As if the magical Pandora: The World of Avatar experience at Walt Disney World wasn’t amazing enough, the park has recently announced they have built actual walking Avatar mech suits that will be worn by actors around the park. The Disney attraction, based on James Cameron’s epic movie Avatar that featured cutting edge visual effects as it transported viewers to the fictional world of Pandora, opened last year in Florida’s Animal Kingdom.

Pandora: The World of Avatar opened last May to rave reviews. The 12 acre park allows visitors to experience the fully immersive world of Pandora, from a ride down a bioluminescent rainforest in the Na’vi River Journey to a virtual ride on the back of a virtual 3D mountain banshee in Avatar Flight of Passage. Now visitors will be able to interact with actors wearing the actual walking mech suits as they navigate the park and educate parkgoers about the world of Pandora.

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Disney released a behind the scenes video teasing the mech suits and showing how they were created. A collaborative effort between Lightstorm Entertainment, Disney Parks Live Entertainment, Michael Curry Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering, the Pandora utility suit stands approximately 10 feet high with the pilot controlling the suit as they’re strapped in to the cockpit. Laura Offerdahl, executive producer of Disney Parks Live Entertainment explained the suits:

“These are not the AMP (Amplified Mobility Platform) suits you see in the movie. But these are actually suits that have been developed by the scientists to go out in to the wilderness to explore the plant life and the animals.”

Robert King, a digital designer for Walt Disney Imagineering explained how his team was able to take the 3D model provided by Lightstorm Entertainment and create a functional working model that features articulated hands. The teaser video shows the mech suits in action and they will definitely be an incredible addition to the attraction. Even Giordano commented on how amazed he was when he first got to see the suit in action. “It was like Christmas when I saw the suit walk towards me, and heard the guy talking to me, telling me about Pandora.”

While fans of the movie will still have to until December 2020 and December 2021 for the first two sequels in Cameron’s epic franchise, it’s nice to see Disney going ahead and continually working on Pandora: The World of Avatar and continuing to enhance visitor experiences in their parks. These new mech suits will definitely help visitors feel like they’re in the world of Pandora as the pilots interact with visitors while educating them about the fictional world. The mech suits will make their first appearance in the park on April 22nd.

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MORE: PANDORA: THE WORLD OF AVATAR VIDEO EXAMINES DISNEY’S PARK ATTRACTION

Source: Disney

Key Release Dates
  • Avatar 2 (2022)Release date: Dec 16, 2022
  • Avatar 3 (2024)Release date: Dec 20, 2024
  • Avatar 4 (2026)Release date: Dec 18, 2026
  • Avatar 5 (2028)Release date: Dec 22, 2028
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