omg. things have quickly changed. an indy ride, carsland and monsters inc coaster coming to the studio's?
that totally has my vote against avatar. the studio's could really benefit from 3 amazing attractions like that.
whether avatar will come in the future i guess the imagineers and james cameron have more time to work on concepts, as well as cameron at least being able to finish both films.
i always thought carsland at california was a huge risk. mainly because as i film(s) they're not regarded as the best of pixars work. BUT in terms of franchise and merchandise ive never seen any other pixar film do so well in that area (obvs toy story toys also sell really well)
now you take avatar into account. it did incredibly well in terms of box office gross, but thats mainly down to marketing. the film doesn't really have a huge cult following or anything, or even a large merchandise range like cars. it seems quite risky to even break ground until the 2nd film is at least released to know if it'll do as well as the original. if so, then carry on. break ground and then bring out the 3rd and develop the 4th film. if it doesn't do so well, then move onto another concept.
people always say, you don't need a huge franchise to market a ride. taking splash mountain into account, thing is though, even though a lot of people havent seen the film, im pretty sure they know "zippedy dooh dah" a very well known song. now what does avatar have that audiences can relate to? the only thing im left with is its visual style like the glowing flora/fauna. but thats it really. *shrugs*
build carsland, indy and this monsters in coaster and then eventually bring mysterious island to animal kingdom with a nighttime show as its centre piece.