WDW Imagineering Project: Disney's Animal Kingdom

[goofy donald]

Welcome! for those of you who haven't read through the hub page yet please do so and it should explain any questions you have (entitled WDW Imagineering Project: The Beginning). Also (shameless plug) please subscribe to this fun exciting project the more readers the merrier and it will only help you keep up with whats going on. So lets begin our first stage of the project: Disney's Animal Kingdom!

The fourth park of the WDW empire, Animal Kingdom is a stunning new exciting look on the term 'theme park'. By far the largest Disney park, it holds a vast and diverse range of wildlife along with some of the most exciting attractions in WDW. Its an exciting adventure with new things to discover every visit and arguably hosts the best theming of any park anywhere. The key to making the park better is simply by continuing to add a few more high quality lands in the park with more for guests to do. This gets more people excited to come to the park and gets rid of the stigma people have from seeing it as a 'half day park'.

I have drawn up an expansion plan here so it gives you a rough idea about the future look of AK, however I wont give away my secrets to whats coming to these area's quite yet .

(the red is backstage areas and parking, dark red is expansion zones, and all other colors are the lands that already exist)

First up is the Oasis! I will be going through this land by land and hyperlinks will be provided in the next post to each idea for easy access. I will post tomorrow and try to consistently make Wednesdays the update day so once a week a land will be released (or sooner depending on how much time I have). Have a nice day and see you all soon with the new, modified OASIS!!!

 

[goofy donald]

Coming soon

 

[goofy donald]

The Oasis is an entirely different theme park entrance then the other parks. This entrance holds that wow factor until after you leave a peaceful rain forest setting until the land opens up and you see the tree of life. I personally love this area, its an amazing way to enter the park with great theming and it gets you into the natural magic of animal kingdom right away. If you take your time and experience the peace and wonder in a leisurely stroll you will feel this more then if your sprinting to the rides but it is still calming nonetheless. This is the one area in AK i wouldn't want to mess around with too much as it is great just the way it is. The only big issue I have is with the rain forest cafe. I don't really agree with non chain restaurants in Disney parks but I would like to have at least one of the two removed and this one fits better in its location along with the fact it would be too much work to demolish so I say keep the rain forest cafe at the entrance here so we can get rid of the one at Downtown Disney. Hopefully though, along the pathway a few more animal exhibits could be added to further the effect of the Oasis as the exhibits blend into the forest. Besides the addition of a few other animal exhibits if there is room, or possibly an area with interesting jungle fauna, this section should stay the same.

Sorry for the anticlimactic start but trust me they will be more in depth as we head deeper into the park with some new attractions in the near future . Next we head up the path towards the tree of life and Discovery Island!, see you next wednesday .

Recap

Attractions: The Oasis exhibits and gardens

Dining: The Rainforest Cafe

Shopping: Outpost / Garden Gate Gifts

 

[goofy donald]

The central hub of Animal Kingdom, home of the park's main icon the magnificent tree of life. Its a very interesting combination of the clashing elements of peace and calm in the discovery island trails to the overpowering fun, excitement, and general overall busyness you would expect from the hub of a theme park found in the "bazaar" section of the land. although again another fairly compact area i believe this time there are a few changes that can be made.

first, i love the discovery trails and its tough to be a bug, they remain as is. Mickey's Jamin' Jungle parade will remain as well, but the route will have to change slightly, (thats for another day ).

The first addition would be to add a small circle vision 3d theater roughly half the size of Oh Canada! at Epcot, that would showcase a planet earth style movie about the lives animal lead in the wild. preferably the show would be long, say 3-4 hours on a loop where people could come and go as they pleased or a short 15 minute long show that focused on one animal or ecosystem with a rapid turnover of different shows either throughout the day or periodically, every few weeks or so. the location would be behind island mercantile on the way into camp Minnie Mickey (hopefully engulfing the DVC area in the process ). i believe it adds a nice way to get out of the sun and enjoy nature while preparing for the next adventure in your day for those that need a break. it would have a simple indoors black curtained wall theater with the screens all around the circular room and leaning rails for people to relax on. the outside would fit the theme of the bazaar, bright colors, metal roof, a nicely themed sign saying The Planet Earth Theater. Would also include a small waiting area, in the case capacity is full, that would be decorated like a theater lobby, posters of animals along the walls that are featured in the movie, not corny movie adds but actual posters, lit warmly but not bright enough that the audience can sense people coming and going. the exit would be a small path that would lead back into island mercantile, which now has a small section near the exit for planet earth souvenirs, the dvd's, stuffed animals, etc.

