ARTWORK & VIDEO: Disney Reveals AVATAR-Land Model & Gives First Look at Bio-luminescent Plants

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During a recent meeting with James Cameron, the team at Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Parks management showed Cameron the latest progress on the AVATAR land being built at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. Above you’ll see the latest model for the land, and below you’ll see a video where Cameron take s a look at some of the nighttime bio-luminescent effects guests will find in the land:

If you look closely around the 0:11 mark, you’ll see artwork for some sort of drummer entertainment group for the land in the background. Besides that, there is a lot of blurred-out or hard to see plans hanging on the walls behind them.

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What we can see looks pretty interesting. What do you think?

Upcoming Attractions from Around the World Added to Updated “One Man’s Dream” Exhibit Finale at Hollywood Studios

When “The Legacy Continues” section of “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” debuted a few years ago, we were promised that the previews of upcoming attractions and such from the company would be updated regularly. Just last week, the boards representing each Disney resort around the world were updated:

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Completed projects and the upcoming Little Mermaid show at Tokyo DisneySea are showcased

Hong Kong Disneyland focuses on the last major addition, Mystic Manor

Disneyland Resort features some recent projects, but also the upcoming 60th anniversary

Shanghai has added artwork for the Garden of the Twelve Friends and the Pirate area of the park

Some recent additions for Disney Cruise Line

Walt Disney World’s section focuses only on Animal Kingdom

The boat ride is happening…

 

Lots of exciting things on the way!

Tom Corless’ 12/8/14 WDW Photo Report (Hub Remodel, New Magic Kingdom Merchandise, Animal Kingdom Construction, ETC.)

I recently visited the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom theme parks at Walt Disney World and have plenty of newsworthy photos to share with you from my trip, so let’s see what’s new and exciting:

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We begin with the latest progress on the Hub at the Magic Kingdom

It may look rough, but with some dirt moved, some lamps installed, and some concrete poured, this is done

The other side looks a lot more complete

Most of the lamp & speaker towers are already installed here, leading us to believe this side will open by Christmas week

The new lampposts are nice, but I will miss the green coloring on everything…

A look over the walls from the other side

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So… this happened…

Anyway… there are touch-points at the exit of Splash Mountain now to claim your photos

Provided everyone kept their clothes on, you can tap this to get your pictures

The “Made with Magic” wand is now out

You can change the color of other Made with Magic items

An incredible new line of Magic Kingdom merchandise has been released

I LOVE this notebook

Not related, but a new shirt

Some 2015 items are out

iPhone 6 Plus cases have arrived in GIANT packaging

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, work continues on the new pathway on Discovery Island

Walls in front of the Tree of Life were pushed back

So there’s a new area with planters that has been revealed

New Animal Kingdom merchandise

Not much new to see at the walls to AVATAR

Can’t see much at the future site of the Africa Marketplace either

Rivers of Light construction still isn’t much to look at yet…

The other side of Disney Outfitters and the new walkway through Discovery Island

Some people believe the work near Flame Tree BBQ is for a covered queue, but it looks like a service window to me…

It’s fairly small, but has openings on each side…

I’m guessing Starbucks or maybe a place to offer picnic packages once Rivers of Light begins in 2016

A look at the new path in front of the Tree of Life

Expedition Everest also has touch-points to claim photos as well

Not quite as well themed as some of the other ones…

I at first was excited about this Expedition Everest shirt

Until I saw that i had the wrong year…

Animal Kingdom is open after dark most nights currently, so if you can, get over there and do some walking around with the park’s light son (yes, they have lights)

 

See? LIGHTS!

AVATAR at Animal Kingdom: New Details on Banshee Attraction; Boat Ride Canned?

Bob Iger was certainly busy telling everyone about the plans for the Disney Parks yesterday, and the long-running, controversial, and enormously-budgeted AVATAR project wasn’t left out. Iger recently scaled some scaffolding at Walt Disney Imagineering and took a test-ride on a mock-up of the Banshee ride for the new Animal Kingdom theme park land.

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“It felt so real, so lifelike, there’s never been anything like it.”

The vehicles will be the banshees themselves, with movements that should “mimic a breathing beast”. Think of it as a next-generation Soarin’, but the environment on-screen will be presented hi-def 3-D as you ride in a giant alien creature.

The boat ride attraction for the AVATAR land was not mentioned as many report rumors that it may no longer be part of the project.

