An Aussie Island in the Epcot Lagoon

[Aussiejohn]

Julie,

Great imagineering suggestion on this weeks show and you should of been an imagineer.

An Australian Island pavilion in the middle of Epcot would be great. We could have the Great Ayres Rock Roller Coaster, the Opera House Amphitheatre, The Sydney Harbour Bridge connecting the Island with the England pavilion to help the convicts cross the lagoon to their island paradise, The Great Barrier Reef BBQ Restaurant which would feature Kanga Bangers and Krispy Koalas on the menu, the flying kangaroo ride for the little kids and the Crocodile Dundee alligator wrestling interactive display for the adults.

Your a genius,

I am on a plane right now, with my cheque book and a hammer to start work. :rotfl2:

[Aussiejohn]

And by the way,

I agree with the Dis team, the lamb in Australia is always good but I have not even heard of a Macadamia nut and chocolate bar for desert in Australia.

PS/ Nobody in Australia drinks Fosters (The Beer) either, so stay clear and stick to our superb Aussie wines such as the Penfords. :thumbsup2

AussieJohn

[tinkerbellblondie19]

If they could come up with a way to do this, I would be dancing.

But there's Illuminations.

And if you take that away, I'm sad D=

[minicoopercraig]

Yeah, Illuminations would suffer severly. Unless they were able to make another lagoon BEHIND England, or even by the International Gateway, then that might work. I don't know, but I'd love to see a new nation heralded into EPCOT, even though I love the current ones, they could use something to bring more people into the lands.

[tinkerbellblondie19]

Well, have you ever noticed that little waterway between China and African Outpost (I think that's where it is--I know it's near there, at least). They could widen that, move the bridge so it goes to there and connects, and BOOM! We've got Austrailia.

[minicoopercraig]

Hmm, that works, that little outpost just seems a little out of place to me anyway. Plus, they don't have any pins! LOL. I would say that's a good idea too, only because there aren't any other countrys there that are in any particular order. Or are there and I'm just missing it?! ;)

[AuroraJae]

Julie,

Great imagineering suggestion on this weeks show and you should of been an imagineer.

An Australian Island pavilion in the middle of Epcot would be great. We could have the Great Ayres Rock Roller Coaster, the Opera House Amphitheatre, The Sydney Harbour Bridge connecting the Island with the England pavilion to help the convicts cross the lagoon to their island paradise, The Great Barrier Reef BBQ Restaurant which would feature Kanga Bangers and Krispy Koalas on the menu, the flying kangaroo ride for the little kids and the Crocodile Dundee alligator wrestling interactive display for the adults.

Your a genius,

I am on a plane right now, with my cheque book and a hammer to start work. :rotfl2:

Hey there Aussie Friend,

Thanks so much for all the lovely words! :cloud9: I truly do believe that Australia deserves a spot in the World Showcase. After all it is not just a country it is also a continent with lots of rich history and culture! Not to mention some fabulous wines (Wolf Blass, anyone?).:)

Your ideas for the themeing of the island are fantastic. I especially like the idea of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House Amphitheatre. Oh, and alligator wrestling, I am so there!:banana:

Thanks for expanding on my idea, and I'll send a car to pick you up at OIA!:rotfl2:

[tinkerbellblondie19]

And they don't exactly serve African food there, either.


So they take down the outpost. They dig a little and create more space for the waterway, and use the land they dig up to create the Austrailian island. Ta-da!

[PrincessBelle39]

I wondered myself why there was no Australia. What a great idea that would be. Not sure about about Kanga Bangers and Krispy Koalas though. And Aussie John....chocolate coated macadamias are one of the first things I buy whenever we go to Queensland to visit the inlaws.

Your spot on about the Fosters. Everytime we go overseas someone offers DH Fosters. He wouldn't touch the stuff. I'll have a Coonawarra red myself.

[Aussiejohn]

I wondered myself why there was no Australia. What a great idea that would be. Not sure about about Kanga Bangers and Krispy Koalas though. And Aussie John....chocolate coated macadamias are one of the first things I buy whenever we go to Queensland to visit the inlaws.

Your spot on about the Fosters. Every time we go overseas someone offers DH Fosters. He wouldn't touch the stuff. I'll have a Coonawarra red myself.


Well said!

Only kidding about eating our national emblems, but a Australian pavilion at World Showcase would be great. Coming from a marketing background in government, this would be a fantastic tourism hook and I must admit I am sick of being asked when I travel overseas if everybody wrestles crocodiles in Australia and if Kangaroos really do wander through the main street of Sydney.

