Avatar experience coming to Disneyland

[BrianL]

There was no animatronic when I rode it in January. We used a DAS return for it so I was thankful I didn't have to wait in the actual queue. When it started I was like "oooh...this is pretty" but then...it was all just the same scenery. Not much re-ride potential for me.

Was she on a screen? That was operating in B-Mode. When they have to service the animatronic, it runs that way - and, yeah, that would be incredibly disappointing!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yep. I had never watched a ride through or anything beforehand so I didn't even know there was supposed to be an animatronic until we got home.

 

[brightlined]

Navi River Journey is missing a storyline. Maybe the only real dent in Joe Rohde's resume - it's so beautifully done, but there's no narrative - it's all environment. (By comparison - Pirates has a storyline - or, maybe more accurately, a series of mini-storylines under an overarching theme.) When it opened, they made the mistake of overhyping the AA - it's impressive, but it's technically impressive, not storyline impressive.

I wouldn't be opposed to installing FOP at Disneyland, but I'd much prefer the same ride with a different or updated destination / movie. I hope they wouldn't just clone Pandora for DLR - that just seems like a wasted opportunity. There's so much more they could do in that world - and that the movie's creative team would probably be eager to be involved in something new. (Side note: AK closing at sunset most of the year is an absolute waste of how amazing Pandora is at night - it would play so much better in California without that limitation.)

Having said that, I feel like this is an upgrade to the previous announcement. They kept making it sound like we were getting the "Experience" from Asia - it was never really talked about as a land. I honestly thought the Avengers superstore was closed to make way for that.

I was listening to Susan Bond (former Imagineer) on the Tomorrow Society Podcast. She worked on Alien Encounter and suggested one of the reasons it didn't work was because it was in the wrong park (MK). She suggested DHS. That got me thinking; would it work in DCA? I think yes. It would be an even better fit at USH though.

Alien Encounter was not only at the wrong park, it was at the wrong resort. The problem with moving it to DHS was that it was an upgrade to Mission to Mars - the cost to move it all to DHS would probably have been out of the question in the early 90s. It was intended to be at Disneyland, which would have been perfect - but it got cut due to the costs and early failure of EuroDisney. (MK is so much more overtly a kids park than DL is - to me, DL feels like a all-ages park with kid-focused sections.) Honestly, I think it would still work at Disneyland (or DCA) - it's a "practical effects + psychological effects" ride - it wouldn't be dated at all.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Yeah...I didn't go on it so I have no opinion. I did the boat one and it was pretty for a few seconds and then...I was like..."that's it?"

I have never been to the Avatar section of WDW, but your comment pretty much summed up my reaction to the first Avatar movie.

Yep, no one cares about it.

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Tons of people went to see it, especially in premium formats (IMAX/3D) but that does not mean it has a strong, passionate, devoted fanbase like Marvel, Star Wars, or Harry Potter.

 

[irlandaise]

Tons of people went to see it, especially in premium formats (IMAX/3D) but that does not mean it has a strong, passionate, devoted fanbase like Marvel, Star Wars, or Harry Potter.

Yeah, I've never gotten the sense that Avatar is in the zeitgeist like those other franchises are. But hey, Pandora must be doing well for Disney if they're planning to do an Avatar area in DLR.

 

[BrianL]

Tons of people went to see it, especially in premium formats (IMAX/3D) but that does not mean it has a strong, passionate, devoted fanbase like Marvel, Star Wars, or Harry Potter.

Okay, so it's not as popular as the three biggest, most popular franchise properties in the world. That does not mean it's not popular. It's certainly popular enough, and is still growing.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yeah, I've never gotten the sense that Avatar is in the zeitgeist like those other franchises are. But hey, Pandora must be doing well for Disney if they're planning to do an Avatar area in DLR.

I think Pandora is similar to Cars Land where neither franchise has a fanbase but the lands are so strong on their own that they work regardless. I mean, in Flight of Passage there are decently long preshows that essentially explain the plot of the first Avatar movie because they know everyone forgot what even happened in that movie.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ask the average person to name at least 2 characters from Cars and I bet they could do it. Could the same be said for Avatar?

