| # | Author | Message |
21
| Dr Hans Reinhardt
Sun 12/9/2012 11:37a | I figured it wasn't really photoshopped, but it kind of looks like it was. |
22
| Kennesaw Tom
Sun 12/9/2012 1:37p | <<I've lost count how many different incarnations of this stupid land have been milled in the shop.>>
That statement actually makes me feel better about this whole Avatarland thing. Lets keep our fingers crossed. |
23
| HokieSkipper
Sun 12/9/2012 4:03p | << It doesn't seem to be any further advanced in the nearly three years since we first started working on it.>>
Wait.
Wait.
They been working on this for THREE YEARS? I thought the whole Avatar deal was a shock to everyone at the company and WDI had nothing done for it at the get go? You're telling me they've been working on it for years!? |
24
| Manfried
Sun 12/9/2012 5:52p | The announcement was made in September 2011. Prior to that, no work was done at all on the new land.
So it's only been just a little bit over two years.
The supposed expert here better check their calendar.
When the announcement was made, Joe Rohde was in Hawaii opening up that disaster, and had no clue.
So until Joe returned to WDI, no work was done. So they didn't actually start work, from my sources, until November that year. Making it two years they've spent working on it. |
25
| ReelJustice
Sun 12/9/2012 6:18p | ^actually, it's only been a little over a year since the announcement. |
26
| leemac
Mon 12/10/2012 12:51a | <<They been working on this for THREE YEARS?>>
My attempt at exaggerated humor. It hasn't been three years - but feels like it.
<<The announcement was made in September 2011. Prior to that, no work was done at all on the new land.>>
The announcement was made in September of last year but work had been done on the concept over the summer - Rohde was nowhere near it as he had Aulani and vacation. Nothing stuck but TOS wanted to know what could be done on the concept.
Worth saying that this was almost the complete opposite of what happened with Potter. Potter was a protracted negotiation that saw WDI working on numerous concepts whilst the discussions were taking place. Rowling and her reps wanted to see specific concepts before closing the deal. Avatar came about because of an offhanded remark between Iger and Cameron over lunch last summer. Neither of them stopped to consider whether it was an appropriate fit to DAK or whether it would be possible to render those worlds. |
27
| TP2000
Mon 12/10/2012 1:04a | So Avatarland came about from an Iger/Cameron lunch in the summer of 2011. Let's say the lunch was on the 4th of July, for a patriotic flourish, and about 10 weeks later they announce Avatarland on September 20th, 2011 to the collective sound of silence as most Disney fans went "Huh?".
In early December, about 15 months after they announced it with no artwork or models, they have a media party at WDW and plead with everyone to believe them that the project is still on track for some future unknown date with a future unknown construction timeline. And to prove it, they release a weird picture of four men standing around a slab of green Styrofoam with no buildings or structures on it (except a snack bar by Staggs' elbow) which is supposed to be the "model".
Yup. Sounds like everything is going great to me!
Stay classy Orlando. |
28
| FerretAfros
Mon 12/10/2012 4:29a | From the sounds of it, Orlando is just caught in the middle of this situation. It's Burbank and Glendale that are the ones causing the 'classy' situation, since that's where the decision-makers are. Orlando is just where the physical space is. |
29
| Dr Hans Reinhardt
Mon 12/10/2012 10:00a | In his latest column Al Lutz weighs in on the Avatarland development:
http://micechat.com/17757-avat...-say-no/ |
30
| Kennesaw Tom
Mon 12/10/2012 10:45a | Interesting read. It is difficult for me to get excited about Avatarland as I can careless about the characters in the Avatar movie. Plus, I still have no idea just what rides Disney plans on putting in there. As far as the rest of Lutz's comments regarding WDW in general. I absolutely agree. |
