To celebrate the grand opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the Disney Conservation Fund today announced Connect to Protect, a commitment of up to $1 million to help protect and restore habitats critical to 10 at-risk animals. The contribution will be unlocked by guests who participate in conservation ‘missions’ while exploring the immersive land of Pandora and for the first time ever, guests will get to choose which animal that donation will support.

“Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is thrilled to open Pandora – the World of Avatar, and to celebrate this milestone, we’re asking our Guests to help us protect the environment,” said Bob Chapek, Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.  “Their participation will unlock up to $1 million in contributions to protect and restore the habitats of 10 at-risk animals.” 

Walt Disney World Resort President George A. Kalogridis made the announcement Thursday morning during a press event to officially launch Pandora and preview other offerings throughout the Resort.

“Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Pandora – the World of Avatar both demonstrate that every animal, endangered or otherwise, requires a healthy habitat to thrive,” said Kalogridis. “Through Connect to Protect, our guests will join us in helping protect the habitats critical to 10 animals here on Earth and share in our commitment to nature.”

Visitors to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Pandora will be invited to take part in numerous conservation-themed ‘missions’ via Facebook Messenger, facilitated by one of the moon’s digital ecological specialists, Fitsimti “Fits” Buckley.

By completing one or more missions, each guest will unlock a $10 contribution to be made through the Disney Conservation Fund, or a $5 contribution just for discussing conservation with Fitsimti. Those guests will then get to choose how the contribution (of up to $100,000 per animal) will help protect or restore habitats important to one of 10 threatened categories of animals: apes, elephants, butterflies, coral reefs, cranes, monkeys, rhinos, sea turtles, sharks/rays, and tigers.

Guests will also be able to learn more about each animal the Disney Conservation Fund supports, the habitat conservation programs the contributions will support, and the nonprofit organizations they are working with to reverse the decline of the 10 animals.

In 2016, the Disney Conservation Fund announced a new initiative called “Reverse the Decline, Increase the Time,” aimed at reversing the decline of at-risk wildlife through scientific research, community collaboration, and increasing the time kids spend in nature to inspire them to care for the planet.  The Fund is supporting leading nonprofit organizations that are working to protect threatened wildlife and inspire a lifelong love for nature in young people. In addition to funding, the initiative is also providing opportunities for Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment team to apply the expertise and talents of its cast members and employees to help threatened animals.

The Reverse the Decline organizations supported by the Disney Conservation Fund that will receive the contributions from the Connect to Protect program are:

• International Crane Foundation (Cranes)
• International Rhino Foundation (Rhinos)
• Save the Golden Lion Tamarin and Wildlife Conservation Network/Proyecto Tití (Monkeys)
• Perry Institute for Marine Science (Coral Reefs)
• The Jane Goodall Institute (Apes)
• University of Florida Foundation (Sea Turtles and Butterflies)
• Wildlife Conservation Society (Elephants, Sharks/Rays, and Tigers)

“The Disney Conservation Fund has been core to the history and values of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and we are excited to continue to engage our guests in our shared commitment to wildlife, people and the planet with Connect to Protect,” said Kevin Callahan, vice president, Corporate Citizenship, The Walt Disney Company. “The experiences our guests will have in Pandora, will not only continue to inspire families to connect with nature, but also give all those who visit the opportunity to protect some special habitats and species here on Earth.”

Pandora – The World of Avatar opens this week at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Based on Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron’s record-breaking box-office hit, AVATAR, the new land immerses guests in a mystical world of massive floating mountains, bioluminescent rainforests and breathtaking new experiences. The largest addition in the history of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Pandora carries on the park’s tradition of celebrating the intrinsic value of nature, transformation through adventure and a personal call to action.

Party on Pandora!

This week Walt Disney World opened its new theme park expansion, Pandora – The World of Avatar, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. And among the eye-popping surprises and gravity-defying floating mountains is a truly unexpected treat: custom beer, wine and cocktail creations for adult visitors seeking an interstellar kick. (Parents of the universe, take note.)

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f you’ve passed through the gates of Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Park, you’re familiar with the signposts pointing toward exotic locales like Africa and Asia. Enter the Florida park now, though, and you’ll notice those signs have added a new directional arrow, one leading to the fictional land of Pandora.

