The lines and wait times when Avatar land opens

[Siren]

Thousands.

But they'd wait no matter what park it was in.

Oh Marni, all of this is *so* exciting! Frozen is totally going to draw in huge crowds and lines no matter where it goes.

I just hope Avatarland does not soft open in phases like Fantasyland. Disney should pull out all the stops and unveil Avatarland to the world in a grand fashion like Universal did with HP.

Everyone needs to remember the super long lines Harry Potter had when it first opened.

I also have to commend Disney on how they've managed to keep everything so secret regarding Avatarland.

 

[Daveeeeed]

a mistake that hundreds of people are gonna wait in line for...

Are they going to load two boats at once?

 

[KingOfEpicocity]

Thousands.

But they'd wait no matter what park it was in.

I didn't want to overestimate. But that's very true. Epcot does need a crowd puller while avatar and studios get all the attention.

 

[marni1971]

I didn't want to overestimate. But that's very true. Epcot does need a crowd puller while avatar and studios get all the attention.

It does. But not something thematically dire.

 

[KingOfEpicocity]

It does. But not something thematically dire.

I agree. But it's better than nothing. I'll still take a new ride over nothing. Even if it's frozen. But that's a discussion for a another forum.

 

[AEfx]

Large crowds along with overflow parking, alternate, possibly backstage entrances and exits are to be expected with any new land that Disney opens. However, I will be beyond shocked if they even come close to what we saw at Universal for Hogwarts.

Avatar simply does not have the built in fan base that Potter does.

Exactly - it's going to get busy as any new park at WDW with a new attraction/area is going to be, but it's just going to siphon off more guests from other parks. It's not going to get the general public to schedule trips just to see it.

This reminds me of what I have been thinking about lately - I wonder if, given the first film will be decently old at the point this place actually opens, if Disney strikes some kind of deal with Cameron to show Avatar regularly in the in-room TVs - only because so many people aren't going to know what it's all about otherwise.

 

[mickey v-neck]

This land will absolutely have families planning vacations around its opening. Remember also, for families who only make it down every few years, there are a ton of new attractions to sweeten the pot. Perhaps none of them are enough in their own, but when you combine frozen, galactic spectacular, rivers of light, Disney springs, etc, 2017 could be a very crowded year at wdw.

 

[KikoKea]

This land will absolutely have families planning vacations around its opening. Remember also, for families who only make it down every few years, there are a ton of new attractions to sweeten the pot. Perhaps none of them are enough in their own, but when you combine frozen, galactic spectacular, rivers of light, Disney springs, etc, 2017 could be a very crowded year at wdw.

Maybe....but I just don't see throngs of people planning a trip just for AL since I don't think there's a fan base for it like with other franchises such as HP or SW. I liked the movie and am excited about a new land, but wouldn't make a trip just to see it. I think the people who only go every few years will wait for SWL and TSL.

 

[No Name]

Maybe....but I just don't see throngs of people planning a trip just for AL since I don't think there's a fan base for it like with other franchises such as HP or SW. I liked the movie and am excited about a new land, but wouldn't make a trip just to see it. I think the people who only go every few years will wait for SWL and TSL.

If you're (and they're) waiting for Toy Story Land over Avatar Land, that is truly a mistake.

But like you, plenty of people may not initially plan a trip for the land. It's Avatar. Creepy blue sex kittens who curse and are not appropriate for their little princesses. But once the land makes a name for itself and people go home telling their friends and family how awesome it was, do you think those friends and family will be booking a trip? I betcha they will be.

The PR junk can only take Disney so far, word of mouth is the ultimate way to draw crowds. Build it, and they will come. The Splash Mountain example is tired but it's true. In the long run, the IP will not matter as much as the quality of what is built. That's true for Potter too. If Potterland was crap, it would not have drawn such crowds. Quality is what matters and I'm optimistic that Avatar land will be exactly that.

Word of mouth is also significantly cheaper than other forms of advertising.

Still, I feel they should've went for something non-IP-based, and that that would've been even more successful. Because clearly the IP will hold some people back, like you.

 

[twebber55]

If you're (and they're) waiting for Toy Story Land over Avatar Land, that is truly a mistake.

But like you, plenty of people may not initially plan a trip for the land. It's Avatar. Creepy blue sex kittens who curse and are not appropriate for their little princesses. But once the land makes a name for itself and people go home telling their friends and family how awesome it was, do you think those friends and family will be booking a trip? I betcha they will be.

The PR junk can only take Disney so far, word of mouth is the ultimate way to draw crowds. Build it, and they will come. The Splash Mountain example is tired but it's true. In the long run, the IP will not matter as much as the quality of what is built. That's true for Potter too. If Potterland was crap, it would not have drawn such crowds. Quality is what matters and I'm optimistic that Avatar land will be exactly that.

Word of mouth is also significantly cheaper than other forms of advertising.

