News on Disney's PANDORA: World of AVATAR

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Nawmtirea
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

Post by Nawmtirea »

Elyris wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:02 am Nice to look at so far, but can you go close without loosing the immersion? (Those pitcher plants look rather dry on the surface though - I would've expected something more shining.)
(Yes, the boxer shorts on the avatar are hilarious, but Disney couldn't show any big blue willies - and you know that everyone would have been trying to look) :blink:

You can get really close to the Pandoran plants, close enough to touch some of them, but surprisingly I didn't see anyone trying to touch anything they weren't supposed to - there are several things like the giant Flaska Reclinata (4 metres tall!) that you are encouraged to touch. When you tap or pound on the side of the Flaska Reclinata, parts of it start to glow, it releases spores (steam) out of its top side, and if you keep tapping it, it shoots a stream of poison (water) out the end of the flask onto people walking down the path. :hee:

Disney did such a good job with the plants that they not only look completely realistic, but they've blended them in seamlessly with real plants (some very exotic and almost alien looking real plants that I've never seen before). They have even hung Pandoran "extentions" onto the real living trees and blended those so that they look like they are a part of the actual trees. It is absolutely astonishing the amount of detail and work that they put into Pandora. And at night, there are those Na'vi "lamps" with the little glowing bugs flying around in them that look like they actually have little glowing bugs flying around in them.

Yes, there are 100's of humans walking around, but they have designed everything in such a way that you never feel like you're on a big walkway full of people. The paths split and merge and twist and turn throughout the landscape so that you feel more like you're exploring, rather than just following a pathway. And there is so much to look at and everything is so beautiful that we didn't really notice the crowds. When I say that there is a lot to look at... that's an understatement. There are really 3 attractions at Pandora; the Flight of Passage ride, the Na'vi River Boat Ride, and Pandora itself. You can walk around for hours, then come back another day and walk around again, and keep seeing new things. The park staff say that they keep noticing things each day that they didn't notice before, like the Stingbats hanging in the floating mountains or the overgrown RDA vehicles in the forest - we didn't notice them, we read about them after we got home. We'll be sure to look closer the next time we go. We plan on going back every February for the Super Bowl weekend. The Super Bowl is like a religious holiday to Americans, and the parks are almost empty because of it, so if you're like us and don't give a crap about American football, that's the day to hit up Pandora (or Universal Studios for the Harry Potter Parks, which are almost as amazing as Pandora!)

I'll post some better pictures of the plants and mountains this week. They use forced perspective really well to make it look like the mountains float way off into the distance.
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Elyris
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

Post by Elyris »

Yeha - I got that. I was just thinking for immersion reasons that you could've put an Avatar into a floating tank in suhc a forced perspective so that he can be naked and 'covered' at the same time and for closer inspection of the visitors put one in the 'waking up' room where he can wear such a hospital dress and so it wouldn't look su funny. I get it but it still makes me laugh (and I am the last person on earth that wan't to see other peoples private parts, you know that).

Sounds coll but also like a huge invitation sign to all kinds of childish shenanigans (I like interacting wiht nature, but I would'nt use it to mess with other people - but then again I am also socially akward).

Hmm - just think they would encourage people to come in 'expedition clothing' (aka

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Should'nt be too unrealistic (this actually one of the things why this movie works so well and also why the first Jurassic Park ages so well - the way people are dressed is understated, practical and hard to put a time stamp on so it just looks totally believable).

Sounds and looks really cool - especially the Super Bowl weekend part: you really are nearly alone there then.

I wonder if they'll make stay overnight opetions - the RDA quaters, the Avatr hut, Na'vi hammocks of tents (as seen with the plains tribe) (or even sleep in Beulah :omgg: ). With the night lights it could be really nice. (Again: I always fear for other interfering, people can be annoyingly stupid and ignorant.)
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

Post by Kiyevanie »

Overnight options.. now that would be really, really cool! I'd even sleep in a hammock, no matter what my back would complain about in the morning!