I'm not sure if it's really relevant. It's just something I'd be interested to know.

 

[bryaalre]

I am going to disagree that Avatar as a whole does not have a fanbase. Avatar has a huge fanbase, it just doesn't have the content or time that the other franchises have in order to consistently remain in pop culture news every year.

People had been saying to name 1 or 2 characters from the film for years (prior to the new films release) but how many movies can people name a character from that was 15 years ago or even 5 years ago.

Some of my favorite movies like Inception, a movie I have watched into the double digits amount of times, I would find it difficult to name more than a single character. I can tell you the actor and actresses in the movie much more than the character that they played.

Movies that are one offs or don't have consistent merchandise fall off hard and fast in public perception.

My only note for the Avatar land is to make it different than the one in WDW. There is no a second movie and a third coming out next year they can draw inspiration from. Make the land unique to visit. They can still use the exact same FOP ride in the land if they wanted to but make a new video or videos and treat FOP as Star Tours.

 

[Chili327]

Ask the average person to name at least 2 characters from Cars and I bet they could do it. Could the same be said for Avatar?

Thats me.
But I am a big fan of Route 66, so the franchise had more meaning to me than Avatar.

 

[BrianL]

WIthout looking anything up:

Jake Sully
Neytiri
Colonel Quarritch
Grace Augustine
Norm Spellman
Trudy Chacon
Tsu'Tey
Eytukan
Mo'at
Parker Selfridge
Wainfleet

I may not have seplled them all correctly.

Oh, and I missed Max, which I think would cover all primary characters. Also, Seze, Neytiri's banshee! She counts too!

 

[Lumpy1106]

WIthout looking anything up:

Jake Sully
Neytiri
Colonel Quarritch
Grace Augustine
Norm Spellman
Trudy Chacon
Tsu'Tey
Eytukan
Mo'at
Parker Selfridge
Wainfleet

I may not have seplled them all correctly.

Oh, and I missed Max, which I think would cover all primary characters. Also, Seze, Neytiri's banshee! She counts too!

To argue the other side;
The guy in the wheelchair
the alien love interest
The alien grandma
The alien bro-dudes
the geeky guy
the smart doctor lady
the flying thingys
the mean flying thingys
the rhino thingys
the wolf like alien things
the bad guys with all the big machines

But most of all, PANDORA.
Which is to say, I don't know the movie all that well BUT I'll take a Pandora land over any Marvel campus - WOW is that dull! It's helpful to see the 1st movie before visiting Pandora. I saw the land first and it was cool, but when I saw the movie I literally gasped - so that's what the land is supposed to be, and wow is it impressive IRL!

 

[Keladry84]

I'm not really fan of either Cars or Pandora - but what stands out with both for me that would make them interesting to visit is the immersiveness of the world created, and that creates in own interest in the park that is separate from the IP. Pandora for me was all about the visuals, and to be able to be transformed to that world in a theme park is.....actually very exciting. The only reason I am planning to go to Animal Kingdom during my upcoming trip is to experience Pandora. I have no particular special interest in the franchise, but the ability to experience the visual world created is something I find very appealing. I also think that if they do import a Pandora world to the west coast, I hope they would explore more areas of it - similar to the different Harry Potter worlds in USO.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Which is to say, I don't know the movie all that well BUT I'll take a Pandora land over any Marvel campus - WOW is that dull!

Learning that Avenger's Campus was 100% a Chapek project explains so much about why it looks like.....that.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Learning that Avenger's Campus was 100% a Chapek project explains so much about why it looks like.....that.

It's got a real 6-Flags aesthetic. Trying to be nice here...

 

[Lumpy1106]

OK - I can't - gloves off.
IMHO, Avenger's Camps is one of the biggest mistakes Disney has ever made in any park, and I don't think that's a hot take. It replaced Bugs land. You can say those were cheap, not-quite Disney quality rides, but it was a land FOR KIDS. Would you bulldoze Fantasyland to build Avengers Campus? Certainly not. In exchange you get one ride (Spiderman) that is yet another shoot-at-targets ride. OK, but DCA already has the best of those in TSMM. Bugs land was fully immersive - FAR better than Toy Story Land in DHS. Avengers campus is themed to...warehouses? It's awful - nowhere near Disney quality. If you really want to see what Avenger Campus SHOULD be, look no further than GotG:MB. Joe Rohde did an amazing job with that!

