Avatar had a strange D23.
The parks side rolled out the first physical model of the land coming to Disney California Adventure, and the studio side didn’t say the word once.
On the show floor, Walt Disney Imagineering’s Imagineering: Horizons pavilion debuted a scale model of the “Avatar Destination” headed to California Adventure, along with a maquette of its ride vehicle: a large open-air boat with six rows of five seats, thirty guests per trip.
The model shows a coastal Pandora rather than the floating mountains at Animal Kingdom, with wave-shaped rock formations, a central waterfall, and the boat passing beneath it, drawing on The Way of Water and Fire and Ash.
Imagineers also added that the model represents only a portion of the land.
The concept art making the rounds shows the boat gliding through a bioluminescent swamp with Pandoran predators watching from the roots overhead, and behind-the-scenes video from the pavilion frames that boat ride as the headliner.
The Land Just Moved To The Back Of The Line
The catch came in a D23 media presentation.
Disneyland Resort president Jill Estorino laid out the order: the Avengers Campus expansion and the Coco boat ride, both under construction at California Adventure, open first, then Disney reimagines Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park, and only after that does it turn to the Avatar land.
Estorino framed the sequence as the right way to deliver projects for fans and a chance to focus on the original park Walt built. The practical effect: Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, slated to close in early 2027 to make room, now stays open past that date with no closing timeframe announced.
Disney fan sites had already estimated the land wouldn’t open before 2030.
Rumors earlier this year claimed Disney swapped Avatar for a Zootopia land; per BlogMickey, the model settles that, but the priority list confirms the delay.
The Studio Side Went Silent
Meanwhile, D23 takeaways flag what didn’t happen: no mention of Avatar’s future at Friday’s studio showcase, even with Avatar 4 dated December 21, 2029 and Avatar 5 December 19, 2031, and portions of the fourth film reportedly already shot.
Avatar: Fire and Ash finished around $1.48 billion, the lowest of the franchise, after a cool start at the box office and the franchise’s lowest Rotten Tomatoes score.
James Cameron said that the last two movies are “still floating out there.” He also said Fire and Ash could be the last one, and recently said he wants to move on from the franchise.