What's really funny about that "aging" thing - people are actually smoking in that movie. We know Grace and her cigarette, of course, and in that picture you just posted there's a guy with a cigarette as well (do you know that I notice that guy for the first time now?). Somehow I'm sure that that's another thing Disney makes different in their park.
But yeah, expedition clothing is expedition clothing: simple, functional, sturdy, in blend-in colours. I've actually wondered a bit about that at first - would people still be wearing T-shirts and cargo pants in the future?
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Oh I am pretty sure that there are people smoking in those parks too (why shouldn't there and you can't really control everything people do anyways).


Well - it's 2018 now. Remember when you were in your teens and how everyone imagined 'the future' to look like? Is anything of that true? We've come so far time-wise and clothing is still bland and boring for the most parts (and especialyl in this country). As long as the materials are still available (sure - why wouldn't they metals and plastics are there too) and the practicality was never really challenged by anything else much mcuh better (which I highly doubt and if so it likely would be more costly) why change what works?

They also still use hand pipettes. One ofthe strongest points of the whole worldbuilding of the movie is surely that every technical aspect was made in a way you can understand and believe (with that one exception of course). Out in the field it's less about fancy new playthings and more about sturdy, tried and tested. So I can clearly see why they opted for this clothing.

Hmm - I wonder what the meals would be .... given where it is actually located some plain old fast food I fear.
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Nawmtirea
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Elyris wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:01 am Oh I am pretty sure that there are people smoking in those parks too (why shouldn't there and you can't really control everything people do anyways).
Remember, a smoker's pathetic habit is their problem and they have ZERO right to force a non-smoker to breathe their smoke. The right of a non-smoker to breathe clean air free from harmful and irritating tobacco smoke supercedes the choice to smoke when the two conflict.

Actually Elyris, all Disney parks, restaurants, transit and resorts are smoke free (even Disney Springs, formerly Downtown Disney, which is a city in itself full of shopping and upscale restaurants, is smoke free, even on the streets!) and smoking is allowed only in designated areas, of which there are very few, and Disney places them far out of the way so the smokers aren't bothering the normal people. Once in a while you get an ignorant smoker that thinks they can ignore the rules and smoke wherever they want, but that is getting increasingly rare (and they are usually tourists from countries with primitive smoking laws) as people like me will yell at them for being so ignorant, tell them that they have no right to force their filth into normal people, and knock the cigarette from their hand. Disney is a family oriented business, and 0% of children smoke, so they strictly enforce the smoking ban. Anyone who would smoke around someone else's children (or even their own) should be severely beaten. There is no smoking area at all in Pandora (the Animal Kingdom is even more strict with smoking and doesn't use straws or cup lids either for the protection of the animals), and I did not see a single person breaking this rule (or I would have stopped them). :twisted: People... change when they enter Pandora. It is so completely immersive and impressive that even people who have never seen the movie absolutely love it.

And yea, smoking in Avatar makes no sense, and that's the main complaint I would make to James Cameron about the movie, which makes it painfully obvious that he came up with the idea for Avatar decades ago when smoking was still allowed in public places. And smoking in a science lab? Come on, that's just stupid. It would have been funny to see a scene with Norm in the lab with Grace say "Grace, you contaminated the sample with your smoking".
In Ontario there is no smoking in any workplace, public transit or shelter, store, public park, outdoor patio, within 9m of the entrance to any building or in a vehicle with anyone under the age of 16 inside (yes, even your own private vehicle). 83% of adults in Canada do not smoke, and nobody is born a smoker, so why should normal people who had the intelligence not to smoke have to put up with the small percentage of weak minded filthy smokers? Thinking back to growing up in the 1970's and 1980's, it's unbelievable that smoking used to be allowed in restaurants, stores, and even on airplanes. I'm hypersensitive to cigarette smoke, and it used to be absolute torture, gasping for breath, having my right to breathe trampled upon, because of an 'effing smoker. It should be a crime to force innocent people to inhale your smoke (I call it "respiratory rape", and it should be treated that way, since a smoker is forcing something of theirs into the body of an innocent person against their will for the smoker's own selfish pleasure). I don't understand how smokers can be so inconsiderate and ignorant (I use that word a lot with smokers) just because they want their little nicotine fix. Smoking was their stupid, disgusting choice and they have absolutely zero right to force someone else to breathe their filth. If there were a magic extermination button I could press....

