Given that — late last month — Disney Parks & Resorts
released that shot of the model of Pandora’s floating mountains …
Copyright Twentieth Century Fox Film Coporation / Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
… I thought that it might be time to check out how far
along construction has actually gotten on Disney’s Animal Kingdom‘s new
land-of-AVATAR. So after driving on over to Animal Kingdom Lodge and then
hopping on a bus for DAK, I soon found myself rolling past the massive
“Soarin’-Over-Pandora” show building.
Photo by Jim Hill
To give you a sense of how truly enormous this
still-under-construction structure is, I’ve included a second shot where — if
you look closely at the base of the building — you can see the full-sized blue
SUV rolling past the construction fence that rings this show building’s
perimeter.
Photo by Jim Hill
And if you look even closer at this collection of steel
girders, you can then make out the two massive mirror-image theaters where DAK
visitors will then be able to climb on the back of a mechanical banshee and
then take off on a faux flight over Pandora.
As Disney CEO Bob Iger reflected on a recent test of this
attraction during a December 2014 interview with Variety:
“It felt so real, so lifelike,” Iger said of the prototype
vehicle guests will board to travel through the fictional land. “There’s never
been anything like it.”
The vessels that guests will ride upon will essentially be
the banshees themselves, with bodies that move to mimic a breathing beast. The
flying sequences will be brought to life through large video screens — similar
to “Soarin’” — with vehicles moving with the 3D action inside a
massive theater.
Copyright Twentieth Century Fox Film Coporation / Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
If you’d like to get some shots of the inner workings of
this massive structure, I’d suggest you get a move on. According to what my
sources at Imagineering have told me, Disney expects to have all of this show
building’s exterior walls up within 60 days. Whereupon the outside will then be painted look-away grey or go-away green.
And speaking of construction … While Guests visiting
Disney’s Animal Kingdom these days do have to deal with a seemingly
never-ending gauntlet of construction fences …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there are some fun new things to be found in this theme
park. Take — for example — that new sets of roots which the Tree of Life
acquired back in February.
Photo by Jim Hill
I have to admit that I just love the idea that the
Imagineers — while they were looking for ways to widen the walkways around
Discovery Island (not to mention creating a great new photo spot in front of
this theme park’s 145 foot-tall icon) …
Photo by Jim Hill
… — then circled back on the Tree of Life’s central creative
conceit (i.e., that this structure’s “bark” was covered with more
than 325 animal carvings).
Photo by Jim Hill
Which is why it would only stand to reason that — when the Tree of Life’s roots burst up through the ground elsewhere within the bounds of Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park — they too would be festooned with elaborate carvings of elephants, elk …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and bison.
Photo by Jim Hill
Continuing on around Discovery
River, I decided to go check on how
the construction of “Rivers of Light” was going.
Photo by Jim Hill
Work first began on this nighttime extravaganza back in
April of 2014. And while we’re still more than a year out from “Rivers of
Light” ‘s official grand opening …
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… much of the greenery which WDW Horticultural Department
planted nearly 19 years ago along that river bank has since been removed.
Photo by Jim Hill
Disney is now used earthmovers & backhoes to shave down
the hillside so that they can then construct a proper viewing area for
“Rivers of Light” …
Photo by Jim Hill
… which will be presented (quoting now from the Official
Disney Parks Blog) ” … on the
broad, natural stage of the Discovery
River, between Discovery
Island and Expedition
Everest.”
Photo by Jim Hill
Look for this nighttime spectacular — which will combine
(again quoting from the Official Disney Parks Blog) ” … live music, floating
lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery” to be something that
you can book in advance (a la those new fireworks viewing areas that have just
been added to the Magic Kingdom’s Hub area) via the My Disney Experience
program.
Mind you, not every bit of Disney magic still has to be
booked months in advance. Take — for example — what I stumbled upon as I walked
past the Disney Outfitters store.
Photo by Jim Hill
That extendoplatform was being used to help train all of
the macaws that take part in DAK’s “Winged Encounters – The Kingdom Takes
Flight” presentation. Which recently moved to that newly opened walkway /
photo spot in front of the Tree of Life that I mentioned earlier on in this
article.
Photo by Jim Hill
I have to admit that it was quite a kick to get to see so
many of these colorful birds up-close.
Photo by Jim Hill
Not mention hearing that gasp the crowd made as this flock of macaws took off from their new centrally located display spot …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and then flew back to their training perch out behind
the Disney Outfitters.
Photo by Jim Hill
Those Disney handlers continued to train these macaws over
the course of that day. And it was interesting to watch how far afield those
birds began to fly around that theme park over time. Here’s a quartet of macaws
I spotted while walking to the Animal Kingdom’s bus station who flew well
outside the bounds of that theme park before then they finally turned and
headed back to their new perch just below the Tree of Life.
Photo by Jim Hill
All in all, it was a pretty fun and informative day at
Disney’s Animal Kingdom. And I genuinely look forward to seeing what Joe Rohde
& James Cameron have cooked up together when Pandora: The Land of Avatar
officially opens its doors in 2017.
Photo by Jim Hill
Your thoughts?