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On May 27, 2017, guests can visit Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park and explore a new world of rainforests pulsing light and experience breathtaking flights soaring above an alien moon on the backs of winged banshees.

Yesterday Walt Disney World® Resort hosted a special dedication ceremony for Pandora – The World of Avatar to celebrate this new spectacular world.

At the ceremony, held under the magnificent floating mountains of Pandora – The World of Avatar, drummers performed traditional Pandoran rhythms and colorfully-dressed performers led a procession full of pageantry and artful banners to celebrate the occasion. Take a look!

Today we have a first peek at the new graphic MagicBands coming exclusively to this spectacular world at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. These MagicBands unite out-of-this-world Avatar designs with the innovation of MagicBand 2.

The purple limited-edition graphic band with scenes from nighttime in Pandora features the artwork of Dylan Cole, co-production designer for the upcoming “Avatar” motion picture sequels. The band retails for $32.99 and will debut at the official opening of the new land.

And for Avatar fans looking to coordinate their MagicBand with other cool Na’vi merchandise, check out the blue graphic band representing the Na’vi pattern. This band retails for $22.99 and will make any Avatar feel like a Na’vi.

For Annual Passholders, we are also thrilled to feature the first-ever Passholder exclusive limited edition teal graphic band featuring the phrase “I traveled to Pandora on May 27, 2017.” This band, available opening day, retails at $32.99.

The MagicBand continues to delight Guests as it unlocks the magic of a Disney vacation – from effortless theme-park entry, FastPass+ redemption and Disney PhotoPass association, to skipping the front desk and going directly to your resort room.

These new bands will be sold in Windtraders on Pandora – The World of Avatar.

Nestled under a thatched roof and covered in Na’vi totems, Windtraders is the place for a truly out-of-this-world shopping experience. The one-of-a-kind retail location is located in Pandora – The World of Avatar, a new land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Here, shopping becomes an experience, one that’s every bit as special and unique as the Windtraders merchandise available.

The story of Pandora is one of a planet recovering from the destructive forces of the Resources Development Administration (RDA), a mining company that sowed the conflict in James Cameron’s AVATAR film. That recovery is evident in Windtraders, where an abandoned structure has been largely overtaken by sprawling roots from some of Pandora’s exotic plants. Many of these imposing root structures also happen to showcase Pandora merchandise, creating a truly nature-inspired experience.

The connection to the land is evident with a variety of items celebrating all things that make the bioluminescent world of Pandora special and celebrate the indigenous Na’vi. Look for animal plush, apparel that glows, or drums and other handheld toys that light up when shaken, tapped or activated. Guests can even bring home their own collectible glowing vein pod or helicoradian plant.

A very special feature of Windtraders is the Banshee Rookery. As the name implies, it’s home to some of the winged creatures made famous in Cameron’s epic film. The rookery sits beneath a brightly colored hand-painted map depicting banshees soaring over Pandora.  The rookery is also where guests can select their own banshees to care for. The experience begins with a naturalist who helps each guest find the banshee that’s just right for them. Guests are then asked to take the Banshee Pledge, which teaches the importance of the banshee as a symbol of their commitment to the environment.

Continuing their immersion into Na’vi culture, guests can purchase items that let them take on characteristics of Pandora’s blue indigenous inhabitants; Na’vi ears, tails, hooded jackets and cultural items are among the many accessories available.

Guests can also design personalized necklaces reminiscent of Na’vi culture using beads and feathers at the store’s Bead Bar. Here again, those natural root structures creep through the building, offering a dramatic display for various jewels, stones and more.

Those wanting to speak like a Na’vi will find language translators available. These pocket-sized devices use a series of cards to translate common English words into their Na’vi counterparts. Each translator kit comes with 15 cards, and more are available for purchase. With more than 90 cards available, guests will be speaking Na’vi in no time.

Guests will truly feel one with Pandora through the many captivating merchandise offerings. In fact, guests can even become avatars themselves through the ACE Avatar Maker. This immersive experience lets guests take home replica avatar figures of themselves. ACE refers to Alpha Centauri Expeditions, the tourism company working with the Na’vi to present Pandora as a new destination for ecotourism and scientific research.

