Day 6:

So Kiki asked in a recent comment what my thoughts were on Avatar coming to Walt Disney World. Normally, that’s the kind of thing I’d do on a Kingdom Comedy video, but sadly I just don’t have the time these days. Also, I doubt we’ll talk much about it on the podcast since the other two probably don’t really care one way or the other. So I thought I’d give my thoughts here.

I’m of two minds on this. On one hand it makes perfect sense. Avatar is the biggest movie of all time. Kids loved it, adults loved it, I think even some pets loved it. Animal Kingdom is arguably the least attended park at Disney World, so even though the theme is bit of a stretch, it’s not a horrible idea. Plus the environments they could create would be amazing. Fleshing out the planet Pandora as an environment that we can interact with would be super cool. Especially if it’s done on with a similar level of detail that Universal put into Harry Potter. I’m sure they could get some great rides, stage shows, and character meet and greets out of it. They could even do a stunt show where we get to watch Na’vi fight it out with…whoever it is they’re fighting. (I don’t really remember the movie that well)

On the other hand, it just seems so…non-Disney. I wonder if this was how folks my age at the time felt when Star Wars came to the parks. I don’t know. It feels like it doesn’t belong. ESPECIALLY at Animal Kingdom? Are we calling the Native American allegories animals? Seems like a much more natural fit for Hollywood Studios. You could add a visit to Pandora to that somewhat lackluster “Studio Tour.” Plus that’s the park that Star Wars is in. What happens when the Empire visits Pandora? I dunno, but it would be fun to see. But mostly I have the same problem with devoting an entire “land” to Avatar that I do with Disney California Adventure’s upcoming Carsland…it’s a whole land for one film. (Yes, there are two Cars films now, but the land is clearly based off the first movie only. The second one wasn’t even finished when they were planning this place out). Avatar is just one movie. One ride and maybe a show would be fine…but a whole “land?!” Come now, let’s be reasonable. If there’s a Sci-Fi franchise that deserves a whole land to itself, it ain’t Avatar…I think you know where I’m going with this…