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As you probably know, The Walt Disney Company is putting its themepark business on a third leg, the Avatar franchise. The other ones of course being the Disney universe and Star Wars.

Disney acted after the huge success of Harry Potter which saw Universal Studios in Orlando double their attendance within three years.

Check this out (I know its not Disney)

Disney decided to add Avatar to its Animal Kingdom park in Orlando, which needed an update anyway.
And the result is just spectacular. This is probably the best work Disney imagineers have ever done in any Disney park. To recreate the special atmosphere of Planet Pandora turned out to be quite difficult but I believe its been worth the effort.

See for yourself

Wow!!!!

You may have heard that Disney now has sole ownership of Disneyland Paris and that the Walt Disney Company has earmarked a substantial amount of cash to enhance the Paris facility.

My friend Jim in Orlando, who I talked to last night, is well connected with the Disney community there and he tells me he heard rumours that some of the Avatar magic could be brought to Paris.

That would just be a fantastic add-on to the park and well worth the investment. It would also draw huge crowds as the Avatar franchise will soon be in Theaters with release 2, 3 and 4 of the movies.

I am putting this in the rumour department as I have been unable to verify this with anybody at Disney. If nothing else it may entice a few readers to visit Animal Kingdom in Orlando and check out the place themselves.

Getting Avatar and more of Star Wars to Paris would however make sense as the park needs new ideas and rides, even if that means knocking down existing stuff.

[Andybear]

No more Star Wars please!!! 

[A&S&O]

I wasn't aware that TWDC had earmarked any additional funds for DLP.

Star Wars in the Studios maybe, but it doesn't belong in Parc Disney.

Never seen Avatar. Not interested in anything Avatar.

[AJDisney]

I don't think we'll see more Avatar anywhere. The deal to create an Avatar land was made prior to Disney buying Marvel and Star Wars to combat the announcement of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.

Now that Disney own Marvel and Star Wars, I imagine they'll focus on them and we will never see Avatar outside of the Animal Kingdom. It would make zero sense for them to do Avatar elsewhere (financial reasons, lack of ownership) and I imagine the Avatar deal would never have been made if it was post Disney buying Star Wars and Marvel.

[Slimy yet satisfying]

Not even remotely interested in Avatar, Star Wars whilst enjoyable has definitely got its fair share already.

[Nioli]

I'd take the Star Wars Land coming to both American parks over Avatar any day. Both of the new Star Wars rides sound like they're going to be amazing!

[ccsvideo]

To the reader who asked about Disney planning to invest substantially into DLP...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-euro-disney-20170210-story.html

[Rocketeer]

The way I see it, there are a few barriers to a Parisian Pandora. A few have already been idendified above.

The obvious one.. cost. Re-creating that as a stand alone project is going to be pricey. The timing is way off, but if they could have done it as a join project (just as Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is), that could have eased the fiscal demand on Paris' coffers. However, maybe Hong Kong could be a potential future partner on it?

There's also the considerations that they would more than likely be paying a licence fee for the use of the characers. Something that they all of a sudden seem adverse too. (see. Twilight Zone, The Great Movie Ride, CineMagique).
Although the negotiations for LucasFilm, and probably Marvel, were in early stages at the time, I think that the rights to Avatar were snapped up as a back-up plan. In part to ensure that WDW had a "Potter Swatter" just in case George decided to keep hold of the Skywalker saga.

Adding to that point, they own both Star Wars and Marvel, both of which would probably rate higher than Avatar on guests brand recognition. In other words, why shell out €1bn on an admitted great land, which could be argued bring in less guests than SWGE or a Marvel Land.

Next problem. Just where would you put it? Pandora does, at a push, fit into the Animal Kingdom overall theme. It'd be a no-go for Parc Disneyland, leaving the Studios - which you could just about get away with.

Now, I'm not going to dismiss this out of hand. Pandora is an amazing looking land, that would certainly be most welcome to DLP.
OK, its only got two attractions, but the Flight of Passage would be a worthy additon in its own right. I note that you quoted 'Jim' as saying "some of the Avatar magic" - maybe that doesn't mean Pandora in it's entirety?

Whilst the Studios seems like the only option, what if there was another? Why not hold off on Pandora and add it to a third park?
OK, we're no where near having that now, but what if a bigger Pandora was a prospect? Not just the two DAK attractions, but a third Paris exclusive.
I don't know what form a that park would take, you'd need something else to offer, but what if it was Pandora and SWGE in one park? Call it Disney's Space Port or something.

So, whilst I don't see it happning right now, who knows, maybe by the end of the next decade we might just be counting down to the grand opening.

[claire2281]

From an investment pov Marvel and Star Wars are safer bets. Also potentially something Frozen based. Avatar seems like a poor bet to me even with the new films coming. I just can't see them being that popular especially considering the main reason people went to see the first film was not for the film but for the novelty of the 3D (which has long since worn off).

[Greg]

I'd much rather have more Star Wars and Marvel.  While Pandora looks great, you have to think that, if Disney had purchased Star Wars earlier, Pandora would have never happened - especially since the 300 sequels keep getting pushed back.  Avatar isn't Disney's IP, and There has to be some regret that they even built it.  I would have also preferred the originally planned Beastly Kingdom in Animal Kingdom. 

[tigger1974]

I'd much rather have more Star Wars and Marvel.

NO, NO NO!!! Why can't we have more DISNEY in Disneyland??? I'm sorry, I know that an awful lot of people love these movies (I am myself a huge Star Wars fan) and I appreciate Disney now own them but Disneyland should concentrate on Disney as far as I am concerned. They have a wonderful library of movies that they could make attractions out of... some that the other parks around the world have but DLP does not. Personally I would love to see some of those before Avatar or anything else.

Sorry for the negativity!!

TTFN

[Greg]

Of course, we'd love more Disney, but Star Wars and Indiana Jones have been present in the parks since 1989.  It's nothing new.  Let's stop pretending Disney Parks have always been full of original non-IP rides and shows.

[Jbop123]

If we're talking about the 'legs' of new disney franchising, I think that Marvel would be the one they brought into DLP.

They have already officialy announced an overhaul of Hotel New York to turn it into the Art of Marvel, and Spider man currently has a meet and greet location, so logically I think that an update to the studios involving Marvel would be the next step.

MUCH better choice over all, we have alot of star wars already, and TBH, although it is VERY impressive and has drawn in alot of crowds, I think Avatar was a poor choice for Disney to pick up as it was a luke warm scifi version of Pocahontas at best.

[AJDisney]

I imagine we'll get a Guardians of the Galaxy mission at some point, since their aim is to have different missions around the world.

[petals]

Avatar isn't even Disney so no it does not belong at any Disney park. It doesn't even belong in Animal Kingdom!!    They have a wide range of Disney movies they need to do more with them!