Some fans really do want Disneyland to build its Avatar ride

Count me among those excited for this Robert. As a “local” to the WDW parks, I’d love to see an eventual P:TWoA expansion at AK. The beauty of the rich tapestry of locales in each film pretty much gives WDI an unlimited canvas to employ whatever sort of new or dynamic ride system they’d like for each successive expansion of this IP.

I think it makes sense to work on Tomorrowland first. If they start in 2027, the could easily move the Orbitron and do some other touch-ups in time for Disneyland75 in 2030.

So, where does that leave Avatar? I honestly think it will only be pushed by one year. Why? DCA's 30th is in 2031. From a marketing perspective, I think Disney wants to have something big for each year.

Avengers Campus expansion: 2028
Coco: 2029
Reimagined Tomorrowland: 2030
Avatar at DCA: 2031

The Avatar films brought in a lot of money. It still makes sense. I also REALLY want to see the Shanghai Pirates boat ride here in the states. Avatar would make for the perfect experience for this ride system.

I really want it too, a different ride to showcase the range of Pandora is a great idea.

Avatar is awesome. The box office supports this sentiment too. WDI also hit a home run with their previous Avatar attempt. I'm really anticipating this ride. I remember the OG Avatar land idea receiving similar hate in the early 2010's. Hope it somehow arrives by 2030.

I have absolutely no problem with Avatar coming to California, or any other Disney park for that matter. PtWoA at DAK is one of WDI's most impressive achievements, and the IP presents plenty of room for expansion, especially if it can be tailored to utilize Disney's most dynamic ride system that has yet to be cloned anywhere in the world.

The biggest issue for me with Avatar in California is the proposal to put it into DCA, a park that has already been getting a bulk of the investment at the Disneyland Resort, and will be adding at least 3 new attractions over the next 2-3 years with the Avengers CAMPUS expansion and Coco. Frankly, I would have much rather seen Avatar go to Disneyland (perhaps taking over the Autopia plot if they could work it around the Monorail and Nemo - or even if it also took out the subs since Avatar is an even better bridge between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland that the subs represent), because I just don't feel that Avatar fits in DCA even if the Monsters corner of the park is ripe for redevelopment/expansion. The other concern with Avatar to DCA is that even if Disney can bump out the perimeter of the park to give them some more space, it's still a tiny plot compared to what Joe Rhode had to work with at DAK. Even if they bumped south and took out the Hyperion Theater (not suggesting that they do this), it would be less than half the total space of PtWoA - in fact just the Valley of Mo'ara would barely fit in the part of DCA being proposed for this "experience". The California parks are always going to struggle with space constraints, but I think if you're trying to apply the Avatar IP, it's essential to provide visual transitions. I think that is going to be difficult when you're jumping from Hollywood Land to Pandora while simultaneous limiting the visual exposure of thematic elements to people outside of DCA's walls (along Harbor Blvd). Does this end up being a completely inside land (a la Knockturn Alley at USF) or some of the Middle East theme parks?

I can definitely see the motivation to get Avatar and the Shanghai Pirates ride system into California, but it feels like WDI is being squeezed into a corner with this (both literally and figuratively), and perhaps the perceived delay is actually a rethink from the group to see if there are potentially better options either in Disneyland or perhaps utilizing the space freed up at the Toy Story parking (this is what I thought they were going to use when they originally announced Avatar as part of Disneyland Forward). Whatever they decide, we will need to live with that for the next 3 decades or more, so I think it makes sense that they are pumping the brakes before diving head first into a design that could potentially come with more compromises than anyone could have imagined when they first committed to bring the IP (and ride system) to California.

Count me as someone who hasn't been a fan of what they've done to DCA since completeing DCA2.0. They invested a ton of money in fixing that park and giving it a beautiful consistent theme only to start randomly shoving IP all over the place and ruining the cohesion. Mr Iger paid a lot for IP and was using additions to the parks as justification for the expense. Disney+ didn't pan out the way he hoped, so by leaning into heavy IP in the parks (which make money no matter what) it helped him hide the fact he had paid too much for all he acquired. That said, they already shoved Marvel into the park, so why not further destroy it with Avatar? The cohesive theme of the park is gone now, so what's the loss?

That reminds me, fingers crossed that Grizzly River Rapids gets an X-Men overlay…

@Angryduck:
I kid, I kid of course. I can see your point about the IP oversatutation. But damned if Radiator Springs isn’t gorgeous at night.

