Avatar Land Coming to Disney World!
Plans for AVATAR Land have been posted online, and on October 12, 2013 at the Japan D23 Expo, Disney released concept art seeming to confirm these plans. While Disney didn’t explicitly say so, the concept art features a boat floating through a nighttime jungle of bioluminescent plants (think Living with the Land, except breathtaking “Imagineered” plants), a sim ride where you soar into the sky riding a Banshee (think Soarin’), and an incredible environment based on AVATAR, with mountains that appear to float, and other mythical environments. All of this roughly matches those plans that leaked back in 2012.
For some, the even bigger news is that the new plans call for nighttime entertainment on Discovery Island. Based on the description and concept art, this new show sounds like a combination of the Disney Dreams (at Disneyland Paris) tech and the type of pageantry from Tapestry of Nations, the parade that ran in Epcot’s World Showcase during the Millennium Celebration.
This all comes just a couple of months AVATAR Land was teased at the Anaheim D23 Expo, effectively putting to bed months of rumors that the project was on life support or dead. It sounds as if an agreement between James Cameron and Disney has been reached concerning the content of AVATAR Land, and the pace of the project is set to pick up. After the colossal success of the Disney California Adventure overhaul, let’s hope AVATAR Land is similarly well-done.
I’ve been watching this story closely since the beginning, and this article was originally posted in October 2011, updated in September 2012 with information about the status of the project, and again in October 2013 with more concert information and concept art released by Disney.
On October 14, 2013, the video below was released. I have to admit, this has me really excited for Avatar Land!
Prior to our 2012 update, I had been hearing for months that Avatar Land (or “The World of Avatar”) has been on life-support or was to be quietly canceled by Disney. These rumors seemed reliable, and there was intense speculation that the project was shelved along with Cameron’s 4th Avatar film. Even after that and up until the Anaheim D23 Expo, speculation was intense that the project was not going to happen, due to “creative differences.” Preserved for the sake of history (some of the speculation is almost humorous now) is our original 2011 post, including our reaction to it in 2011. I’ve added a few parentheticals in italics to the “Reaction” section to reflect our new thoughts since that time.
Original News
Today is one of those days where the Disney community received such monumental, discussion-provoking, and exciting news that I felt behooved to share it with the 3 or so of you who haven’t yet heard about it: I’m talking about James Cameron’s Avatar coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
You read correctly–Disney’s Animal Kingdom gift shops will be selling the Avatar Blu-ray/DVD Combo for the low price of $29.99!
In other news, James Cameron and Disney announced today that Disney will be building attractions based on the film (soon to be films as two sequels are released) Avatar under a long-term, exclusive agreement with the parties involved in creating the films. The attractions are going to be built in an all-new Animal Kingdom “land” and is set to begin in early 2013. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the initial phase of the project is likely to cost $400 million.
At a Tuesday Walt Disney Imagineering press conference, Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Thomas Staggs said: “We’re just beginning the development phase on this project.” These plans will include heavily themed recreations of the environments from Avatar and its sequels, to be fleshed out with Walt Disney Imagineering at the helm, in collaboration with James Cameron.
Disney CEO Bob Iger was also on hand for the press conference, and he said new the project would let park visitors “enter the ‘Avatar’ universe and explore it first hand.”
Reaction
Until this announcement, I really had no desire to see AVATAR. I did see it, and while the visuals were impressive, the story was derivative, predictable, and forgettable. Those visuals, though, were something else. I’m not at all a fan of James Cameron, as I think he’s about as overrated as Michael Bay (this was a bit strong–James Cameron is much better than Michael Bay). I question whether Avatar made so much money because it was a good movie, or because it was a visually stunning movie. I prefer thought-provoking films and well-scripted drama to special effects, and his films are definitely the latter. Additionally, I would have preferred an original concept to drive Disney’s Animal Kingdom expansion, rather than relying on a franchise.
All of that said, I respect quality and think it always “outs.” From what I have seen of Avatar, it looks like an incredibly themed universe, and I have no doubt that Walt Disney Imagineering will faithfully execute the design into something absolutely breathtaking. I think the transition from Song of the South to Splash Mountain is a perfect example of this. I’m not wild about Song of the South at all (I do understand its historical significance, though), but Splash Mountain is an amazing attraction.
Likewise, I think the attractions in Avatarland have the potential to be amazing, regardless of their source material. I also think that, with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter right down the road, Disney needed to bring a high profile franchise into the fray as an appropriate response. Thus, when viewing this purely as an objective business decision, I think it is likely to be a brilliant decision that will pay great dividends. Even the best original idea WDI could have executed wouldn’t have the same built-in fanbase as a franchise, and to that end, I completely understand why bringing in something like Avatar was necessary. Overall, I think it’s very exciting news, and am really looking forward to 2015 (ha!), ’16 (haha!), or ’17 (fingers crossed) when it finally opens!
