Avatar Experience Coming to Disneyland
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Avatar is coming to Disneyland Resort. This post shares everything we know so far (which is not very much) plus commentary and rampant speculation about what this could mean. (Updated April 3, 2024.)
The original announcement came during a Walt Disney Company earnings call. During that, Bob Iger reported that Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Disney Cruise Line did particularly well, with Disney Parks, Experiences and Products revenues for the quarter increasing 21% to $8.7 billion.
Iger went on to say that he’s “very, very bullish” on the future of Disney’s theme parks. “We have learned that when we invest in increasing capacity, with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge being a good example of that and Pandora a great example of that, we can grow our business,” he continued. Iger indicated that if you look at the results when Pandora – The World of Avatar was built in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the year-to-year growth numbers in terms of the number of people who visited were “stunning.”
With regard to the new Avatar experience coming to Disneyland, here’s what Iger had to say:
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which will be one of the most successful films of the quarter, became the fourth biggest film of all time globally with close to $2.2 billion earned in the box office to date. The global polarity of this film will result in the creation of more opportunities for fans to engage with the franchise.
They have been doing well at Walt Disney World’s Pandora: World of Avatar, as well as in theaters globally and on Disney+, the first film is delivering very strong numbers. Today I am thrilled to announce that we will be bringing an exciting Avatar experience to Disneyland. We will be sharing more details on that very soon.
Avatar represents yet another core franchise for the company and as you have seen, time and time again, we have a unique way of leveraging creative success.
Since this, Bob Iger and other Disney Parks leaders have repeatedly mentioned an Avatar addition coming to Disneyland Resort. They have almost always referred to it as an Avatar “experience” and not once as an attraction or land. This may seem like a distinction without a difference, but in Disney vernacular, it’s crucial.
April 3, 2024 Update: During the Walt Disney Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders ‘sizzle reel,’ CEO Bob Iger shared the above first look at concept art of the Avatar experience that’s possibly coming to Disneyland Resort.
“We’re thrilled about many potential new stories that our guests could experience at Walt’s original theme park, including the opportunity to embark on all-new Avatar adventures with a visit to the world of Pandora,” Iger said. “Our Imagineers have been hard at work dreaming up what guests might expect.”
This art suggests that the Avatar experience is actually a Pandora land (which Iger let slip last month), and will feature a boat ride along with immersive environments that are similar to and different from the incarnation of the land in Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Which makes sense given Disneyland’s unique space constraints and the release of additional film(s) since the Animal Kingdom incarnation of the project. With that said, this is still an early concept exploration and only one angle of the land/experience.
During this same parks segment, Bob Iger also addressed DisneylandForward and indicated that it’s in the final phase of approval and will go before the full Anaheim City Council later this month. The DisneylandForward proposal was approved by the city’s planning commission last month by a 5-1 vote, and now is almost certain to receive a rubber stamping by the full Anaheim City Council. We’ve commented in the past that DisneylandForward’s approval is a necessary prerequisite to Disney revealing full details about the Avatar experience (see commentary below). Simply sharing this art suggests that Disney is confident the proposal will be approved.
Nevertheless, Iger used some wiggle words to preface the showcasing of the concept art (we didn’t catch them all, but he did call this a “creative inspiration” for the land, which seems noteworthy). We assume a press release is incoming to clarify what, exactly, this concept art represents and more. This is a developing story, so stay tuned!
For now, what follows are previous updates from March and earlier about this ever-evolving story of an Avatar experience coming to Disneyland Resort…
March was another month that brought another substance-less tease about the Avatar experience at Disneyland Resort of 2024. Speaking today during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, Disney CEO Bob Iger had this to say:
“We have one Avatar-based land, Pandora, in Florida. We’re going to put a second one in California. That doesn’t mean we can’t put one somewhere in Asia or somewhere in Europe, for instance.”
It should go without saying, but the second one in California would be at Disneyland Resort. The theoretical lands in Asia would be at Shanghai Disneyland or Hong Kong Disneyland (not Tokyo Disney Resort) and the one in Europe would be at Disneyland Paris. I would be shocked if Pandora is cloned internationally, but then again, I never thought it’d be cloned domestically. What’s that old saying? Never bet against James Cameron.
The big news here is that Bob Iger has switched from calling it an Avatar experience to an Avatar land. The two terms have very different meanings in theme park vernacular and, as discussed below, Iger is careful with his words and knows the difference. So if he’s calling it a land, it means that the concept has ‘evolved’ to that and it is what’s currently being planned.
