***Official*** Pandora: The World of Avatar Information Thread

[AngelDisney]

My kids just enjoy throwing the coins - like a game

Plus the money goes to charity

I would rather teach mine about respect for the environment and save up changes to donate to related charities. This is just me!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I would rather teach mine about respect for the environment and save up changes to donate to related charities. This is just me!

Well, my kids haven't even been to Pandora - was thinking more in general about why someone might want to throw coins in general (fountains and stuff)

 

[SgtTibbs]

Saw WDWNT posted that they had only some of the blue banshees back in stock.

And they turned up the brightness of some of the lights within Pandora. But I believe it's more so pertaining to lights to see where you're walking better and not bioluminescence

I did not notice the increase in brightness, but I will say the most dangerous creatures in Pandora are strollers in the dark so I can see why they might nudge up the ambients.

 

[rteetz]

Saw WDWNT posted that they had only some of the blue banshees back in stock.

And they turned up the brightness of some of the lights within Pandora. But I believe it's more so pertaining to lights to see where you're walking better and not bioluminescence

Correct.

 

[rastuso]

I wonder why it's so short? Well, can't wait to try it out just the same.

Disney builds very short rides now. Both of the Avatar rides are less than 5 minutes. For no real reason. Once the new wears off, FoP will have a shorter line, and could easily deliver for 6 minutes, while only increasing cycle time about 20%. And increasing budget almost insignificantly.

NRJ was just budget cheapness. Adding 2 more minutes would have increased budget quite a bit, but really, adding 2 more areas would make it much more rerideable.

Many people are Gaga over Journey to the Center of the Earth, very similar to NRJ, but with actual thrills A slow ride past amazing scenery, then a huge, incredible animatron. But then it is followed by thrills. It's very good. But if it had two more caverns and a secondary AA, I would consider it absolutely incredible.

Disney, especially WDW, is in "just enough" mode now. Add a cool coaster to TSL. Wait, that's too cool, this smaller version is good enough to keep people in line.

 

[HydroGuy]

Disney builds very short rides now. Both of the Avatar rides are less than 5 minutes. For no real reason. Once the new wears off, FoP will have a shorter line, and could easily deliver for 6 minutes, while only increasing cycle time about 20%. And increasing budget almost insignificantly.

NRJ was just budget cheapness. Adding 2 more minutes would have increased budget quite a bit, but really, adding 2 more areas would make it much more rerideable.

Many people are Gaga over Journey to the Center of the Earth, very similar to NRJ, but with actual thrills A slow ride past amazing scenery, then a huge, incredible animatron. But then it is followed by thrills. It's very good. But if it had two more caverns and a secondary AA, I would consider it absolutely incredible.

Disney, especially WDW, is in "just enough" mode now. Add a cool coaster to TSL. Wait, that's too cool, this smaller version is good enough to keep people in line.

Your opinion but I just don't see this. I was in the room at the D23 Expo in 2011 when "Avatar Land" was announced. In that same session they announced New FantasyLand at MK. I was in the room at the D23 Expo 2015 when Star Wars Land at DLR and WDW was announced. In that same session they announced Toy Story Land.

It is true that Disney was a bit more focused on Shanghai Disneyland in the last few years until it launched in 2016. It is also true that MDE/MB/FP+ took a lot of resources and time and diverted some focus. Nevertheless it looks to me like Disney has been hitting the accelerator on the American parks. The only one of the six American parks not to get something majorly new in recent years is poor Epcot.

After experiencing NRJ it did not bring up any memories of Journey to the Center of the Earth which I guess I put more in a thrill ride category and is clearly a better ride than NRJ.

Anyways, my view is different from yours which is fine.

 

[ari23]

Do they still have a supply of banshees or are they out? The blue ones are on eBay selling for $200, people are just buying them and selling them still.

 

[rastuso]

Your opinion but I just don't see this. I was in the room at the D23 Expo in 2011 when "Avatar Land" was announced. In that same session they announced New FantasyLand at MK. I was in the room at the D23 Expo 2015 when Star Wars Land at DLR and WDW was announced. In that same session they announced Toy Story Land.

It is true that Disney was a bit more focused on Shanghai Disneyland in the last few years until it launched in 2016. It is also true that MDE/MB/FP+ took a lot of resources and time and diverted some focus. Nevertheless it looks to me like Disney has been hitting the accelerator on the American parks. The only one of the six American parks not to get something majorly new in recent years is poor Epcot.

