Pandora: The World of Avatar Announcement, Construction, & Preview Discussion
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I'm no land expert, is 11.5 acres a large area compared to other theme park lands? It sounds decently sized.
Speaking of land, where is Pandora projected to go? I thought maybe between Asia/Dinoland?
Speaking of land, where is Pandora projected to go? I thought maybe between Asia/Dinoland?
- May 30, 2011
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Well this raven, and I do trust what he says, he only opens up when he can, and he is pretty much always right, he said it will go where we are not expecting it to go. One area was Camp Minnie-Mickey and the other area was by Conservation station, or Planet Watch, whichever has the train ride to it. So if it isn't in those two areas, then your guess is as good as mine.
It is basically four football fields Kraken. What does an Apple store have to do with any description? I don't get, "an Apple store under 11.5 acres".
- May 30, 2011
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Comparing it in size:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20410089@N08/7029982197/
The insert is the apple store the guy was talking about. He insert a satellite picture of the apple store building he was talking about and placed it in DAK. Raven said the building would be about the same size, just not in the location this guy placed it.
And actually, I guess it's not the apple store, but their new offices. I read it as apple store, so that was my mistake adding store into there.
--- Update ---
No, he is saying DAK, just not in the section in the link above or any section we were thinking. Riddles, I hate riddles.
^ Thanks, I was so lost with the apple stuff. So just think of a dome over a mid sized football stadium... that would be the roof over "this".
And if Raven is correct... then "this" is sounding like a nightmare waiting to be built.
And if Raven is correct... then "this" is sounding like a nightmare waiting to be built.
- May 30, 2011
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Don't expect the dome idea. It would not be worth it. If a dome like concept does happen it is not going to be covering the entire land. FL and AK has the overgrown look that helped make it the choice home for Avatar in the first place. Construction would have to start a lot sooner than next year in order for that to become a full domed section of the park.
Depends on what kind of dome. What has been said is "mostly indoors". AK has two, maybe three areas in which to expand. Otherwise, they will have to break the park boundries. Behind Rainforest has always been my assumption. That plus all of Camp MM is about 11.5 acres.
I don't see a problem with part of it being covered, but totally indoors doesn't make sense in the AK to me.
Lee said today it is going into DAK as originally planned. It may end up overseas at some point too, but it's not going into DHS if we are to believe what some of our most trusted insiders have said today.
It's probably not going anywhere if we believe the best insider in the business.
What about putting it where Rafiki's Planet Watch is? I can't believe that area is that popular. And it seems like sufficient space to "hide" a large dome/indoor area being in the back of the park.
So a flight ride and possibly aquatic darkride? Beats me, but I'm intrigued. And his last comment wasn't douchey at all.
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012...sequels-to-draw-on-master-navigators/?_r=true
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012...sequels-to-draw-on-master-navigators/?_r=true
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So his purpose in making a movie isn't to tell a story or create a moving, beautiful piece of entertainment for audiences to enjoy?
It's just to make money to dive...
Okay.
Just to kinda spark this discussion again:
First of all, the chance of Pandora being under a dome is as likely as Universal covering IOA in a tent for HHN. :look:
If it's nowhere that the community expects Pandora to be, where could it possibly go? Well, behind Rainforest is backstage and very close to the backstage hub of DAK, something not very easily moved. There's parade float-housing buildings, service facilities, management facilities, and cast services all back there. Basically any and all buildings necessary to run a theme park.
There's the thought that Planet Watch/Conservation Station can be torn down and replaced with Pandora, but it's such an important part of the park's message (albeit, an unpopular attraction), to be torn down. I doubt Joe Rhode would let his park's (and yes, it is HIS park) message be so easily destroyed by an outside source, something judging by the interview that he doesn't really believe in. Behind that area is all the necessary facilities to house all of the safari animals and other animals (zebras, etc) that aren't on safari or are sick.
Between Dinoland and Asia, yeah there's just about nothing other than backstage roads and "temporary" structures (classroom portables) that are used for park management of those two lands. Again, not an easy move, but it could be done if necessary. There's also a state(?) mandated fire-evac road for Dinoland and Asia attractions that needs to be on the perimeter of the park, and widening the park into that retention pond and surrounding forest wouldn't really add THAT much room. Plus, have any of you ever seen the back of Everest? That's just something else that'd need to be done if the park expanded in that direction.
