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[Josh]

Completely out of the blue (pun not intended ), it's been announced on the Disney Parks Blog that there will be an AVATAR Land in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Apparently, it's coming to other Disney Parks around the world, as well. Maybe even the Walt Disney Studios Park?

Personally, I'm feeling very pessimistic about this. Is AVATAR really going to work in a Disney Park?

[mattboywonder]

Yes, that came out of left field!  Maybe they are still reeling from not getting their mits on Harry Potter.  There is going to be many pages on the internet about this one!!

Guess I better watch the film now!

[CafeFantasia]

This is excellent news. Anything with James Cameron's name on it is going to be perfectly executed and technologically ground-breaking. I can't wait to see what they come up with. I wonder if they'll do some sort of flying/simulator ride, a bit like Soarin', but with 3D visuals rendered in real-time, that you can somehow interact with?

The only problem is, once again, all the cool stuff is happening in Orlando Florida. Can someone please cut Florida off from the rest of America, and move it closer to Europe? It must be great to be able to visit the parks, without having to fly thousands of miles and go through all the security procedures.

[Josh]

Even though I'm not sure about having this universe in the parks, the land on its own is definitely going to be good! I think they'll probably want to use new ride technologies for this, and I can't wait to see what they are.

[peter]

Unexpected... But I wonder whether this is the right way to go to beat Harry potter, and shouldn't it be in Hollywood studios?

[DutchBrit]

Unexpected... But I wonder whether this is the right way to go to beat Harry potter, and shouldn't it be in Hollywood studios?

It was a bit of a flash in the pan, wasn't it? And reviews were very mixed even at the time, so there are a lot of people who have never seen it. Whereas the Harry Potter films were popular in themselves, most people have seen at least one, and then you had the massive popularity of the books over a much longer period of time.

Harry Potter World would draw me to Florida. Avatar? Nope.

[999ghosts]

I am a skeptic too.

Star Wars: Timeless
Harry Potter: Timeless
Indiana Jones: Timeless (even if the last movie was a pile of junk)
They will remain in the park and people will know them and enjoy them for ever. Only needing an update here and there.

Avatar: Timeless?... I don't think so

More; Avatar Kingdom

[dagobert]

I'm glad Disney is trying something new that it isn't based on any of their characters. There was just too much of Pixar and toons in the last years that a new franchise is welcomed. We all know that under the current CEO there will be nothing else than franchises.

I would have also wanted to see something original or domething new based on Star Wars or Indiana Jones. Beastly Kingdom would have been a great addition, but that project died long ago and chances are very low that it will ever be created, especially since there are many similarities between Universal's Island of Adventure and Beastly Kingdom, for example the Duelling Dragons.

Maybe it would fit better inside the Studios, but I get why they chose DAK. Like the animals in Beastly Kingdom the Yeti isn't real either and there is EE.

[CafeFantasia]

If you look at the list of the all-time highest-grossing films, Avatar is at number 1, with Titanic (James Cameron's other film) at number 2. So from a financial point of view, you can see why Disney chose Avatar to create a themed land. It's a huge success, and people clearly love it.

The only problem is, James Cameron is well known for being a very difficult "diva-like" director to work with. Here's a quote from the Daily Mail:

As a workaholic with a vision of perfection, the mercurial Cameron never hesitates to push his cast and crew to extremes. Not for nothing is he known as the scariest man in Hollywood. On the set of True Lies, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, he warned that taking lavatory breaks was a sackable offence.

Kate Winslet was so traumatised by working for Cameron on Titanic that she vowed never to make another film with him.

So, whoever's working with him at Imagineering may be in for hell. And he might bankrupt Animal Kingdom in the process of getting everything as close to his vision as possible. But, out of that trauma, might come the best theme park attraction of all time.

[CafeFantasia]

Here's an actual video of Bob Iger talking about AVATAR Land:

[youtube:17uuxmb4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q97D7CgM-M[/youtube:17uuxmb4]

[Tinkswishes28]

If they make a huge forest and landscaping as well as rides they may draw in other people. But im really not sure about this. I love animal kingdom

[TowMater]

This came out of no where.

I hope it doesn't get rid of Camp Minnie Mickey unless they move Lion King somewhere else.

[Josh]

I hope it doesn't get rid of Camp Minnie Mickey unless they move Lion King somewhere else.

If it's going to be built where Beastly Kingdom was, then it will. I hope they can find a new place for the show.

[CafeFantasia]

I always thought the Festival of the Lion King would've been better off located in the Africa part of Animal Kingdom, given that it's a show with an African theme.

The theme of Camp Minnie-Mickey, the show's current location, is rustic summer camp. So tell me, how does the Lion King fit into this? It doesn't. Does an African themed show fit in a rustic summer camp? No it doesn't.

[peter]

Just heard from another forum. Another WOW moment

At a imagineering talk at disneyworld, a member asked about avatar land
The imagineer said that James Cameron had suggested a ride which would take up... 8 ACRES!!!!

Can you imagine what that would be like?!