After experiencing NRJ it did not bring up any memories of Journey to the Center of the Earth which I guess I put more in a thrill ride category and is clearly a better ride than NRJ.

Anyways, my view is different from yours which is fine.

Not sure what being at the announcements is worth. But, I agree that in the US Disney is finally getting off their keister because Universal has made enormous leaps, and Disney HAD to. But before the Wizard arrived, the Magic Kingdom was still milking Splash Mountain as their last big ride. Dwarf Hill finally arrived, as did NFL, but Splash is still the last E ticket for MK. Epcot survives on the head scratching mania around Soarin' and overpriced food. AK limped along as a way Disney could convince people to buy 7 day park hoppers (I'm still stunned people do this), and we all know they've basically realized almost the entire studios, except for the far right, needed to be bulldozed. I wonder if Toy Story 4 will be branded as LucasFilm so they can just call it Lucasland. Papa George is a big factor in Pixar history, it's not that far of a reach.

But Shanghai still doesn't offer many huge, long rides. THeir GRR clone is not long at all, once you get off the lift. Tron is very short.

Shanghai Pirates is really the only true grand scale E ticket ride Disney has built in a very long time. Since Indy, IMHO.

I'm stunned at how short the Pandora rides are. Both Disney and Universal are getting down at the 4-5 minute ride length mark. A real shame. They spent many hundreds of millions of dollars on about 8 minutes of new rides. 4 on a movie screen, and 4 in a slow water canal with movie screens. I think it must be a sort of known quantity that 4 minutes is about all the time folks want in a simulator type ride. But for a boat ride, 4 minutes is crazy short for Disney.

We'll see, but once the mania subsides I see AK getting only a minor long term bump from Pandora. It was more of a necessary expansion instead of a truly park changing expansion. And by the ride wait times, Pandora at night seems to be a non starter.

 

[DisneyKoolaid]

Do they still have a supply of banshees or are they out? The blue ones are on eBay selling for $200, people are just buying them and selling them still.

I'm at DAK right now and have seen people walking around with boxes so I think they're still in stock. I'll be going through Windtraders later and I'll update if someone else hasn't already

 

[briggscreek]

Do they still have a supply of banshees or are they out? The blue ones are on eBay selling for $200, people are just buying them and selling them still.

We got a blue and black one earlier today. They only had that one and the blue/purple one, and it didn't look like there were many left.

 

[rastuso]

The seem to be selling for less than $100 on ebay, some with Free Shipping. So the sellers aren't making a bonanza of these, surprisingly. Not like those rose cups when they came out. But it looks like a lot of folks are going to be sitting on a lot of rose cups, since they have died on ebay.

 

[CAS239]

Do they still have a supply of banshees or are they out? The blue ones are on eBay selling for $200, people are just buying them and selling them still.

There's plenty on eBay but they're only selling for $85-$105. Resellers will be coming to a halt soon as long as Disney can produce enough to keep a steady stream in stock.

Just like with what happened with the stupid Hatchimal craze. Hot for a month then resellers were trying to return them when they couldn't reach a profit

 

[HydroGuy]

Not sure what being at the announcements is worth.

For me it is valuable because I have seen the full arc of announcement, the physical models which were displayed, the creative ideas and people behind them, all the way to final completion. It is satisfying. It also gives me a clearer sense of what Disney was shooting for than if I just read a blog or watched a video.

But, I agree that in the US Disney is finally getting off their keister because Universal has made enormous leaps, and Disney HAD to..

Competition never hurts. I think the reality is bit more complex. Disney lost its way under Michael Eisner from about 1995-2006. Bob Iger has done a phenomenal job rebuilding the company and using great foresight to acquire Pixar and Lucasfilm. Marvel? For the movies, yes. For the parks? I hope they build an entire park dedicated to Marvel so I can avoid it. But it sounds like DCA is destined to have Marvel in it - a very good fit for the California theme... NOT.

Dwarf Hill finally arrived, as did NFL, but Splash is still the last E ticket for MK.

Even worse at Disneyland - last new e-ticket was Indy. But they have done a great job moving the park forward while they built and then re-built DCA. Finally DL is getting a new E-ticket with SWL.

It was more of a necessary expansion instead of a truly park changing expansion. And by the ride wait times, Pandora at night seems to be a non starter.

Does not seem that way to me. But again we view things differently.

It would probably be better for Disney if Avatar 2 came it 2019 than 2020, but once it does, then the whole Pandora cycle we are seeing now will start again. Plus with FOP they have in principle a re-programmable ride. So it can be changed whenever Disney decides to change it. Like Star Tours.

