Seriously, Disneyland, What Are You Doing with Avatar?
Dear Disney: in the not-at-all immortal words of the Backstreet Boys, please quit playing games with our hearts.
You’re currently in the marketing phase for some projects you haven’t even started yet, and it’s not going great.
Seriously, Disneyland. What are you doing with Avatar?
The Original Announcement
Photo: Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG
I used to work for a boss who had the mental stability of Tom Sizemore.
And Val Kilmer once got a restraining order against Sizemore…while they were filming a movie together!
Anyway, for this reason, I always sympathize when I hear stories about irrational boss behavior.
Ken Potrock
I felt really bad for Ken Potrock when his boss, CEO Bob Iger, announced that Avatar was coming to Disneyland.
If you haven’t heard the story, the President of Disneyland Resort learned about the “Avatar experience” at the same time as the rest of us.
I’m not joking. Here is Potrock’s exact quote: “And lastly, a project that was announced by Bob Iger.
Image Credit: @Ken Potrock/Instagram
“By the way, a surprise to me. Not kidding. It’s great when you hear from your boss what you’re doing.”
Sometimes, business leaders need to keep secrets, especially when running companies as powerful as Disney.
Still, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the President of a theme park to expect a heads-up about a new project…at their park.
Photo: Avatar
That anecdote exemplified the confusion surrounding the “Avatar experience.”
You’ll note that I use quotation marks every time I type “Avatar experience,” and I’m kinda doing it sarcastically.
That’s out of character for me when writing, but I’m at my wit’s end here.
Photo: D23
This story is 13 months old, and it’s already flip-flopped at least five times.
In short, nobody’s quite sure what this “Avatar experience” will be, and I’m not just talking about outsiders.
Photo: D23
Disney officials continue to provide mixed messages about what’s coming next, so much so that I’m not sure they know.
So, let’s quickly review what we know and then try to guess what’s happening.
Bob Iger Announces West Coast Avatar
Photo: Disney CEO Bob Iger (Getty Images)
In February 2023, Bob Iger wanted to win an earnings call because he was facing an activist investor battle with Nelson Peltz.
As part of that topic, Iger shocked everyone listening by stating the following.
“Today, I am thrilled to announce that we will be bringing an exciting Avatar experience to Disneyland.
Photo: DIsney+
We will be sharing more details on that very soon.”
That second thing was just a lie. We’re more than one year down the road, and we really don’t know anything more about it.
Honestly, in some ways, I feel like I know less, and I say that as someone who has pored over the official DisneylandForward documents.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The problem is that Disney has become an unreliable narrator on this subject.
In storytelling terms, an unreliable narrator is “a narrator whose credibility is compromised.”
That’s Bob Iger right now. He’s saying what he thinks Disney fans and investors want to hear, and his comments don’t align.
Pandora — World of Avatar
When Disney announced an Avatar experience, many people thought it would be a single attraction or maybe a themed building.
People weren’t too concerned about the specifics at the time because any Avatar presence was better than no Avatar.
Also, everyone presumed Disney must be early in the process if the President of Disneyland didn’t know anything about it.
Still, the word “experience” could mean a lot of things.
As some critics noted at the time, it could be as simple as a Na’vi character interaction or the Blueberry Cheesecake from Satu’li Canteen.
Photo: Disney
One Imagineer gave the impression of something grander in scale, though.
Then, Disney completely denied the interpretation of what the Imagineer had indicated.
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) November 13, 2023
Who’s telling the truth here? Who knows?
Disney Talks Bigger, Quickly Walks It Back
Photo: @jonplandau on Instagram
Later in the year, legendary producer Jon Landau made waves when he pointedly posted something on Instagram.
Landau, the Executive Producer of Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, posted a picture of himself at Walt Disney Imagineering.
A trusted ally of James Cameron wouldn’t go rogue on something like that. Disney and Landau wanted fans to talk about it.
Photo: Disneylandforward
Then, park officials posted the paperwork for the DisneylandForward project.
You can read the official filing here, but I’ll warn you in advance that it’s hundreds of pages of bureaucratic blather.
I’m keeping an eye on it because there’s an Anaheim Planning Commission meeting on March 11th.
Photo: Disney
A month later, Disney hopes to gain approval for the zoning ordinance changes needed for Disneyland expansion.
That’s part of the reason Iger and Disney aren’t completely trustworthy here. They’re in sales mode.
Photo: OC Register
That statement applies on two fronts. Disney needs the votes from the Anaheim City Council, and it needs investors to side against Nelson Peltz.
With so much at stake, Disney appears to be speaking sloppily as a feature, not a bug.
Photo: Natacha Rafalski on Instagram
Most recently, Iger appeared at a Morgan Stanley Q&A session and provided new information about Disney.
The CEO’s exact quote is, “We have one Avatar-based land, Pandora, in Florida. We’re going to put a second one in California.”
Everyone ran with the story that an Avatar-themed land was coming to Disneyland Resort, which may yet be true.
Photo: OC Register
However, when Disney updated its official website, the comment changed to this one.
“Iger referenced the excitement about plans to develop an Avatar experience at Disneyland.”
An Ilm can be spotted on Avatar: Flight of Passage
So, now we’ve downgraded from themed land to experience again.
Seriously, Disney, what are you doing? Which one is right?
Disney’s Communication Problem
Photo: Getty Images
Iger is legitimately in the conversation for most PR-savvy CEO of the past 50 years. That’s why this whole mess is so shocking.
For whatever reason, Iger has used the wrong language for Avatar on multiple occasions.
Maybe Disney plans a modest Avatar presence, or maybe there is a themed land coming soon.
Credit: Disney
We have no idea because the answer keeps changing, depending on the setting and Iger’s wording on any given day.
Disney’s CEO specifically indicated that he’s adding a themed land at Disneyland and left open the possibility of more copies elsewhere.
Given how impactful a brand Avatar has become, that strategy makes sense.
Photo: Collider.com
However, we cannot overlook the retroactive change that Disney made on its own website.
Frankly, after this much confusion, Disney should just come out and state which statement is correct.
I suspect Disney executives don’t want to do that until the Anaheim and shareholder votes have been completed.
Photo: 20th Century Studios
Honestly, I hope it’s that. Otherwise, I’m worried that Disney’s decision-making is that chaotic behind the scenes.
The problem with this confusion is that it creates needless hurdles for Disney.
When Iger suggested an Avatar-themed land, Disneyland fans immediately started dreaming of Floating Mountains.
Photo: Disney
If the park only gets something like a Pandora walking trail now, people will hold it against Disney for years, possibly even decades.
For whatever reason, Disney has struggled to define the “Avatar experience” since the initial announcement.
Image: The Healthy Mouse
More than a year afterward, Iger’s most recent comments still have us scratching our heads.
Seriously, Disneyland, what are you doing?
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