Add me to the group that thinks that theyre working on an addition to the existing park (as in the completion of an area that was in the original plans but hasnt been built yet) as opposed to a new park.
I was able to attend a Sneak Peak at the Animal Kingdom before it opened. I just pulled out my A Sneak Preview book from my very first visit to the theme park. The copyright is from 1997. I thought I would post a few paragraphs from The Big Idea section (the first chapter in the book). There is also a drawing of the proposed theme park that I will try to scan and post sometime soon (its a small picture but maybe it will shed some light on the happenings that Tikiman heard about).
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Extensive research showed that Disney in association with animals was appealing to theme park guests. By January 1990, a small team of Disney Imagineers was hard at work in a tiny cluttered office strewn with three-by-five cards and artists sketch pads.
These artists, architects and writers were part of a long tradition of theme park creation at Walt Disney Imagineering, the renowned division responsible for dreaming up and building
Disneyland and the five Disney theme parks in Florida, Tokyo and Paris. From the beginning, the Animal Kingdom team drew on over forty years of experience in creating exciting stories, inventing the latest in attraction technology and constructing entertaining environments.
Brainstorming, book reading, research and soul searching led to a clear consensus the park could not be simply about live animals. The themes would be derived from humankinds emotional reaction to animals. Our love for animals of all types our enduring fascination with living, extinct and imaginary creatures is the core of what would become Disneys Animal Kingdom.
The earliest concept drawings illustrate a three-part experience combining traditional, fantasy-based theme-park attractions with a zoo-like component and an Epcot-style pavilion. The team likened these three elements to the three stages of love for animals that humans experience the early, childlike love of animals experienced through stories and myths; the youthful adventure of going on safari to encounter live animals or even dinosaurs; and the mature, respectful love of animals that comes from knowing and appreciating them as fellow creatures of power, grace, and beauty.
Unlike other Disney theme parks, architecture would be downplayed. One index card read, nature is more powerful than human effort. Barriers between humans and animals would disappear literally as well as figuratively. Proximity equals excitement, the team believed, as they created an entirely new type of park where free roaming herds of wildlife immerse guests in a real-life narrative adventure. Encounters with living animals, as well as recreated creatures from myth and animals resurrected from extinction, were vital to preserving and enriching our emotional connections with animals. The designers knew this approach would ultimately lead guests to a fuller understanding of animals, ecosystems and their plights. As one Imagineer put it, Disneys way of standardizing, broadening and disseminating information goes beyond entertainment, beyond business, beyond making money. Its giving something back.
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ualing Dragons).