However, with how Disney has been doing things lately, this is not cause for excitement just yet. The company has made a lot of ‘non-announcement announcements’ in the last few years. They’ve talked a big game about what they might be planning on doing, shared blue sky daydreaming sessions, and concept art for potential expansions. Thus far, none of that has come to fruition–or even started construction. So this could be more of the same.
Another possibility is that this is all contingent upon DisneylandForward. We strongly suspect that the last D23 Expo and Destination D23 were light on announcements for Disneyland because the company was withholding its plans as a bargaining chip with the Anaheim City Council over the DisneylandForward land use proposal, wanting to force the city’s hand a bit and give residents more of a reason to support that initiative.
There still isn’t really any “there there” to DisneylandForward, but at least Disney has now committed $2 billion to theme park expansion if DisneylandForward is approved. That’s not nothing! Our semi-educated guess is that Imagineering is now working on two parallel Pandora projects–one if DisneylandForward is approved, and another if it isn’t. The land version only happens if DisneylandForward is approved. There’s no space for the full land if it isn’t. In which case, it will be an Avatar experience.
We also know that Avatar producer Jon Landau, who was also heavily involved with Pandora at Walt Disney World, has been collaborating with Imagineering once again. Earlier in 2024, Landau shared the above photo on Instagram with the caption: “Had a great day at Walt Disney Imagineering talking about the future.”
Prior to that, the last update on the Avatar experience came late last year during the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo. An Imagineer remarked offhand that the Avatar experience coming to Disneyland Resort will be at Disney California Adventure.
However, this was quickly ‘corrected’ by a representative from Disney, who stated that no announcement about a location for the Avatar experience had been made on behalf of Disneyland Resort. Meaning that whatever was said (or wasn’t) was not an official announcement. Again, my guess is that there are two parallel Pandora projects, and which one happens depends upon DisneylandForward.
While there are other possibilities for where the Avatar experience could go at Disneyland Resort (see commentary below), the odds-on favorite is Disney California Adventure. Last summer, the company cleared out Stage 17 in Hollywood Land, which is an enormous venue in a part of the park that really needs new life injected into it.
This would be for the version of the project that is not the full land–the fallback option should DisneylandForward fail. Stage 17 offers sufficient space for an interactive and immersive environmental exploration, like Avatar: The Experience in Singapore. Disney has been exploring experiential exhibits, and looking for the right vehicle for its own way of entering that niche.
If it’s not the full Pandora: World of Avatar land, our strong suspicion is that the Avatar experience coming to Disneyland Resort is an adaptation of Avatar: The Experience from Singapore (it’s right in the name). If not and it’s going to be something more, the Hollywood Backlot and its sound stages offer the most viable location for whatever this is going to be.
Basically, our bet is that an Imagineer accidentally let slip that the Avatar experience is going to be in DCA, forgetting that the company hadn’t already revealed as much. Wanting to make a splashy announcement, Disney walked that back with the caveat that whatever was said was not said on behalf of the Disneyland Resort. Phew.
Prior to this, an article by D23 offered Avatar actor reactions to the announcement, with most offering what I can only assume is feigned excitement for the addition at Disneyland Resort. Here’s a representative quote from Bailey Bass, who plays Metkayina clan member Tsireya in the film: “I am over the moon about the Avatar expansion to Disneyland [Resort]! As a huge Disney fan and fan of the Avatar rides in [Walt] Disney World, I am so excited for Avatar fans to be able to experience the world of Pandora at Disneyland. I cannot wait to see what the Avatar and Disney team creates. I already know it’s gonna be awe-inspiring, jaw dropping, and magical.”
The rest are more or less the same idea. The D23 piece goes on to indicate that although specifics about the Avatar experience remain under wraps, it “promises to be as amazing as those found at Walt Disney World Resort.” The article also quotes James Cameron, who said he was “thrilled to talk with Bob Iger about additional opportunities for people to step into the wondrous world of Pandora.”
Added Jon Landau, partner and COO of Lightstorm Entertainment and producer of the Avatar films, “Together with Disney’s Imagineers, and with future Avatar films already in production, we’re excited about where we might be able take future guests.”
Some Disney fans have seized on the line that the Avatar experience at Disneyland will be “as amazing” as the one at Walt Disney World, concluding that this means it’ll be Pandora. We’d stop well short of that.
