Am I the only one puzzled by Pandora?

[Sleepless Knight]

I did see Avatar. It was a visual tour de force. But there's a reason why it didn't capture the public in the same way Star Wars or Harry Potter did. Do I think Disney's Pandora will look impressive? Probably. Do I think tourists will plan vacations to WDW just to visit Pandora? No.

I will always wonder if Disney would have even tried to land Avatar if they had known they would purchase Lucasfilm.

 

[LUVMICKEY]

I'm not understanding what Avatar has to do with Disney.

 

[Robo]

I'm not understanding what Avatar has to do with Disney.

It didn't used to have to do with Disney.
But, since there is a multi-million dollar addition to DAK based on Avatar, it has a lot to do with Disney.

You know, for a lot of lifetimes, Snow White, Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast were around...
and had nothing to do with Disney.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Avatar made buckets of money because it was groundbreaking in visuals. People went to see the spectacle.

 

[Robo]

And, even more in direct parallel,

A long time ago in a galaxy of which we are very familiar...
Star Wars only existed in relation to its famous creator, George Lukas.

Then, Disney decided to create a theme park attraction based on successful Star Wars, which entailed a "partnership" and a lot of "creative input" from its creator, George Lukas.

Star Tours was super-popular with fans of Star Wars and guests who had not seen the films.

 

[rstamm]

Hoping for the best but not excited at all and really can't remember much about the movie except it was ok watching it on my tv herd it was much better in the theater.

 

[DekrRini]

I never saw Avatar, but I know people who did and loved it. I'm one of those guests who don't go for the rides, I go to WDW to enjoy the ambiance and the imagineering. I'm looking forward to Pandora for that reason. From what I've seen during construction, it has the potential to being Disney imagineering at its best.

 

[dreiwhit]

Hoping this won't come across the wrong way because I always look forward to seeing new things at WDW and Pandora is no exception, however . . .

I am a bit puzzled by the choice of Pandora as a new land at AK. I mean Avatar came out in 2009 and while we went to see it when it came out, I honestly haven't given it a second thought since then. I really don't even remember much about it. Is there a sequel coming out or something? My 15 year old son loves all the Star Wars movies and other action/SI movies but he could care less about Avatar.

While I will be excited to see what it is all about when we are there in July, I can't say that I'm excited because of the Avatar theme per se, more just because it's new. It just seems like an incredibly outdated option to me. I understand that it is probably more difficult to come up with a new theme for AK but it just seems odd to me.

No, you're not the only one. For my family and me, none of us really care about Avatar. We never saw it, and have no desire to ever see it. A whole land based upon it is a "meh" for us.

The danger of basing a whole land off one movie or series of movies is that what is hot today may not be hot 5 years in the future. A single Avatar ride may be popular, and then can be rethemed or replaced when it is no longer popular. A whole land is a different matter.....

 

[Vivianne]

I'm with the meh group. I tried watching this movie 3 times on cable out of curiosity. I can't even remember the middle and ending. Once I saw the blue people with tails and the birds with four wings. I must have either changed the channel or walked away or taken a nap.

I would have preferred something on the new Jungle Book or Pete's Dragon.

One good thing about this is it will help spread the people throughout the parks. Something new was needed. Even if I don't care for it. It's been getting really crowded in the fall when I go.

 

[Kindermouse]

I think Disney Parks can make great lands from movies with interesting and exotic settings even when the movie was blah. I thought that the first cars movie was a bore-especially compared to other Pixar hits like Nemo, monsters inc and toy story. However Carsland was a home run. Period. I genuinely enjoy just sitting there and looking around. It makes me smile.

I think that the same will hold true with avatar land if it is on par with the artistic rendering. I didn't love the movie, but the setting was very interesting and exotic and I would enjoy stepping into such an interesting world for an afternoon.

One thing however that Disney did better with in regards to Cars vs Avatar was to keep it relevant by coming out with sequels and spins offs every few years as well as toys that the kids play with so the kids would know what it was and be excited by it. Part of the appeal of the parks for families is watching your child's excitement when they meet characters and see they stuffed toy they sleep with come to life. That shock and awe that comes from watching something from their pretend play come to real life around them. Avatar doesn't have that. The kids don't know what it is , never had an avatar toy or slept on avatar sheets and the parents haven't even watched the movie or thought of it in years. We are a viral video one minute and forgotten the next culture these days. You gotta keep things relevant and fresh or they are quickly invalidated and forgotten. It's fine that new movies are comming but they let it become irrelevant for too long. That may prevent people from even bothering to go see the new movies or planning a vacation to see Pandora

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Actually 4 more Avatar movies are being made.
Avatar 5 is to be released in 2023
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt5637536/

I guess I'll just count myself in the camp that just doesn't get the appeal AT ALL. Pocahontas with blue creatures, plus a STRONG dose of political ideology and horrible dialogue (IMHO). Not my cup of tea, and our family has ZERO interest in sequels.