UPDATE: I am still excited about this project, especially after seeing the concept art that looks like this will be a beautiful land with an almost abstract “mythical” feel to it, which is exactly what Disney’s Animal Kingdom needs. Although I am not a fan of AVATAR and I question its long term staying power, I am not a fan of Cars, and I loved Cars Land, which I feel was wisely done with a Route 66 style and not overtly cartoonish. I feel that taking a similar approach to AVATAR Land would be wise, just in case the shelf life of the films is limited. An entire land that could grow stale is a dangerous thing–much worse than a single attraction.
Admittedly, before this concept art–which I consider to show a very promising project–I had become less enthusiastic about AVATAR Land than I was originally. In 2011, we didn’t really care about Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and thought just about anything would breathe some new life into it. I’ve since fallen in love with the park, and view it as Disney’s last “unspoiled” park in terms of thematic cohesiveness. I am still excited about the project, especially a leisurely boat ride through a beautifully lit forest and the rebirth of the “Rivers of Light” parade concept, but are cautiously optimistic about the expansion. I hope it is done with integrity for Animal Kingdom’s theme, and represents the mythical area the park has always needed, and is not an overt “World of AVATAR” shoehorned into the park with thematic inconsistencies recklessly ‘explained-away’ with overwrought backstory.)
Rest assured we’ll be covering the progress of this project…
Your Thoughts…
What do you think about AVATAR coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Has your opinion changed at all now that some concept art has been released? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts in the comments below!
I loved Avatar. I thought it was beautiful and the 3D aspect was stunning. I think Disney would do a wonderful job making the movie come to life in an attraction…..NOT one whole area of a park, and definitely not the Animal Kingdom.
You can’t compare it to Univeral’s Harry Potter Land. Harry Potter is a huge franchise. Everyone loves the books and movies. Half the people on the planet have at least heard of Harry Potter. Harry Potter items can be found nearly everywhere. Can the same be said of Avatar? I enjoyed the movie, but I LOVE the Harry Potter book series and would LOVE to see Harry Potter land at Universal.
I am really looking forward to seeing the Fantasyland expansion. Can’t wait til our next trip. How do I feel about seeing the purposed Avatar land? Well, I can’t summon up any kind of thrill even close to what I feel thinking about the Fantasyland expansion….or Harry Potter land. Avatar land is the worst idea Disney has had since turning Dino land into a carnival. Its not going to make me want to take a trip to WDW just to see it. I’d rather do all of the same old stuff in the other parks than see Avatar land.
As someone who has never seen Avatar, I always find this subject interesting. I’m actually excited about this – and I wasn’t, at first. But as I see/hear more about the plans, my excitement begins to build. It’s no Beastly Kingdom, but it seems to me to have quite a bit of potential. And if I can get excited about it, having never seen the movie (and truly, I’m not sure I have any intention of seeing it), I think that means it might have some staying power, regardless of how the original (or any sequels to the) film continues to/not to resonate with moviegoers or park visitors.
I think thematically it’s a bit of a stretch for the animal kingdom. However, it seems like it would an amazing addition. We are looking forward to it. It seems like we will probably like Avatar Land more than the movie.
Since I have become bored with Animal Kingdom, I think the park could really use something impressive to attract ggv uests. Disney has a lot of competition! While I prefer Disney, a lot of my friends prefer the other parks in the Orlando area. I really do wish Disney would stick to their history and build upon that instead of buying other ideas!
I loved Avatar. I think it’s beautiful! I know it’s basically a live action Fern Gully but I don’t care! It was a beautiful movie, with a beautiful message, and I honestly can’t wait to see what Disney does with it! I think it will be a welcome addition to Animal Kingdom! While I enjoy Animal Kingdom personally, it is my least favorite of the parks and when I visit Florida, I never seem to spend more than a half day there. I think the addition of Avatar will keep me there longer!
I at once can’t, but then kinda can, believe some of the closed-minded and dismissive opinions of this before we’ve seen anything of significance. I mean, only some wispy conceptual looks at it (I watched the video announcement as well) are available and presuming that because you didn’t care for the movie equates the land in the park will be equally uninteresting is a huge jump in logic, though I can understand why it comes up.
I can see it not having the same sort of pent-up demand that Harry Potter has, but how often does a cultural phenomenon like Harry Potter come along? I mean, Disney could do Oprahland, but I don’t think it would have the same punch for the youngsters.
