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Here Is What We Know About Pandora – The World Of Avatar At Walt Disney World

by Natalie KipperApril 2, 2017

May 27 marks the grand opening of a new “land” in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World: Pandora – The World of Avatar. Yes, it has been nearly ten years since James Cameron’s film, Avatar, which served as inspiration for the area, hit theaters but Disney is ready breath new life into the title and the movie’s world, Pandora. Loaded with two new attractions along with a variety of dining and shopping options, Pandora looks to be a something that sci-fi fans have dreamt of.

As you would expect from Disney, entering Pandora is an immersive experience. It is designed to make guests feel as though they truly have entered an alien planet. Pandora is “set” long after the conflict seen in the movie and the Na’vi and humans live in are now living in peace. Guests can look forward to seeing the world’s floating mountains (complete with waterfalls) and bioluminescent flora as they explore.

I know you want to hear more about the attraction so we will touch on those first. Also, I want to note that FastPass+ is available for booking for both of these attractions, provided you are visiting on or after May 27.

What I imagine to be the “E-ticket” attraction is the Avatar Flight of Passage. The thrill ride employs 3D and other special effects to give guests the feeling of riding their very own mountain banshee over the terrain of Pandora.

Pandora’s second attraction, Na’vi River Journey, can be seen in this article’s header image. The slow-moving boat ride provides up-close views of some the planet’s flora and fauna. The ride reaches its climax as the Na’vi Shaman of Songs performs a ceremony. This Audio-Animatronic figure is to scale with “real” Na’vi and measures over ten feet tall from a standing position.

Exploring Pandora is sure to build up an appetite. That is where the Satu’li Canteen located in the Valley of Mo’ara. Seeing as how you are in an alien territory, the food is certain to look a little different than what you might be used to and trust me, it does.

You can check out the full menu here but expect plenty of steamed buns (there is even a deconstructed cheeseburger one) and boba in places it has no business being. There are also several rice bowls and for the picky eaters, a less adventurous children’s menu. If all you want is a sip of something, you should check out Pongu Pongu, a specialty drink location.

So you rode rides, you ate food, what else is there? Well, shopping, of course! At Windtraders, guests will have the opportunity to view and hopefully purchase Avatar-themed products. Pandora will be the only place to buy these items. A nifty detail reported by WDW News Today is that unlike the rest of the property, Pandora will not have Disney Parks brands on their receipts and bags so as to maintain the feeling of being somewhere foreign. These items will instead carry the logo of Alpha Centauri Expeditions.

It looks as though this policy also carries over to their new merchandise. A quick look at the packaging for the new Na’vi Translator displays the Alpha Centauri Expeditions (or A.C.E.) logo in the upper right corner. We will be seeing many more of items with that image in the near future.

Disney will be churning out several new items that will interact with the world of Pandora. Remember how the landscape is bioluminescent? Imagine special shoes, and faux weapons (think spears and staves) that react to their environment. I am particularly intrigued the activity called “Banshee Connect,” in which guests can be matched to and bond with a robotic plush of the mountain banshees found in the Flight of Passage attraction. There will also be 3-D printing service called D-Tech “Avatar Me” that transforms guests into their Avatar counterparts and then prints out the result as a three-dimensional statuette.

What part of Pandora are you most excited to experience?

[sources: WDW News Today, Disney Parks Blog]

The Muppets Are Getting A Push At The Disney Theme Parks

by BigyanksOctober 5, 2016

Briefly: I knew that our resident Muppet Historian, Matthew Kelly, was headed to Walt Disney World soon, and me being the Disney addicted man child that I am, I wanted to share all of the new stuff at the parks. Too much to text, I told Jonathan that I would be submitting an article about it. Here’s an excerpt from our daily staff emails.

Jonathan: We will also see a rousing article from BigYanks. What’s it called, Yanks?
Danny: It’s called “A Salute to All Things Disney, But Mostly The Muppets”.
Jonathan: Yanks, are you ready with that article?
Danny: It’s a glorious three-volume book!
Jonathan: You got a six paragraph limit.

The Muppets might be down, but they aren’t out yet.

