Am I the only one puzzled by Pandora?

[angierae]

We saw it in IMAX and I can honestly say it did nothing for us. As much as I can still remember seeing Star Wars on opening day when I was 15 and the wonder and awe I felt I can remember zilch about Avatar. It did not move me at all.

I would have much preferred a Jurassic Park land instead of Pandora. We will go and enjoy it but it is not something that I am hugely excited about.

Universal has some great Jurassic Park stuff, including a "real" velociraptor you can meet. (It's a body puppet but it's amazingly well done.)

 

[Kindermouse]

The best part about the new Avatar Land is it opens 2 weeks after our next visit. AK is our favorite WDW park on light to medium crowd days and our absolute least favorite when it gets super busy, the peaceful nature vibe pretty much disappears. And this has been our experience pre-Avatar, can't imagine what it's going to be like there this summer.

Forewarning- it may be open well before its official grand opening.

I went to Universal LA 2 weeks before their Wizarding World of Harry Potter had its grand opening and it was in soft open already and had been for a week. I actually planned the trip around it being a soft opening (I only went for HP but I had to start planning my trip before they announced the Offical grand opening and I was betting on a soft opening or I would have canceled the trip) and from what I could see so did many others. On the plus side they were striving for perfection during the soft open and everyone (particularly the "suits" and other management we saw) was really giving it 100 percent in terms of customer service, and being a well oiled machine. All of the workers stayed in character, acted helpful and patient and accomidating, and went above and beyond to make me, the guest, happy. I wish they were that on point all the time. Yowza!

 

[Bullseye]

I think I read some where that there will not be any CM's dressed as Navi

Difficult to get the body proportions right and still have them be 8-9 feet tall.

Difficult perhaps, but not impossible. I was just thinking they do the same thing with the Lion King Dancers and the plant lady...maybe if they put pants on the Na'vi, they could pull it off.

 

[100acreHiker]

I watched the marketing video that shows James Cameron and the Imagineers talking about how they designed the rides. Looks very cool, but it wasn't clear to me-- it seems there will be two rides: one boat ride through Pandora and one flying ride. When Disney says the Pandora world will open summer of 2017, are they aiming to have both rides open? I keep thinking about Rivers of Light, so who knows when this will actually wind up happening, but is the goal a roll-out of both rides or just one and then another a year later? Anyone have an inside scoop?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Difficult perhaps, but not impossible. I was just thinking they do the same thing with the Lion King Dancers and the plant lady...maybe if they put pants on the Na'vi, they could pull it off.

I hadn't thought about this... I like your ideas!

That said, this is one M&G we would most definitely skip!

 

[Mrspeaks]

Will Pandora be located first on the left as you come in to the park?

 

[Robo]

Will Pandora be located first on the left as you come in to the park?

Nope.
It's entrance is about "halfway back" on the way to Africa, around the left-hand loop, next to the Pizzafari restaurant.

 

[AngiTN]

I watched the marketing video that shows James Cameron and the Imagineers talking about how they designed the rides. Looks very cool, but it wasn't clear to me-- it seems there will be two rides: one boat ride through Pandora and one flying ride. When Disney says the Pandora world will open summer of 2017, are they aiming to have both rides open? I keep thinking about Rivers of Light, so who knows when this will actually wind up happening, but is the goal a roll-out of both rides or just one and then another a year later? Anyone have an inside scoop?

The entire land is opening at once

 

[100acreHiker]

The entire land is opening at once

That really makes me want to make time for it. We're not huge AK fans--my kids prefer EP and HS--and we skip the park altogether every other trip, so I don't know if I'd go out of my way to take in a single ride (as cool as it looks) that will have super-long waits when we don't love the rest of the park too much. Here's to it actually opening in time for our post-Thanksgiving trip! I'm not going to count on it, but it would be very exciting if it worked out!

 

[DekrRini]

My last day in May is the 10th. Not even a chance at a soft opening for me which is a bummer. I've been watching the commercials and it looks pretty cool from the little I've seen.

 

[Farro]

That really makes me want to make time for it. We're not huge AK fans--my kids prefer EP and HS--and we skip the park altogether every other trip, so I don't know if I'd go out of my way to take in a single ride (as cool as it looks) that will have super-long waits when we don't love the rest of the park too much. Here's to it actually opening in time for our post-Thanksgiving trip! I'm not going to count on it, but it would be very exciting if it worked out!