To me, the key will simply be how amazing are the rides and how immersive, detailed and beautiful is the land? I haven’t been to Universal since way before HP opened, but the main ride there now is out there for the public to consume. Do you think James Cameron is going to settle for something that doesn’t trump that? I actually doubt he’ll be that concerned about trumping it so much as making it as real to him as the 3D in the movie suggests. I don’t think it will be as simple as Soarin’ with a different movie.
This all might be a long-winded way of agreeing with Tom on the Splash Mountain analogy. You could really say it about any of the film-based rides. I bet a very large percentage of people haven’t seen The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, but love the heck out of the ride at Disneyland. So, I’m willing to wait before I let it fall into a sinkhole. Saying so long before there’s really much to react to is like saying Joe Rohde isn’t capable of pulling it off well just because of that thing on the side of his head (call it an earring if you must, but while I have a ton of respect for his work, that thing gives me the shivers!) being there.
I’m just grateful that it looks like they are trying to do something impressive here and if people go and say they are just blown away by it, whether Avatar the film has legs or not won’t matter. There will be a great deal of fun to be had at the park. Disney could blow it, of course, that’s always a possibility, but having Cameron so intimately involved seems to me a way to keep this from disappointing, he’ll be a real thorn in anyone’s side who tries to nickel and dime it to death – not that Disney seems to be leaning that way anyhow, but they do have a history.
Last I was at WDW, only the train, Goofy coaster and Dumbo (one spinner only) were open in NF, but I was pretty impressed with what was there and where it was going. Won’t be headed there again at least until the Mine Train coaster opens, though. We had our fill of construction walls. 😉
I’m hopeful.
Dave
Well said. I especially agree on James Cameron’s perfectionist nature. Hopefully he pushes and pushes on this project. My expectations are high!
Tom, thanks for another good read and take on Avatarland…or Pandora, whatever they choose to call it. I for one am looking forward to this opening at Animal Kingdom, especially after seeing the concept art. As many have said, stunning! The night time entertainment, the new rides/stories, all should be great to see. With the recent improvements made to both DL and WDW, the quality should be top notch and incredibly immersive for all of us to enjoy, even if you don’t like Avatar movie series much. I like spending time in the park (and will be more so after reading your last post about AK) and this should be a further draw for my family and I.
As for all the negative comments from everyone, at least it’s giving me something to chuckle about while late in the office 😉
Keep up your great blog, always good articles!
Brett
Avatar isn’t my favorite movie by far, but I do like the message and the visual presentation of it. I think it fits right in with AK’s theme. Those who say “I have not seen the movie and don’t care to, and I don’t want it in the park”….really?? That’s like saying you hate dole whips even though you have never tried them. I am really excited about the expansion. Not because I am a huge Avatar fan, because I am not. I trust that Disney will execute this project well and it will be a breathtaking experience to add to my future trips!! I am thrilled about more night time events at AK, however, I am wondering how this will affect the animals. Will they go in enclosures at night? I read about a night time Kilimanjaro Safari ride. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Will they add lights? That’s not a very natural environment for the animals and it may take away from the whole message of the park. With that said, I trust Disney will do it right and protect the dignity of the animals who call the park home.
The thing that concerns me about this is how it fits in with Animal Kingdom. I honestly don’t see it other than the fact that its a forest like planet and there a load of trees at Animal Kingdom.
I think they’ll have to play up the “mythical land” element of it in order for it to work. The boat ride looks like the perfect fit for such a land, but I’m not so sure about the Soarin’-esque attraction.
Disney has almost unlimited amounts of intellectual property that they could draw from to create an amazing new land at animal kingdom. Instead they license avatar from a studio they don’t even own. It’s just so ridiculous on so many levels. Avatar is a single film, and while there are sequels in the works and it is James Cameron, those sequels could be awful and cast a long dark shadow over avatar land. I heard Disney might get the rights to lord of the rings for its theme parks. Now THAT would be a legit franchise to spend all this money and imagineering effort on. Sadly, even if everything about avatar land is visually and technically impressive- nothing will allow me to forget that it’s all based on a movie that few people if any care much about anymore.
If this land goes over like New Fantasyland, it will be a huge, overrated piece of garbage with the only good thing it could ever do being getting people out of the rest of the park. Avatar is an awful film and the visuals are about as impressive as Felix the Cat cartoons. To catch up to Universal, Disney needs to up their quality as a whole, not blow their whole budgets on stupid lands while ignoring everything else that has truly needed huge renovations for 5+ years (like Splash Mountain/Big Thunder Mountain Railroad)while also throwing in new attractions and expanding their marketing of existing attractions. Disney needs to cut the crap and start making compromises. If they cater only to the people who go there once for four days and never return, they will end up losing the people who spend multiple weeks there every year. Try to balance satisfying the “crazy, traditionalist forum morons” and the one or two time visitors. I’m just hoping they don’t screw up Disney Springs, that might just be the last straw for me.
