Avatar coming to DCA

[Parkscope Joe]

Happy Avatar is possibly cancelled in DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK. If only there was a park next door that could use a land replacement.

 

[Clive]

Happy Avatar is possibly cancelled in DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK. If only there was a park next door that could use a land replacement.

As sad as our Tomorrowland is, I'm not sure I want Pandora taking over, either! (I would absolutely accept using it as a DisneylandForward expansion, though.)

 

[DrStarlander]

This is just a quick Photoshop, but the point is: it's an ugly building, so just go with it rather than fight it.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

As sad as our Tomorrowland is, I'm not sure I want Pandora taking over, either! (I would absolutely accept using it as a DisneylandForward expansion, though.)

What about a component of the land?

 

[belloq87]

The latest Avatar movie was only short of the latest Zootopia by $20 million; what’s this insane argument that it’s somehow not popular or clearly less popular than the crappy animal cop franchise?

I think the argument would be that Avatar's popularity is waning, as evidenced by FIRE AND ASH "only" making about 60% of what THE WAY OF WATER made at the box office.

I don't really agree with that analysis, because it doesn't take into account some pretty important context: THE WAY OF WATER benefited from a thirteen-year gap between it and the first movie, giving it time to build up a real sense of anticipation. FIRE AND ASH then came a mere three years later, on a typical sequel timeline, and didn't feel as much like a once-a-decade event.

Just going to leave this here

https://blogmickey.com/2026/03/zootopia-popular-shanghai-disneyland/

1. It's the hot new thing in the park. Let's see the results in five years.
2. China loves the IP.
3. The park doesn't have a Rise of the Resistance or Runaway Railway (either of which, I suspect, would poll higher than Zootopia if it did).

Happy Avatar is possibly cancelled in DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK. If only there was a park next door that could use a land replacement.

As sad as our Tomorrowland is, I'm not sure I want Pandora taking over, either! (I would absolutely accept using it as a DisneylandForward expansion, though.)

What about a component of the land?

Might be heresy to some to suggest it... but Avatar taking over the Finding Nemo subs and the Autopia does not strike me as a ridiculous concept. Would have to work around the Monorail.

Avatar, as an IP, would fit fine in Tomorrowland, I think, if Disney was okay with a relatively standalone attraction (probably still with a merch and quick serve component).

 

[Jake S]

Might be heresy to some to suggest it... but Avatar taking over the Finding Nemo subs and the Autopia does not strike me as a ridiculous concept. Would have to work around the Monorail.

[Emphasis mine]

I think that's the big issue. Because otherwise, I think it's a no-brainer. I love the subs, but I can't imagine Disney being too precious about them if they could solve the Monorail problem.

 

[Clive]

What about a component of the land?

 

[alomar]

[Emphasis mine]

I think that's the big issue. Because otherwise, I think it's a no-brainer. I love the subs, but I can't imagine Disney being too precious about them if they could solve the Monorail problem.

I feel like the monorail problem is still a present issue with the DCA location as well. I personally (im sure others do) don't see how you either hide or incorporate the monorail into a Pandora land.

 

[Jake S]

I feel like the monorail problem is still a present issue with the DCA location as well. I personally (im sure others do) don't see how you either hide or incorporate the monorail into a Pandora land.

It's an issue, but certainly not at the same level as it would be at Disneyland. You've got a spaghetti bowl of track around Autopia and the Subs that you just don't have across the way.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

zootopia is significantly more popular in china than in any other country on planet earth.

This. Pretty much every RedNote post I see in Shanghai Disneyland has more people wearing bunny and fox ears than the mouse ears.

Happy Avatar is possibly cancelled in DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK. If only there was a park next door that could use a land replacement.

This an argument that someone like that Japanese guy who thought he was still fighting the war 40 years later would make.

 

[Jake S]

This. Pretty much every RedNote post I see in Shanghai Disneyland has more people wearing bunny and fox ears than the mouse ears.

This piece has a good primer on why it's such a big hit in mainland China, for those interested.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Another reason why I'd be surprised about Zootopia replacing Avatar (especially if it includes a straight port of Shanghai's ride) is that, based on the reporting around Villains Land, Lightning Lane seems to have changed the financial calculus justifying why and how rides are greenlit in the American parks*. According to Drew Taylor, one of the primary motivators behind the changes to the Villains Land lineup was to ensure that the Magic Kingdoms' new rides would have to be

A. Family-friendly enough to ensure that the whole family will choose to purchase Lightning Lanes
B. Great enough to ensure that those Single Ride Lightning Lanes were the most popular Lightning Lanes in the park

Zootopia: Hot Pursuit certainly fulfills the family-friendly part of that equation, but I'm not sure the ride as it currently exists is that different from a slew of other rides at the Disney parks. Does it matter at all if the latest DCA attraction is merely "just as good" as the litany of other advanced dark rides at the Resort, or does it have to be exceptional to drive secondary purchases? And if so, does the Lightning Lane justification for what and how rides are built actually matter within the context of the Disneyland Resort, or is it more of a concern for WDW, whose existing capacity constraints facilitate the environment where rabid demand for Lightning Lanes can grow?

* An ironic development given that ride expenditures were probably justified with similar logic during the E-ticket, D-ticket days.