While converting Camp Minnie-Mickey seems like the most logical solution, there's a reason or two why that'd be complicated also. Disney wouldn't be so keen on giving up their top-rated park show (Festival of the Lion King) on a whim, so it'd have to be moved, and thus, a new theater built in Africa (Joe Rhode would crap his pants if it went anywhere else). Now, there are character trails in between Asia and Africa that don't really need to be there, and a theater similar to the size of Lion King's now could easily fit (just by eyeballing it off Google Earth) in that space. Problem solved, right? Wrong. While Joe Rhode might not mind too much that the least-themed area of the park would be leaving for Pandora, the big-wigs still want the big characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc) to have their own locations in the park that constantly have a character in them, and they'd also be losing the character trail (used by Jungle Book) between Africa and Asia. To draw up more foot-traffic, the characters could get a building in Planet Watch, but it's unlikely. I don't see anywhere else that all of the characters could stay in the park and logically have a place to their own.
Just another tidbit on that: Goofy and Pluto also make appearances in Dinoland between Primeval Whirl and The Boneyard, but they are not there all day.
So where else could Pandora go, and what could we see there? Just to throw a few crazy ideas out there:
1. Not get rid of Planet Watch, but fill in the area in between Planet Watch and Asia. This uses up expansion room, but it has some major faults, too. It eliminates the wheel & spokes design that theme parks (other than USF and DHS) follow nowadays, and cuts off access to Pandora unless traveling through Africa first (major crowd control problem in peak seasons). However, it's not out of the question because it's got a fairly large plot for expansion AND it will not interrupt backstage operations both during construction and after completion.
What could fit there?
a) Definitely a dark ride the size of Dinosaur, a major coaster (flyer, perhaps?), and one or two smaller attractions as well as room for restaurants, gift shops, and backstage operations. It's a fairly large plot.
2. There's a lot directly behind Rainforest Cafe that's only used now for backstage parking, to my knowledge (not typical cast members, but others). There's the possibility that this as well as Camp Minnie-Mickey could be used for the expansion, making Pandora roughly the size of the Safari area. There are problems with eliminated CMM, as stated earlier, but the lot itself poses some problems. It's not as big as the lot between Asia and Planet Watch, and to get to it, they'd either NEED to eliminate CMM, or eliminate the old Pocahontas stage and use it as the entrance point for Pandora. They cannot expand all the way to Rainforest, however, because there's a road there that must remain for shipping to the restaurant.
What could fit there?
a) The possibility of a large, outdoor coaster fades here because of the definite view of backstage operations. However, room for a large dark ride still exists as well as room for a quick-service restaurant, gift shop, and one or two smaller rides. Backstage operations for this plot could be located behind where Festival of the Lion King currently resides, if CMM is kept.
3. Transformation of a land. There, I said it, and it hurts. But in all seriousness, Dinoland could possibly be transformed into Pandora if the big-wigs decide that's what they want. It's the least overgrown land in the park, so not nearly as much tree removal, plus existing structures (Restaurantasaurus) could be re-tooled and repackaged very easily. Obviously there's complications here, too. The vehicles alone on Dinosaur cost Disney a fortune (if you recall, Dinosaur was the staple attraction here for a while), and would cost anyone signing off on that deal to lose some sleep over a figure that staggering. That also opens the possibility for a re-theming of the attraction itself, but being a happy cast member there, I don't want to really think about it. There's also the problem of park crowd flow with this idea: as most of the popular attractions (Everest, Rapids, Pandora) would all be on one side of the park.
What could fit there?
a) Just about anything. Dinosaur can be reborn as a new dark ride to fit Pandora, a decent sized theme coaster could be built, and there's also room for a small ride. Existing infrastructure allows for the quick service restaurant to remain as well as backstage operations.
Just my $.02. I'll also be posting this on my tumblr.
EDIT: My most logical conclusion is that it replaces Camp Minnie-Mickey, a new theater for Lion King is built between Africa and Asia (expanding Africa), and the Jungle Book characters switch off with Pooh characters at the Oasis character spot. What attractions and experiences we see there are there for us to wonder about until more information is released.
First of all, the chance of Pandora being under a dome is as likely as Universal covering IOA in a tent for HHN. :look:
If it's nowhere that the community expects Pandora to be, where could it possibly go? Well, behind Rainforest is backstage and very close to the backstage hub of DAK, something not very easily moved. There's parade float-housing buildings, service facilities, management facilities, and cast services all back there. Basically any and all buildings necessary to run a theme park.
There's the thought that Planet Watch/Conservation Station can be torn down and replaced with Pandora, but it's such an important part of the park's message (albeit, an unpopular attraction), to be torn down. I doubt Joe Rhode would let his park's (and yes, it is HIS park) message be so easily destroyed by an outside source, something judging by the interview that he doesn't really believe in. Behind that area is all the necessary facilities to house all of the safari animals and other animals (zebras, etc) that aren't on safari or are sick.
