The next big project to open at Walt Disney World will be at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The expansion of Pandora – The World of AVATAR is expected to completely immerse guests in the word created by filmmaker James Cameron. We know there will be two… Read More »Details of Na’vi River Journey, Avatar-Land’s Boat Ride
Today was a sneak peek of D23 Expo for those who paid, media, and assorted vendors. Among the big reveals were models and displays in the Disney Parks area of the exhibit floor. First, we’ve seen tantalizing glimpses of the Avatar Land model in the… Read More »D23 Expo – First look at Avatar Land Model
Today we have our third and final update of Disney’s Animal Kingdom changes as of the end of June 2015 (read parts one and two). The park is in the middle of an upgrade as expansive as the Magic Kingdom got with its New Fantasyland… Read More »Disney’s Animal Kingdom Update – Part 3: Coffee & Dessert
Walt Disney’s Imagineers are busy remaking large swaths of one of the world’s most beautiful theme parks – Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Not only is James Cameron’s Avatar project coming to the park, but Africa’s Harambe Village is expanding, the Discovery Island hub is getting a variety of improvements (and a new Starbucks), and the river between Asia and Dino-land is becoming a stage for “Rivers of Light.”
Can’t watch the video? More photos below:
Read More »Disney’s Animal Kingdom construction continues to reshape the park
Update: The drone owner has decided to take down his channel after receiving a lot of blow-back. A YouTube channel called Your Flying Camera has added a drone flyover of the Avatar – World of Pandora expansion at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In it you can… Read More »Drone provides Aerial Video of Avatar Construction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The keen folks over at WDW Magic have gotten their hands on a piece of concept art for a new expansion coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Africa Marketplace will open in Spring of 2015 in the Harambe area of the park. It will be part… Read More »Harambe to expand with Africa Marketplace at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Director James Cameron recently participated in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. There wasn’t any news broken about building the world of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but he did mention it in response to a question: thewineburglar asked: I am beyond excited to… Read More »James Cameron Talks about Pandora and Avatarland at Disney World on Reddit
Disney’s Animal Kingdom was originally envisioned as a full day park. Designers had included a large section of the park devoted to imaginary animals of the beastly kingdom. This land would have giant coasters, flying beasts, family friendly attractions, and really allow the Imagineers imaginations to go wild with the possibilities. Sadly, the budget for that area was cut and left to the dustbin of history.
But Disney has always known it would need to add to DAK eventually. If you look at the details for Avatarland, we are getting something close to the original idea for a land of fantasy creatures (just without the giant coaster, which ended up at Islands of Adventure when some Imagineers let go by Disney took their ideas to Universal). Just not the fantasy creatures you were expecting.
What’s clear is that DAK needs to expand its offerings into the night and that Pandora: The Worlds of Avatar (or whatever the name is these days) can be a big part of that. Just look at that concept art above. The potential of bio-luminescence is amazing. I don’t think Imagineers would release that art if they didn’t know they could pull it off. I urge fans who still have questions about Disney’s decision to partner with James Cameron and his Avatar movies to give Disney’s team a chance to add something amazing to DAK.
You really don’t have a choice anyway, as Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion makes it all as official as it gets in the world of Disney anyway.Read More »Construction Begins on Avatar-Land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom