It will be the second Pandora-themed area in the parks after Florida’s Animal Kingdom.

Image via Disney

During a tumultuous conference call, in which Disney CEO Bob Iger had the difficult job of announcing layoffs and financial losses, theme park fans were given an absolute bombshell with the news that an “experience” based on the Avatar franchise would be coming to Disneyland Park in California. This would be the latest notable addition to the Disney parks on the West Coast following the addition of Avengers Campus.

Disney is currently riding the crest of a wave with James Cameron’s science fiction franchise, with its second film, The Way of Water, currently a whisker away from becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time, following on from its predecessor which grossed almost $3 billion to become the biggest movie ever made.

The company saw the potential in Avatar as a franchise long before their purchase of 20th Century Fox, striking a deal with Cameron and Lightstom to license a new land in their underserved Animal Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida at the Walt Disney World Resort. Planning on that began in 2011, less than two years after the film was launched, with Iger and Cameron working on the deal together.

Announcing the plans, Iger said:

“James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water”, which will be one of the most successful films of the quarter, became the fourth biggest film of all time globally with close to $2.2 billion earned in the box office to date. The global popularity of this film will result in the creation of more opportunities for fans to engage with the franchise. They have been doing so at Walt Disney World’s “Pandora: The World of Avatar” as well as in theaters globally. Today I am thrilled to announce that we will be bringing an exciting Avatar experience at Disneyland. We will be sharing more details on that very soon.”

Image via Disney

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Disney World’s Avatar Land is Extremely Popular
“Pandora—the World of Avatar” officially launched to the public in May 2017 to critical acclaim, and featured two state-of-the-art attractions. “Na’vi River Journey” is a gentle, family-friendly boat ride that sees guests travel through the Pandora river system, encountering the native flora and fauna in bioluminescent surroundings before encountering the Na’vi shaman, the most advanced animatronic character ever created by the Walt Disney Imagineering branch of the company.

The second attraction, “Avatar Flight of Passage” is a 3D motion-simulator attraction, which allows guests the chance to ride on the back of a Banshee (the flying creatures with which the Na’vi are bonded) and fly across the landscapes of the planet. The ride was opened to mass praise and took 2nd place in the Golden Ticket Awards for Best New Ride in 2017. “Flight of Passage” is one of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World, and regularly sees wait times of over two hours.

When the deal was announced in 2011, it was noted that the deal with Lightstorm would allow the Avatar franchise to expand to other parks across the world, but that there were no immediate plans to do so. However, that was in 2011, and with Avatar firmly back in the public consciousness and having three blockbuster sequels primed and ready, the House of Mouse appears to be ready to strike while the iron is hot, adding new attractions while updating older ones for modern times.

This is a developing story, and Collider will have more information on the Avatar experience coming to Disneyland as soon as it becomes available.