My next change would be to add a full service element to the flame tree bbq. this could be accomplished by adding some more delicious bbq dishes and upping the scale of the dining experience a little through creating an addition that goes straight down to the water on discovery river with outdoor dining. this new area would be two levels (a large lower area and a smaller upper floor and balcony for the experience soon to be mentioned) and would encompass almost all the waterfront from the dinoland usa bridge to about a third of the way up the right side of discovery island. a quick service window would remain open as well offering ribs, similar to the set up of the rose and crown at UK epcot.

third, the radio disney riverboats make a comeback, but in a much different role. they are now passenger ships that take guests to two other docks in the park, Asia and Africa. the asian dock would be in the area in front of Expedition Everest and the African dock would be across from the Dawa bar. also the radio disney......not happening anymore, now there will be location specific narration to each port and the adventures you can experience when you get there. each dock is specificly themed to the area it is in and they will be known as the Discovery Island world cruise.

Finally the big finish. theres always been a night show in every park, MK gets Wishes, Epcot Iluminations, DHS Fantasmic, and now new to DAK The Circle of Life. A new night show that could be viewed from either dinoland usa, or discovery island (to support the crowds) its a mix of world of color, illuminations (- fireworks), the electric light boats that happen at night near the MK hotels and a variety of other techniques. a new draw bridge would be built between dinoland usa and asia to cut off access to the animals from that point and to allow the larger boats and freights to come through and prepare the show (i looked on google earth and this is currently where they are storing boats right behing the nemo theater so it works out perfectly). the animals from oasis and discovery island trails would all be brought in a little bit early on the 3 nights a week they do the show as to not be annoyed by the noise from people and the show itself, it would only broadcast from speakers in the oasis and dino land areas again with the animals best interest in mind there would be water jets firing huge blasts in the air, projections of famous disney animal movies on mist screens and animals in the wild starting and finishing with the beautiful music from the lion kings circle of life with other Disney classic music and high tempo pieces in between. a wonderful end to the day in my opinion and the answer to all our problems for a night show in my opinion. unfortunately the two biggest attractions everest and kilimanjaro will close down prior to this but they will remain open for that crucial 30 mins to an hour longer then they normally would be allowing for that last minute ride. staff would then usher people away from those areas of the park with animals, cutting off access to them via security fences and personnel. after the show the park closes approx 30 mins after still giving it a reasonably early closing time but not as early as before, essentially an hour to an hour and a half after dark.

Recap

Attractions:
Its tough to be a bug
Discovery island trails
Planet Earth theater
Discovery Island World Cruise
Circle of Life: Nighttime Spectacular!

Dining:
Flame tree BBQ
Fire pit ribs
Pizzafari
Safari coffee
Safari kiosk

Shopping:
Beastly Bazaar
Island Mercantile
Disney Outfitters / (quick side note half of the outfitters location becomes the walking stick bugporium, a small its tough to be a bug gift shop hosted by an AA walking stick that has pre recorded phrases by david hyde pearce)
Creature Comfort

thats all for now next up Dinoland USA!

 

[goofy donald]

Phew! well im back and this next installment is a great in my opinion! i know it seems long but you should be able to make it through just fine its a fairly interesting read. Remember to reply to the post with your questions, concerns, if you think something should change, or if a concept isnt quite clear enough. Were in this together folks hope you enjoy the knew Dinoland USA .