In this experience, the natural feel of Windtraders gives way as guests step into a futuristic transformation booth.  Using a digital process, a custom action figure is created that features a facial likeness of the guest. The 10-inch figures are also revealed in a fun, only-on-Pandora way. Male, female and child avatars are available, as are accessory kits for customizing the figures.

A stop inside Windtraders is the perfect way for guests to feel connected to Pandora and take some of the other-worldly land home with them.

In grand preview dedication ceremonies for media today, Disney’s Animal Kingdom unveiled a world out of this world — of massive mountains floating in the sky, rainforests pulsing light and breathtaking flights for explorers soaring above an alien moon on the backs of great winged banshees.

When it opens to the public on May 27, Pandora – The World of Avatar will transform, transfix and transport Walt Disney World Resort guests to an all-new Disney land beyond belief – 4.4 light years away from Earth.

Set with artifacts found throughout the Pandoran landscape, the dedication stage was a tapestry of sights and sounds. Drummers pounded out traditional rhythms, colorfully dressed performers led a procession full of pageantry and artful banners fluttered in the morning sky.

Inspired by the blockbuster motion picture AVATAR from filmmaker James Cameron, the new 12-acre land immerses guests in the lush world of Pandora in a time frame a generation after the human-Na’vi conflict in the Oscar-winning film.

In a collaboration of two master storytellers, Disney joined with Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment in a multi-year project to bring to life the mythical world of Pandora.

“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.”

The breathtaking, otherworldly beauty of Pandora that amazes by day will glow at night when bioluminescent flora and special nighttime programming add to the fascination guests will feel.

Na’vi, the indigenous blue people in the film, call Pandora home. Cave paintings give hints of the Na’vi culture, and totems they weaved point guests down pathways threading through the overgrown rainforest, punctuated by bizarre sounds of animals not of this world and alien plants that glow with light. Disney Imagineers created a soundscape meant to evoke an alien jungle.

Some of the most creative sculptors in the world were recruited to help shape the new land, with the overriding message of connecting everything to the value of nature — and the transformative power of adventure and conservation.

“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.”

While inspired by Cameron’s film, Pandora – The World of Avatar was not envisioned as an extension of the film.

“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.”

And what an eye-filling, sky-filling planet it is.

Crossing an entry bridge, rusted-over across the years, guests follow a winding forest pathway to where the surreal landscape first comes into view. The exotic Valley of Mo’ara spreads before them.

Other-worldly sights, sounds and scenes abound. Adventurers roam verdant pathways underneath floating mountains laced with waterfalls dropping to quiet ponds. They venture deep inside a bioluminescent rainforest amid the sounds of Pandoran creatures roaming the underbrush.

Two extraordinary attractions anchor the new land:

• Avatar Flight of Passage sends explorers swooping and soaring on a simulated flight above the awe-inspiring world of Pandora on the back of awinged banshee. Floating mountains, rushing waterfalls, vast seas and dense jungle pass under-wing. This multi-sensory, wind-in-your-face experience is unlike anything Disney has created before. “You are grounded on a winged predator and flying through these amazing environments with special effects to add to the thrill,” Rohde says.
• Aboard the eight-person reed boats of Na’vi River Journey, families follow a sacred river deep into the bioluminescent rainforest under a canopy of exotic glowing plants, passing rock formations and Pandoran creatures on the move. This mystical journey culminates in an encounter with the Na’vi Shaman of Songs, who has a deep connection to the life force of Pandora and sends positive energy out into the forest through her music.

After roaming a landscape pulsing with entertainment happening throughout the day and night, adventurers can recharge at Satu’li Canteen, the fast-casual restaurant for Pandora housed in an old Quonset hut. Windtraders stocks Na’vi cultural items, toys, science kits and more. Pongu Pongu, with a design as eclectic as its expat owner, is a specialty-beverage kiosk that serves up cooling refreshments and a treat called Lumpia (loom-pee-ah), a pineapple-cream cheese spring roll.

Pandora – The World of Avatar expands the day-into-nighttime adventures at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, including new after-dark experiences such as the majestic Rivers of Light show, sunset safaris, live-entertainment street parties and vivid, animated imagery bathing the Tree of Life, centerpiece of the adventure park.