Since then, little has been shared in terms of details except for reassurances that the project is moving forward. There has been no shortage on controversy, however, as many argue whether Avatar belongs in Animal Kingdom. People question the long-term appeal of Avatar, its rather bland and generic plotline, and especially the fact that it is not a Disney-owned property. They see the lack of any construction or even concept art as a sign that Disney may not be going through with the plan. I, however, still firmly believe that this proposed Avatar-land for Animal Kingdom is coming and will here outline my vision as to what I would like to see be a part of this experience.
For all the naysayers who believe that Avatar has no place in Animal Kingdom because it is not a Disney-owned property I will counter that neither were Star Wars or Indiana Jones when they were added to Hollywood Studios, not to mention the Twilight Zone which serves as the backstory for one of Disney’s most popular attractions. People say they would like to see Disney create some entirely new land based on an original concept and design, such as the proposed Beastly Kingdom that would have originally been part of Animal Kingdom. To this I say that what I would do, and what I sincerely hope Disney does with Avatar-land, is use the environment of Pandora as the foundation and framework for the land rather than making it solely tied with the movie and plot of Avatar. This would allow Imagineers much more freedom and room for creativity and originality rather than being tied down to an existing storyline. Herein lays the main point in that Avatar may not be the best movie ever made, but it is by far one of the most visually stunning. In order for the land to be successful, Disney must capitalize on the setting of Avatar rather than its characters and plot.
It is in focusing on the environment of Pandora that makes this land such a logical fit for Animal Kingdom. At its core, Avatar is a movie whose core themes tie in very closely with those of Animal Kingdom, such as conservation and harmony with nature. Animal Kingdom is a park whose strength is creating highly immersive lands for its Guests to explore. When setting foot into Africa or Asia, Guests feel as though they have been transported to these faraway lands thanks to a tremendous attention to detail and theming. Here they are introduced to new cultures, architecture, artwork, in addition to native plant life and animals. Pandora would do all the same things. In fact, I truly believe that this new land of Pandora could be the most highly immersive theme park experience ever created. The possibilities are truly endless when you think about how expansive a world James Cameron actually created.
Many people do not know this, but a book entitled Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora was published before the movie was even released in theaters. This was a 224-page book in the form of a field guide that helped to introduce readers to the film's fictional setting of the planet of Pandora, its geology, flora, fauna, and the culture of the Na Vi people. It is this book, not the movie itself, that should serve as the inspiration for creating Pandora at Animal Kingdom because it treats Pandora as a real, living ecosystem rather than a movie setting.
This new land would be located in the area currently inhabited by Camp Minnie-Mickey and I have no doubt that Pandora will be the most visually stunning land ever seen in a theme park. Everything about its landscape, from its mountains, rivers, and waterfalls to its trees and flowers, is so unique and breathtaking. Guests walking through this land would experience an environment the likes of which they have never seen before.
It is an environment that is possibly even more beautiful at night than during the day and this new land would showcase that, replicating the bioluminescence of its plant life.
This video provides a good overview of the planet and showcases the beauty of Pandora:
While creating a completely immersive environment is very important to make this new land a success, it is also going to feature attractions that also capitalize on this beautiful environment. For those people who are not convinced that Avatar can be a major draw for Guests I counter that as long as you deliver state of the art, E-ticket attractions people are not going to care what they are themed after. My plan for this new land calls for three attractions of varying thrill levels in order to provide different experiences that everyone can enjoy.
For the first, and most thrilling, attraction I am envisioning something along the lines of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Spiderman at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. These attractions use a combination of huge projection screens, show sets, and animatronics to completely immerse Guests into their stories. The premise for the attraction would be that Guests are flying aboard a Banshee, a winged creature native to Pandora. The ride vehicle itself would be in the shape of a Banshee and sit up to four Guests.
The ride vehicle would be suspended from a track above to give the illusion of flight. As the vehicle makes its way through the various show scenes and past giant screens Guests would feel as if they were flying high above Pandora, with the ride vehicle capable of banking and turning, rising and falling. As an added thrill, Guests aboard their Banshee would also be chased by a Great Leonopteryx, one of the fiercest animals on Pandora.
The second attraction would be a little milder and would be like a next generation Soarin experience. Whereas Soarin just has the large projection screen in front of your ride vehicle, this new attraction would be built inside of a dome where the projections would be completely 360 degrees around and above you. In order to do this, the ride system itself would need to be altered from the current Soarin. Interestingly enough, Disney filed a patent last year for a ride vehicle that uses cable suspensions to simulate the illusion of flight.
This type of ride vehicle would allow for wider field of vision. It does pose the question as to the cables creating a visual intrusion, but they wouldn’t if they were hidden above something along the lines of helicopter rotors:
This type of ride vehicle would have a far greater range of motion than the current Soarin ride system and would be able to simulate the banked turns and the rising and falling in altitude of a helicopter high above Pandora. Guests would be able to witness the beauty of the planet below as they soar through Pandora’s infamous floating mountains and maybe even get caught up in the middle of an intense battle between humans in their helicopters and the Na Vi aboard their Banshees.
The final attraction would be the mildest of all and would be along the lines of the Jungle Cruise only instead Guests would be travelling along one of Pandora’s many rivers and seeing animals the likes of which they have never before witnessed. The boat ride would be narrated by Sigourney Weaver, who plays scientist Grace Augustine in the movie. Guests would be able to take in the beauty of the Pandoran landscape along with exotic animals such as the Direhorse, Hammerhead Titanothere, Hexapede, Prolemuris, Thanator, and Viperwolf.
Of course, this attraction would be far grander in scale than the Jungle Cruise and the animatronics more advanced. It would be an attraction that would be more family friendly but still as visually striking as the other two.
Thus this new land of Pandora would deliver three new attractions to Animal Kingdom along with a highly immersive world for Guests to explore. It would help to complete Animal Kingdom’s transformation into a full-day theme park while at the same time holding true to the park’s main themes of conservation and harmony with nature. One of the main arguments against Animal Kingdom has been that it needs more rides and Pandora would help provide this while still upholding the park’s legacy of tremendous theming and attention to detail.
Thus concludes my re-imagining of Animal Kingdom and all four of the Walt Disney World theme parks. Of course it is all just a dream, but you never know where a dream might lead. It should not be forgotten that it was Walt Disney himself who said “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
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