News Primeval Whirl, Stitch's Great Escape and Rivers of Light permanently closed

MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
I challenge you to name another themed environment in the world that was added to an existing park that fits that park better than Pandora.
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Diagon Alley seems to fit Universal Studios' "Ride the Movies" tagline better than Pandora. Much like Jaws and Kongfrontation before it you are placed within the movie's world. It may even do a better job than it's predecessors by theming the section around it so perfectly.

With Pandora, it feels like it's animals take a backseat to the Nav'i and the hippies who now call this planet home. There are no animals roaming around like in other parts of Animal Kingdom. Heck even Dinoland has more animal related things.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
MickeyMouse10 said:
Diagon Alley seems to fit Universal Studios' "Ride the Movies" tagline better than Pandora. Much like Jaws and Kongfrontation before it you are placed within the movie's world. It may even do a better job than it's predecessors by theming the section around it so perfectly.

With Pandora, it feels like it's animals take a backseat to the Nav'i and the hippies who now call this planet home. There are no animals roaming around like in other parts of Animal Kingdom. Heck even Dinoland has more animal related things.
Click to expand...
It's an easier theme to satisfy. By that definition Pandora and nearly any other movie based attraction would also be home in Universal Studios.

With Pandora they looked at the areas of the movie that made sense for the Animal Kingdom. When it was announced, the outraged masses jumped to "what does a movie about war have to do with the Animal Kingdom?" It was a fair question but that wasn't the angle they took. They found the common underlying threads in the movie and in the park and fused them together seamlessly.

For clarification, the underlying themes of Disney's Animal Kingdom are as follows:

  • The intrinsic and superior value of nature – this means that nature, above all else is at the forefront of the design. This leads to parts of the park being out of their true control (live animals, overgrown pathways, etc.).
  • Transformation through adventure – this idea is that adventure changes people when they experience something they’ve never experienced before.
  • Personal call to action – a sense of responsibility for the animals and the conservation message.
By setting the land after the conflict in the first movie they've allowed time to pass and for nature to take over the environment. To me, the intrinsic and superior value of nature is the most important theme to Disney's Animal Kingdom and in Pandora.
 
MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
It's an easier theme to satisfy. By that definition Pandora and nearly any other movie based attraction would also be home in Universal Studios.

With Pandora they looked at the areas of the movie that made sense for the Animal Kingdom. When it was announced, the outraged masses jumped to "what does a movie about war have to do with the Animal Kingdom?" It was a fair question but that wasn't the angle they took. They found the common underlying threads in the movie and in the park and fused them together seamlessly.

For clarification, the underlying themes of Disney's Animal Kingdom are as follows:

  • The intrinsic and superior value of nature – this means that nature, above all else is at the forefront of the design. This leads to parts of the park being out of their true control (live animals, overgrown pathways, etc.).
  • Transformation through adventure – this idea is that adventure changes people when they experience something they’ve never experienced before.
  • Personal call to action – a sense of responsibility for the animals and the conservation message.
By setting the land after the conflict in the first movie they've allowed time to pass and for nature to take over the environment. To me, the intrinsic and superior value of nature is the most important theme to Disney's Animal Kingdom and in Pandora.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying, but I think Pandora doesn't showcase it's animals enough. It is probably the most important theme for the whole park. Yet they don't showcase them at all throughout the land. The theming seems to be focused more on the military, hippies and weird plants.

If the Nav'i River Journey had some animal animatronics and if there were a meet and greet (ala the Dino in IOA), or a petting area that would help.
 
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aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
MickeyMouse10 said:
I get what you're saying, but I think Pandora doesn't showcase it's animals enough. It is probably the most important theme for the whole park. Yet they don't showcase them at all throughout the land. The theming seems to be focused more on the military, hippies and weird plants.

