Walt Disney Imagineering is teaming up with boundary-pushing filmmaker James Cameron on a “bold” new Avatar experience for the Disneyland resort that came as a surprise to fans and the top brass at the Anaheim theme park when it was first revealed by Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock shared his “surprise” at Iger’s unexpected announcement during the OC Forum event held on Wednesday, May 18 at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.
“And lastly, a project that was announced by Bob Iger,” Potrock told the OC Forum audience. “By the way, a surprise to me. Not kidding. It’s great when you hear from your boss what you’re doing.”
Potrock’s comments on the upcoming Avatar experience came at the end of a rundown of $2 billion in projects currently underway across the Disneyland resort.
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Iger’s seemingly off-the-cuff announcement in February set off a firestorm of speculation by Mouse Watchers all wondering the same thing: Where is this new “experience” going to be built at the Anaheim theme park resort?
Three months later, Disneyland planners are still waiting to find out “what the heck we’re going to do” and how the Avatar experience will fit into the 500-acre theme park resort.
“Our Imagineers are working with Jim Cameron and his team,” Potrock said. “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.”
Potrock’s joking and jesting comments drew laughter from the hundreds of business and city leaders in the audience at the OC Forum.
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Iger mentioned the Disneyland Avatar experience as an aside during a quarterly earnings call just as the 2022 “Avatar: The Way of Water” became the fourth highest-grossing film of all time with $2.2 billion at the global box office.
“We’re going to bring a version of Avatar to Disneyland,” Iger said on the call in February.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” has since moved into the third spot on the list of all-time top grossing movies — inching ahead of Cameron’s “Titanic.” The original 2009 “Avatar” remains atop the all-time box office list with a $2.9 billion lifetime gross, according to Box Office Mojo.
The Pandora: The World of Avatar themed land increased capacity at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and helped grow Disney’s theme park business, Iger said on the call.
“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 on the call.
The 12-acre Avatar themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom features Pandora’s floating mountains, bioluminescent plants and two major attractions – the Avatar Flight of Passage 3D flight simulator and the Na’vi River Journey water ride. The land also includes the Satu’li Canteen quick service restaurant and Windtraders gift shop.