Read in full, this article is clearly a puff piece, meant to generate excitement among fans without actually saying anything. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with it–D23 is a fan club and its role is maintaining momentum among Disney enthusiasts. This is in furtherance of that. Saying, “you might want to temper your excitement, because this is not going to be as good as Pandora at Animal Kingdom” would not serve that purpose and would be at odds with the article as a whole.
What’s more noteworthy, in my view, are the stealth edits that were done to the article. Originally, the article headline said “Pandora Coming to Disneyland Resort.” That was updated to “Avatar Experience Coming to Disneyland Resort.” Likewise, at least one actor quote was changed from mentioning Disneyland to “Disneyland [Resort].” The insistence on using “Disneyland Resort” could be a weird vernacular thing, or it could be deliberate–because this Avatar experience is not coming to Disneyland [Park].
Even more interesting than this article is what happened in the “background” at the same time. Disney announced that Bruce Vaughn is returning to co-lead Imagineering. Vaughn was the co-head of Imagineering during development of the original Pandora – World of Avatar, and could be returning for his project management expertise on that.
What follows is our original commentary about the Avatar experience coming to Disneyland…
Before getting too excited, it’s important to note that during the earnings call Bob Iger was very deliberate in calling this a new Avatar experience coming to Disneyland Resort. Not a new Avatar attraction or Pandora – The World of Avatar, and not coming to Disneyland Park.
As we’ve pointed out countless times in the past, Iger is a master wordsmith who is great at sticking to the script, and also is cognizant of what different terms mean. (For example, he got the name of “Pandora – The World of Avatar” correct, rather than calling it “Avatar Land” or “The Theme Park in Florida With Blue Alien Sex Cats By Jimmy C.”)
If this were Chapek, we wouldn’t be parsing words–he wasn’t as on-message and fumbled with words all the time. In Chapek-speak, “Avatar Experience” could mean everything from a new blue churro to an entire 3rd gate.
However, since this is Bob Iger, our guess is that ‘experience’ was chosen purposefully because this is not a new attraction or land, but rather, something else. What is anyone’s guess. It could be a new Meta Quest VR game in Downtown Disney, an overlay of the Boudin Bakery Tour, walkaround mech suit dude in Pixar Pier, or build-a-banshee shop.
Obviously, some of these possibilities are jokes. While an Avatar Experience (like a Meta Quest VR game) replacing the old ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney makes a ton of sense, even that feels a bit on the small side to tease on an earnings call–and Bob Iger ended up mentioning this Avatar Experience twice. Once at the beginning of the call in the quoted part above, and again while answering an analyst’s question at the end.
Given that and the consequential nature of this call as Iger’s first back as CEO–one detailing cost-cutting, restructuring, and his big ambitions for the future–it seems unlikely that Iger would’ve drawn attention to an addition to Disneyland Resort unless it’s something of consequence.
That’s doubly true given how well Avatar: The Way of Water has performed and James Cameron’s reputation as a demanding perfectionist. I don’t think he’d be particularly satisfied with an Avatar-themed bread tour. With that said, I’m struggling to come up with other ways Avatar could fit into the existing theme parks and lands at Disneyland Resort. Perhaps a nighttime spectacular or projection show?
Maybe a reimagining of Hollywood Land that successfully shoe horns Avatar in without making it the fully-fledged (and thematically incongruous) Pandora – World of Avatar? There are currently several empty buildings in the backlot, and these could be converted into Avatar experiences to increase capacity. (One of the stated goals of Iger and D’Amaro, per the earnings call.)
If the intention is quickly increasing park capacity, similar possibilities involve utilizing existing spaces. Another prime piece of real estate is the Innoventions building in Tomorrowland. That is essentially flex space, and although it has a DVC lounge, that only takes up a small portion of the building.
One potential issue with all of these concepts is getting James Cameron on board. Again, he’s a perfectionist. Longtime fans might recall that there were considerable delays between the announcement of Pandora – World of Avatar for Walt Disney World, and commencement of construction.
The rumors at the time suggested that Cameron and his insistence on high-quality attractions played a role. It’s thus difficult to see him getting on board with using ugly, abandoned buildings as a showcase for the Avatar franchise. Who knows, though. Imagineering’s R&D lab has a lot of cool concepts, and if they could reskin one of those to be the Na’vi, maybe that would work.