I see, but at least the IPs they've chosen to utilize thus far in DCA 2.0/2.1/2.2 kind of make sense. Big Hero 6's San Fransokyo was a master-stroke (just wish there was an attraction or show to go in there), Pixar Pier doesn't take away from the seaside boardwalk feel of that area, and Cars might be the most authentically California IP in the company's portfolio. Avengers does feel a bit out of place, especially given that Tivan Tower can be seen from virtually every other spot in the park (and beyond), but I feel that the concept behind the land is not so farfetched (though I still feel that WDI should steal a page out of UC's book and create portals on both (soon to be 3) entrances/exits to the area a la Doctor Strange to offer a more realistic transition that gets away from this random training outpost plopped into a California theme park. It's certainly no worse than Bug's Land, which had the least connection to California of any of the original lands in the park. Coco perfectly fits in Paradise Gardens Park reinforcing the Latin American feel that the area often takes on during festivals.

However, Avatar really doesn't fit DCA at all, unless you're going to explain its existence as guests walking onto a Hollywood movie set, which is exactly what Disney and others have been trying to get away from in the current trend of creating fully immersive lands, attractions, and spaces.

Carsland is great! I agree with that. I was thinking more of the uninspired Avenger's Campus and the eye sore that is GOTG. I wish they had made a third gate in the strawberry field for all the Sci Fi IP they acquired. Too late now though.

It's interesting that the Avengers expansions won't open until 2028. By then Secret Wars will have come and gone, and the pivot to the next large superhero ensemble, X-Men, will be underway. It kinda feels like these attractions are coming online 10 years too late, but who knows. Maybe the Iron Man, Thor, Cap era of Marvel movies has staying power -- if the Doomsday scramble is anything to go by.

As for Avatar, I certainly hope it happens, even if it moves locations within DCA. The Shanghai Pirates ride system would fit a Payakan experience. A new monorail stop at the land would be welcome, too.

To me, DCA has the same identity crisis as Hollywood Studios, though this doesn't make either any less enjoyable. Just like the amalgamation of Old Hollywood and Sunset Blvd collides with immersive lands in Hollywood Studios, so too does the bygone "celebration of California" theme collide with immersive lands in DCA.

There was a hugely missed opportunity in the renaming of Disney Adventure World to go with "Disney Adventure Paris" to mimic Disney California Adventure. Disney could've relaunched Adventure parks as more immersive lands dedicated to a single IP vs. cohesive themed lands (with perhaps relevant IP) in their castle parks.

DCA is less Disney CALIFORNIA Adventure now and more Disney California ADVENTURE. It's an "adventure" park located in California, with Buena Vista Street acting as the conduit to those immersive lands, and some of the areas have themes that pay tribute to that (Carsland, Pixar boardwalk, the specific theming of Avengers Campus) similar to the new Art Nouveau architecture at the new land in Adventure World.

Remember, one of the Avatars even wears a Stanford sweatshirt in the movie, so I'm sure we'll see some California touches in the human architecture or elements of the Avatar area.

Counterpoint: Hollywood Whisperer extraordinaire Matt Belloni doesn't think this land is happening.

https://youtu.be/M7jiAbq3ijg?si=wHxo3Dev5lcY_Vsp&t=1918

But that's the thing MyHandsDontScan, every land within DCA does connect directly to the original California theme save for Avengers CAMPUS, which does at least have a slim thread. DCA is not the same as DHS (or DAW) where those parks have completely abandoned their original concepts to focus on individual lands based around the "adventure" theme. Everything that WDI has done as part of DCA 2.0 and the recent overhauls/additions have maintained that connection to California no matter how thin. Including Avatar in DCA would obviously be the lone exception to the rule that frankly isn't necessary to break.

I'm not outright opposed to Avatar, but let's do the math: Unadjusted for inflation, the Way of Water still dropped about 12% domestically from the first film, then Fire and Ash dropped 41% from that (down 48% from the first film). Those are not numbers that indicate long term interest from the franchise, nor do they indicate committing over half a billion dollars to a massive E-ticket is a safe investment with the production of future films still up in the air. By comparison, Zootopia 2 was up 24% domestically from the first film (it actually had higher numbers than Fire and Ash), there's a third film confirmed to be on the way, an attraction has already been fully designed for the property (hence cheaper costs to build), and less work would likely be required in order for said attraction to mesh with the surroundings of Hollywood Land.

If I were calling the shots, I'd substitute Zootopia for Avatar as the Monsters, Inc. replacement, then keep the Avatar attraction on stand-by to fast track into either of the resort's parks if interest rebounded with the fourth and fifth films. If they'd already made a hard commitment to Avatar I'd be perfectly happy with it coming, but given that the project is probably still five years out at minimum I doubt they've passed that point, so it seems a little foolish to move forward on it when Disney themselves acknowledged the latest film was a disappointment.

AJ, there is a massive difference from watching a film on the screen and experiencing it as a theme park attraction so, for me, Avatar every day of the week over Zootopia regardless of the box office figures. As fans we want the most immersive experience we can get, this is why Potter works and Disney have done an excellent job recreating Pandora so far.