Last year, Bob Iger revealed plans for an Avatar “experience” coming to Disneyland Resort. Later, it was confirmed that this thing, whatever it is, was planned for Disney California Adventure... but details were still sketchy. As of yesterday, however, it seems things have taken a big step forward. During an interview at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Bob Iger said, after referring to Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, that another Avatar “Land” would be coming to Disneyland Resort.
This may seem to bring some clarity to the situation, that’s not totally the case. I reached out to Disneyland Resort on the off-chance they might have an official statement that would follow up on Iger’s comments. In response, I was simply referred to Iger’s previous comments – not his comments this week, but during the quarterly earnings call in February 2023 when he originally revealed plans for the Avatar “experience.”
The Avatar Land May Not Be A Land After All
This would seem to indicate one of two things: either the Avatar “Land” will be a land just as Bob Iger said, or it will be something else. Disneyland Resort seemingly isn’t ready to say anything about it yet, so either I was handed the only “official” words on the topic, or (and I feel like this is more likely) the Avatar land is not a land at all, and Iger just used the wrong word when discussing it.
While Disney Parks is usually pretty good about using the right language when discussing things, slips certainly happen. When Iger originally announced the Avatar experience, he said it was coming to Disneyland. If he had said it was coming to the Disneyland Resort, that would have indicated either theme park, but when you say "Disneyland," you’re talking about the specific park opened in 1955 by Walt Disney and not the other one that came decades later. We now know Disney California Adventure is where all this is happening.
A standout issue to make note of here is that there isn’t a lot of available room for a whole new land at Disney California Adventure (or Disneyland Park for that matter) – at least not anywhere that makes sense for an Avatar Land. While the DisneylandForward project is currently in development, which would greatly expand both theme parks, that deal has yet to be officially approved, and all signs point to this new Avatar stuff happening even if somehow the Disneyland expansion doesn’t move forward.
How Avatar Could Still Be A “Land” At Disneyland Resort, Sort Of
There is one possibility that comes to mind for how the Avatar experience could still at least feel like a land. From the beginning, when the Avatar experience was first suggested, I had a sneaking suspicion that the days were numbered for the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.
The Up-themed area is a large open play space with rope bridges, slides, tire zip lines, and all sorts of things for kids to run around and do. While redwoods currently surround the area, I think one could transform it from a real forest to an artificial one, making guests feel like they are on Pandora with all the trees and floating islands we expect to see there. I think the actual attraction would remain largely the same, albeit with this new area being a place where people can walk around and feel like they are wandering in an alien environment.
I’m still leaning toward this as the plan, but the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is big enough that, depending on size, you could still put more than one thing inside the land. The only thing that defines a theme park land is that it holds attractions, gift shops, and/or dining locations; any two of these could fit in that space.
The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is currently closed at Disneyland Resort with no official reopening date set – though there’s no indication this is anything more than a standard refurbishment. Still, it’s been more than a year since the Avatar experience at Disneyland was first announced, and with D23 Expo 2024 coming up this summer, one hopes that we’ll get official word then if not sooner.
