character actors populating that world.

I'm not sure I agree with this but to each their own. As I said I was not a fan Avatar so no love for the idea of it. We spent over an hour one night just walking around. Jut taking it all in no rides. It was really great for us to hang out. We had spent about an hour earlier in the week as well just walking around.

Conversely we were thrilled to leave HP lands after a while because it felt so cramped. The wands didn't work well for us and just everything felt on a small scale. Whenever we do go back we'll at least be prepared for what it's like. It was a disappointment since we do love Harry Potter so much.

So if you asked where I wanted to spend an hour or two walking around Pandora would win. No characters needed at either though IMO. Especially with Pandora since we have no idea what characters are around during that time.

That said we are having low expectations of SWL - I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed as we were with HP worlds.

 

[POLY LOVER]

This thread is disappointing me so much. Where's the love for Pandora?!?

Wow, I never expected this? I guess it shows that folks are noticing the differences and are expecting a lot from Disney. That's probably a good thing. I hope that SWL is a giant home run.

 

[Edward M]

I guess I just appreciate the sheer scale and attention to detail. Don't get me wrong, Diagon Alley has tons of amazing and magical details. However, it doesn't have much of a "wow" factor for me. It's very nice to explore, but it's all relatively normal, just shops and restaurants with a good not great ride. Perhaps when viewing both lands as one, their combination is more comparable to Pandora, but Hogsmeade is the most overrated land ever, in my opinion. It is impressive in its own way, but it's tiny and mainly just an anchor for Forbidden Journey. I don't get lost in Hogsmeade like I do with Pandora or Diagon Alley.

For me, my favorite thing to do in a land is explore it. Hogsmeade is not rewarding in this sense. Diagon Alley is quite rewarding, but it's also relatively comparable to our own world. It's reasonably close to our own world and isn't quite as special for me. I like Harry Potter, but I haven't seen the films or read the books in years. In fact, I have much more investment in Harry Potter than in Avatar, which I don't even particularly like as a film. However, Disney took the world created there and actually expanded on it; it feels so lively to me. Perhaps people here need to go at night because it's quite unreal then. There's not even much lighting; there's an actual effort to make the place naturally lit by the plants. As someone who loves getting into the actual construction methods, I just think Pandora is far more a feat than Diagon Alley. Nothing in Diagon Alley is nearly as impressive as the floating mountains. I don't want to give off the impression I dislike Diagon Alley though. It remains one of my favorite lands ever. It's just that a good amount of the enjoyment there is reliant on the shops and restaurants. I don't like spending money at a theme park, and I just don't enjoy touring shops. Therefore, the open environment of Pandora is more rewarding for me and allows me to explore and get engrossed in the world more easily.

Oh yes, and, in terms of rides, Flight of Passage is far superior to Forbidden Journey. I mean Forbidden Journey is good, but it's aging poorly and needs a refurb desperately. The immersion just isn't near Flight of Passage, not in the same league. With Flight of Passage, there's absolutely no break in the immersion, but, with Forbidden Journey, there are tons. I love the buildup of Gringotts probably more than the attraction itself, which isn't great. It's a stop-start ride as I call it. Right when the ride gets exciting, someone stops you. In fact, I prefer Spiderman to Forbidden Journey and Gringotts by quite a bit. It's more comparable to Flight of Passage. I even love Na'vi River Journey. Sure, it's short, but it has some amazing effects and a nice environment. Plus, that animatronic!

 

[Magenta Panther]

That is your opinion about her. History will see her as a rags-to-riches story akin to that of Walt Disney, if not even more remarkable than his.