Dino land is a very interesting area of the park, a mix between far past and possible future.... and a tacky carnival. Although it sounds like an odd concept it works in my opinion. It gives an amusing back story and a rather fun concept, and to add realism to this project it would be a very poor idea to spend money completely removing an idea unless it’s absolutely necessary. Therefore to correct the current thematic problems I think that if Disney displayed the back-story more prominently public would enjoy the concept more right off the hop. I intend to do that through adding large billboards to the area along the “road” that advertise dinorama AND it’s back story far enough away to draw people in but not so far away as to interfere with different themes around the area. This would therefore call for a slight extension of the ‘road’ path in an arm heading towards the boneyard, and a little bit further on its current length heading towards the theatre building. Also the theme would be upped by really making it a better, and more upscale carnival atmosphere through area specific snack choices like a fresh cotton candy cart and caramel corn (all themed and specific to that area), new paint, essentially making it look like it just opened, making it a more plausible story and make more people want to get in there. The key to a carnival looking good, and what i think dinorama misses the most sometimes, is activity, this is the one place where it would be ok to get a little bit congested because the more people there are in that small area the better the atmosphere is. Finally I would add the one part of the carnival that’s missing, a small to mid size Ferris wheel, this would merely serve as a young children’s attraction and to take up some more space in the area just to create the feeling that there are more people in the area then there actually is. The height will not disrupt any sightlines and it will be themed into a dino basket-like ride where you sit in your seats with a dino sculptured head overhead, somewhat tacky yet perfectly fitting the area’s tackiness. Primeval whirl stays as is (maybe with a bit of maintenance which it will go through soon and that will help the ride experience and possibly a little more motion in the cut-outs in the ride) and so do the fossil fun games (but maybe with some better prizes, just because Disney made a carnival concept doesn’t mean they have to hustle u like one too). Finally, since no one could give me an idea for a replacement Triceratop spin stays, but ide like to add a little advancement, the introduction of the magic carpet tech of water spraying into the mouths of the flying triceratops. Kids can now spray the people in front of them with little ‘spits’ of water from their triceratops adding a little more magic to the ride experience. As one last note, the dino diner will be officially retired for a newly themed trilobites building that will move into Dinorama near primeval whirl called Chester and Hester’s carnival concessions.

Most of this part of the park I would like to keep as it is, mainly additions and tweaks here and no important deletions so to speak. In the research station section the bone yard stays as is, a great place that is very popular amongst kids. But directly in front of it near the shoreline is where the majority of the work for this part of the park will be done. A lot of the vegetation near the water’s edge will be removed and the path will be extended out to the water with dinoland themed railing, possibly like that seen at the dino institute. This area will be about the majority of the shoreline in front of the bone yard for viewing the circle of life night-time spectacular, with either palm trees or themed lamps placed incrementally along the path to prevent it from being bland during the day time. During the day this area can serve as a great place to take a beautiful picture with both the tree of life and Everest within view, and character meet and greets. A specific meet and greet in particular that would be here is with Lucky the dinosaur. Yes he’s making his return, lucky (now with longer battery life and more features will walk out from backstage to this position, do some tricks pose for pictures and head on back to recharge the batteries. In the waterfront area in front of the theatre though is where the newest innovation would make her debut. The Dino institute staff have had such success bringing back dino’s from the past with lucky and an iguanodon now adjusting well to life in our time, they decided to attempt bringing back their first aquatic dino, Nessie. A long necked aquatic dino, Nessie will be the next step in Disney immagineering, more agile and dexterous the lucky she will swim along the shoreline of discovery lake being operated from a control room inside the new aquatic research station’s upper floor, made to look from bellow like a scientists observation room. Her long neck will allow the imagineers to conceal the majority of the body underwater so it doesn’t have to be entirely themed and a hump can trail behind like a trailer containing extra propulsion and or battery units if required. She will have a meet and greet time as well and put on a little interactive show with her handler as he or she shows how mischievous Nessie can be. On the ground floor of the research station, a new quick service restaurant serving quick seafood fair such as popcorn shrimp and fish sandwiches and an outdoor dining area built partially on a dock over the water so that you can watch Nessie while you are eating. It will be themed similar to an old light house and the back story will be that the dino institute bought the lighthouse to turn it into a research facility, from this it will also make things easier for the circle of life show as it could give a place to fide projectors and a control tower to control the entire show from. This should be a very popular concept with many as you never get to have your picture taken with a real live dinosaur. The final step of this expansion would be to add a small hut in between the two areas (currently a small peak in the water line on the map) where you can print your pictures with Lucky and Nellie and get other Lucky and Nellie memorabilia.