The Muppets entered into a resurgence with the surprise hit of ‘The Muppets’ movie in 2011 written by Jason Segal. So of course the next logical thing Disney did was went ahead and green lit a sequel. This time with no Jason Segal ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ fell flat and wasn’t so well received. The film didn’t match any of the hype, charm or fandom of the first film. But still The Muppets where still in the spotlight and Disney gave the brand a second chance and went ahead with a television pilot.

The announcement of ‘The Muppets’ television show got the fans up in a frenzy and excited for something fresh. The show was being developed by Muppet Journeyman and ‘Big Bang Theory’ Co-Creator, Bill Pardy. The show brought the gang back taking on more adult themes that were similar to that of The Office and Larry Sanders Show. This left some die hards unsure what to think of it and the show was met with very mixed reviews. Some parents were even outraged that show wasn’t accessible to younger audience members, failing to realize this was a primetime show on a network, not the Disney Chanel. Even with plot changes made to try and bring the viewers it was too little too late and ABC cancelled it at the end of the season.

The Muppet’s Disney future was looking bleak.

Now news of Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studio were announced and rumors were swirling of what areas would be razed to make space. With ‘Muppets Vision 3D’ in close proximity of Star Tours it felt inevitable that the Muppets may have met their match at the theme parks. Then it was announced that the The Muppets were indeed staying and getting its own area at the park. The are would getting refurbished along with a name change, Welcome to ‘Muppets Courtyard’. One of the first changes coming soon is the conversion of the old ‘Toy Story Pizza Planet’ into the Muppets themed ‘PizzeRizzo’. The backstory being that Rizzo and has vast amount of family members are running the restaurant much like his French cousin Remy. With no other news of the fate of the remaining structures in the area, i’m hoping for an overhaul. If we can only get a updated ‘Muppet Vision 3D’ attraction similar to that of ‘Soarin’ over at EPCOT. That show is feeling very dated and the theater could use some sprucing up. This attraction was also the only way to see a living Muppet. It being a 4-D Attraction, Sweetums would make a quick appearance while the gang searched for Bean Bunny. Hopefully we can now get the characters back for meet and greets.

In another surprise move by Disney, they announced this fall, the Muppets will be at the Magic Kingdom Park, where they’ll take part in an all-new live show, “The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History.” The show will feature Sam Eagle, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo and James Jefferson, the town crier of Liberty Square. They gather outside The Hall of Presidents to present historical tales as only they can. From the midnight ride of Paul Revere to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Muppets appear throughout the day to share with Guests, their own unique take on the founding fathers and the birth of the United States of America. The Shows had their debuts this week and were met with high praise for keeping with the ideology of the Liberty Square area in a hysterical fashion.

Just one day later, the powers that be decided to dust off the cobwebs out of an old fan favorite and brought back the ‘Muppets Mobile Lab’ over at EPCOT. The mobile interactive show stars Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his lab assistant Beaker. The characters come to life by interacting with the crowd in simple hysterical experiments all at the expense of Beaker of course.

With such an unexpected push by the company at the theme parks the future is looking bright now for The Muppets. There is no denying that there is some money to be made with the brand but they were striking out in the movies and television department, the next logical step would be to bring back the nostalgia via appearances at the parks. I’m so ecstatic to be able to go back to the parks and catch a real life glimpse of the muppets. Heres to hoping that things take off and we get even more of The Muppets including photo-ops and special events.

The Force Has Awoken at Disney Theme Parks, With More To Come!

by BigyanksAugust 1, 2016

Star Wars has always had its place in Disney history, with the always popular Star Tours ride, Jedi Training Academy and the now defunct Star Wars Weekend at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (the latter adding somewhat of a convention feel to the parks). The Disney characters would come out to Star Wars costumes, Star Wars themed parades, actors from the films would be present on certain weekends for picturess and autographs, they would even host special themed stage shows. Like the always popular Hyperspace Hoopla and themed fireworks. Disney really went all out during those weekends.

With the acquisition of the Star Wars property it was just a matter of time before Disney would ramp it up and make it a permanent mainstay at the parks. At last years D23 that is exactly what happened, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced Star Wars Land for both Disney World and Disneyland. Then, with the announcement of the conclusion of Star Wars Weekends and of the also popular holiday “The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights”, we were now one step closer to having Star Wars Land.