But wow, did I digress. Smokers bring out crazy Nawm. :hee:
Long story short, Disney, and Universal Studios, and pretty much any public place or attraction is smoke free now, finally. It was a long, hard fight for normal people's rights (I really don't like the term "non-smoker". I mean, someone who doesn't rape children isn't called a non-pedophile, so why should people with the intelligence not to smoke be called non-smokers. They're just normal people, who don't light things on fire and suck on them). If I can get around to it, I'm going to petition the Ontario government to finally ban smoking from all city streets and sidewalks too. You can't walk down a public street drinking alcohol (the other highly taxed and regulated "sin"), so why should you be able to walk down the street with a lit cigarette. It's the same as a person walking down the street drinking a beer and forcing everyone he passes to take a sip of his beer. Except that beer doesn't contain over 4000 noxious and carcinogenic chemicals. Why do smokers still get special treatment. It makes absolutely no sense. And they litter the streets and sidewalks with their cigarette butts. I don't smoke, but my front lawn is littered with cigarette butts from these disgusting pigs.

Ok, I think I'm done now. Time to go grab some lunch. Just remember Elyris, your rights come first and you have a right to protest and defend yourself when someone with less intelligence than you tries to violate your rights and your lungs.
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Elyris
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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:blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink:


OK OK - calm down mate *slowly backs out*

This is way more strict than here then, I guess. I ma always todl to respect other peoples choices, even when I don't like then (I especially hat that when I can't even leave the scene). I was never really encouraged to 'fight for my rights' .

I can cope wiht the smoking in the background. Why? It's stress reducing, calms the nerves and make go tiredness and hunger go away for a bit. Drugs have always been a staple for all things connected with being far away from home or knows territory, surrouded by mayn potential dangers - from whalers to soldiers. So it's not illogical to have some smokers there. And Grace? Well she's jsut a plain old rebel, I guess. Maybe trying to tell the management 'fack you too' that way (and soothing her damaged nerves). And of course you shouldn't smoke in a lab, but she's the boss, so I guess no one tries to take it from her (also might be dangerous to that person).

Neuroactive substances are a part of every culture. So trying to take that away completely won't work (or end up in a very bad place). So it's more about place and time. I think everyone should be free to do what they see fit for them. But: everybodys unlimited personal freedon ends where another ones is limited by just that.

I can be chill enough about stuff.

Say: What do they wiht and about the endemic flora and fauna?
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Nawmtirea
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

Post by Nawmtirea »

