In February, Disney CEO Bob Iger shared on an earnings call that an Avatar experience was coming to Disneyland. “We’re going to bring a version of Avatar to Disneyland,” Iger said quite simply. This came after Avatar: The Way of Water had a very solid run at the box office and brought in $2.2 billion at the global box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of all time.
“In fact, if you look at the results when we put Pandora into Animal Kingdom from year to year they were stunning in terms of how many more people visited Animal Kingdom,” Iger said. This addition helped expand the park, add more capacity, and generate more income while also creating some incredible experiences.
Since the announcement was made, lots of speculation about what an Avatar experience could be and where it could go. On Wednesday, Disneyland Resort Ken Potrock addressed the topic to a group of Orange County business and civic leaders while sharing the vision of DisneylandForward. He shared he was surprised by the announcement. Three months later, there are still more questions than answers. However, there are few things that are known at this point that Potrock shared.
Showing a sense of humor, Potrock shared how the moment he learned about the project was the same moment everyone else did. He shared how the moment was, “By the way, a surprise to me. Not kidding. It’s great when you hear from your boss what you’re doing.” Several months later, the Disneyland Resort planners are still waiting to find out “what the heck we’re going to do” and where this Avatar experience will be finding a home at the Disneyland Resort.
“Our Imagineers are working with Jim Cameron and his team,” Potrock shared. “We’re going to share lots more details as they become available. By the way, as I become aware of what the heck we’re going to do. But stay tuned, it’s going to be really exciting. We’re thinking bold.”
All of this to say, the addition of an Avatar experience at the Disneyland Resort was a surprise it appears to Disneyland officials. It also is a work in progress with specifics not at a point that they can be shared. A big reason for this is they just haven’t been given to the team at Disneyland Resort yet either. While work continues on this project and it will be a bold change and addition to the resort, the details just haven’t been nailed down yet.
For now, until real details are announced officially by Disney, expect there to be plenty of discussion about what this experience could be and where it could go. Expect there to be rumors about the same. However, the reality of it is that with all that is going on at the Disneyland Resort, anything could happen!
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