With the Federal Elections currently being fought out in Australia, I might just raise it as a election promise for the people.

PS/ The Coonawarra is good but give me a good Grange Hermitage any day.

All the best,

Aussie John

[hjd0411]

Hi fellow Aussies - I'd be there with my hammer and my limited building skills too!! I think an Australian "pavilion" would be fabulous!!

Great suggestion - hey I live in Kevin Rudd's electorate - I could canvas him if you like!!! ;)

Heather :upsidedow

PS Does that mean I could also apply to be a CM there??!! Yay!!!!

[Aussiejohn]

Hey there Aussie Friend,

Thanks so much for all the lovely words! :cloud9: I truly do believe that Australia deserves a spot in the World Showcase. After all it is not just a country it is also a continent with lots of rich history and culture! Not to mention some fabulous wines (Wolf Blass, anyone?).:)

Your ideas for the theming of the island are fantastic. I especially like the idea of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House Amphitheatre. Oh, and alligator wrestling, I am so there!:banana:

Thanks for expanding on my idea, and I'll send a car to pick you up at OIA!:rotfl2:

Thanks Julie,
But I need a lead architect to help me build on the infamous Orlando sink holes.

When you are finished construction, you could run the Aussie Pie and Beer shop on the island where we would sell stuffed Koalas for our Japanese friends and Steve Urwin memorabilia for the vistors from down south and don't forget about the discount Fosters beer that we are trying to flog off to all the tourists. :lmao:

In all seriousness though, an Australian pavillion would create priceless tourism opportunities for Australia and allow people from all around the world o experience our wonderful country.

Thanks again for the suggestion, and hopefully we can conspire some more over a burger, fries and a coke at the American pavilion during our next visit. :woohoo:

All the best,

John

[Aussiejohn]

Hi fellow Aussies - I'd be there with my hammer and my limited building skills too!! I think an Australian "pavilion" would be fabulous!!

Great suggestion - hey I live in Kevin Rudd's electorate - I could canvas him if you like!!! ;)

Heather :upsidedow

PS Does that mean I could also apply to be a CM there??!! Yay!!!!

Heather,
If you get this up, I will make you Mayor of the island. :thumbsup2

AussieJohn

[Aussiejohn]

If they could come up with a way to do this, I would be dancing.

But there's Illuminations.

And if you take that away, I'm sad D=


How about we each throw in $10 each and start construction.

With a little bit of Aussie ingenuity and a bit of she'll be right mate, we will have it knocked over by lunchtime so we can kick back, light the barbie and open up a few beers. :woohoo:

AussieJohn

[tinkerbellblondie19]

Can we wait 7 years then?

(I'm only 3 weeks out from my 14th b-day and I'm not allowed to drink yet)

[PrincessBelle39]

How about we each throw in $10 each and start construction.

With a little bit of Aussie ingenuity and a bit of she'll be right mate, we will have it knocked over by lunchtime so we can kick back, light the barbie and open up a few beers. :woohoo:

AussieJohn

Cheques in the mail AussieJohn. I should volunteer my DH. He's really good at the 'she'll be right mate':lmao:

Start working on Kevin, Heather. I'd love it up and running by my trip in November. :cutie:

[minicoopercraig]

Sounds like they'd have the best of the drinks there! You may find people wanting to just stay on your island, and not go anywhere else! LOL. I might just be one with all those promises. :)

[Aussiejohn]

Can we wait 7 years then?

(I'm only 3 weeks out from my 14th b-day and I'm not allowed to drink yet)

Woops, Sorry mate. We could always crack open a few cokes when we finish. :flower3:

John

[Aussiejohn]

Sounds like they'd have the best of the drinks there! You may find people wanting to just stay on your island, and not go anywhere else! LOL. I might just be one with all those promises. :)


Good point, and I will need to add a quality hotel to our small island paradise. :coffee:

How about building Disney's great Australian campsite. No woosey 5 star Wilderness Lodge type stuff, real camping underneath the stars (or Illuninations) in tents on camp beds.

We could build the campsite near the crocodile wrestling to make it a more interesting "interactive" experience and have the Kangaroos and Koalas wandering through the campsite to keep the guests happy. :yay:

John

[tinkerbellblondie19]

I was gonna say...Camping at Epcot would be more like camping under the clouds once Illuminations ends...

[PrincessBelle39]

Good point, and I will need to add a quality hotel to our small island paradise. :coffee:

How about building Disney's great Australian campsite. No woosey 5 star Wilderness Lodge type stuff, real camping underneath the stars (or Illuninations) in tents on camp beds.

We could build the campsite near the crocodile wrestling to make it a more interesting "interactive" experience and have the Kangaroos and Koalas wandering through the campsite to keep the guests happy. :yay:

John

I'll bring the Aeroguard.

[tinkerbellblondie19]

Good point, and I will need to add a quality hotel to our small island paradise. :coffee:

How about building Disney's great Australian campsite. No woosey 5 star Wilderness Lodge type stuff, real camping underneath the stars (or Illuninations) in tents on camp beds.

We could build the campsite near the crocodile wrestling to make it a more interesting "interactive" experience and have the Kangaroos and Koalas wandering through the campsite to keep the guests happy. :yay:

John
Well you know the beer's involved when someone joins in with the croc wrestling...

[Aussiejohn]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/1597222744_181e9f2734.jpg

[portia9]

Can we wait 7 years then?

(I'm only 3 weeks out from my 14th b-day and I'm not allowed to drink yet)

Here's some good news-in Australia the legal drinking age is 18 :goodvibes

Yvette

[portia9]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/1597222744_181e9f2734.jpg

That is awesome :lmao:

Yvette

[minicoopercraig]

But that plan isn't fair to the other countries, the island is HUGE! LOL. If we could shrink it down to the size of two of the current islands combined, that might work better! LOL.

[mjy]

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

NO.

UH UH.

WON'T WORK!

There used to be a little "island" in the lake at the Boardwalk. Now if you look, there is merely a bouy.

Why?

Because the boat captains kept running into the island.

Could you imagine the news when the front page of the Orlando Sentinel reported that "Friendship Boat collides with and sinks Australia!" :lmao:

[Aussiejohn]

Hey Bob,
Thanks for the offer of picking me up from the Airport with Cart Cam.
I will ring when I arrive with my hammer.

:moped:

[tinkerbellblondie19]

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

NO.

UH UH.

WON'T WORK!

There used to be a little "island" in the lake at the Boardwalk. Now if you look, there is merely a bouy.

Why?

Because the boat captains kept running into the island.

Could you imagine the news when the front page of the Orlando Sentinel reported that "Friendship Boat collides with and sinks Australia!" :lmao:
That captain needs to open his eyes...

[DisneyWorldWisher]

Hmm.

As much as I'd like an Australia pavillion at WS, I think an Australia "land" at Animal Kingdom would make more sense.

Just my opinion :)

[miss missy]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/1597222744_181e9f2734.jpg

:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 I sooo want to go!! :yay: :yay: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Aussiejohn]

That is awesome :lmao:

Yvette


Thanks!:goodvibes

[Aussiejohn]

Hmm.

As much as I'd like an Australia pavillion at WS, I think an Australia "land" at Animal Kingdom would make more sense.

Just my opinion :)

Cool, I am easy going and I like Animal Kindom.

Are you thing of Ayers Rock taking over Everest, or are we looking at a new land.

AussieJohn

[miss missy]

If we keep it an island... can't we add a nice way to get us there... hmmm :idea:

[Aussiejohn]

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2007/03/26/sydharbri460.jpgThe harbour bridge would be great.

[DisneyWorldWisher]

Cool, I am easy going and I like Animal Kindom.

Are you thing of Ayers Rock taking over Everest, or are we looking at a new land.

AussieJohn

:rotfl:

New land

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw/images2003/languagespecific/eng/nontheme/maps/maps_reg/ak.jpg

They could either reshape Discovery Island a little and retheme it (:rotfl: ) or put it in between Asia and Camp Minnie-Mickey (which is honestly something I'd like to see them do)

[Aussiejohn]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2265/1654039642_7daa1b03cc_o.jpg

[tinkerbellblondie19]

Or they could just bulldoze Camp Minnie-Mickey...

[Aussiejohn]

Hi Guys,
I have just come across a Jim Hill article regarding concepts that have been given to Disney about a Australian Pavilion.

Check out the article at http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/09/24/monday-mouse-watch-could-a-kissimmee-based-company-now-hold-the-key-to-additional-world-showcase-pavilions-being-built-at-epcot.aspx

The link contains the full story and concept art.

Who knows, the Australian dream may come true after all. Let me know what you think.

AusieJohn