That said, the movie was visually beautiful, and we KNOW that Disney will do amazing things with that and are looking forward to the opening. Have been for... what... 15 years now??

 

[cigar95]

No, you're not the only one. For my family and me, none of us really care about Avatar. We never saw it, and have no desire to ever see it. A whole land based upon it is a "meh" for us.

Fortunately, they're not doing "Avatar", they're doing Pandora.
Amazingly, there used to be attractions developed that weren't based on any existing IP whatsoever!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Fortunately, they're not doing "Avatar", they're doing Pandora.
Amazingly, there used to be attractions developed that weren't based on any existing IP whatsoever!

True, but given the name of the land, I can certainly see people thinking: "I don't care for that movie so "meh" about that land". Seems a reasonable response for many to have.

Others will say "Meh" about the movie (or in my family's case we didn't like it at all), but I'm looking forward to the awesome thing that Disney will do with that environment, etc. That seems by far the most common response on DIS. I counted maybe 2-3 people in this thread who said they loved (or even REALLY LIKED) everything about this movie.

I think the "enthusiasm" for this will be dwarfed by SW Land, IP that generations truly have great love for. I think a lot of the Avatar box office was about effects. I suspect most enthusiasm for Pandora is just to see SOMETHING NEW, and the cool stuff Disney does with this environment.

 

[Farro]

I vote we all stop using the term "meh".

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I vote we all stop using the term "meh".

Nope. Can't do it. Too perfect for the circumstances.

 

[jk and ek]

i thought the movie avatar was horrible. saw it in the theater (in imax 3D, even!!) because we were visiting my husband's family in winter just after he'd broken his ankle so we were desperate for things to do.

i think a general fantasy/mythological beasts land like originally planned would have been a much better choice but hey, not my call. i'm interested in checking out the new land regardless because its new and i like rides and theming details and such.

 

[cigar95]

True, but given the name of the land, I can certainly see people thinking: "I don't care for that movie so "meh" about that land". Seems a reasonable response for many to have.

I can see that, but if I weren't interested in a movie, at a minimum I'd just look at the area on its own, as if there was no movie connection to start with. I have a tough time imagining a scenario where not caring for a movie would actually make me think less of an attraction than if there had been no movie at all.
(Here I'm definitely making a distinction between my initial level of interest and my evaluation of the attraction once it's open. For instance, I have little or no interest in any of the upcoming Star Wars stuff, but if the area is well done I'm sure I'll enjoy it.)

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I can see that, but if I weren't interested in a movie, at a minimum I'd just look at the area on its own, as if there was no movie connection to start with. I have a tough time imagining a scenario where not caring for a movie would actually make me think less of an attraction than if there had been no movie at all.
(Here I'm definitely making a distinction between my initial level of interest and my evaluation of the attraction once it's open. For instance, I have little or no interest in any of the upcoming Star Wars stuff, but if the area is well done I'm sure I'll enjoy it.)

I hear ya'. That's the camp I'm in.

BUT... the same way the SW or HP theme (just as examples) will ATTRACT a big group of people, a movie that is NOT as compelling to someone will NOT attract them. That seems pretty reasonable to me as a general principle.

 

[cigar95]

BUT... the same way the SW or HP theme (just as examples) will ATTRACT a big group of people, a movie that is NOT as compelling to someone will NOT attract them. That seems pretty reasonable to me as a general principle.

Yup.
I understand not attracting. I don't understand actually *repelling*. Unless perhaps there's some sort of moral component involved.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Yup.
I understand not attracting. I don't understand actually *repelling*. Unless perhaps there's some sort of moral component involved.

I have a hard time thinking of a movie that I hated enough that I would NOT check out what Disney did with it. But honestly, Avatar comes pretty close to something that I WOULD completely dismiss/avoid if it wasn't for how incredible I think Disney Imagineering is -- I believe that they can turn this (and perhaps anything!) into something incredible. I really disliked the movie THAT MUCH!