One out of left field reimagining idea that I really like is an overlay of Grizzly Peak. Well, I don’t actually like the idea–I love Grizzly Peak and don’t want to see this happen–but I think it makes sense and is a viable overlay.
Modeled after Northern California’s National Parks, this area is largely forest and is enough of a blank slate that the Na’vi could be weaved into Grizzly Peak relatively easily. Soarin’ could be redone to have an Avatar-based film (although the idea of the attractions is similar, it could not be the same as Flight of Passage) and Grizzly River Run could have Na’vi Audio Animatronics and other stuff added.
It’s a highly imperfect solution, but it seems the most sensible out of the available options if Imagineering is going to embark on a permanent reimagining. Disney California Adventure is now essentially a ‘studio park’ second gate anyway, so a forest of Pandora theme would likely be deemed close enough.
Accordingly, it is also possible that this is a new themed land or attraction that expands one of the existing parks. We don’t want to foreclose that possibility based on semantics. After all, Bob Iger did bet big on Avatar – The World of Avatar several years ago and he was also behind the acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Moreover, based on his social media posts, it seems like Iger has a personal affinity for Avatar and James Cameron.
Avatar: The Way of Water is a rousing success, with James Cameron (yet again) proving his haters wrong while filmgoers soil themselves in delight while enjoying the sequel. With a half-dozen or so sequels already announced, it seems like Avatar is a bona fide franchise that is strategically important to Disney in the long term. While the media continues to hammer on (and be wrong about) Avatar’s lack of cultural impact, the movies have been huge hits that’ll continue to rake in billions at the box office.
If this “Avatar Experience” coming to Disneyland Resort is a new attraction or land, it would make sense for this expansion to occur at Disney California Adventure. We doubt that the remaining expansion areas in Disneyland are sufficiently large for an Avatar area or attraction.
Another possibility is that an Avatar area could be part of the actual plan for DisneylandForward. The possibilities of DisneylandForward are really exciting. However, it’s really all about paving the way for future developments of an uncertain nature by giving Disney more autonomy over land use by relaxing the DRSP. Up until now, Disney has essentially been saying, “give us authority to build whatever we want, then we’ll tell you what, if anything, we’re going to build.”
Attaching concrete plans for Pandora – The World of Avatar to a new gate might make DisneylandForward more compelling, and increase the likelihood of its approval. That seems pretty far-fetched, but there aren’t a ton of other great/interesting options, and that would give DisneylandForward momentum.
Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Based on their recent public statements and interviews, it’s pretty obvious that CEO Bob Iger and Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro have big plans for future development at the domestic parks. This is something we cover at length in Bob Iger Wants to Build Big Expansions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It’s pretty clear that major things are on the horizon. The questions are what and where, and it would seem that “Avatar” and “Disneyland Resort” are two of the vague answers.
I’ve gotta admit, I was initially skeptical that this would amount to an actual addition of substance (or permanence), but I’m becoming increasingly convinced that’s the case. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if whatever happens occurs in phases, with a temporary “experience” leading up to the debut of a large-scale land, with both being announced simultaneously at the 2024 D23 Expo in Anaheim. We’ll continue monitoring this developing story and provide updates and analysis as more details are revealed, so stay tuned!
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Disneyland Resort getting an Avatar Experience? What form do you expect this ‘experience’ to take? Think it’ll be an attraction, clone of Pandora – The World of Avatar, Boudin Bakery Bread Tour overlay, or something else entirely? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Looking closely at the newly released Disneyland Pandora art, is that the Matterhorn towards the right side just beyond the stretched canopy like structure? This potential Easter egg combined with Iger’s comment “We’re thrilled about many potential new stories that our guests could experience at Walt’s original theme park” is making me think Pandora replacing the Subs & Autopia. A new version of Autopia re-imagined with electric cars would be a perfect fit for the Carsland in DCA behind Luigi’s and next to the future Avengers E-ticket ride building & the Matterhorn track could be rerouted around Pandora land. An immersive water based Avatar attraction would also soften the blow of losing the subs. The savings in operating costs of the subs & current gas guzzling version of Autopia would help offset the operating costs of Pandora. This would also reduce the size & cost of a future Tomorrowland overhaul significantly since approx half of Tomorrowland would be Pandora.
If this concept art is representative of the scale of the expansion, it’s a lot more than I expected. Almost enough to make me forgive the year plus of “we have something to announce soon” teases. (To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, I don’t think “soon” means what Disney thinks it means.)
