Avatar Land Concept Art Released at Disney Japan D23 Expo – Updated 10/14 With More Concept Art & Videos

10/14 – Updated with new photos and information!

Hi everyone!

We had a very small taste of Pandora at the Disney D23 Expo in California 2 months ago, but stunning artwork has come out of D23 Expo Japan  – and it certainly gives me hope that Disney could have something wonderful up their sleeve! I am not a fan of the Avatar film at all, but I don’t care about Harry Potter either and love the land at Universal Studios.

Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Tom Staggs gave a presentation that included the Avatar artwork. The Avatar-inspired land is due to open in 2017, and will be part of the largest expansion in the history of Disney’s Animal Kingdom park. The first concept art shown is a family walking in the day, but Jeff added a night photo today (10/14) to show what it would look like at night. Keep reading for some new concept art pieces – along with 5 total videos related to the upcoming Avatar land!

According to Disney, “As these concept renderings show in epic scale, in the world of AVATAR guests will encounter awe-inspiring floating mountains and wander through a nighttime jungle of bioluminescent plants that are alive with light and sound. Guests will also discover what it feels like to soar into the sky riding a Banshee.”

There will also be new entertainment experiences, including a nighttime spectacular! This is something I’ve hoped for since the park opened, any sort of show at night. This one is to have “floating lanterns, water screens and swirling imagery” for a show on the Discovery River. Expect live performers on Discovery Island and a new nighttime version of the Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Here is a look at the concept art on video:

James Cameron, Staggs and Imagineer Joe Rohde look over a model of the upcoming land.

Here are more photos (screen caps from the new video that I posted at the end of the article). Imagineers have been working on Avatar for a couple of years now, and Joe Rohde said that guests will “fly across the planet on the wings of one of these giant creatures” and “go into the bioluminescent forest, full of these glorious, glowing plants”. He continued that the land would come to life and interact with guests, seeming to be “a living creature in itself”.

I am actually surprised they didn’t have anything to announce at the D23 Expo two months ago.

Here is our interview with Joe Rhode at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, along with an Imagineering sneak peek of Avatar Land. Are you looking forward to this new area of Disney’s Animal Kingdom park? It is still about 4 years away (or as I told Jeff, I’ll have my AARP card by the time it opens – not that it will get me any discounts in Pandora!)

We talk about the new concept art on Mousesteps Weekly #73:

While I’m not a huge fan of the film Avatar and didn’t have high hopes before the concept art was released, it looks more beautiful and more interesting than I would have ever imagined. I hope that the land lives up to the artwork. By that time, Disney’s Animal Kingdom park would have been open for nearly 20 years – it’s hard to believe, isn’t it? This is the newest park at Walt Disney World, and I remember opening day so clearly. And I just can’t wait for Disney’s Animal Kingdom to be a nighttime park!