I recently took my annual family trip out to Walt Disney World at the same time that the Star Wars Celebration was going on across the pond in Europe. Between all of the theme park stuff and all of the news announcements, I wasn’t expecting a Star Wars overload while on vacation.

First off, I had never been to any of the Star Wars weekends, and didn’t know what to expect of the new offerings that the parks started this Summer. With half of Hollywood Studios closed off with construction walls, Disney added the Star Wars Launch Bay which actually made its debut before the release of The Force Awakens and the most recently added Captain Phasma Storm Trooper March, Star Wars: A Galaxy Far Far Away, and Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular.

Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple

This kid participation show recently was revamped by receiving a Star Wars: Rebels overlay. Kids now receive training with characters that resembles our rebel heroes and encounter the Seventh Sister Inquisitor and Darth Vader. At the end of the trials they face off on a third villain which I believe varies day to day, I have seen videos of Darth Maul, but witnessed it being Kylo Ren. It’s a cool show for the little ones especially if they get to brag about facing off big Star War Villains.

Star Tours – The Adventure Continues

This ride had huge fan fare and a resurgence in popularity when it received a upgrade back in 2011. With the inclusion of multiples scenes, there are now 96 scene combinations to this ride resulting in a myriad of different ride experiences. The ride now includes 2 new Force Awakens scenes. I was lucky enough to receive both new scenes in my ride combination. First, after the speedster warps, they now land in Jakku where you’re now following the Millennium Falcon while being chased by TIE Fighters, and we then receive an incoming message from Finn. Now this scenes is the best of them all for the simple fact that your are now playing out the chase scene from the movie. I was completely overjoyed feeling like I was in the actual Jakku scene from the movie. After that, the speedster warps again and we receive a special transmission from BB-8 regarding a special mission. I always enjoyed this ride but for you continuity nerds like me, you have to heavily forgive it. There are scenes/characters from the prequels and original trilogy that also used. So the following scene of being warped to the Death Star and fighting Bobba Fett was a bit jarring. Still Fun!

Captain Phasma’s First Order Stormtrooper March

This march actually has a bit of prologue to it. Before each march starts, two Stormtroopers walk from the Launch Bay to the center stage clearing out the path and interacting with park guests. It was really cool to witness, they stopped my wife and harassed her for identification while the other trooper was trying to disperse the huge crowd following them.

The march takes place from the Launch Bay area to the center stage. Once at the stage Captain Phasma orders the trooper to perform some tasks to showcase the might of the First Order. Once I finished watching this I was impressed by the character and texted Jonathan how the park show redeemed her as a character. This show is is very short, and not much besides that.

Star Wars: A Galaxy Far Far Away

This is another live action show that features various characters from all seven films. The stage show starts off with a highlight reel of the seven movies that kind of focuses on the incoming character. We get to see C-3PO, R2D2, Chewbacca, Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Bobba Fett, First Order Troopers along with Captain Phasma, Kylo Ren and BB-8. Depending on the character, certain pyrotechnics would go off to add to the effect of presence on stage.

Star Wars Launch Bay

This area, which was formally Animation Courtyard would be a celebration of Disney animation showcasing behind the scenes looks at the process and a display of items used in the current movie. They would also host various popular character meet and greets. Depending on the newest Disney movie out, the area would get a quick re-theme to match the current hit, like for my prior trip it was themed for Wreck-It Ralph. The main stay was always Sorcerer Mickey and Mr. Incredible with Frozone.

Now the area was completely reworked for the sole purpose of Star Wars. When you first enter the area you can opt to watch a 10 minute video clip that works as an update of what going on with the Star Wars Cinematic Universe. After that you ushered into a hall with a bunch of props from the Star Wars Universe. I was happy to see Star Wars Rebels get some love with items replicated into the real world for display. after you work you way around a pod racer you find two separate lines for Kylo Ren and Chewbacca with more props on display to keep you busy while on line. Meeting them was a blast. For Kylo Ren you’re instructed to stand at attention while Kylo Measures you up.