Nellie will also interact hopefully with the discovery river boats occasionally as they pass by towards a dock that now allows the boats to complete an entire loop around discovery island. The boat dock would be located to the left of Nessie with a similar ramp design that the main dock has on discovery island leading up to Dinoland from the lower shore. It would be themed to the new research institute expansion and would be filled with chalk boards and data made to look like a functioning research outpost.

Next up is dino-sue and behind her the dinosaur sculptures, I would like to extend that into a full walking trail which would mist people as they walk though and explain the dinos possibly with overhead narration, i would add animated dinos into it and make it a full blown attraction but i fear that would be treading on the toes of Jurassic park at universal so i will leave it be as one of those little areas of Disney magic don’t think much of, usually the imagineers take great pride in making these areas hidden gems, should turn out very nice. The dinosaur ride is the best part of this area, it stays exactly the way it is, the only changes I would ever make in this area would be to bring back a few of the effects and intensity of the ride that was once there in countdown to extinction, just adds a little more pop to the ride experience. Restaurantasaurus stays exactly the same except for the shrimp poe boy heading to the aquatic research outpost and the turkey leg coming in from the extinct trilo bites.

The only thing left that needs to be discussed is finding Nemo the musical. As much as I loved the show last time I checked, dinosaurs weren’t fish from the Great Barrier Reef therefore they are out. This left me with a predicament as I couldn’t really think of a successful theatre show involving dinos that would fit on that small of a stage and as Disney would never knock down the entire building as it would be an extreme waste of money i lost the option of a theatre show and a large outdoor roller coaster both tantalizing options, one for convenience the other for awesomeness value. The only option I was left with was to gut the building and put in an indoor roller coaster Rage of the Pterodactyl. A story of the next expansion project after Nessie for the Dino institute, a massive aviary on the outskirts of town, is in danger of massive failure after a rogue male is wreaking havoc on the rest of the dino population and he must be captured before he does anymore damage. The line takes you through the pedestrian entrance with information on flying dinosaurs and a setting similar to that of the dino institute, but then takes you through a set of doors into the tactical response headquarters where you are then split into groups and put in rooms where you are briefed in a preshow on the importance of your current situation. Therefore you and your team must climb into the specially designed observation units in a garage to take him down. a door slides up and you are shot out with the door slamming behind you to save the people inside you then begin the dangerous hunt. The indoor coaster will be a mix of space mountain and rocking roller coaster with a little bit of dinosaur mixed in as you race through the trees with climbs and large drops as you chase and eventually capture your dino. A two seat 8 row ride vehicle will be used and onboard sound systems will let you hear the script of the ride timed to the attraction and will be a great experience as a whole. A gift shop similar to the one at the end of dinosaur will be there where you can pick up your “I caught the pterodactyl” gear and other dino items. This will add a lot more excitement to the area although it will decreace the capacity of the park slightly but this issue will be dealt with in later instalments.

Recap:

Attractions
• Boneyard
• Fossil fun games
• Primeval whirl
• Triceratops spin
• Dinosaur
• Nessie and Lucky meet and greets / shows
• Rage of the Pterodactyl
• Circle of life viewing areas and character meet and greets
• Prehistoric relatives animal exhibits
(Boat dock 4 of 4)

Dining
• Restaurantasaurus - Dino Bites
• Chester and hesters carnival concessions
• Nessie’s grill at the aquatic research outpost

Shopping
• The dino institute shop
• Chester and Hester’s dino treasures
• Lucky and Nessie’s photo spot
• Dino aviary gifts

Hope you enjoyed! Next up..... ASIA and AFRICA!