Disney is Testing A Flying Dragon

[KingEric]

Pretty sure this is for Shanghai.

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Pretty sure this is for Shanghai.

But if it was then why would they fly it from California to Florida?


I don't believe that this is related to Avatar.

1) The patent was developed before Disney had teamed up with Cameron.
2) This is a fire-breathing dragon, which isn't found in Avatar at all.
3) This dragon does not look like Maleficent, or any other particular Disney dragon for that matter.
4) It makes no sense to build a prototype of a flying animal that is supposed to eventually have a different body and weight - it would throw off calculations.

The comment from the Disney spokesperson proves that this creature is for Disney.

I think that this is heading for Animal Kingdom.


Okay, okay, hear me out on this.

Beastly Kingdom has been on-again off-again since before Animal Kingdom opened. I'm sure there are many Imagineers that are deeply in love with this project, just as much as the fans in the know are here. But with Eisner and budget cuts, the project essentially had no chance.

And even after regime changes, with so much time that has passed, while those in the company would still like to see Beastly Kingdom built, they began to feel like it was a lost cause.

And then Universal builds The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which opened summer 2010. Some at Disney were probably confident that it would still not be real competition for them. But then they found out they were wrong.

Meanwhile those in favor of Beastly Kingdom at Disney mutter "I told you so" - and they go ahead and propose dusting off the Beastly Kingdom concept again, because clearly the general public enjoys the mystical and fantasy genre. And Universal did not build a final task labyrinth from Goblet of Fire, which would mean that the Quest for the Unicorn concept could still be viable. And sure, Harry Potter has dragons, but it still wouldn't be the same as Disney's concept for their major e-ticket.

So the Imagineers make a patent for an awesome flying fire-breathing dragon (which would co-incide with Harry Potter's success as this was back in 2010), get the higher-ups to approve testing this baby out, and BAM, here it is.

This is all speculation, of course. But the positive reactions from the public can only indicate to Disney how much we'd love (and pay) to see a flying fire-breathing dragon. And I would much rather see that than Avatarland. If the rumors are true that Avatarland has been cancelled or is on thin ice, then we can only hope that the company is realizing what gold they had with the original concept for the whole of Animal Kingdom.

I am crossing my fingers.

[imaginashton]

I agree, It doesn't look like the banshees from avatar not does it look like the maleficent dragon. I was hoping it was for animal kingdom, but for asia even though most dragon depicted in asian culture do not breath fire and do not have wings. Maybe it's for one of the countries in epcot?

[MasterElwood]

Yea I doubt this is for avatarland. The banshees(I think that's what they are called) don't spew fire, and they don't look like the dragon in the picture.

Avatarland will feature things from move 2 & 3 too...

---------- Post added 07-30-2012 at 02:56 PM ----------

If the rumors are true that Avatarland has been cancelled or is on thin ice...

What? Where did you here that?

[celticdar]

Are we positive that the flying dragons are for a Disney venture? There is a show being advertised here in my area - it's about the film "How To Train Your Dragon" and it's boasting flying dragons. Apparently, it's traveling around the country.
(btw, I'm sorry if this is redundant - I haven't read all 4 pages of posts on this topic)

[PSUMark]

Are we positive that the flying dragons are for a Disney venture? There is a show being advertised here in my area - it's about the film "How To Train Your Dragon" and it's boasting flying dragons. Apparently, it's traveling around the country.
(btw, I'm sorry if this is redundant - I haven't read all 4 pages of posts on this topic)

My understanding is that it's been confirmed to be related to Disney due to the fact that the Disney spokesperson didn't deny it and that WDI's schematics for the dragon vehicle were leaked years ago. That said, it hasn't been confirmed to be related to Avatar, DAK, or even WDW - it could be (and IMHO likely is) for Shanghai or one of the other Asian parks.