I am especially excited that it will not be a straight up clone of the attractions that have existed in AK for the past 10 years, and hope it will be the kind of AA heavy ride I imagine Navi River Journey being before actually riding it.
This new concept art seems to support some of the theories I’ve read about a water-based E-Ticket ride that will be different than the Flight of Passage/Nav’i River Adventure combo from AK, and centered on Avatar: The Way of Water.
This also seems to support the fact that the likely footprint for this experience (Hollywood Backlot) would be too small to accomodate all of Pandora from AK, so they’re doing something different.
I hope that is the case… I like the fact that there would be different attractions in an Avatar-themed land on both coasts that fans can enjoy. No, it doesn’t necessarily fit the “theme” of DCA, but if it’s a well-done, immersive land with a great new E-Ticket, I really don’t think people will care.
Agreed all around!
My dream would be something like an Avatar version of Shanghai’s PotC, but I think the showbuilding is too large for that and proper placemaking–even if they built back into the Esplanade a bit.
I still wouldn’t count Disneyland out, though. There are a lot of creative things that could be done in/around Tomorrowland/Fantasyland with a boat ride–especially one that’s partially outdoors.
There may be 2 ways a full blown Avatar/Pandora area could be added into the California Adventure park. As noted, the Hollywood Backlot is the logical space and could be done much like Star Tours in Disney’s Hollywood Studio…with the appearance of film set pieces (literally stepping into the movie). The second option is to rename the park from California Adventure to something like Adventure Kingdom (offered as an example) so Disney can get away from being tied to California-only theming.
Oof please don’t give them any ideas about changing grizzly peak to an Avatar land! I love that area just how it is. Also messing with this theming messes up how it ties in with the grand Californian and would make for a jarring transition.
Fortunately I think this is unlikely. I think there would be a real pushback if they tried to Avatar-ise Soarin! I expect you are right and it will come to studio 17 or that area.
Oh, you mean like the stupidity of ruining Splash and screwing theming while squandering the opportunity to do a new bayou-themed land with an awesome signature restaurant themed to Creole and Cajun foods?
I really hope this “experience” does fit into the backlot and not anywhere in Grizzly Peak. Pandora at Animal Kingdom is breathtaking, but Grizzly Peak is an absolute treasure of earthly nature in a park that desperately needs grounding. I do trust Imagineering, however, so I’ll wait for D23 and assume more substance will be revealed then.
flight of passage is sooooo good. period. if it comes to Cali that’s the best choice!!
Honestly, all I can say is meh. I’d rather have Tron: Lightcycle Run than something about James Cameron’s overrated ego trip.
Something in DTD is my guess. Creating a VR experience is cheep and ready to squeeze in somewhere.
“Iger is a master wordsmith who is great at sticking to the script, and also is cognizant of what different terms mean.”
When Tom originally wrote his piece in February, I did not see this:
https://www.avatar.com/experiences
Clearly, an Avatar Experience is a wide range of real-world activities that could be as big as Pandora or as tiny as the travelling exhibit aptly named Avatar: The Exhibition. (It looks like the original Avatar: The Experience ChyphenJ linked to would be more all encompassing than the Exhibition, but it is not currently listed on the Avatar site, likely because it is not at a Disney park.)
I really hope Iger isn’t fool enough to bait-an-switch an earnings call with just a travelling exhibit. The smart money would be to leverage The Exhibition (or hopefully The Experience) in the short run while a ride gets built in DCA. Back in 2019, Animal Kingdom’s annual attendance was 66% of the Magic Kingdom’s, while DCA’s attendance was only 52% of Disneyland’s. Even if they don’t DisneylandForward DCA west over Disneyland Drive next to the Pandora Pier Hotel, a Condor Flats-sized mini-land could be enough to drive traffic south of the Esplanade.
Very likely that it will be a complete re-theming/overlay of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride into Na’vi River Journey West. Everyone clearly feels that POTC is past its prime (plus, the Disneyland version is the worst version of all the Disney parks). Johnny Depp’s legal problems have ruined the franchise to the point where the prestigious Genie Plus won’t even allow the ride on its lineup. Plus, Avatar’s per-movie box office returns makes the Pirates franchise look like a joke. Luckily, the POTC animatronics can be repurposed into Na’vi by simply adding stilts and redressing them. Best of all, the Blue Bayou can slightly anlter its theme without having to the change the restaurant’s name.
