Walt Disney Imagineering Releases New 'World of AVATAR' Concept Art

I woudn't say that with such certainty Nat... I know plenty of people who aren't HP fans, didn't see any of the movies or read the books and still loved and enjoyed BOTH sections of the Wizarding World..

A well down, well themed land with well done, fun attractions will bring in guests and crowds, no matter the IP... yes, IP helps, but if the rides and land are spectacular, the crowds will be there...

As for Avatar, we know one ride will be a C ticket boat ride (been there done that) and Soarin Over Pandora.. Only difference, may be in 3D and have a little extra movement in the ride vehicles... Otherwise, its the same ride as Epcot... Doesn't exactly scream WOW I NEED TO SEE THAT... The land will be more of the attraction than the actual attraction, that is, until things stop working and Park Ops refuse to pay to fix it...

Yes, I know many people love HP land without being fans but there are also plenty of people (like my husband) who just have NO interest in it and thus won't bother. But HP lands are REALLY visually appealing even without rides and the shops and restaurants are unique and GOOD. So, I get how people enjoy it without being fans.

This artwork though? It isn't even nice, IMO. It isn't making me "ooh and ahh" or anything. And yeah, the rides sound like snoozers. If Disney was promising some ground breaking technologically mind blowing, unique attraction, I would be all in.

I'm reserving my opinion till I see it in person. Mostly because I don't want to be the hater that has to eat their words when they all of sudden start defending it by others because they love it so much after they bashed it.

At this point, adding anything is better than taking away or replacing. But this section is taking so long to come to fruition, that the news about it seems so old.

Plus, I haven't let go of the fact that, I hated the movie. It was a huge disappointment. Disney could have written a whole new movie and made a whole new following for a new section in AK in the time it is taking to make this Avatar thing come to life. I would have loved a mystical "things that never were" area with dragons and unicorns and such.

I was just at AK on Friday. My DD (4) did not like all the walking trails. We tried it without the stroller because you can't point the stroller just right to see the animals. She loved the Safari and the Lion King show, but I think that taking her through a make believe land just to walk through glowing sidewalks and plants to ride different versions of rides we go on at other parks will just be even more of a disappointment for us.

I may sound like a negative nelly but I am just not excited about the area. Yay for adding stuff but lets add new stuff that is actually interesting

TinkerbellT421;2448393 wrote: I'm reserving my opinion till I see it in person. Mostly because I don't want to be the hater that has to eat their words when they all of sudden start defending it by others because they love it so much after they bashed it.

I have no problem being proven totally wrong and eating my words. I will be thrilled if Disney somehow hits one out of the park with this land and it is a massive success.

I am far from the only person who feels negatively about this. Almost every post Disney makes on social media about this land is inundated with negative responses.

The stakes are high for this one.

Well I went to Harry Potter at universal having never read a single line in a book, or having watched 1 second of any movie and guess what? I LOVED the land. Why? Because if was done extremely well and I am an amusement park fanatic. They built the land/rides in a way that I didn't have to have Harry Potter knowledge to enjoy the areas. After visiting I went back and read all the books.

I saw Avatar and it was ok. It was all about the visual effects and scenery. The actual story was pretty bland and has been told many times before. However that should lend itself to an amazing land built around scenery and splendor. Hopefully Disney isn't building the attractions around the actual story of Avatar, but rather the world of Avatar-the fictional planet of Pandora-and that's what it appears Disney is doing.

You won't have to be an Avatar fanatic to enjoy this new area. It should be a sensory overload. And you all will be there. You can say you will skip it but that simply won't be true. Disney is opening a new land I a park that desperately needs an infuse of new things, of course you are going to check it out.

DonaldDuck1117;2448519 wrote: Well I went to Harry Potter at universal having never read a single line in a book, or having watched 1 second of any movie and guess what? I LOVED the land. Why? Because if was done extremely well and I am an amusement park fanatic. They built the land/rides in a way that I didn't have to have Harry Potter knowledge to enjoy the areas. After visiting I went back and read all the books.

BINGO!!!

I bet if you polled people coming off of Splash Mountain, half wouldn't have any idea it was from Song of the South... But it pulls in large crowds cause it is a great, well done, well themed ride...

