VIDEO - Disney dedicates Pandora - The World of Avatar

May 24, 2017 in "Pandora - The World of Avatar"

Dedication ceremony of Pandora - The World of Avatar
Posted: Wednesday May 24, 2017 3:11pm EDT by WDWMAGIC Staff

Earlier today, Disney officials dedicated Pandora - The World of Avatar, just ahead of its May 27 2017 grand opening.

Executives from the Walt Disney Company and Lightstorm's James Cameron and Jon Landau were joined by actors from the Avatar movie Wes Studi, Joel David Moore, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Zoe Saldana, CCH Pounder, Sigourney Weaver and Laz Alonso.

“Working with Jim and his team was a dream come true for us, as we pushed the limits of creativity and innovation to bring the digital world of Pandora to the real world of Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” said Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Now anyone who has ever dreamed of visiting this extraordinary world can explore the astonishing landscape and ecosystem, soar on the back of a banshee and actually become part of the AVATAR adventure.”

“I never thought I’d see the day when the Pandora I imagined could be made physically real,” said Cameron. “Working with Disney to bring this world to life has been an amazing experience, and the result is something I think everyone will love for generations to come. It really feels like you’re stepping into a dream.”

“It’s not the movie AVATAR that we are portraying,” said Joe Rohde, Walt Disney Imagineering portfolio creative executive. “It is the planet Pandora where you can come, you can visit, and have your own unique adventure. Rather than reliving the adventures of characters from the film, you’re going to come to the planet where those things happened — and have your own set of adventures you can own.”

Following the ceremony, James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver took a ride aboard Na'vi River Journey.

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brb1006May 25, 2017

They we only there for the Media event.

ItlngrlBellaMay 25, 2017

Are the drones here to stay at AK? Adds so much to the tree projections/lighting.

wdwmagicMay 25, 2017

VIDEO - Drones surround the Tree of Life for special media event moment

ItlngrlBellaMay 25, 2017

Wow. I got chills watching that. Thank you for posting. With the clouds and sunset - you couldn't have asked for a better sky. Breathtaking.

RteetzMay 25, 2017

brb1006May 25, 2017

PizzaPlanetMay 25, 2017

No Tom Staggs? He was so excited about this project!

brb1006May 25, 2017

The Drones

brb1006May 25, 2017

brb1006May 25, 2017

I hope somebody got video footage of that.

ItlngrlBellaMay 25, 2017

I heard that the nighttime illumination effects were dialed back significantly for the soft opening and they were going to run with it full force for the media tonight. Anyone have the link to the nighttime live stream?

BoltMay 25, 2017

Just watched a live stream of the nighttime presentation and they had drones flying over The Tree of Life!

JabbasMay 24, 2017

So awesome that Zoe Saldana was there!?? Didn't see any videos of the guy that played Jake..

brb1006May 24, 2017