Elyris wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:11 pm
Say: What do they wiht and about the endemic flora and fauna?
Sorry, I don't quite understand the question.
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Regarding smoking... Here (Serbia) laws exist, and they are quite precise and strict (hefty fines for violators). The problem is, office space is usually smoke-free, and so are malls and supermarkets and similar places. But if you to go to bars (even smoke-free bars) you can't be sure that there will be no stink.
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Nawmtirea
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Oh yea, smoker stink. :sick: One of the halloween stores that we did staff makeup training for had an assistant manger who reeked so badly of smoke that I couldn't even speak properly when I was near her. It's so disgusting. I wouldn't have even hired her. I was very close to telling her how offensive her stench was. If it was my store, I wouldn't want my customers to have to deal with that. Smokers need to be informed when they reek, because they have no idea. It's like eating Limburger cheese. It smells absolutely horrible until you take that first bite, then you can't smell it any more because its a part of you. Luckily, and it's still a grey area that smokers obviously object to, but an employer here has a right not to hire smokers, which makes absolute sense from a business (and common sense) perspective because you want healthy employees that can work a full shift without thinking they are entitled to a smoke break every hour or so. A smoker costs an employer an extra $5800 per year in smoke breaks and extra health care costs, and they stink, so why would you hire one? If a person doesn't make intelligent choices for their own life, I wouldn't want them making decisions for my business either. Some companies have started giving non-smokers up to 6 extra vacation days to compensate them for the smokers constant smoke breaks and to encourage smokers to quit. Smokers have started whining that they are being discriminated against, but if you do something that others find absolutely disgusting do you really expect normal people to be accepting or respectful of you. We know from history that smokers have no respect for normal people, which is why we've had to pass laws, now they complain that they aren't respected. Smokers have had 30+ years to quit, and anyone under the age of 30 who smokes is just stupid. Why would I show any respect for a full grown adult who sucks on a pacifier like an infant?

Oh no! Flighter got me started again! :yay:

Ok, I'm done..... (for now!) :hee:
Unless you want to hear a few stories about my conflicts with smokers. ;)

But I guess we really should get this tread back on topic. :blink:

DISNEY'S PANDORA IS AWESOME! :happylove:
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Elyris
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Uhm. First off: I am not imperialistic enoug hto understand that way of thinking. People are always more important than 'buisenesses' without them nothing would work. SO anything trying to make a point for money and against humans automatically slides off. Smoker breaks are bad, yes. But to say smoking is also a bad thing because some busieness makes a bit less money from it might end up in saying taking more than 5 minutes over the whole day to go to the restroom is a costly thing and should be discouraged.
Secondly: We say smokers and no(n)-smokern. Smokers a normal people too. They're not running around shooting people or preaching that children outisde of a marriage are not worth a thing or something. They might not have made an smart choice but people do that all the time. To cut them out of everything like that would be considered an extreme violation of personal rights and as such discrimination.
The whole line of thinking is a bit liek the USA try to 'control' the drug problem- they attack the people but not the reason why drugs are being taken.
But then again: it's jsut easier that way, right? In early 19th century England you could get the death penalty for dozenz of crimes. No lower age treshold. "Oh so you stole bread becuase else you would've starved? Taht's abad thing to do - you go to jail for 5 years, doesn't matter that you're only 8. It's your fault after all - you could've go working in one of those huge meatgrinders they call factories ... you would die within a few years, but at least you wouldn't be a criminal. What do you say? You do work but he money won't last a month? Well - that has nothing to do wiht us. It's your fault so you pay for it."
Laisse faire, capitalism, imperialism is and alwas was desising of humans, despising of all life, to be honest depising of everything. It's for sure the most dangerous and destructive religion men ever created (and this is coming from someone born and raised in central europe - wo braought both over the world for centuries).

Nawm, what I meant was: There are real plants and animals around there. How do hey handle it? I mean - they can't keep a mosquitos, frogs or bugs from sneaking in. And there will also be plants growing that weren't planned to do so. Borders are men-made, nature doesn't care about fences.
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Huh - wow, I didn't wanna start such a discussion about smoking/non-smoking in here :omgg: I just know that the laws in the US (and obviously Canada too) are a lot more strict than they are over here, so I wondered how this got even into the movie - extrapolating the development from my youth (as a student I used to visit bars and cafes where you could barely see your hand before your eyes - just slightly exaggerated) and nowadays, where all offices/workplaces, restaurants, bars and so on are smoke-free I thought that in the 22nd century people wouldn't even know anymore what a cigarette really is.

@Elyris: Good question - there is fauna and flora around in Florida and they can't keep it out. Not the birds, the insects, floating seeds, all that.
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Wait for it and there'll be alligators and boas roaming around (the really "Everything out there is trying to kill you." feeling on the spot :geek:).