If the Nav'i River Journey had some animal animatronics and if there were a meet and greet (ala the Dino in IOA), or a petting area that would help.
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an actual story instead of just some new age creature chanting who knows what...
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
MickeyMouse10 said:
I get what you're saying, but I think Pandora doesn't showcase it's animals enough. It is probably the most important theme for the whole park. Yet they don't showcase them at all throughout the land. The theming seems to be focused more on the military, hippies and weird plants.

If the Nav'i River Journey had some animal animatronics and if there were a meet and greet (ala the Dino in IOA), or a petting area that would help.
Click to expand...
I think there's a lot less focus on the military and hippies as you say. I see your point on highlighting the animals more though and that's more in line with what I think we all wanted in Na'vi River Journey. I like the attraction plenty but it would certainly be better if it was longer and had more AAs. That being said, that's not "thematic fit". If you want to argue that Diagon Alley is a better land or that there are better IP driven lands out there, I'm not going to disagree. The argument is that the thematic fit for Pandora is better than any of the others.
 
TTA94

TTA94

Well-Known Member
Maybe they could reuse the lotus barges for Harmonius? The thought crossed my mind if that’s part of the reason why they closed RoL is due to Harmonius. Maybe they wanted to save a buck and reuse the fountains.
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
Not sure the best place to ask, but does anyone know of any plans for a future nighttime show at DAK? I understand that nothing would be impending, but with the theater sitting there available, I would hope that someday there would be a new nighttime show at DAK to replace RoL. And these things take time to design and develop and build - so do plans exist or is the park just being ignored for now?

I feel like a WoC type show but with animated animals is probably inevitable. I know there was theoretical issues with having those types of fountains in a "natural" pond but I've got to think those are solvable if there is a will.
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
I feel like a WoC type show but with animated animals is probably inevitable. I know there was theoretical issues with having those types of fountains in a "natural" pond but I've got to think those are solvable if there is a will.
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Doing the same type of installed fountains may not work, but they could easily do a world of color type show if they tripled the number of fountain barges they have.

Triple the fountain pods, double the animal floats, and don’t rely on the mist screens to be clear but rather just use them for more abstract images and color backgrounds. In stage design terms, use them as a cyclorama and not as a video wall.
 
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DVCakaCarlF

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
Not sure the best place to ask, but does anyone know of any plans for a future nighttime show at DAK? I understand that nothing would be impending, but with the theater sitting there available, I would hope that someday there would be a new nighttime show at DAK to replace RoL. And these things take time to design and develop and build - so do plans exist or is the park just being ignored for now?

I feel like a WoC type show but with animated animals is probably inevitable. I know there was theoretical issues with having those types of fountains in a "natural" pond but I've got to think those are solvable if there is a will.
Click to expand...
With evening hours being limited, it will likely be a daylight show with multiple showtimes...helps with the Covid thing, too. That being said, the projection lighting would be a waste.
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
DVCakaCarlF said:
With evening hours being limited, it will likely be a daylight show with multiple showtimes...helps with the Covid thing, too. That being said, the projection lighting would be a waste.
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I'm not thinking about anything now, but more for the post-COVID timeframe when nighttime spectaculars return.

That said, I've thought that a daytime water show or boat parade would be a good idea for DAK and way to use that theater. Something like Mythica with animals.
 
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DVCakaCarlF

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
I'm not thinking about anything now, but more for the post-COVID timeframe when nighttime spectaculars return.

That said, I've thought that a daytime water show or boat parade would be a good idea for DAK and way to use that theater. Something like Mythica with animals.
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I agree...another waste of space...you would think a restaurant would be built overlooking the show.
 
Captain Barbossa

Captain Barbossa

Well-Known Member
Primeval Whirl ride vehicles finally left AK property today. Photos from DFB...

096D3990-98B6-4CBC-AE5B-2205652B6969.jpeg


B7A0E848-A074-4D19-A3A7-D603ACEF860A.jpeg


I counted 12 ride vehicles, but there may be a couple more on the trailer that are not visible. I assume this is all of them.
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member

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