‘Avatar-based land’ confirmed for Disneyland Resort
Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, today confirmed that the long-teased “Avatar” experience at Disneyland Resort in California will be an entire land.
Photos courtesy of Disney
During a Q & A at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, Iger spoke about future growth in Disney theme parks based on popular intellectual property (IP).
Speaking on this approach, Iger said, “If you look at our IP, the land that we have, the demand that exists in the marketplace … it’s a no-brainer to invest that way.”
To that effect, Iger pointed out that there is currently “only one ‘Avatar’-based land” among Disney’s 12 parks globally. The CEO then revealed a second “land” coming to Disneyland Resort. He specifically used the word “land” to describe this project.
Notably, Iger did not mention whether the land will be built at Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park, nor did he specify what kinds of attractions to expect within the new land.
Iger’s Former Remarks
In February 2023, Iger first mentioned an “Avatar experience” coming to Disneyland Resort.
Later, he promised the project will be “as amazing” as Pandora – The World of Avatar, which opened in 2017 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park in Florida. That land features the Avatar Flight of Passage simulator attraction and the Na’vi River Journey slow-moving boat ride, set within the Valley of Mo’ara after the events of the “Avatar” films.
Animation Leads Disney in Company-Wide Success, Iger Observes
As recent examples of the IP-focused strategy in the parks, Iger mentioned Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland and World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Iger implied that many seasons of company-wide growth in Disney’s history have centered around periods of success for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Iger cited the animated slate under former CEO Michael Eisner’s administration in the 1990s (“Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King”) and that of about a decade ago (“Tangled,” “Frozen”) as evidence of this hypothesis.
The executive also repeatedly mentioned the continued success of “Moana” as a reigning champion of streaming viewership. The 2016 film was 2023’s most-streamed movie on any platform. “Moana 2” will debut in theaters this Thanksgiving, with a live-action version to follow in 2025.
Iger’s remarks align with our previous story about how streaming data could indicate which movies will be represented in theme parks in the coming years. The success of one begets the investment of the other, especially under corporations that have studios and parks at their disposal.
