News Disney California Adventure Project 2029 (?): Avatar Land feat. Boat Ride

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Zachary

Zachary

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Though we have known for a while that Avatar in some form would be coming to California, last night at D23 Disney formally announced that a full, new, original Avatar land would be added to Disney California Adventure alongside a major new boat ride attraction.

Official announcement:

disneyparksblog.com

Avatar Updates Announced for Disney California Adventure - Disney Parks Blog

Pack your bags, we’re heading to Pandora! In the future, you’ll be greeting everyone with Oel ngati kameie — that’s “I see you” in Na’vi — when this all-new exciting destination arrives at the Disneyland Resort with awe-inspiring sights and experiences. As Disney Experiences Chairman Josh...
disneyparksblog.com disneyparksblog.com

Full-res concept art:

DLR_Avatar_Experience_Aerial.jpg DLR_Avatar_Attraction.jpg DLR_Avatar_Attraction1-1.jpg


I absolutely adore this addition. The fact that the entire land is not only structured differently and features different attractions than what exists in Florida, but also that this new land will be themed around an entirely different environment on Pandora is just incredible. If the rumors are true and this is the first domestic implementation of the Shanghai Pirates ride system, that's just yet another reason to be massively hyped for this expansion. Easily one of the biggest wins of the night in my opinion.
 
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I want to see more of this with attractions being different and the lands being slightly different in the same sandbox. I think it helps each park feel special and different in each resort.
 
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warfelg said:
I want to see more of this with attractions being different and the lands being slightly different in the same sandbox. I think it helps each park feel special and different in each resort.
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Totally agree with you! I think Galaxy's Edge being the same was a mistake. These massive IP have plenty of variety to allow unique destinations at each park.
 
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my guess that the new avatar & coco attractions will be part of the disneyland forwards project, but where are they going to put the walkway, my guess is that they would relocate the workers only road and use the gate part between inside out & boardwalk restaurant as the entrance of the new expansion area (this could work if coco is first part of the expansion & avatar the second part of the expansion
 
They are absolutely buying time in the case of a course correction.

Doing this project would happen pretty far down the line anyhow since it involves jutting out DCA's footprint north into all the transport drop-off zones, which are due to be relocated east to a new parking and transit facility that is only now under construction. That needs to be east.

Also Disneyland management have been contentious about it reportedly because building Avatar means they'd have to build and maintain another complicated water treatment facility, while a dark ride would not require that.

Both Zootopia 3 and future Avatar films are in the works, they will gage interest and performances before making the go or no go. If they absolutely need to save face somehow they can always find a way to shift the Water realm project to Pandora at Animal Kingdom.
 
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TPoseOnTantrum said:
They are absolutely buying time in the case of a course correction.
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harry580 said:
I be surpsied if they saved avatar for a potential third park
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Personally, if they replace the front of the park with another Monsters Inc land (maybe do a custom-fit version of the Florida suspended coaster accounting for the Monorail track), that would blend with the cityscape a bit better than Pandora in that corner of the park. Also a bonus of giving DLR its first real, new coaster in a few decades - not counting retracks, DCA's opening was the last time they added any new coasters to the resort. Also, if they cloned the Mupptvision replacement show, they could put that in the old Muppetvision/current Philharmagic theater, which is nearly identical on the inside as far as a build-out goes. It wouldn't take much to change over the rest of that land into a Monstropolis.

If they still wanted to do Pandora, send it over to the Simba lot and bridge over Disneyland Drive. That would at least give them a lot more land to work with and allow them to master-plan a larger park expansion with proper build-up to entering the land. That to me sounds more preferable over shoving it in a corner with no room to breathe.
 
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So reportedly this was going to be the resort's big 75th anniversary project, but executives decided it wasn't large enough in scale and really wanted something connected to Disneyland instead, hence Tomorrowland 2030 being given the green light. Avatar is now intended for the 20th anniversary of DCA 2.0, which would be a 2032 opening. That gives Disney about two more years before they have to actually make a full commitment to the project.

My gut feeling is that at the next D23 they announce that Zootopia is coming to Hollywood Land and Avatar gets reworked into a future project elsewhere at the resort. I do think it would be a pretty cool ride, but it's not a great fit in the current location and would probably be better saved as part of the expansion plot.
 
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amperedragon said:
So reportedly this was going to be the resort's big 75th anniversary project, but executives decided it wasn't large enough in scale and really wanted something connected to Disneyland instead, hence Tomorrowland 2030 being given the green light. Avatar is now intended for the 20th anniversary of DCA 2.0, which would be a 2032 opening. That gives Disney about two more years before they have to actually make a full commitment to the project.

My gut feeling is that at the next D23 they announce that Zootopia is coming to Hollywood Land and Avatar gets reworked into a future project elsewhere at the resort. I do think it would be a pretty cool ride, but it's not a great fit in the current location and would probably be better saved as part of the expansion plot.
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Yeah that’s my pick too. I think Zootopia would do wonders here…especially a trackless dark ride like Hot Pursuit
 
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