Between Dinoland and Asia, yeah there's just about nothing other than backstage roads and "temporary" structures (classroom portables) that are used for park management of those two lands. Again, not an easy move, but it could be done if necessary. There's also a state(?) mandated fire-evac road for Dinoland and Asia attractions that needs to be on the perimeter of the park, and widening the park into that retention pond and surrounding forest wouldn't really add THAT much room. Plus, have any of you ever seen the back of Everest? That's just something else that'd need to be done if the park expanded in that direction.
While converting Camp Minnie-Mickey seems like the most logical solution, there's a reason or two why that'd be complicated also. Disney wouldn't be so keen on giving up their top-rated park show (Festival of the Lion King) on a whim, so it'd have to be moved, and thus, a new theater built in Africa (Joe Rhode would crap his pants if it went anywhere else). Now, there are character trails in between Asia and Africa that don't really need to be there, and a theater similar to the size of Lion King's now could easily fit (just by eyeballing it off Google Earth) in that space. Problem solved, right? Wrong. While Joe Rhode might not mind too much that the least-themed area of the park would be leaving for Pandora, the big-wigs still want the big characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc) to have their own locations in the park that constantly have a character in them, and they'd also be losing the character trail (used by Jungle Book) between Africa and Asia. To draw up more foot-traffic, the characters could get a building in Planet Watch, but it's unlikely. I don't see anywhere else that all of the characters could stay in the park and logically have a place to their own.
Just another tidbit on that: Goofy and Pluto also make appearances in Dinoland between Primeval Whirl and The Boneyard, but they are not there all day.
So where else could Pandora go, and what could we see there? Just to throw a few crazy ideas out there:
1. Not get rid of Planet Watch, but fill in the area in between Planet Watch and Asia. This uses up expansion room, but it has some major faults, too. It eliminates the wheel & spokes design that theme parks (other than USF and DHS) follow nowadays, and cuts off access to Pandora unless traveling through Africa first (major crowd control problem in peak seasons). However, it's not out of the question because it's got a fairly large plot for expansion AND it will not interrupt backstage operations both during construction and after completion.
What could fit there?
a) Definitely a dark ride the size of Dinosaur, a major coaster (flyer, perhaps?), and one or two smaller attractions as well as room for restaurants, gift shops, and backstage operations. It's a fairly large plot.
2. There's a lot directly behind Rainforest Cafe that's only used now for backstage parking, to my knowledge (not typical cast members, but others). There's the possibility that this as well as Camp Minnie-Mickey could be used for the expansion, making Pandora roughly the size of the Safari area. There are problems with eliminated CMM, as stated earlier, but the lot itself poses some problems. It's not as big as the lot between Asia and Planet Watch, and to get to it, they'd either NEED to eliminate CMM, or eliminate the old Pocahontas stage and use it as the entrance point for Pandora. They cannot expand all the way to Rainforest, however, because there's a road there that must remain for shipping to the restaurant.
What could fit there?
a) The possibility of a large, outdoor coaster fades here because of the definite view of backstage operations. However, room for a large dark ride still exists as well as room for a quick-service restaurant, gift shop, and one or two smaller rides. Backstage operations for this plot could be located behind where Festival of the Lion King currently resides, if CMM is kept.
3. Transformation of a land. There, I said it, and it hurts. But in all seriousness, Dinoland could possibly be transformed into Pandora if the big-wigs decide that's what they want. It's the least overgrown land in the park, so not nearly as much tree removal, plus existing structures (Restaurantasaurus) could be re-tooled and repackaged very easily. Obviously there's complications here, too. The vehicles alone on Dinosaur cost Disney a fortune (if you recall, Dinosaur was the staple attraction here for a while), and would cost anyone signing off on that deal to lose some sleep over a figure that staggering. That also opens the possibility for a re-theming of the attraction itself, but being a happy cast member there, I don't want to really think about it. There's also the problem of park crowd flow with this idea: as most of the popular attractions (Everest, Rapids, Pandora) would all be on one side of the park.
What could fit there?
a) Just about anything. Dinosaur can be reborn as a new dark ride to fit Pandora, a decent sized theme coaster could be built, and there's also room for a small ride. Existing infrastructure allows for the quick service restaurant to remain as well as backstage operations.
Just my $.02. I'll also be posting this on my tumblr.
EDIT: My most logical conclusion is that it replaces Camp Minnie-Mickey, a new theater for Lion King is built between Africa and Asia (expanding Africa), and the Jungle Book characters switch off with Pooh characters at the Oasis character spot. What attractions and experiences we see there are there for us to wonder about until more information is released.
Last edited:
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