How have I never noticed the dragon...

[atkinstogram]

...in the Animal Kingdom logo before?

Has it always been there?!?

 

[diznygirl]

Yes.

 

[DisAuntie]

...in the Animal Kingdom logo before?

Has it always been there?!?

Yes, it represents The Beastly Kingdom that was never built.

 

[cglaura]

Beastly Kingdom

When conceived, Disney's Animal Kingdom was to focus on three broad classifications of animals: those that exist in today's reality; those that did exist but are now extinct (i.e., dinosaurs); and those that only exist in the realm of fantasy. The original design for Animal Kingdom included a themed section called the Beastly Kingdom (possibly spelled as "Beastly Kingdomme"), devoted to creatures of legend and mythology. Camp Minnie-Mickey was built instead of Beastly Kingdom and was meant to serve as a temporary placeholder until Beastly Kingdom could be built.

Beastly Kingdom was to feature mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters, featuring realms of both good and evil creatures:
The evil side was to be dominated by Dragon Tower, a ruined castle home to a greedy fire-breathing dragon who hoarded a fabulous treasure in the tower chamber. The castle was also inhabited by bats who planned to rob the dragon of his riches. They were to enlist the guests' help in their scheme and whisk them off on a thrilling suspended roller coaster ride through the castle ruins. The climax of the ride was to be an encounter with the evil dragon himself, resulting in a nearly barbecued train of guests.

The good side was to be home to Quest of the Unicorn, an adventure that would send guests through a maze of medieval mythological creatures to seek the hidden grotto where the unicorn lives. Finally, the Fantasia Gardens attraction was to be a musical boat ride through animal scenes from Disney's animated classic, Fantasia. The ride was to feature both the crocodiles and hippos from "Dance of the Hours" and the Pegasus, fauns, and centaurs from Beethoven's "Pastoral."

Remnants of Beastly Kingdom were seen when the park opened, some of which are still extant:

The parking lot contains a section named "Unicorn."

The silhouette of a dragon appears in the park's logo.

A detailed dragonhead statue sits atop one of the ticket booths at the park's entrance. (The other two booths are topped by an elephant head and a triceratops head.)

One of the McDonald's Animal Kingdom-themed Happy Meal toys was a winged purple dragon.

As Expedition Everest features the mythological yeti, the park now features at least one attraction based on each type of animal (living, extinct and legendary).

In 2000, Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde said: "We had a vision and now it's become a placeholder. We have all kinds of ideas and not all of them fit with the theme of Beastly Kingdom. I'm not even convinced there will be a Beastly Kingdom."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Animal_Kingdom

 

[atkinstogram]

Every day's a schoolday here.....

 

[BrianL]

Yes, it represents The Beastly Kingdom that was never built.

Yes, the idea was to have an area with fantasy animals as well, but it was never built. I suppose now Avatar is taking that spot. They have dragon-like creatures and other fantasy animals.

Edit: cglaura said it better than I ever could.

 

[atkinstogram]

Personally, I don't think you can ever go wrong with dragons. If ever you're asking "Do I have enough dragons?", the answer is always "No. Add more dragons".