One of the most highly anticipated pavilions of last weekend’s D23 EXPO was the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Although Disney announced from the get-go that the Pavilion would focus on Shanghai Disneyland and Pandora: The World of Avatar, many fans still held out hopes for concept art or other tidbits for the dozens of other projects on Disney’s horizon including Star Wars, Marvel, and re-branding for Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.
Alas, what was announced was what was delivered.
Pandora: The World of Avatar
The Pandora: The World of Avatar exhibit was more of a tease for the upcoming land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The mini exhibit boasted waits of an hour or more for a rather uninformative exhibit featuring a specifics-bare diorama of the new expansion plus a few tiny tidbits and concept art for the new land.
Pandora Pre-Show
The conceit for the pavilion is that Alpha Centauri Explorations (ACE) has setup shop in the pavilion to offer a look at the Pandora that’s being prepped for guests to visit. Based on the storyline from AVATAR, we’ve learned a lot about respecting this beautiful world and the ACE team is prepping the world to be able to accept guests and teach them about how to respect nature and explore Pandora’s may wonders.
Diorama
The diorama on display had lighting that changed from day to night to showcase the bio luminescent features of the land to mimic the look of the world as seen in AVATAR.
Joe Rhode, Imagineer and Creative Executive poses with bust of Neytiri.
Shanghai Disneyland
The majority of the footprint for the exhibit was taken up by the Shanghai Disneyland displays taking a look at every square inch of what’s currently under construction in China. From the park itself to the hotels and the DisneyTown shopping center.
Overview
Mickey Avenue
DETAILS: More about Mickey Avenue, Shanghai Disneyland
Gardens of Imagination
DETAILS: More about Gardens of Imagination, Shanghai Disneyland
Adventure Isle
DETAILS: More about Adventure Isle, Shanghai Disneyland
Treasure Cove
DETAILS: More about Treasure Cove, Shanghai Disneyland
Fantasyland
DETAILS: More about Fantasyland, Shanghai Disneyland
Tomorrowland
Disneytown
This is the new shopping district coming to the resort. DETAILS: Disneytown at Shanghai Disneyland
Shanghai Disneyland Hotel
DETAILS: More about Disneyland Hotel, Shanghai Disneyland
Toy Story Hotel
DETAILS: More about Toy Story Hotel, Shanghai Disneyland
Need even more?
Find out even more about Shanghai Disneyland here.
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