Pandora - The World of Avatar

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Pandora - The World of Avatar
Theming Avatar
size 4.9 hectares
Attractions
number 2
Disney's Animal Kingdom
status In operation
Opening date May 27, 2017
Before Camp Minnie-Mickey

Pandora - The World of Avatar is a themed area in Disney's Animal Kingdom that is inspired by James Cameron's film Avatar . Set a generation after the events of the Avatar films, the area is based on the fictional extrasolar moon Pandora and shows Pandora's floating mountains, extraterrestrial wildlife and bioluminescent plants. Pandora - The World of Avatar covers an area of ​​4.9 acres and includes two main attractions (the Avatar Flight of Passage and the Na'vi River Journey ) as well as shops and restaurants.

Disney began development of Pandora - The World of Avatar in 2011 with Cameron and its production company Lightstorm Entertainment , with the intention of turning Animal Kingdom into a full-time operation, complete with additional attractions and nighttime experiences. Construction on the area began on January 10, 2014 and the area was opened to park guests on May 27, 2017.

story

Construction of the flying rocks

development

In early 2011, James Cameron was approached by Disney executives Bob Iger and Tom Staggs, CEO and COO at the time , about the possibility of avatar-themed attractions in Disney parks. The creation of an avatar attraction in Disney's Hollywood Studios was originally discussed, for example in the Park's Studio Backlot Tour, which was still in operation at the time. Staggs suggested integrating the film into a redesigned themed area in Disney's Animal Kingdom to optimize and expand the park's attraction list. Cameron was initially surprised by Disney's approach to the scope of the subject and commented, “Disney's vision when they came to me was to create a country. I thought we were going to talk about creating a [single] attraction. "

Blocked path during construction with advertising for the new topic

On September 17, 2011, Disney signed an exclusive, long-term license agreement with Camerons Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Fox for the worldwide theme park rights to Avatar . Disney agreed to pay Cameron and Fox a royalty and a percentage of merchandise sales. The deal was officially announced to the public on September 20, 2011. The high point of the announcement was that Disney's Animal Kingdom would get a new themed area entirely devoted to Avatar . While no details were released, the new area was described as several acres and was estimated to cost an estimated $ 400 million, similar to Cars Land in Disney California Adventure , California. It was later estimated that the area would cost about $ 500 million. Disney presented a first look at the land in October 2013 at the Japan D23 Expo. The deal could mean that Avatar attractions can be found in other Disney theme parks in the future, but there are no immediate plans to do so. Construction work began in January 2014 with an originally planned opening date in 2016. The opening date was later corrected to summer 2017.

In February 2017, May 27, 2017 was confirmed as the official opening day. The country was inaugurated on May 24, 2017, and Iger, Cameron, Jon Landau , Fox Chairman Stacey Snider and actors Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver attended. To promote the park's opening, ABC aired a number of special episodes of The View live from the park, including a special pre-opening preview with James Cameron.

layout

Flora in Pandora - The World of Avatar

Pandora - The World of Avatar was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and Lightstorm Entertainment , with Avatar producers James Cameron and Jon Landau acting as creative consultants. Imagineer Joe Rohde, creative director of Disney's Animal Kingdom, served as creative director for the project. The area was established on the former site of Camp Minnie-Mickey, originally intended for the Beastly Kingdom, a never-built themed land based on mythological creatures. Instead of including characters or building the country on existing storylines from the films, the team emphasized topics such as nature conservation and environmental responsibility. Disney and Lightstorm decided to set the country's plot a generation after the armed conflict between the local Na'vi and the Resources Development Administration (RDA), which tried to exploit Pandora for its unobtanity in the first film. According to the backstory, the Na'vi and the people made peace and Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) - a fictional tourism company - has partnered with the Na'vi to present Pandora as a new destination for ecotourism and scientific research. As a result, ACE established the Pandora Conservation Initiative to conserve and research the native species of Pandora.

