Month: June 2014

Ever since it was announced, we’ve just referred to it it “Avatar Land” but, at a recent Q&A, James Cameron told audiences what the official name of the newest addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom might be. “It’s going to be called, I believe, Pandora: The Land of Avatar.”

Cameron also discussed some of the technical advances Disney Imagineers are making in the park, particularly with the animatronic Na’vi. 

Cameron spoke about the park at the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Film Festivalon Saturday May 31. He said Imagineers were looking into doing something olfactory in the park to simulate the experience of being in a rain forest, then added the following.

“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.”

Of course, until Disney makes it official, it’s impossible to say this is the 100% final name of the Land but, this seems pretty solid, considering the source.

Pandora The Land of Avatar is scheduled to open at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida in 2017, which will be between the release of Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. Construction began earlier this year.