Avatar 2 delay: Good or Bad for Disney?
Walt Disney World: Will the announced delay in the Avatar film franchise hurt Disney's plans?
Does the delay of Avatar 2 film help or hurt Disney's plans for the park? Personally I think it hurts just by the fact that at least initially they will be limited as to the scope of the franchise as the only elemnts people will be familiar with will be from the first film. Would not at all be suprised to see a delay in Disney's plans as well. What do you think?
It could turn out to be beneficial for everyone. Disney could go ahead with their plans, and not be hampered by what has already been created for the sequels. If what Disney creates blows everyone away by its creative greatness, then Cameron could then incorporate it into his movies. It could be a win/win for everyone involved. Movie inspired the ride which then inspired the movie type scenario could develop.
From Frankie F
Posted January 13, 2012 at 11:23 PM
This could actually work very well because if they start off with a first phase of Avatarland and then they could have 1 or 2 mini expansions of the land that correspond to the opening of the 2nd and 3rd movies... this is kind of what they did at Carsland they made it so it would open a year after Cars 2 and there would be a larger fan base following the Cars franchise
think it will actually help them as avatarland due to open in 2016 same year as movie they could tie this in. with james cameron personally working on both it's going to be win win either way.
Am I (and my wife for that matter) the only people here who just groaned when Avatar Land was announced?
We have ZERO interest in this project as we were less than impressed by the movie. Neither of us is convinced that Avatar has the staying power needed to justify this expediture by Disney.
We made a special trip in 2010 to Florida SPECIFICALLY to see Wizarding World of Harry Potter (as did A LOT of people) but we can't imagine many people doing the same for this franchise.
I can imagine people who are already vacationing in Florida wanting to see it perhaps, but a special trip....I don't see it.
Unlike Universal Disney doesn't really need a franchise to lure guests to their park. Universal had to have something like WWoHP to compete with WDW in that market and WDW is still easily the #1 theme park in the world in regards to attendance. That being said Avatar is being introduced at Animal Kingdom to help prop up yheir attendace levels as it is the least visited Disney Park.
From James Rao
Posted January 14, 2012 at 7:33 AM
^^I agree with everything you said Orrin, except the part about DAK being the least attended WDW park. DHS holds that distinction (
see the THEA numbers at this link). Although, at 9.6 million visitors, DHS still out distances the next closest non-Disney park by a HUGE margin.
But your point is well taken: People will continue to go to Disney because it is Disney, not because of some brand attached to one section of one park. Shoot, people would still go even if they had a section of the park called Toilet Land! Regardless, teaming with an imaginative filmmaker like Cameron is a good bet for Disney, no different than teaming with someone like George Lucas. And ultimately it gets them what they wanted all along: a mythical land at DAK.
As for the delay, well you have to think it is a good thing. No matter your opinion of Avatar's cliched story, it was a technically groundbreaking film, and certainly beautiful to look at and a fun ride to watch in a good 3D theater. If Cameron needs more time to realize his next great vision, then so be it. You cannot discount that the guy knows how to make a movie. Further, if that technical wizardry translates into amazing sights, sounds, and experiences at DAK, then it is a win-win, and it will be well worth the wait.
Besides, maybe Disney can use the extra time to fix that gosh darned Yeti!
sorry todd think you are wrong here cameron is overseeing the park and the movies so i have every confidence that they will both be amazing. cameron has been working on an underwater motion capture cam and sam is getting scuba lessons so think the second film will be just as if not better than the first
Believe me, I still haven't seen Avatar, nor did I jump for joy over the idea. I loved Harry Potter (books and movies, well not so much the last because they deviated from the book so much), but I haven't made a special trip to see Universal's section. Now that it will be expanded (as I thought it would be once they saw attendance), I see no reason to make a special trip until the expansion is complete. Even then, I know I will go on to Disney World for the majority of my trip.
Will people who loved Avatar make a special trip to see it? Depends on the person. Are they going to have the staying power that Trekies and Star Wars fans have? Here again, only time will tell. Will I make a special trip just to see it? No. I will make a trip to Disney World for everything else it has to offer. If there is some new state of the art ride involved with it, then yes, I will definitely ride it after I ride Expedition Everest a few times.
From steve lee
Posted January 14, 2012 at 7:25 PM
Rather than teaching him to scuba dive, Cameron should teach Worthington how to maintain an accent.
From Bob Liebe
Posted January 15, 2012 at 12:03 AM
To answer the question whether the delay is good or bad I think it could go either way depending on how Disney handles it. If the Imagineers can't incorporate new aspects from the 2nd or 3rd movies because they don't want any spoilers, than I think it's a bad thing. Just as Universal didn't originally make a Gringotts coaster as not to give anything away about the last movies, Disney wouldn't want to spoil the last 2 movies by giving away important info in an attraction.
Unless if like Frankie F said that they would plan to have expansions on the land after the other movies. Then it could be a brilliant move. You could lure people in when the land originally opens and then get them to come back to see what's new in an expansion. Also the Imagineers would know what worked well from the original land and build similar style stuff for an expansion and drop anything that sucked.
I agree that Avatar doesn't have as big of an appeal for me to fly to Orlando for that purpose alone (I wasn't to thrilled when I heard the anouncement either), but people are still going to flock to WDW and Avatar has the opportunity to get more people into the park just based on new ride technology and the fact that it's something new. And if the Imagineers knock this out of the park (most likely), an expansion could bring people from around the world solely to see Avatar Phase 2.
@Joseph: I promise you, your not alone. My husband and I did a completely double face-palm when it as announced followed by "Why? Just Why?" questions. We've got zero interest in the land and I doubt we'll take the time to see it for the first few years it's open unless it happens to be slow and we're in Animal Kingdom to begin with. Much like you we made our plans so that we could be in Orlando during the first year of Harry Potter (We got lucky, so much happened that year it worked out perfectly as an excuse to really see WWoHP).
Personally I can't manage to dig up any real enthusiasm for this project. However, depending on the delay I can see it either working for or against Disney. If the timing works properly they could have a very large opening ceremony to co-inside with the new release. On the downside, they may have to be massive changes to the land due to the movie if it opens later then the area. However, I can't see Disney not knowing what Cameron has planned so I doubt huge mistakes or errors would happen.
Flip a coin, it's hard to say either way how things will work out until the project gets closer to completion.
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