Pandora - The World of Avatar contains elements from the original Avatar movie as well as from the four sequels yet to be released. Rhode initially admitted that it was difficult to translate the locations depicted in Avatar onto the physical world, since Pandora is depicted solely through computer-generated images in the films. So Imagineering adapted and expanded the conceptual art and digital designs from the films, with Rhode explaining that "there wasn't enough detail in these images for an actual place that would actually be built."

The floating rocks in the themed area
"Bioluminescent" lighting

A major visual feature of Pandora is the Mo'ara Valley and its floating mountain ranges. The 156 foot (47.5 m) high mountains use a forced perspective to appear taller than they actually are, and are held aloft by steel girders obscured by rocks and grapevines. Designers were sent to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park to study the jagged columnar peaks of the Wulingyuan region for inspiration, as well as foliage studies in Hawaii . The steel foundations for the floating mountains took a year to complete. Pandora's bioluminescent plant species can also be found all over the area. Imagineers created twenty species of Pandoran flora exclusively for the themed area. The landscaping consists of real plant species mixed with modeled Pandora flora, with each alien plant requiring its own hidden control box to produce the necessary amount of lighting in the bioluminescence during the evening hours. A new motion sensor technology developed by Disney Research enables the plant world to react to tactile interactions from guests. Audio recordings of Pandoran animals create ambient sounds across the country.

Unlike other themed landscapes and attractions in the company's history, Disney has dispensed with traditional theme park attributes in Pandora - The World of Avatar. Typical attraction signage, Disney branded items and Mickey Mouse images are missing on the MyMagic + scanners in the Fastpass queues. These elements have not been used in order to ensure that the area is a uniform theme. The employees play the role of ACE field experts.

Attractions

Theming in the waiting area of ​​the attraction

Avatar Flight of Passage

Avatar Flight of Passage is a three-dimensional flying theater simulator. Set in the Avatar universe, the attraction allows guests to fly Banshee on a native mountain and soar over the landscape of Pandora.

Work on Avatar Flight of Passage began in 2012 and included employees from Walt Disney Imagineering , LEI ( Lightstorm Entertainment Inc. , co-founded by James Cameron) and Weta Digital . All film material in the attraction is original material, which was produced only for this attraction. The original textures from the first film were used. Weta Digital provided the footage for the main attraction.

The flight simulator inside. The passengers only see the actual screen after the journey has started

In the attraction's plot, the Humans and Na'vi are attempting to bring the banshee population back to natural levels after the Resources Development Administration had been mining for generations. Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) has reactivated the Avatar program through the Pandora Conservation Initiative as a research method and allows guests to connect to an avatar to fly on an ikran (called "banshee" by the people) and the Participate in the Na'vi tribal tradition of growing up. The attraction is located in the remains of a former resource development administration facility and invites guests to the ACE laboratory, where they are connected to an “avatar” and fly over the valley of Mo'ara aboard a banshee.

On February 27, 2018, after four incidents, Disney added warning cards for passengers to enter the ride. The maps were similar to those from Mission: Space in Epcot, warning passengers of fear of heights, motion sickness, and seating restrictions. These cards were removed in late 2018 and replaced with a pre-recorded message conveying similar information to guests. The message is only played in the waiting room immediately before the journey.

Avatar Flight of Passage was voted second place in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards for Best New Ride of 2017 with 15% of the vote.

Entrance area of ​​the Na'vi River Journey

Na'vi River Journey

In the Na'vi River Journey, the park guests board a boat of the Alpha Centauri Expeditions as visitors to the exo-moon Pandora. As guests from Earth, the boats travel through the fictional Kasvapan River by Pandora from the 2009 film Avatar and show native animals and bioluminescent flora, using audio animatronics and 3D holograms. The ride uses semi-transparent video screens and video projections to make the surroundings appear much larger than they actually are - including a screen that is 30 m high and 21 m wide. The ride is one of the quietest rides in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The Na'vi Shaman of Songs, who can be seen at the attraction and greets visitors with a song, is Disney's most advanced audio animatronic figure to date. If this figure fails, it moves to a workshop below the attraction as a plan B option and the shaman is projected onto a screen. The song, which is led by the withdrawn sage, is entitled "Way Tiretuä" and has lyrics in Naʼvi , the language written by the linguistics professor Dr. Paul Frommer for the 2009 film.