What do you mean? It's opening May 27th.

 

[Roxyfire]

What do you mean? It's opening May 27th.

My only thought is maybe because RoL had so many technical issues, now people think everything at WDW will never meet schedule again?

 

[TLSnell1981]

I don't like the movie..bored me to tears. Why not pick a Disney movie instead of this one?

 

[100acreHiker]

What do you mean? It's opening May 27th.

I mean that because River of Light didn't open for months (almost a year?) after they announced it's opening, that I am not highly optimistic that two rides and an entire land will all open up without a hitch on Disney's targeted date. But I really hope it does!

 

[lugnut33]

Loved the movie and I'm super glad Disney is building something.
That said they are taking a huge risk that the follow-up movies will be successful. If not, you run the risk of having a whole area devoted to a dying franchise. Considering Avatar 2 movie has been delayed about 5 years I would be a bit worried.

Also keep in mind the actual total ride time of the two attractions is 13 minutes. Yes, there will be other things to do besides the two rides, but this isn't a half day addition going in.

 

[cigar95]

I mean that because River of Light didn't open for months (almost a year?) after they announced it's opening, that I am not highly optimistic that two rides and an entire land will all open up without a hitch on Disney's targeted date. But I really hope it does!

I suspect the RoL issue is precisely why Pandora *will* open on time. The bad publicity for the show isn't something they want to repeat, so that date wasn't announced until it could be done with confidence. We've read here that both attractions are in the advanced testing phase right now.

 

[100acreHiker]

I suspect the RoL issue is precisely why Pandora *will* open on time. The bad publicity for the show isn't something they want to repeat, so that date wasn't announced until it could be done with confidence. We've read here that both attractions are in the advanced testing phase right now.

That's very reassuring to read! Thank you for sharing that info!

 

[cigar95]

Loved the movie and I'm super glad Disney is building something.
That said they are taking a huge risk that the follow-up movies will be successful. If not, you run the risk of having a whole area devoted to a dying franchise. Considering Avatar 2 movie has been delayed about 5 years I would be a bit worried.

The risk can be mitigated a lot as long as the new development is well-done, as we have reason to be optimistic for that. People will want to experience really good attractions, no matter where they came from.

Also keep in mind the actual total ride time of the two attractions is 13 minutes. Yes, there will be other things to do besides the two rides, but this isn't a half day addition going in.

This fits in well with AK in general, where guests are encouraged to stroll and look around and take their time. If what we're hearing about the immersive environment is accurate, the attractions might not even be the best part of Pandora.

 

[Markolodeon]

The risk can be mitigated a lot as long as the new development is well-done, as we have reason to be optimistic for that. People will want to experience really good attractions, no matter where they came from.

This fits in well with AK in general, where guests are encouraged to stroll and look around and take their time. If what we're hearing about the immersive environment is accurate, the attractions might not even be the best part of Pandora.

Agree Disney's decades-long tradition is to immerse guests in their movie based attractions/lands so they feel they are part of the film. The problem with Avatar is I have no interest in walking into and being a part of the movie. Now maybe it will go the same way Cars Land did for me where the attractions and theming are so good it almost forced me to go back and watch the movie again (and now I love it!). But in the same way if they opened a Titanic Land it's really hard to see loving this new addition regardless of how well done and immersive it is. I'll give it a chance for sure, but expectations are incredibly low, which may actually be a really good thing.

 

[cigar95]

Agree Disney's decades-long tradition is to immerse guests in their movie based attractions/lands so they feel they are part of the film. The problem with Avatar is I have no interest in walking into and being a part of the movie.

That's why I think it's really critical that the area was named "Pandora", rather than "Avatar", a name appears in a secondary role just so there's no doubt where it originated. In this case, the area brings you in to the world where the movie was set, but the story of the movie itself is said to be not part of the area at all.
Once the area is well-established and completed (surely they left room for expansion possibilities), the name could actually change depending on if they want to emphasize the movie connection or not. (We remember "Countdown to Extinction", right? While I did see the movie "Dinosaur", I have no memory of it, tending to confuse it with "Land Before Time".)