In 2017–two years before Disney purchased Fox’s entertainment assets–Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom opened its expansive attraction, Pandora: The World of Avatar. Now fans on the west coast may finally get their own Avatar experience, as the Disney Parks Blog, unveiled concept art for Disneyland’s Pandora attraction.
Judging from this early look, it appears to be an immersive experience along the lines of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, with enough room to host its own version of Animal Kingdom’s Avatar Flight of Passage and the Na’vi River Journey rides.
Unfortunately, these ambitious plans are far from set in stone. The expansion at Disneyland and California Adventure are dependent upon the passage of Disneyland Forward, a proposal to change the local zoning laws in Anaheim that would allow these projects to happen. Whether an Avatar attraction would be part of the original park or an aspect of a new theme park remains to be seen. Without approval of Disneyland Forward, the Pandora attraction can only remain in the planning stages. That means it’s potentially several years away from coming to fruition.
Disney parks always have something new in the works, but the theme park expansion plans are particularly ambitious at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, which recently unveiled an early look at a $60 billion expansion. For now, the grand plans for the Disneyland resort are in limbo.
