ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been nearly 13 years since James Cameron’s 2009 film “Avatar” arrived in theaters and shattered box office records.

The sci-fi adventure took in nearly $3 billion and would become the highest-grossing film of all time.

With “Avatar: The Way of Water” set to open in theaters next month, audiences will soon be able to visit the world of Pandora once again.

The sequel is set more than a decade after the events of the first film. The story centers around Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their family as they try to protect their planet of Pandora from a familiar threat.

Their children, which include three Nav’i children and a human boy, are played by a young crop of actors new to the franchise: Jack Champion, who plays Spider; Bailey Bass, who plays Tsireya; and Jamie Flatters, who plays Neteyam.

The cast visited Pandora-The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom recently and sat down with Spectrum News to talk about what it was like to be part of the upcoming film.

“I think we all had our star-struck moments from time-to-time,” Bass said. “Kate Wislet … she plays my, my character’s name is Tsireya and her mom is Ronal and Kate Wislet plays that character. I got to spend a lot of time with her, so that was really special.”

“Zoe (Saldana) was my starstruck moment,” Champion said. “The first time we really got to meet (everyone) and hangout was in Hawaii right after I got cast. And I watched ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ on the flight to Hawaii and literally the next morning Zoe was walking down the hall and she was like, ‘Jack, are you Jack?’"

In the latest installment of “Avatar,” audiences will be introduced to different Na’vi clan called the Metkayina, who spend a lot of time in and around the water.

“They are influenced by their environment and they’re surrounded by the water,” Bass said. “Their build is different, they have fin-like arms, their tails are a little bit thicker, so they swim in the water, and they can also hold their breath for a really long time.”

To prepare for the film’s many underwater scenes, the cast received training, learning to free dive and even becoming SCUBA certified.

“And we did performance capture underwater in a movie for the first time,” Champion said, adding with a chuckle, “We were in new waters."

Filming scenes underwater also required the cast to hold their breath for longer periods of time. And there was a little friendly competition among the younger cast.

“I blacked out trying to get past three minutes 30, only because one of you did three minutes,” Flatters said. “So I was like, 'Next week, I’m going to get that 30 seconds.'”

While at Animal Kingdom, the cast also spent time exploring Pandora. A few of them were at the opening of the land five years ago, and they said coming back is always special.

“This is my third time being here, and I think it never stops feeling magical,” Champion said. “I think Flight of Passage is my favorite ride in the whole of Disney World, and I don’t know, I think I’m going for the record of how many times someone can go on that ride.”

“Avatar: The Way of Water” opens in theaters nationwide Dec. 16.