New fantasyland is great… and it’s not even finished yet. Once the e-ticket coaster opens that means you’ll have: A new castle, a stellar dark ride, two well themed meet and greets, a fantastic table service restaurant, a new e-ticket (dwarves mine), much superior dumbo experience, more comprehensive theming.. Oh yeah.. And enchanted tales with belle is actually pretty incredible considering what it could have been. They really delivered if you ask me.
I agree, I love new fantasyland!
The Little Mermaid ride is awful!
I fall somewhere in the middle on New Fantasyland. I think its substance has been disappointing (we don’t yet know if Mine Train is an E-Ticket, and I wouldn’t be presumptuous on that), but the thematic design is great. Mermaid dark ride is really disappointing, especially after seeing other modern dark rides.
As for Universal, I know it’s en vogue to say Universal is leading the pack right now, but I think that’s a bit charitable. Don’t get me wrong, I love Universal’s ambition, speed in building, and I think Steve Burke is taking it in the right direction, but let’s not forget that those parks were stagnant for a full decade after IoA opened, and even before that, they were well behind Disney. What they’ve done in recent years is still playing catch-up to Disney. Now, if you’re only looking at new additions, Universal is trouncing Disney in the last few years…but to expand that and say Disney needs to “catch up to Universal” is a bit much. Disney has plenty of problems that need to be addressed, but I think the prevalent attitude that ‘Universal can do no wrong and Disney can do no right’ is a bit much.
When did I say that Universal can do no wrong or that Disney can do no right? You should probably understand what I wrote before criticizing what I said.
Key factor in the equation? AVATAR is highly immersive…
I see a lot of skeptics in the comments, but I have to say I’m pretty excited about this, the concept art is simply stunning!!
Any word on when they will start building this? My next trip to WDW is from April 29th to May 9th 2014 and even though I’m excited for Avatar Land, I would hate that my boyfriend’s first WDW trip was disturbed by renovation in AK, and that noise or something like it would prevent his experience from being memorable 😛
I was pretty indifferent to the whole Avatar project until I saw the concept art – now I’m pretty excited. I’ve never seen the movie, and don’t really care to, but I’ve never seen Song of the South and Splash Mountain is my favorite attraction in all of Walt Disney World. My mother was blown away by Harry Potter world, and has never read the books or seen the movies. Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I thought the Jurassic Park section of IOA was the lamest section/ride in the park. I could go on with more examples of movie/attraction comparisons, but you get the idea. This is why I’m not all doom and gloom about a land based on a movie I don’t care about. Good post!
I think that the ‘movies’ of avitar are irrelevant. My best friend and I almost stopped talking because she believed that reading the ‘harry potter’ books was sinful and was very judgmental of me reading them (we are Christians), and I disagree as it is no different than the fair god mother saying ‘Bibbity-bobbity-boo”. Fantasy is fantasy in my eyes. Anyway, the point to the story is that she and her family went to Universal and she LOVED Harry Potter world and even let her daughter by a wand that she desperately wanted. My friend never seen any of the movies and never read any of the books, but she loved being immersed in another world. (and yes, I gave her a ridiculously hard time about it)
Avitar was okay as a movie, but man, it could be AMAZING as a land. I think that it is a benefit that the generations to come will most likely never see the movie Avitar. They will just love the land for what it is. I am excited!!!!!
I saw Avatar in the theaters, and again at home on BluRay. I’m pretty much done with it. Star Wars I can watch over and over again…it never gets old. Avatar simply doesn’t have legs or longevity. Creating a “Land” based on it would be worth seeing only once, like the movie.
Here’s one more who hasn’t seen that movie either.
And I hope the day before that land is supposed to open to the public, it gets swallowed up by a giant sinkhole.
I love Avatar it’s my favorite movie. And I can’t wait to see Avatar in Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
I’m not very excited about Avatar being added. I’ve never seen the movies and I don’t have a desire to. I think there are so many ideas floating around out there that could be better put in AK. It’s pretty obvious that they’re doing it to compete with the WWoHP… but the difference is that Harry Potter covers a generations lifetime! We grew up reading the books as little kids or even young adults and watched the movies when we all got older. Avatar was one movie that came out one time.
That said, I looked at the blueprints. I don’t know if they’re reputable or not, but it looks interesting. It kind of looks like it’s going to be similar to Soarin’. But you would think they would learn by now that the queue should be longer.
Hey Tom,
Now that we apparently know this is really happening, any idea what will become of Festival of the Lion King? I’ve heard a rumor that it would be getting moved, but I’ve also heard that its being removed completely. Hard to imagine since they advertise it as their most popular show and its always a full house when I’m there. Thanks, and, as always, great writing.
FotLK is moving to Africa. Construction has already started.