entertainment

The Satu'li Canteen
  • Swotu Wayä Na'vi Drum Ceremony - a daily outdoor drum circle in the Mo'ara Valley that recreates a traditional Na'vi drum ceremony.
  • Pandora Rangers - a performance on the trails where a Pandoran Conservation Initiative scientist wearing an AMP mech suit interacts with guests and educates them about Pandora.

Restaurants and shops

There are two restaurants and a souvenir shop in the themed area:

  • Satu'li Canteen - a fast food restaurant that offers "Na'vi dishes".
  • Pongu Pongu - a food and drink stand operated by a "human emigrant".
  • Windtraders - the themed only souvenir shop selling exotic goods and souvenirs that represent the flora, fauna and culture of Avatar.

Web links

Commons : Pandora – The World of Avatar  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

credentials

  1. ↑ Pandora - The World of AVATAR will be New Land at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  2. ^ Answering Your Questions About AVATAR at Disney Parks. Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  3. ↑ Do we really need an 'Avatar' land? Disney is about to answer the doubters. Retrieved May 4, 2017, July 13, 2021 (American English).
  4. ↑ a b Construction Begins For AVATAR-Inspired Land At Disney's Animal Kingdom. Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  5. ↑ a b Just Announced: Pandora - The World of Avatar Will Open May 27 at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  6. ↑ a b Disney to license rights to 'Avatar' for theme park attractions. September 21, 2011, accessed July 13, 2021 (American English).
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  8. ↑ Bloomberg - Are you a robot? Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
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  13. ^ First Look: AVATAR to Come to Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  14. ↑ Pandora - The World of Avatar Set To Open Summer 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  15. ↑ Lawrence Yee, Lawrence Yee: Bob Iger, James Cameron Open Pandora: World of Avatar at Walt Disney World. In: Variety. Retrieved May 24, 2017, July 13, 2021 (American English).
  16. ↑ Ashley Lee, Jackie Strause, Ashley Lee, Jackie Strause: James Cameron Goes Inside Walt Disney World's Avatar Attractions. In: The Hollywood Reporter. March 9, 2017, Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  17. ↑ Joshua L. Weinstein: James Cameron on 3D, "Titanic" and all things "Avatar" . In: Reuters . September 22, 2011 ( reuters.com [accessed July 15, 2021]).
  18. ^ What to expect from Avatar Land at Disney's Animal Kingdom. July 7, 2015, Retrieved July 15, 2021 (American English).
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  24. ^ Marc Graser, Marc Graser: 'Avatar' Ride Coming to Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom. In: Variety. December 11, 2014, accessed July 13, 2021 (American English).
  25. ↑ AVATAR: FLIGHT OF PASSAGE: A Cinematic, Multi-Sensory 3D Experience that Soars. In: VFX Voice Magazine. June 25, 2018, Retrieved July 13, 2021 (American English).
  26. ↑ Mekado Murphy: Inside Avatar, the Theme Park Version . In: The New York Times . July 31, 2017, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 13, 2021]).
  27. ↑ Seth Porges: Everything You Need To Know About Disney's New 'Avatar'-Themed Land. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
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  36. ↑ https://www.disneyworld.eu/entertainment/animal-kingdom/pandora-navi-drum-ceremony/. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
  37. ↑ https://www.disneyworld.eu/entertainment/animal-kingdom/pandora-rangers/. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
  38. ↑ https://www.disneyworld.eu/dining/animal-kingdom/satuli-canteen/. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
  39. ↑ https://www.disneyworld.eu/dining/animal-kingdom/pongu-pongu/. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .
  40. ↑ https://www.disneyworld.eu/shops/animal-kingdom/windtraders/. Retrieved July 13, 2021 .

  Coordinates: 28 ° 21 ′  N , 81 ° 36 ′  W