Haha, nice try! The Pirates in Paris is frigging awesome, just like BTMRR and Space there are also the best ones I’ve been to.
Pirates is the first and last ride I do when I get to Disneyland, MK. and Disneyland Paris. It is iconic.
If the current imagineers (with Cameron) can create a distinctly different and equally as lasting Pandora ride it would be monumental.
Do not get rid of Pirates. Create something new elsewhere to draw crowds to a different place physically within the park.
POTC in Paris, like BTMRR and others there, is absolutely incredible. The castle is amazing. I love that park.
My immediate thought when I heard “Avatar Experience” was a VR attraction. While that seems somewhat small potatoes to mention as part of the earnings call, there is a huge push to view the renovation of Downtown Disney as significant. (At least in CA based media) I could see an Avatar VR experience being a major anchor of the DD redesign advertised as a draw for both locals and tourists.
Tomorrowland improvement from the Innoventions building to the Tomorrowland Theater. Reposition Space Mountain entrance, and gift shop, retheme Pizza Planet restaurant.
I vote tear out Autopia and put in Avatar.. or anything else for that matter.
Yes please for the love.
I just really have trouble believing this is on the scale of a new ride. I also think the word “experience” was chosen very deliberately and a new ride doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that would be just plopped in the middle of an earnings call. Also maybe I’m making an unfounded assumption but bringing it up on an earnings call implies a faster turnaround time than a new attraction takes Disney (although I guess they did get Mission Breakout done in less than a year).
It might be something as straightforward as a meet and greet, maybe using a similar tech to the Hulk they have wandering around. I think at most we get an interior retheme of the unused buildings and an impressive animatronic (maybe interactive?) but I will be shocked if this is something that involves demolition or major construction work.
I posted last night that I’ll bet money it’s going to be this walk through that is currently in Singapore (note the use of the word “experience”). https://avatartheexperience.com/
I understand that people look at Disney Forward and see a third gate around the glorified West Disney Springs, but at least take a moment to look at where the current parks have expansion possibilities on the planning document. I’m far less excited about paying money to go to a sub-DCA 1.0 and more excited about not having to worry about choosing to squeeze Pandora or Arendelle in between Galaxy’s Edge and Toontown when there is a possibility of having both.
I’m most excited that this is intentionally a capacity addition and will likely not be replacing an existing attraction/land, no matter how small or big it ends up being. (I suspect that if Iger knew it was going to be a single attraction, he’d be more specific; therefore, I assume Disney just doesn’t know yet how big they’re going to go with West Avatar.) I’m also excited because DL is not going to wait until another exclusivity window closes on an attraction on a non-US park, but plan something in the meantime.
Good points. It seems a full Pandora area would be reserved for the Disney Forward expansion. But, maybe the company wants to strike while the Avatar “fire is hot.” I don’t think Grizzly Peak will be rethemed. There seems to still be a desire to keep the “California” overlay somewhat intact in DCA. The backlot part of Hollywood Land makes sense and could be incorporated into a “sound stage” as part of the Hollywood theme. I’ll offer this big idea – the long awaited Tomorrowland overlay could be a Pandora land.
what about the redwood creek challenge trail area? That area looked great when they change it over to villians Grove for OBB, I could see it being transformed into an Avatar themed area.
I was in DisneySea last month, and “Avatar” consisted of some ill-fitting character models in Lost River Delta and special menu items at the Yucatan Base Camp counter service restaurant. (There was however no shortage of guests eager to get selfies with these stationary characters!).
I guess it’s not a stretch to say that Disneyland is likely to be somewhere between Tokyo and Florida‘s efforts 😉
It would be great if Disney wasn’t trying to make each park the same. It may not be a ride that will be brought to DL, I get that, but, can we just let each park be unique. For example how about turning Tarzan’s tree house at Disneyland into S.E.A themed which is such a fun back story and would garner new interest in that story line? Though, maybe that would work better at WDW given Skipper Canteen and the story there. Or how about being a Wakanda warrior training (like Hedi training) to Avengers campus? Or Shang-Chi training to Avengers campus? Let’s get some unique to the park/land experiences!
No. Let’s change the treehouse at DL back to the original Swiss Family Treehouse. And then let’s have anyone suggesting making any change to the one at WDW permanently banned from all Disney parks for making such a ridiculous suggestion! After getting rid of those dumb nets and 4x4s that are completely out of theme for it.