Disney Update...AVATAR IS A GO!!!

Big things seem to be happening over at Disney Imagineering this week.  Avatar: The World of Pandora was announced well over a year ago to a surprised and excited public, since that time little... other than the problems the project has seen (Cameron and Disney on costs)... has surfaced to the public information level.

I am pleased to pass on that it looks like "green light to go" for the project.  Cameron has approved the final blueprints and designs for the area and Disney made some moves this week to step up the projects timeline.  Cameron has agreed to two major rides for the area instead of the three he was pushing for, and signed off on the project late last week according to sources. Combine this with the fact that Disney has recruited legendary environment and rockwork artist Zsolt Hormay back to the company to work under Joe Rohde creative lead for the project.  Hormay created some of Disney's most spectacular exteriors in the past 20 years. These include Mysterious Island at Tokyo DisneySea, the Tree of Life at Disneys Animal Kingdom, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris.

The new area will have what is labeled at this stage as one massive "E-ticket" attraction and one "C-ticket" attraction, along with numerous other shops and a rumored restaurant set in the nighttime glowing world of Pandora.  The "E" attraction is said to be a Sorain 2.0 on steroids.  The new attraction would appear to be housed inside a massive multi-floor building and looks to have four theaters.  Now the attraction is rumored to be a high intensity 3-D flight through the world of Pandora, but the catch is the ride car will be on a small track section with a multi point ride base that will allow for some intense movement. The "C" attraction appears to be an indoor/outdoor flume style attraction with guests boarding boats to see the world of Pandora "up-close".

Now remember this is all rumors and Disney is NOT talking about its plans at this stage. However, and there is always a however in this industry, blueprints have leaked that show the initial layout of the two attractions as well as hints as to what the buildings will contain. Bluprint one, shown below, indicates not only the layout of the 4 "Soarin" type theaters, but also the general traffic flow of the building, there is a wash station for 3-D glasses, four independent ride control stations, and other areas such as cast breakrooms, mechanics and other show related stuff.

Rumored Blueprint One

The second blueprint shows the same things but has some ride track details for the the "C" ticket attraction shown in the upper right hand corner and labeled as AH-5 or in the center "C ticket showbox". The blueprint clearly show that it will be an indoor/outdoor style attraction looking very similar to the Land pavilion at Epcot.

Once again this is all rumored information and we will have to wait and see what Disney announces in the coming months, but the information is concrete enough to show that the Avatar project is a go and the world of Pandora will be opening at Disney's Animal Kingdom sometime in 2015!!