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Thread: That's My Opinion: Avatar Land

  1. #1
    MousePlanet Staff
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    That's My Opinion: Avatar Land

    Avatar Land by Steve Russo

    Something's coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom but what is it?

    Read it here!


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  3. #2
    Hacker, nonmammaltarian, Warrior Andrew's Avatar
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    welcome back, steve!


  4. #3
    Registered User srusso100's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew View Post
    welcome back, steve!
    Thanks, Andrew. Not all the way back just yet but I'm trying to work some tie in.
    Steve

  5. #4

    Great article, Steve!

    I always enjoy your articles and trip reports. I totally agree with you about Avatar Land (or whatever it will be called). I think it will be good for Animal Kingdom -- though I'd have preferred they go ahead with Beastly Kingdom. I haven't seen Avatar but have seen enough previews to see the potential for some great rides. Like you, I don't think this will have the "Harry Potter effect" Universal is enjoying.


  6. #5
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    Nice to see Steve back on the masthead.

    I think the Imagineers can and will do an amazing job with an Avatar Land. But do I want them too? I'm curious to see it, but I wasn't dying for someone to do so. I know the film is the biggest selling movie of all time now, and that's obviously what they're banking on. I just don't know, much like Steve says, if Avatar has seeped into our consciousness enough to warrant an entire new land. I'll be there to check it out and hopefully by then, the next film will come out and I'll have grown more attached to Pandora.

    I hate when people make statements like this and second guess the company and all, but here goes anyway...They couldn't have done this type of project with Star Wars?? Never understand that.

    CB


  7. #6

    Excellent article, and I agree with you to an extent. I think despite the fact that Avatar was a fad film that will likely fade from public consciousness in a few short years an Avatar attraction could be good for Animal Kingdom. A single attraction could be very well done and outlast the popularity of the film, however, I think dedicating an entire land to the property is a bad thing for Animal Kingdom in the long run.

    I'm typically against having entire sections of a park themed after one property because I think it's creatively limiting, but I will admit that Wizarding World of Harry Potter looks spectacular and Cars Land looks like it will be neat too, however, there's a unique thing about those properties that justify the idea of dedicating entire lands to them: specific, recognizable, and memorable locations. In Harry Potter Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, the Forbidden Forest are all specific locations that are extremely memorable that can be recreated; Hogwarts castle, in and of itself, has many specific and memorably locations of its own. Cars has Radiator Springs which is iconic in its own right and has specific shops that can be recreated in great detail. What does Avatar have? Obviously it has Pandora, but how many specific locations can you pick out of that? Yes, Pandora was a beautiful setting for the film, but when it comes to recreating it in a theme park, there's no real specific set pieces that stand out to recreate. The best Imagineering will be able to do is recreate the general feeling of Pandora, but that' nowhere near as valuable or iconic as recreating a specific location like Radiator Springs or Hogwarts Castle.

    Also, when the film does fade into obscurity, Disney is left with an entire section of the park that is antiquated and would need a complete re-theme before any new attractions could be added, and by my estimations, that will be no later than 2020. A four year life expectancy for a theme park land is not good, and Disney won't be ready to jump in and spend the money to fix it right away meaning that there will be at least several years of having this land as an embarrassing testament to the bad idea of trying to cash in on a fad.


  8. #7

    I'm wondering where they could put this in DLR. It would totally mess up the theming to DCA and I wouldn't think they would even contemplate putting a non-Disney land in, well, Disneyland.

    I'm hoping they extract the "E-ticket" ride from the AK version and replace Captain EO or Innoventions with it, and skip the rest of the land altogether. That way it's like Star Tours or Indy, a non-Disney ride that fits in to an existing land.


  9. #8

    I teach in a school that teaches single gender (I teach only girls, others teach only boys). This year the National Single Sex Public Education conference is being held in Orlando. What is on the flyer? A picture of Mickey you say...NO! It's Harry Potter. Come and see Hogwarts. They are trying to lure people to the conference by reminding them that, not Mickey and his world, but Harry and his will be close by. To me, that says a lot. Of course this is a conference for teachers, and teachers tend to read a lot. But still!


  10. #9

    Avatar = exciting and good news
    New column by Steve Russo = very exciting and very good news

    That's my opinion!!


  11. #10
    Registered User srusso100's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by howlongtillsummer View Post
    Avatar = exciting and good news
    New column by Steve Russo = very exciting and very good news

    That's my opinion!!
    Awwww, shucks. :-)
    Steve

  12. #11

    Avatar land Does disney realy understand how people relate

    Having worked as a volunteer forum monitor for a non commercial Avatar fan site I can honestly say I dont think Avatar is a fad we still get over a hundred posts a day and there is a lot of user involvement with people inspired to create some quite striking artwork and music relating to the film, and how they relate to it , My main question with the creation of a Disney theme park based Avatar attraction is simply "Does Disney realy understand how people relate to the film ? Avatar addresses issues with humanity that are going to be very dificult for disney to express in a theme park attended by young children its far more than glowing plants and flying ikrans, The most spoken about issues usuly relate to what happens in the film and how it applys to a very real world problems and how people from diffrent cultures relate and feel about these issues. there is of course intrest in the NaVi langage and in the technoligy used to create the film, while you can build a copy of a section of pandora and it would look impressive
    unless you can capture the spirit of the film people will just see it as cool looking blue catlike people pandora playland.

    Last edited by Allrock123; 10-17-2011 at 05:17 AM.

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