Avatar/Pandora will be the same... As long as the land is well themed, and the rides are well worth it, the people will come...

DizneyFreak2002;2448524 wrote: As long as the land is well themed, and the rides are well worth it, the people will come...

Totally agree.

I look at the picture an am uninspired, but judgement will be reserved until the day I can visit the actual opened area. It is a picture of a concept. That's all, not a photo of the real thing. Why place so much judgement on the concepts that they have carefully allowed to be released? I get that the powers that be have missed the mark on our side of the continent, but it is my understanding (from a friend in Cali with APs) that they didn't miss so much on the CA expansion.

JerseyDad;2448378 wrote: ...Avatar is something that just doesn't "scream" ...DISNEY.

....so ...I couldn't care less. (unless it funnels tons of park goer traffic in its direction ...and frees up other attractions for me...)

I honestly got a bit of a laugh at this.....Are you a fan of Lights, Motors, Action at DHS? How Disney is that?

There are a lot of things that aren't "Disney" around the parks, but fit in the park that they are put into. AvatarLand/Pandora is a good fit for Animal Kingdom in that it 1) fits the conservation theme; 2) fits the animal - living, extinct, or mythical - theme of the park; 3) highlights the Imagineers abilities to come up with new ideas and new technology to bring about a theme. To me, this is ALL Disney!

I agree with John in that I will hold my tongue until I can actually see how this develops.

Meh.

That is all...feel free to continue your day.

I'm actually looking forward to the Avatar land addition. I think Disney knows what kind of pressure they are under to do something groundbreaking, and I have faith that they will make Pandora look amazing.

I am most looking forward to the bioluminescent forest. That will look beautiful at night.

We liked the movie, and thought the visual effects were incredible. I think Avatar is the perfect addition to AK, and will draw the guests in.

I'm actually quite shocked at the amount of negativity and/or just plain apathy toward this project from people here. You're finally getting something new at AK (which is relevant to the park), and pretty big to boot... give it a chance.

LOL! I wasn't trying to be a negative nellie about the whole thing. I was just underwhelmed by the artwork. Usually, Disney's concept art makes me go "Ooo!" In fact, I believe one for Avatar got that reaction out of me some time back.

Like I said before, I plan on reserving judgement until we experience it. It's hard to get excited about Avatar as a concept, because I haven't seen the movie. I've seen a few stills, and if done right, without a need to know the story to enjoy the land, I'm sure it will be great. Certainly new stuff in the parks gets me excited. :mickey:

I'm just happy they are adding anything. I love AK and am one of the few that can spend a whole day in there. Sadly, my other half has a problem with animals in captivity.

(Other half at the mere suggestion of going to AK ------> :blah:)

So, I can only get in there during ICOT meets.
(When are we all going again?? :mickey:)

Disneyland's attractions such as Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Monorail, Flying Saucers, Tiki Room, etc. were not "Disney" and most Disney animated movies were retellings of an older story that Disney bought the rights to. Just like Avatar. For instance, when I was a kid, I read The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast (several times) loonggg before they were animated by Disney. Because of that, I still never think of LM or B&TB as Disney, but I like the movies and the attractions.

I'm looking forward to seeing Avatarland and hope they do it right. :fingers: I have no idea what the Avatar movie is about nor do I care to see it, but I'm happy to see something new in a WDW park.

I have no idea what Harry Potter is about nor do I care to see those movies or read the books, but I do look forward to going to Universal some day to see the land. It looks very cool. As a matter of fact, I recall most people were upset that Disney didn't buy the rights to the HP franchise.. Therefore, I never understand the "Not very Disney" argument. :confused:

It isn't a lack of confidence in WDI that I have, it is a lack of confidence in WDW/TDO to properly maintain whatever WDI delivers. I am not particularly excited about the source material, but left to do their best WDI could probably make anything worth checking out. They could deliver their best work ever, though, and it would all be for naught if WDW/TDO just lets it fall apart and is content to have guests visit a rundown section of the park indefinitely. Even if WDI delivered something so cool that most guests cannot tell it is in a state of disrepair, intentionally running it that way is bad show and they have a well established track record of doing just that.