One of the big surprises for me was when we were about to walk out and I stumbled upon a makeshift Cantina with two Jawas walking around dancing and taking pictures. This automatically triggered my memory of this area and I remembered that you can actually trade with them. So after some back and forth bantering and pictures I asked to make a trade, they pulled out a droid leg filled with trinkets. I lost it, they have thought of everything. I traded my sunglasses for a bar of soap and a jewel. they were ecstatic and parading the sunglasses around. I took a celebratory drink of blue milk and went on my merry way.

It wouldn’t be Disney if you didn’t exit through a gift shop. If you are rich and wanted something Star Wars related from this trip, this was the place to get it. I saw things here for sale that I didn’t expect from full blown costumes to the Medals awarded at the end of Episode IV. I’m poor enough, so we opted to each get a Star Wars name tag, which caused a great debate of what our ranks would be.

Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular

This was by far one of the most impressive fireworks display I have seen at Disney World. With a combination of lasers, projections and fireworks. The show is displayed in three “acts”. The first act covers the phenomena that is Star Wars and the magic that brought it to life.

The second act is about the movies and really brings you into the fold. This show is not for the casuals, different scenes are displayed from all seven films so it can be hard to follow. The greatest part of the section was when action is being portrayed on the projection. There was a scene with AT-AT walkers shooting towards the audience and the red lasers shoot across triggering pyrotechnics behind us. The other scene that stood out to me was the Emperor using force lightning and the projections just spreading across the area was so cool. It was just simply amazing.

The Third acts brings it back to being about the movies as whole and setting up the big finale. Different scenes are played out from each movie which are now creating a giant poster of every film until the finale of the iconic pose of Luke Skywalker’s hands clasped together on a lightsaber over the Chinese Theater sending up a giant beam of light into the air as to announce to the world that Star Wars has arrived at the Disney parks.

Just some notes I made from my observations of all the new stuff:

– They really focus on Kylo Ren’s temper tantrum. It gets displayed twice on two separate stage shows.

– Some of the continuity issues bother me, especially on Star Tours. But beggars can’t be choosers.

– The amount of silly merchandise is getting staggering. I saw a $15 popcorn bucket of a tie fighter that could barely hold any popcorn to begin with and the actual thing was massive. Also the Han Solo frozen in carbonite popcorn holder is just wrong.

– All the characters were great in keeping with my expectations of how they would act in the real world, with the exception of Chewbacca who seemed a bit tired.

I’m a sucker for nostalgia and I will miss all the old offerings from Hollywood Studios, but I cant wait for Toy Story Land and Star Wars to open. I fell completely in love with the the new Star Wars area and was just in awe of what could be coming once the Star Wars Land is completed. I’m sure not everything has been revealed to us of what’s to come. What we know so far is that there will be a full functioning Cantina, A Millennium Falcon Ride, and a ride centered around a battle between The First Order and and the Rebels.

On this trip I had the pleasure of visiting Hogwarts and Diagon Alley over at Universal Studios and was completely blown away to the attention to detail that i spent over 2 hours at each area soaking it all up. So if Star Wars Land is to serve as an answer to that, I can only imagine Disney is going to pull all the stops to make this the greatest add-on in theme park history.

Disney Releases More Info On AVATAR’s Pandora At Animal Kingdom

by Natalie KipperApril 28, 2016

Besides fan blogs’ accounts of constructions at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, news of progress on Pandora, the upcoming area in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom themed to James Cameron’s AVATAR, have been few and far between. Okay, they have been pretty much nonexistent. The Official Disney Parks Blog finally posted some snippets and photos earlier today and I must say I am disappointed.

Let’s be honest: the “buzz” surrounding AVATAR has all but fizzled out. I get that company money is a tad scarce lately (blame Shanghai Disneyland) but they really should have put more focus on opening this “land” sooner. And to make matters worse, these images of ambitious concepts are making the already far-off 2017 opening window look unrealistic.

Don’t get me wrong; I would love to be proven incorrect about Pandora. I am a huge Disney fan and fervently want the Parks to succeed. But I can’t see this business move as anything but a mistake.

Am I completely off-base? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!