We as Disney Fans were lucky enough recently to be served a feast of information concerning the upcoming Avatar Land at Animal Kingdom. What we now know to be a project unlike anything Disney has done before was previously shrouded in almost complete mystery, with little knowledge of even if it was still going ahead. But that all changed when Disney decided to announce a sudden flurry of details concerning Avatar, analysed in both
this article and also
this one here on the World of Dreams Blog. Both posts link back to the original Disney Parks Blog announcements- THE place to go if you haven't yet seen that breathtaking concept art!
I personally was just as shocked by this extremely sudden news as everyone else, whilst of course being INCREDIBLY excited about it too! I've spent several days contemplating what my true view on this hotly debated topic is, and I'm pleased to say that my opinions still resemble the positive outlook I took on the matter back on September 22nd 2011, when I reported on Avatar Land's original announcement on this Blog's predecessor- the Disney Parks Unofficial Blog. Here's what I said back then regarding my first impressions...
“Personally, I am really excited about this, although I haven't seen it all, Avatar is a great movie and I think it will fit in perfectly at the Disney Parks, especially Animal Kingdom. I hope that the Avatar land will feature some serious thrill rides, as well as some gentler rides doing credit to this wonderful movie. I would love there to be a rollercoaster and a water ride in Avatar Land! I wonder where Disney will put it? It's hard to expand and change parts of Animal Kingdom due to the animal enclosures. Regardless of this, I think it's great to see Disney giving the park some of the TLC it deserves, and I look forward to more details being released.”
So how do I feel now that those details have indeed been released? Since then (2011) I have gone through a short period of scepticism about the project, around the time that it was RUMOURED that Disney were cancelling Avatar altogether. Whilst I never believed this, some of the more critical articles I read, also around that time, made me a little worried about if this new Land would have enough potential for development and if it would have the staying power that any park addition vitally needs.
Fortunately, all my doubts are now gone, and now, just over two years later, I have happily returned to a feeling of excitement about the new experiences this will bring to me as a fan of the Disney Parks. That feeling was firmly cemented by Disney's aforementioned recent series of announcements concerning the project, with the beautiful concept art, promising attraction concepts and passion with which James Cameron and Joe Rohde spoke about this project convincing me for good that Avatar Land is going to be awesome.
Any questions of how much staying power the land will have with regards to the popularity of the franchise have vanished due to Disney seeming to be focusing pretty much exclusively on the stunning environment of Pandora from the Avatar movie rather than the characters who inhabit it. Hitherto even if the popularity of the Avatar story declines, the Animal Kingdom Land's most likely won't, as it'll still be a highly themed area. As many before me have already pointed out, just because people haven't seen the movie, it doesn't mean they won't enjoy and grow to love how the movie's represented in a theme park- just look at Splash Mountain. I have still only seen the start of Avatar, yet I find myself enthralled and excited to see the incredible environments I witnessed in the movie translated into a theme park environment. Yes, Disney should have used one of their own franchises if they had to use one, and yes, they should be building more original attractions with no movie connection, but Avatar is a unique and inimitable story, and the majority of Animal Kingdom's existing attractions are original concepts anyway.
In terms of the attractions, firstly I'm thrilled that I was right about the boat ride! I just feel that the setting, themes and atmosphere of Animal Kingdom are absolutely perfect for a relaxing, maybe non-thrill ride boat attraction, and it seems that the park's finally getting one. The concept art shows exactly that- a boat trip through Pandora's wondrous bioluminescent jungle- and it looks like it's going to be awesome. It seems like we'll be getting an Imagineering classic here, such is the potential for this attraction. So far all that can be inferred from the concept art is that this attraction will be something like a sci-fi version of Epcot's Living With the Land, leaving many questions unanswered. What storyline will there be? Will there be any elements of thrill? How long will the attraction last? Here's to hoping that Disney gives us more information soon on this one!
The other attraction we know to be featuring in Avatar Land's opening day lineup is one we know considerably more about. It will feature a simulation of the sensation of flying with a Banshee, one of the winged creatures from the Avatar Movie. We have seen concept art, and have also been treated to a few precious seconds of video of what appears to be the testing of early animations for the attraction. This has led to many predicting this attraction to be similar to Soarin', also at Epcot, but I've heard rumours reporting a more advanced verbose of the complex ride system used by Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Disney have confirmed neither, but I personally am desperately hoping for the second one. In my opinion, as ingenious as it is, Disney shouldn't try to re-use the ride system for Soarin', and should rather attempt to innovate even further- as Joe Rohde suggested they are- and create a ride system unlike anything ever seen before. We shall have to wait and see!
Lastly, I have found myself particularly fascinated by the floating mountains which will form the centrepiece of the new Land. Aside from being very curious about the actual structure, I am very excited to see how this will change the landscape of the park. My answer to those who worry that this new 'wienie' will distract from the Tree of Life, the park's true icon, is that Expedition Everest already has the potential to do that, and doesn't. Rather, the two work perfectly together to create a park environment which still has the Tree as it's crowning glory, despite it being smaller. However big these floating mountains are, they won't exceed Everest's 199.5 feet, as being any higher would require them to have lights on top to alert passing air traffic. This would disrupt the theme, so Disney never build above that height. One thing we can be certain about is that these mountains will be spellbindingly beautiful, but not so that they steal attention from the Tree of Life. I actually think they will create more of a balance within the park, with them joining Everest in flanking the Tree of Life, putting it even more so at the centre of attention than it is now.
So overall it's fair to say that I'm pretty excited about Avatar Land... Who am I kidding- I CAN'T WAIT!!! It looks like it's going to be terrific- a much needed major addition to the Animal Kingdom.
Now I want to hear your thoughts! Am I anticipating Avatar Land too much, or are you just as excited as me? (I hope you are!) What are your opinions? Please share by either posting in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter, or by writing a good old fashioned email message. Details of all of these can be found on the Blog's 'Contact Us' page!
Apologies for the lack of Photo of the Week and Attraction Review this week. I was on a Geography Field Trip, and simply didn't have enough time to get them published, due to preparing and packing prior to the trip and relaxing afterwards. I really had an amazing time, and am looking forward even more to getting back to the blog's regular schedule!
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