Honestly, I do believe that Jim Hill knows people within Disney that know things. But I also believe Disney knows that Jim Hill knows people within Disney and they feed him possibilities as just a way to get a gauge on public opinion. Disney has some major confidentiality agreements and someone leaking something this big without Disney approving it is gonna get sacked.
And honestly, some of it makes sense. Disney wants to do something boutique park wise because it sees this as a possible lost revenue source. They also ARE gutting Pleasure Island right now... as it doesnt fit in with their goals for Downtown Disney. That means doing something with the Adventurer's Club (though I dont agree that they need to move it... if anything, they should expand it where it is because it is a tiny place and could certainly stand some more room... I think it could fit into the rest of DD quite easily, even without all of the other clubs).
So expanding the Adventurer's Club into a way of immersing guests into a new high end boutique park makes sense. As to the examples provided by Jim Hill as to possible attractions, I think this is where speculation comes into play.
Imagine if this was the draw (Characters used are just an example) -
You arrive at the park to find out that Hathaway Browne jets you off on a night time journey riding an Indian Elephant while you wear nightvision goggles to see tigers, orangutans, gibbons, and to catch a look at the ever elusive Sumatran rhino... of which there are less than 300 in the world.
Samantha Sterling drafts you into boarding 6 person open air trucks to visit all sorts of African animals on a small reserve recreation of the Ngorongoro Crater. The trucks each have their own authentic African game driver and offer hour long excursions to see lions, hyenas, water buffalo, zebras, etc. at their most active. The driver entices many animals up to the truck with the onboard attachment of browse.
Madame Zarkov invites guests into The Wondrous Night... a one of a kind effects laden show drawing animal spirits (holograms) into performance with african dancers as they recreate a sub primal african ritual. Animal spirits walk amongst seated guests until guests are pulled into the show to participate in the calling of the night.
Otis T Wren convinces would be travelers to tackle a walking trek through a South American jungle including a trek through an ancient cave filled with SAmerican microbats, beautiful waterfalls and 30 ft stalagmites, only to emerge into a forest where a bridge collapses behind them and the only way to get back to base camp is by a 500 ft zipline over a river of crocodiles and pirahna.
Emil Bleehall hosts the kids camp where scouters of all ages can come check out and pet all sorts of exotic critters including snakes, lizards, and crocodilians. Animal handlers demonstrate parrot vocalizations throughout the evening only to be one upped by the presentation of the largest snake in the world, the reticulated python.
Fletcher Hodges hosts a new artifact lounge... where REAL exotic artifacts are brought from around the world and put on display in a one of a kind museum.
To just think, this was all thought up in a few minutes. Just think what Joe Rohde may be able to cook up. I think it could be quite cool.
