It’s obviously a no brainer idea, but the news just hit that Avatar theme park rides are currently in development and will be coming to Disney World.
Construction on the rides will begin in 2013 for an estimated time of arrival of Christmas 2014. With the second Avatar movie reportedly slated for a 2014 release, Disney and James Cameron are clearly hoping to get all their ducks in a row for the ’14 Xmas season.
As Deadline reports, the first attraction will open at Animal Kingdom in Orlando, which Cameron is very excited about, “because it’s so thematically aligned.”
Deadlinehas also speculated that Avatar themed attractions would be very welcome at Disney, as the profits are currently up, but that’s because Disney raised its prices on everything.
“That probably can’t continue if the economy continues to weaken,” Deadline writes, also mentioning that Universal “stole a lot of the theme park thunder” with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Obviously, Disney’s hoping Cameron’s big blue aliens and Pandora jungle environment will provide plenty of financial comfort for the future, and again, this is pretty much a no-brainer for any theme park corporation.
Several months ago, the news also hit that there will finally be a Star Trek theme park, but in Jordan of all places. Time reports that the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, is a big Trekkie (who isn’t, right?), and $1.5 billion is going into this theme park, which like Disneyland will have “hotels, theaters, fine dining and shopping on site as well as the chance to learn about Jordan’s history and what it’s doing in terms of harnessing green energy.”
This theme park will also have space-flight adventure ride that will give people “a variety of multi-sensory futuristic experiences, culminating in a state-of-the art space-flight adventure…”
Meanwhile, writer Matt Singer, who calls himself “a recovering Star Trek nerd,” put his own suggestions on IFC’s website for rides, including Captain Picard’s Phaser Funhouse, Shuttlecraft Spaceflight, which could be like Mission: Space at Epcot Center, Space Jump Freefall, where you can “throw theme park guests out of a spaceship” like Stuntman’s Freefall, and The Trouble With Tribbles Petting Zoo.
In addition to the Star Trek theme park, there’s also a video game theme park in the works, and it’s surprising this hasn’t been serious considered before.
According to Gamepro, Atari is partnering with Game Nation is working on what’s being called “an experimental video game theme park and resort” where video games will come to life, and Atari titles such as Centipede, Asteroids, and Missile Command will also potentially be turned into rides.
