Animal Kingdom; Secret path Revisited. (pictures)

[Jesùs_Carioca]

So, I remember many moons (months) ago, hopping upon this thread here on WDWmagic:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthrea...ht=secret+path

It talked about a secret path at Animal Kingdom. Quite honestly, my girlfriend and I were completely stoked to want to find the path one day, so we looked for it.


I believe we stumbled upon it. And we wanted to take pictures to show what really became of the secret path at the Kingdom:



The path really did begin at the smoking section in Asia (the other entrance is completely non-visible.). You might have to look a bit.



If you walk the same way the beautiful model (my girlfriend) is going towards the smoking section, it would be to the left, after the trashcans.

It looks something like this:





But thing is the path has been apparently covered up. And badly:



They really don't want anybody walking down it anymore. Broken Bamboo blocks most of the passage. The stepping stones across the river are still there, but they are almost flooded from the looks of it.



And there would be the pretty non-visible exit:



located right next to said bridge:




As a recap, the path could have been found here:



Closing thoughts on seeing the path in person: I loved it. I really can't say anything else about it. It really was the type of "Disney Secret" that I've always wanted to find; the type of secret that the park doesn't want you to know about, and not even many of the cast members know of! (as our friendly street sweepers informed us when they saw us popping out of the path).

So if you wanted to know about what happened to it, or it is your first time hearing of it, there is what I have to offer of the path. Personally, I would say visit it. It might seem hard, but it is not. I do declare though, most of the path is blocked off by fallen bamboo. But I have to say, it only made it twice the adventure.

(did i get it all, kid?)

[Pocamahontas]

It really is a neat thing to see! And there are stepping stones across the water, which was a new experience, and it was just so beautiful!

Gooo and see it!


(Every bit)

[bryPOD]

I was considering taking a trek down the old path this weekend when I'm in ol' WDW.... but by the looks of things, I guess I should stear clear.

[EpcotServo]

Yeah...I remember finding that path...I knew one day suits would come and take it away.

[living dead!]

this is awesome! i need to find this when i go back.

how deep is that water? like if one fell in, would it be bad?

[Jesùs_Carioca]

Originally Posted by living dead!

this is awesome! i need to find this when i go back.

how deep is that water? like if one fell in, would it be bad?

haha, nah. If one would fall in, that would just mean your shoes would be soggy for the rest of the day . It's not as if you can't walk on the stepping stones still without sliding off, it's okay. I do encourage you see it. It really was fun to see!

[jakeman]

I believe this was closed after 9-11 and is no longer supposed to be guest accessible.

I remember it being open in 2000 but closed when I worked again in 2002.

Can anyone else confirm this?

[sittle]

My wife and I made the full trip just this March 2007... worth it!! Nike ACG sandles allowed us to cross without worrying about wet feet!

When we went the bamboo (on the ground) wasn't there at all.. You would think if they really wanted to close this path down they would actually plant something like a row of bamboo across the path....

It's a shame they don't create more of these...

[Rob562]

For the stepping stones, that's about how far out of the water they were when I first walked the path back in '98. Occasionally I think the water flow can bring the water up and over the stones (especially if there's a blockage down-stream), but they normally only peek out above the water by about 1/2-3/4"

Disney's first attempt at closing off the path was to plant shrubs at either end of the path. Obviously the ones by what is now the smoking section didn't take hold.

-Rob

[Jerm]

Nice! Great pics, great model, and great info.

J

[mitchk]

Great work! I saved this thread in my favorites. I had heard about this trail a few years ago, but I always seemed to forget about it. When I'm back at the World in April, I'll definitely be taking a stroll down that path, and I'll be using your map as my guide to find it. Thanks again.

[MissM]

I've long heard about this path, but I've never seen photos. So thanks for the good work!
-m

[mitchk]

Sorry to bring back this old thread, but I have my own pictures of the secret path in AK (taken April 21st 2008)










there's a few more in my photo album, and some pictures of me and Joe R. at AK's 10th

[TheDisneyMagic]

Well done for finding the path, nice photos aswell

[brucie]

Cool!!! I'm going to look for the path when I'm there in Sept!! Can't wait!! Thanks for the pics.