Dirk Wallen’s 11/3/14 WDW Photo Report (Walls Down at Disney Springs, New Concept Art, Big Hero 6, Christmas Merch, ETC)

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Disney Springs, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot this week and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us in this HUGE photo report, so let’s get started:

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Plenty of roadwork still to be done for Disney Springs

A new piece of elevated track is rising on the West Side, between Splitsville and Wolfgang Puck

We now know this large building with be the Boathouse

Disney announced this new restaurant concept last week

They wasted no time in adding ads to the walls for the restaurant

Concept art for the façade of the Boathouse

The small waterside park in The Landing opened this weekend

A nice little area for relaxing and live entertainment

Some of the buildings are out from behind construction walls in The Landing

New concept art for the area now on construction walls

There is a giant inflatable Baymax from Big Hero 6 on the West Side…

These storefronts in The Landing are just about done

The bridge in the Marketplace is also nearing completion

Two small, temporary stores operated by Something Silver opened by Fulton’s recently

The Marketplace bridge with the Rainforest Café façade refurbishment in the background

Shifting gears, Christmas merchandise has invaded the resort

Ornaments

Some Star Wars holiday pins were released

Plenty of Big Hero 6 merchandise is available around the resort

2015 calendars available

New “I Conquered” shirt

Iron Man and Captain America shirts

New Star Wars character glasses

New Darth Vader t-shirt

Some new merchandise was released at the Art of Animation Resort

Over at Epcot, walls finally came down around the area that was closed when a water main was hit after the Flower and Garden Festival

No visible progress at Norway’s Frozen attraction

We tweeted these weeks ago, but if you haven’t seen, some new retro EPCOT Center merchandise has been released

A quick stop at Animal Kingdom reveals work walls near Pangani Forest and Kilimanjaro Safaris

No visible changes at AVATAR, it’s impossible to see from inside the park

Moving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, work continues on Starbucks and the Trolley Car Café

Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey…

Big Hero 6 merchandise carts replace the Frozen carts

Banners up in the Animation Courtyard

Work has finally begun on the Big Hero 6 meet and greet inside The Magic of Disney Animation

Big Hero 6 billboard by The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow

Let’s journey inside the new Wandering Oaken’s

Purchase with purchase Frozen bag available

Jim Shore has released some Frozen statues

Osborne Lights are ready to go

No more Backlot Tour…

9/16/14 Walt Disney World Photo Report (Rivers of Light Construction, AVATAR, Polynesian DVC, Magic Kingdom, ETC.)

WDWNT Reporters Joe Hogarty and Dirk Wallen have been busy visiting the parks this week and have some great photos from Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Work continues on the Disney Vacation Club wing at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

A look at the current progress on the bungalows

Work is also continuing on the hub project at the Magic Kingdom

The Halloween statues are finally in the hub for this year

Meanwhile, the permanent hub statues have been removed for future construction, but should return next year

Olaf? Kind of looks like Dilbert…

The crane is up behind Cinderella Castle installing Elsa’s magic…

They finally installed a permanent sign telling guests they can see Anna and Elsa in the parade if they don’t want to wait forever

The former Seven Dwarfs Mine shop is still behind walls

The Astro Orbiter wraps up its refurbishment on September 27th

The Disney Vacation Club booth in Tomorrowland is behind walls, hopefully for some fresh paint since bulldozing this would see the removal of the last former ticket booth left inside of the park

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Joe Hogarty visited Animal Kingdom to check out all of the construction happening there

Discovery Island is still quite a mess as they build a new breezeway for easier exiting from the new nighttime show, Rivers of Light

You can see workers out fixing the Tree of Life during the park’s operating hours as they race to meet deadlines

Some of the walls will be up for a few months, so Disney has done their best to make them a good photo-op in some areas

“it’s tough to be a bug” is still closed until September 27th

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Walls up by Flame Tree Barbecue

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Another look at the work on the Tree of Life

Construction has begun on Rivers of Light, the new nighttime show for the park

A large viewing area will be constructed along the section of the Discovery River that separates Dinoland and Asia

It will be at least a good 18 months until you can get those glamor shots of Everest again thanks to the construction walls

But, there’s quality photo-ops like this one…

No Dream Builders signs being used here, “Disney’s animal Kingdom is about to show a whole new side”

There are a lot of walls…

These walls appear along the Theater in the Wild stroller parking path in Dinoland

Another look at the home to Rivers of Light

Shall we peek into AVATAR-land?

Nothing too exciting yet…

Dirk Wallen’s 8/28/14 WDW Photo Report (Animal Kingdom, All-Star Resorts)

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s All-Star Music Resort earlier this week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look at what’s new:

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The Tree of Life behind walls as work is being done to repair it and prepare for the new nighttime lighting that will illuminate the tree in the evening.

A new pathway is being cleared out behind Disney Outfitters, likely a new path to help guests exit faster when leaving after Rivers of Light

The path will cut straight through to the other side near Flame Tree BBQ

Walls are also up at Flame Tree BBQ

“it’s tough to be a bug” is closed for a few more weeks until work is completed at the Tree of Life

The new path around the marketplace in Africa is also still behind walls

We can see cranes, but not much else happening over in AVATAR-land

The food court at All-Star Music is getting an overhaul, so you can either dine in the temporary dining location or grab a bus to All-Star Movies

The temporary dining location is in the arcade

Cameron Speaks – Pandora: The Land of AVATAR? Most Advanced Audio-Animatronics Ever?

