"Oel ngati Kameie,” Djuan Rivers said Monday, speaking the language of Na’vi. "That means, 'I see you.'"

  • Disney official: Pandora is 'significant investment on many fronts'
  • Pandora cast members will have unique badges, speak fictional Na'vi
  • Pandora — The World of Avatar opens May 27 at Animal Kingdom
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In the next five weeks, the vice president of Disney's Animal Kingdom hopes to have new cast members — Disney’s name for employees — trained in the language spoken by the inhabitants of its new land, Pandora — The World of Avatar.

Yet, until the grand opening Saturday, May 27, peeking over the construction walls at Disney's Animal Kingdom can provide a glimpse at what's on the horizon.

"At Animal Kingdom, we've spent a lot of time over the past years to make Animal Kingdom a place you need to experience at night,” said Matt Beiler with Walt Disney Imagineering, during a media event Monday to discuss the economic impacts of Pandora.

Adding Pandora — The World of Avatar is the largest investment at Animal Kingdom since opening on Earth Day 1998, park leaders said.

The new themed land is full of lush landscaping, a mixture of real plants and the imagined ones from the Avatar film.

As the No. 1 grossing movie worldwide so far, Disney expects the Avatar attraction to position Animal Kingdom as a park that can be enjoyed day and night.

After the May opening, the operating calendar for the park will stretch from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily through the July 4 holiday.

"Pandora is a place that you walk through during the daytime, you'll see a number of details. All of those details at night — completely different,” Beiler said.

The landscaping will be aglow with special effects that seem to illuminate from the inside out.

The evolution of Animal Kingdom, which formerly had a closing time of 5 p.m., is part of an expansion that Disney said created 800 construction jobs.

"It represents a significant investment on many, many fronts,” Walt Disney World Vice President Jim MacPhee said.

Besides the construction jobs, more than 700 new hires are already at work, according to MacPhee.

"They will span from attractions host and hostess positions, food and beverage, merchandise, maintenance, technology, as well as leadership across the board,” MacPhee said.

On Monday, Disney World shared what the three groups of new cast members will be wearing while at work. Each group belongs to a specialized set of people whose backstory would have guests believe they came together to live and work in Pandora.

Each of the three groups of cast members will sport new name tags. The traditional oval shape stays, but a contemporary take on the classic name badge uses a new font and description of each cast member’s role. Plus, the cast member's hometown will be joined by the word “Earth” after it.

Many of the new recruits will also be speaking a new language.

"Kaltxi,” Rivers said with ease. The world means “hello” in Na’vi.

Speaking in the fictional language that inhabitants of Pandora use is part of the immersive experience, according to Rivers. Therefore, he says many cast members will be trained to speak Na’vi.

"Part of the training infuses everything from the language you just heard to understanding the place itself."