I was not a fan of Chapek from the start, but the fact that this was his brain child would be all I would need as a Disney board member to fire him.

 

[crystal1313]

My only note for the Avatar land is to make it different than the one in WDW. There is no a second movie and a third coming out next year they can draw inspiration from. Make the land unique to visit. They can still use the exact same FOP ride in the land if they wanted to but make a new video or videos and treat FOP as Star Tours.

^this! 100%! This is where they majorly failed with Galaxys Edge, by making it exactly the same at WDW and DL.

I think Pandora is visually stunning and the land at AK is amazing. I’m not a die hard fan of the movies, but I enjoy them. Before our first trip to WDW, we had our kids watch the first movie so they knew a bit about it before we got there. We all really like that land, because it’s very immersive. Just as we love Cars Land for the same reason (although we are huge Cars fans having two boys, have probably seen the movie hundreds of times and pretty much have it memorized. Lol) Both lands feel as if you walk into the movie.

I hope they can think outside the box for Disneyland and not just copy and paste.

 

[ClaraOswald]

OK - I can't - gloves off.
IMHO, Avenger's Camps is one of the biggest mistakes Disney has ever made in any park, and I don't think that's a hot take. It replaced Bugs land. You can say those were cheap, not-quite Disney quality rides, but it was a land FOR KIDS. Would you bulldoze Fantasyland to build Avengers Campus? Certainly not. In exchange you get one ride (Spiderman) that is yet another shoot-at-targets ride. OK, but DCA already has the best of those in TSMM. Bugs land was fully immersive - FAR better than Toy Story Land in DHS. Avengers campus is themed to...warehouses? It's awful - nowhere near Disney quality. If you really want to see what Avenger Campus SHOULD be, look no further than GotG:MB. Joe Rohde did an amazing job with that!

I was not a fan of Chapek from the start, but the fact that this was his brain child would be all I would need as a Disney board member to fire him.

Agreed. Avenger's Campus is pure crap! I miss Bug's Land.

 

[StarlitNight05]

OK - I can't - gloves off.
IMHO, Avenger's Camps is one of the biggest mistakes Disney has ever made in any park, and I don't think that's a hot take. It replaced Bugs land. You can say those were cheap, not-quite Disney quality rides, but it was a land FOR KIDS. Would you bulldoze Fantasyland to build Avengers Campus? Certainly not. In exchange you get one ride (Spiderman) that is yet another shoot-at-targets ride. OK, but DCA already has the best of those in TSMM. Bugs land was fully immersive - FAR better than Toy Story Land in DHS. Avengers campus is themed to...warehouses? It's awful - nowhere near Disney quality. If you really want to see what Avenger Campus SHOULD be, look no further than GotG:MB. Joe Rohde did an amazing job with that!

I was not a fan of Chapek from the start, but the fact that this was his brain child would be all I would need as a Disney board member to fire him.

I 100% agree with you here. While Bugs Land was for kids, I still loved spending time there. The lush greenery, the intimate feel...it was just perfect. Avengers Campus feels depressing. It's a sea of asphalt and concrete. Lol your description of being themed to warehouses is spot on!

 

[Chuck96]

Are we at the bananas-place where people pretend that Avatar isn't actually popular because they don't like it, and it doesn't have a bunch of ridiculous fansites and ancillary product lines?

FoP routinely has the longest line at WDW, somewhat driven by the fact that AK doesn't have a lot of marquee rides, but also from the fact that Pandora is pretty popular and the ride is one of the best at any of their properties.

I'm not certain how to measure popularity, but Box Office is probably a good start:

Avatar 2: $2,320,250,280
Guardians 3: $845,555,777 (the most popular Marvel movie in 2023)
Rise of Skywalker: $1,077,022,370 (the last Marvel movie in theaters, 2019)
Frozen 2: $1,453,683,480 (the last massive blockbuster DFA film, 2019)

This isn't rocket science.