“It’s going to be called, I believe, Pandora: The Land of Avatar”

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James Cameron recently spoke to the media at the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Film Festival about the upcoming “AVATAR Land” project for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. According to /Film, he had the following to say:

It’s going to have floating mountains. It’s pretty cool. I’ve seen the model and the design work the Imagineering people have done is spectacular. They’ve got a quarter inch to the foot scale model of the whole park and I’ve looked at all the sight lines…it’s not a park, it’s a land within the park but a land is not just a ride. There will be several rides and a number of other attractions. It’s really just a place you’re gonna wanna go and hang out. It’s gonna be gorgeous. Of course it’s gonna be gorgeous at night and they’re using every new trick, every new bit of technology that they’ve created.

The animatronics for the Na’vi characters are gonna be fantastic. For example, their early animatronics would use 12 axis of motion and I think the most they’ve ever done was 32 axis recently. I think they’re up to 64 just in the face of the Na’vi characters. So it’s gonna be remarkable. They really see it as a major, major attraction.

If what Cameron says is to be believed, we may be in for something really special…

The AVATAR area at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is scheduled to open in early 2017.

6/16/14 Walt Disney World Photo Report (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs)

In an effort to best keep you updated with what is going on at Walt Disney World, we will be providing a comprehensive photo report every Monday. Should we attend anything of note during the week, we will of course continue to post videos and smaller photo reports on other weekdays, but Monday will offer the largest and most detailed on a weekly basis. With that being said, let’s dive in and see what’s new as of June 16th, 2014:

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Avatar construcvtion is in full swing at Animal Kingdom and you can clearly see the cranes over the tree-line from the parking lot

A Lion King musical “ocarina” mug is now for sale at the Harambe Popcorn cart

It comes with sheet music to show you how to play a few Disney songs

Some work happening by this gate between Africa and Asia

Walls also up by Creature Comforts on Discovery Island

Moving on to Disney Springs, work continues on Food Truck Park on the West Side

More of the elevated area that is supposed to be abandoned train tracks has appeared in the park area

A soccer store called United World Soccer has opened on the West Side, just in time for the World Cup

The store was quite busy on Saturday, but it was Car Masters Weekend

Pleasure Island continues its conversion into The Landing

Construction finally happening in the old Harley-Davidson location

The waterway between Pleasure Island and Marketplace is behind walls, also, one of the old PI train ticket booths is gone

Work continues outside of Fulton’s and Portobello

The latest progress on the new Marketplace bridge

The area between T-Rex and the LEGO store is a mess right now

Reminds me of 2010 at Disney California Adventure

The former site of Pollo Campero

Looking towards World of Disney

If you go this way, you will be funneled into LEGO

A look at the lake from the LEGO area

I hit Marketplace Co-Op to pick up some things and also tried my hand at creating a phone case. The process is fairly simple…

Moving over to Epcot, removal of the Flower and Garden Festival is still taking place… more on that later…

The Odyssey is actually open and hosting World Cup viewing all-day long

Come on in!

The interior is nicely decorated

There’s even a physical board they will update through the rounds of the World Cup

Tables and chairs are set-up inside, but there are also some cushy leather chairs in the first two rows in front of the big screen

The side pockets of the room are also filled with chairs and smaller screens

Some modest food offerings inside as well

There’s even a store filled with Epcot World Cup merchandise!

So, where the butterfly garden was located, apparently the workers hit a water main and now the entire area is being excavated…

No Figment comics remaining at Imagination!, they sold out pretty quick

As a result of the damaged water main, the Imagination! waterfall is off

Some ponds in the area have been drained as well

Olaf carrot cake cupcake for sale at the Main Street Bakery

There’s also a Frozen cupcake

We had dinner at the Be Our Guest Restaurant last night…

It had been a little while since we had been here, but the menu again had some new additions and price hikes

The current kid’s menu

The grey stuff is now offered as a dessert, served on top of a chocolate cake. It was still delicious!

6/20/14 Aerial Pictures of AVATAR Construction at Animal Kingdom

WDWNT Reporter Nick LoCicero took to the skies over Disney’s Animal Kingdom this morning to see the progress on the AVATAR area at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and lucky for us, he brought a camera with him to snap some shots of the work completed so far:

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A look from afar

As you can see, there is nothing left of Camp Minnie-Mickey at this point, all of the land is cleared

Two large cranes stand at the site

You can see the new Harambe Theatre in the distance

Stay tuned as we’ll be continuing these aerial updates as work progresses on the AVATAR land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom