Here's A IDEA FOR the Animal Kingdom....

[tuck]

Cypress Garden's is closing for good this weekend..... sad news.... but they have one great attaction that Disney could buy.. probly really cheap..... and set up at the Animal Kingdom.....The Island in the Sky attaction..... a great veiw of the park this would bring.... if anyone has a pic of Island in the sky please post it.... to see what I mean...

 

[RoutemanDan]

 

[tuck]

Thanks Routeman Dan for the pic

.............If you see what I mean ... this would be perfect for Animal Kingdom with a little touch ups.... and a great family attaction

 

[Planogirl]

Cypress Gardens is closing down for good? Wow, I didn't know. We have good memories of the place but we never made it back.

 

[All Aboard]

tuck, forgive me but... that's about the LAST thing I'd like to see in a Disney theme park. A giant crane arm that lifts guests up in the air?

I had no idea CG was closing. When I was 10 years old, I was convinced my destiny lie in that ski show. Perhaps I'll make an imptomptu trip up there to say goodbye this weekend.

 

[d-r]

it is just Disney that is blaming low tourism on the war, etc. no one else is having any problems attracting tourists.

 

[Dznefreek]

that's about the LAST thing I'd like to see in a Disney theme park. A giant crane arm that lifts guests up in the air?

Do you like seeing that monstrosity known as Primeval Whirl!?!?!?!?

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by d-r
it is just Disney that is blaming low tourism on the war, etc. no one else is having any problems attracting tourists.

Cypress Gardens was having problems attrcting visitors long before September 11 or Operation Iraqi Freedom. See http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030411&Category=APN&ArtNo=304111017

tuck, I also think that Animal Kingdom needs some more attractions, but Cypress Gardens' Island in the Sky attraction would look awful there. And, in most parts of Animal Kingdom, the view would mainly be the tops of trees.

 

[wdwguide]

That does not look like something I'd like to see at WDW - how about making it a revolving full-service restaurant overlooking the savanna? The park loses quite a few people by only catering to the fast food crowd.

 

[All Aboard]

that's about the LAST thing I'd like to see in a Disney theme park. A giant crane arm that lifts guests up in the air?

Do you like seeing that monstrosity known as Primeval Whirl!?!?!?!?

Uh, no. Not exactly sure what you are getting at. But, I'll assume that you are commenting on my use of the term "last". Clearly, the attraction depicted in this thread isn't literally the "last" thing I'd like to see. But, as much as I dislike the look of PW, it's not as bad as the giant crane arm shown above. If I'm missing your point, let me know and I will try again at responding.

 

[tstobb]

Originally posted by gcurling
Perhaps I'll make an imptomptu trip up there to say goodbye this weekend.

Don't - it's not closing, it's already closed, leaving passholders in the dark. Nobody is there and the phones have either been disconnected or they're not being answered.

 

[lrodk]

One thing that's been lacking at AK is a good quality full service restaurant inside of the park. I would love to see a setup similar to the Treehouse Restaurant at the San Diego Zoo, yet with a slant toward high-end cuisine. It would have been nice if they had incorporated it into the design of the Tree of Life(talk about views). Probably would have been one the hottest dining spot in all of Orlando.

 

[d-r]

Cypress Gardens was having problems attrcting visitors long before September 11 or Operation Iraqi Freedom. See http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/p...ArtNo=304111017

Yeah, but not so bad that they went out of business before 9/11 and OIF, right Werner?

From that very article you linked:

"Cypress Gardens, a pioneer in Florida tourism, closes its doors on Sunday after being in business for 67 years, never having recovered from the tourism slowdown after Sept. 11."

From http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/04/11/cypress.gardens.ap/index.html

"The park never recovered from the tourism drop after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Cypress Gardens officials said, and the fear of travel generated by the war in Iraq worsened the situation. "

 

[vernon]

One of the great things about AK is it's ability to make you think you are actually in Africa during the Safari. The great expense and effort that went into the landscaping and themeing would be shot to pieces by having a rather large ( and IMHO rather ugly) crane stuck in the skyline.

 

[jlambrig]

I am sure they closed because of vacuum cleaners and the lack of butter in the shape of whatever animals they have there

 

[mitros]

I don't know about transfering that thing to WDW. It has been at Cypress gardens for a looooooooong time. Maybe that concept could be used at WDW, but would have to be constructed from scratch using today's tachnology.

 

[Experiment626]

from cnn.com --

WINTER HAVEN, Florida (AP) -- State officials say they may buy and preserve Cypress Gardens, the closed historic theme park that served as the backdrop for several Esther Williams movies during its prime....

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/04/15/cypress.gardens.ap/index.html

 

[YoHo]

A couple of people were talking about how AK would be better with a nice full service resturant in the park. You people do realize that Disney signed an exclusivity deal with Rainforest. there can be NO full service resturants in the park that compete with Rainforest. it CAN'T happen. So, there will be no resturants until that agreement expires.

 

[MikePezz]

I have heard the same YoHo. However, there apparently have been grumblings from the Rain Forest. With AK numbers low, and closing times so early, the initial projections for the restaurant are way low (apparently, the RFC in the marketplace fares better). I believe it was 6 months ago when I heard RFC was trying to entice Disney to let them out of the deal (and close the Animal Kingdom based restaurant down).

Did anyone hear anything similar?

 

[DC7800]

Just how long until this exclusive deal does expire anyway?

As for Rainforest wanting out of the deal, hasn't the company been having financial difficulties for some time now? I would not be at all suprised to hear the numbers are below initial projections, but I'd be less certain the restaurant isn't hugely profitable just from the hours it is open. It is, after all (and unfortunately), the only "sit-down restaurant" in the park.