Oh, I actually like the rags-to-riches part about Rowling. It's a cool and uplifting story. But despite her success, IMO she's no Walt. And her political vitriol on Twitter is pretty off-putting. I'm not on Twitter, but my brother is, and he got fed up and unfollowed her after she ripped Trump over not talking to a kid in a wheelchair who was visiting the White House with his mother. Turns out he did, actually, in fact the kid was the first one Trump talked to, but Rowling saw an incomplete video of the visit and assumed the worst. She laid into the president in a way that shocked even me, and I didn't vote for the guy, and she looked like a total fool when the truth was revealed. After several days, Rowling finally apologized - but to the kid's mother, not to Trump, even though he was the one who was wronged. (The kid's mother was not impressed, BTW). I wish, along with THOUSANDS of others, that celebrities would focus on their art and their audiences and leave politics alone. All too often they come off as idiots. And that's all I'm going to say about this subject.

 

[Pixieish]

Oh, I actually like the rags-to-riches part about Rowling. It's a cool and uplifting story. But despite her success, IMO she's no Walt. And her political vitriol on Twitter is pretty off-putting. I'm not on Twitter, but my brother is, and he got fed up and unfollowed her after she ripped Trump over not talking to a kid in a wheelchair who was visiting the White House with his mother. Turns out he did, actually, in fact the kid was the first one Trump talked to, but Rowling saw an incomplete video of the visit and assumed the worst. She laid into the president in a way that shocked even me, and I didn't vote for the guy, and she looked like a total fool when the truth was revealed. After several days, Rowling finally apologized - but to the kid's mother, not to Trump, even though he was the one who was wronged. (The kid's mother was not impressed, BTW). I wish, along with THOUSANDS of others, that celebrities would focus on their art and their audiences and leave politics alone. All too often they come off as idiots. And that's all I'm going to say about this subject.

Oh, she's far from being anything even close to Walt (he's in his own league as far as I'm concerned), but the rags-to-riches thing is pretty big. I don't follow celebrities on social media for exactly the reason stated in your last two sentences.

I admire two things about her - her talent and imagination as an author, and her passion for the world and characters she created. I'll watch when she talks about HP and stuff, but not when the subject matter is of any relevance to the rest of the world.

 

[FettFan]

The ride was a home run but I think the area is hurt by the lack of blue aliens.

With Star Wars land you won't have that problem as you can have all the characters and droids as cast members or character actors.

Aye. The first time I encountered a Jawa was in the "terminal" part of the queue about to board Star Tours...there was a group of them walking around and trading with the people lined up. It was really unique and made for a much more "real" experience.

That's the kind of thing Pandora sorely needs.

 

[bhg469]

Aye. The first time I encountered a Jawa was in the "terminal" part of the queue about to board Star Tours...there was a group of them walking around and trading with the people lined up. It was really unique and made for a much more "real" experience.

That's the kind of thing Pandora sorely needs.

I expect that for sure.. How long will that last though. Once they open that land up and the inevitable fanfare happens, I predict that 4-5 years down the road, those experiences will be a thing of the past.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Coming from someone who has no attachment to either franchise, I'd actually say Avatar...at least in terms of theming and landscaping. Harry Potter has the better E ticket, although FoP is no slouch.

 

[jimbojones]

Harry Potter is a globally loved phenomenon that has maintained a massive fan base that continues to grow for 20 years. Avatar was a successful one off movie that must have a few fans somewhere, I've never met one but there have to be at least a couple. So yeah there is that.

Of course I am still excited to see Avatarland this summer in any case but SWL is much more comparable to Harry Potter.

 

[draybook]

2011 was when Disney first approached James Cameron, which means that Disney would have conceived the idea a significant period prior to that. They would have had deliberate and appropriate deliberation and planning before approaching Avatar, whether they intended the land to be Avatar Land or not. They would have had a plan and blueprint in relation to the creation of land or themed area.. However I do agree in some respects that the announcement of Harry Potter World by Universal would have definitely led to Disney, significantly intensifying their plans, plans in which were already in the making.

That's after Rowling told Disney to off and went with Universal.

 

[jimbojones]

That's after Rowling told Disney to ****** off and went with Universal.

Which is so unfortunate for both Disney and us. Had they locked down Potter it could have been the end of any serious competition from Universal.