Still, I feel they should've went for something non-IP-based, and that that would've been even more successful. Because clearly the IP will hold some people back, like you.

an IP will out draw a non IP in my opinion...for every one who wont go there will be 10 who do go
just my opinion of course
i think the IP debate gets overblown on these boards
execution is what matters....Toy Story is a bigger IP than Cars which land is more popular?

 

[PorterRedkey]

I just hope Disney promotes this land as the impressive achievement it is. I love the new Star Tours, but every trip I talk to guests who have no idea there are different scenes to experience. If ST-TAC was promoted better I think that it would be a bigger draw or at the very least make guests want to ride it multiple times. Let's hope the same mistakes are not made here.

 

[wdwfan22]

Exactly - it's going to get busy as any new park at WDW with a new attraction/area is going to be, but it's just going to siphon off more guests from other parks. It's not going to get the general public to schedule trips just to see it.

I don't agree with that, as I know of 2 families off hand that are scheduling trips this summer just to see AVATAR. Both families haven't been to Walt Disney World in about 5 years.

 

[mergatroid]

I don't agree with that, as I know of 2 families off hand that are scheduling trips this summer just to see AVATAR. Both families haven't been to Walt Disney World in about 5 years.

I'm in the UK and know a family who are going specially for Avatarland too. Interestingly they're not actually huge fans of the movie but want to see this new land just as they did when Universal added Potter.

 

[KikoKea]

There will be plenty of people going, simply because it is something new and looks to be awesome. Avatar fans or not, people will come because the parks have less going for them these days. HS is half closed and for some, is only worth a morning, if that. Avatar will be a welcome shot of new and cool. We'll see it probably in early Dec '17 during our usual Christmas trip...if it is actually open by then.

 

[Princess Leia]

My friends and I ended up planning our future trip around Avatar. Originally, we were thinking of going this past January, but because we wanted to experience the new attractions, we pushed the trip back (initially to September, but now it's November). New rides are going to have longer waits. Look at 7DMT. It's been around for over 2 years, and it always has some of the longest waits in the whole resort area.

 

[KikoKea]

. New rides are going to have longer waits. Look at 7DMT. It's been around for over 2 years, and it always has some of the longest waits in the whole resort area.

True. Avatar looks like it will be amazing, but DH and I won't stand in line for much longer than 40 min so hoping we can catch the new rides via FP or late at night. We skipped Frozenstrom for 2 visits because of the wait and don't hesitate to skip other rides. Let's hope the lines have shortened a bit by the time we go next Nov/Dec!

 

[twebber55]

True. Avatar looks like it will be amazing, but DH and I won't stand in line for much longer than 40 min so hoping we can catch the new rides via FP or late at night. We skipped Frozenstrom for 2 visits because of the wait and don't hesitate to skip other rides. Let's hope the lines have shortened a bit by the time we go next Nov/Dec!

im thinking late at night might be worse

 

[Princess Leia]

True. Avatar looks like it will be amazing, but DH and I won't stand in line for much longer than 40 min so hoping we can catch the new rides via FP or late at night. We skipped Frozenstrom for 2 visits because of the wait and don't hesitate to skip other rides. Let's hope the lines have shortened a bit by the time we go next Nov/Dec!

I'm sure Animal Kingdom will roll out a tier system for the FP+ by the end of May, so this is one that we'll probably have to be flexible with. FP one, sprint to the other at rope drop.

 

[KikoKea]

im thinking late at night might be worse

Yep, that's certainly a real possibility considering how that place is going to look when it gets dark. I was hoping AK might have EMHs at night after Pandora opens or if we jumped in line just before park close, we wouldn't be using up open-park time standing in a long line, if that makes sense. I'm looking forward to simply sitting and enjoying the sights and music at night!

 

[doctornick]

I'm sure Animal Kingdom will roll out a tier system for the FP+ by the end of May, so this is one that we'll probably have to be flexible with. FP one, sprint to the other at rope drop.

I think it's an interesting question about DAK and FP+ and tiering. The park hasn't needed tiers since the existing attractions are generally high capacity, so they have been able to offer a lot of FP+ to guests and have plenty of reasonable choices. The two Pandora rides -- and RoL -- are relatively smaller capacity in the grand scheme of things and obviously demand will be high for them. So, it might make sense to make a tier of FoP, NRJ and RoL (maybe toss in the Mickey M&G there or something) with the other existing FP+ to be the remaining two options. That would at least allow most any guest to get FP+ to at least one of the new offerings.

OTOH, they could just leave it tier-less. Sure, that would mean that some folks would go full bore with all three new offerings and other guests would be left out of them -- but on the flip side, they'd still have great options available like Everest, Dinosaur, the safari or even Kali (during the summer months) which can still be valuable FP+ unlike the non-tier options at Epcot especially (and the non-ToT options at DHS). I feel like Disney wants to move away from tiering if possible (expanding Soarin' and TSM seemed to be a move to that) but we'll see what happens.