Yeah - that escalated quickly, huh ?
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Elyris wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 1:54 pm Wait for it and there'll be alligators and boas roaming around (the really "Everything out there is trying to kill you." feeling on the spot :geek:).

Yeah - that escalated quickly, huh ?

Actually, there is a sign just as you enter Pandora. I like the last rule at the bottom...

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Do not run from large animals. :D

And Disney offers free bug repellent to guests, but I didn't notice any bugs. No hellfire wasps either. :idiotic:

Of course the birds and squirrels go wherever they want. When we were at Universal Studios my son saw a flying squirrel jump down from the top of a really tall palm tree and glide right over the people below. :omgg:
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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:hoho: This is actullay fun (not that any of the visitors would likely know how to start a fire without matches 'n such). It's really not the best idea to run from an Alligator unless you can climb onto something high enough fast enough as those walking steaks-wrapped-in-handbags (joke) with teeth can get pretty fast (Ok - they do] look rather riduculous but it's still effective.

Hmm - wait for the summer to fully unfold ... it's still süringtime after all on the northern hemisphere and even in tropical environments plants and animals run on inner rythms.

It might not end up in hellfire wasps, but if you go unlucky you could find yourself in way to close proximity to a 'killerbees' nest (one of the more current prime examples why humans shouldn't fiddle around with nature in suhc a way - jeebus, that was stupid).

The squirrell didn't wore a mask and a cape by accident?
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

Post by Kiyevanie »

Yepp, that last line is fun (I guess they don't have free roaming Thanators there)... I was waiting for an addition like "and don't look them into the eye" :D
Elyris wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:05 pm
The squirrell didn't wore a mask and a cape by accident?
Thanks for THAT image in my mind :muhaha:
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

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Hero Squirrel :geek:
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Re: News on Disney "Avatar Land"

Post by CyanRachel »

Irayo nitxan, Nawmtirea, for sharing your photos from Pandora with us! You got some really great shots there! I was lucky enough to be there last November for AvatarMeet 2017, and seeing your photos make me want to go back there right now. :)
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Re: News on Disney's PANDORA: World of AVATAR

Post by Atokirina »

So Disney World just reopened this weekend, after having been closed for 3 months due to COVID-19. The park is running at 25% capacity.
The wait times for Flight of Passage are reportedly... 5 minutes!! (average wait time on a normal day: 2-3 hrs)

Too bad there's a 2 month wait to get into the park. And that Florida is facing a terrible spike in Covid cases. It's probably a good thing the borders are still closed, so we can't even go even if we wanted to take that risk.
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Re: News on Disney's PANDORA: World of AVATAR

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Not to mention the fact that travelling into and out of the US ain't exactly easy at the moment.
Too bad. Well - one day, one beautiful day I'll go there.
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Re: News on Disney's PANDORA: World of AVATAR

Post by Atokirina »

'Shocking' article from a few days ago!
https://insidethemagic.net/2020/08/anim ... urney-kc1/

At first it seemed like the Shaman of Songs has disappeared from the Na'vi River Journey attraction, and had been replaced with a screen.
Thanks to many comments on the original Instagram post, by now we know that the screens are installed as a so called B-mode, which is basically a back up for when a major animatronic breaks down and needs to be repaired. Many attractions have it. Of course they can't just leave her spot empty, and shutting down the ride would be even more disappointing for the visitors, so it's a fair alternative. She was back the next day.

Secondly, even more shocking, they're referring to her as BIG TOE!?! :oh: WTF kinda nickname is that? I'm deeply offended on her behalf. :offended:

EDIT: Ok, I have to continue geeking out for a bit after reading/watching more about her. Did you know that she is designed with swapable head, arms and hands for ease of maintenance? The reason why she is wearing so much accessories is to hide the seams! She is running for 16hrs a day, 365 days a year, with very little breaks, so I guess she deserves a day off every once in a while...
Here's a cool video of the animatronic behind the scenes/making off with a few cool close-ups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkvYbp31hM8
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