 

[rastuso]

For me it is valuable because I have seen the full arc of announcement, the physical models which were displayed, the creative ideas and people behind them, all the way to final completion. It is satisfying. It also gives me a clearer sense of what Disney was shooting for than if I just read a blog or watched a video.


Competition never hurts. I think the reality is bit more complex. Disney lost its way under Michael Eisner from about 1995-2006. Bob Iger has done a phenomenal job rebuilding the company and using great foresight to acquire Pixar and Lucasfilm. Marvel? For the movies, yes. For the parks? I hope they build an entire park dedicated to Marvel so I can avoid it. But it sounds like DCA is destined to have Marvel in it - a very good fit for the California theme... NOT.

Even worse at Disneyland - last new e-ticket was Indy. But they have done a great job moving the park forward while they built and then re-built DCA. Finally DL is getting a new E-ticket with SWL.

Does not seem that way to me. But again we view things differently.

It would probably be better for Disney if Avatar 2 came it 2019 than 2020, but once it does, then the whole Pandora cycle we are seeing now will start again. Plus with FOP they have in principle a re-programmable ride. So it can be changed whenever Disney decides to change it. Like Star Tours.

DIsneyland is stagnant as can be. But Indy still amazes. And FP Plus hasn't ruined it yet. People blame Shanghai for Pandora's and the Toy Story coaster's short comings, DCA stagnated Disneyland for 20 years. But, Universal isn't really competition there. Disneyland will be packed regardless.

I am a HUGE James Cameron fan. Some of the greatest movies ever. But I'm still not sold another one will ever be released. Let alone 4 more. And if 4 are released, the last 2 or 3 will be crap. Cameron is 62, no way he can make 4 more amazing films. And the sequel would have to be outstanding to even remotely get this sort of crowd back to Animal Kingdom.

Even Spielberg seems to have his best behind him, sadly. But I REALLY hope he makes a good Indy sequel.

 

[HydroGuy]

DIsneyland is stagnant as can be. But Indy still amazes.

As far as e-tickets, yes. But a lot has happened at DL in the last 12 years. It was stagnant under Eisner and in truth went backwards in some ways with the Tomorrowland rebuild in 1998.

But Disney has done a good job keeping things fresh over the last 12 years. Awesome and major shows like Remember Dreams Come True (2005), World of Color (2010) and Paint the Night (2015). Better than the WDW shows for sure.

We can go down the list of ride refreshes and all, but there has been a lot.

I cannot even imagine using a word like stagnant for DL - unless your sole criteria are new e-tickets.

And I agree about Indy. An amazing ride. And also about 4-5 minutes long.

I am a HUGE James Cameron fan. Some of the greatest movies ever. But I'm still not sold another one will ever be released. Let alone 4 more. And if 4 are released, the last 2 or 3 will be crap.

Hey, maybe Disney will buy the Avatar IP like LucasFilm? Seems like a natural fit at this point doesn't it?

I am not a huge Avatar fan. Mostly an enthusiastic observer. It was a great movie and now Pandora seems to me like a really solid move for Disney. Another two Avatar sequels is all Disney needs to keep Pandora going strong for the next 10 years. And it very well may stay strong all on its own. It is well done. And can be improved. More rides. Bigger land.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Dropping in to remind everyone this is the Pandora thread.

Please remain on-topic.

 

[ari23]

There's plenty on eBay but they're only selling for $85-$105. Resellers will be coming to a halt soon as long as Disney can produce enough to keep a steady stream in stock.

Just like with what happened with the stupid Hatchimal craze. Hot for a month then resellers were trying to return them when they couldn't reach a profit

Really? The ones I saw were ranging from $150-200

 

[DisneyKoolaid]

Do they still have a supply of banshees or are they out? The blue ones are on eBay selling for $200, people are just buying them and selling them still.

Windtraders had a good stock of them in boxes, still not many on the branches on display, but there were two tables with at least a double layer of boxes, doesn't look like they're running out anytime soon. Color choices are probably still limited though.

 

[CAS239]

Really? The ones I saw were ranging from $150-200

Theres some listed high, but their not selling at that price. Filter to view only sold items and you'll see prices right around $90-$100

 

[ari23]

Windtraders had a good stock of them in boxes, still not many on the branches on display, but there were two tables with at least a double layer of boxes, doesn't look like they're running out anytime soon. Color choices are probably still limited though.

Thank you! I know it's a long shot but hopefully they have some in 5 days.