New Addition's To Disney's Animal Kingdom

[NothingRhymeswithOrange]

The long term plans for AK look promising. With all the expansion pads that this park has, this is the perfect park to expand upon to help alleviate some of the crowding from MK and eventual crowding of DHS (or whatever its going to be called) when SWE opens. Is there any possibility that we could be getting the long rumored Beastly Kingdom expansion in the future? The park definitely needs more rides and another roller coaster teamed with some quality dark and flat rides would make this park even more amazing. Please for the love of god, no Zootopia in this park.

 

[Doug Means]

By that logic we can expect Donald Duck Land too.

Sorry but the Imagineer who thinks this is a good fit should be traded to Universal.

well I'm not sure how Dinosaurs fit, either. At least Zootopia is about animals. The Dinomania area is already kind of sillyish, so if the changed it to Zootopia (which my family likes a lot) i would not be apposed. at least its an animal theme in an animal park. Also Donald was part of Animal Kingdom when they had the character meet restaurant in the Dinosaur area.

 

[jt04]

The long term plans for AK look promising. With all the expansion pads that this park has, this is the perfect park to expand upon to help alleviate some of the crowding from MK and eventual crowding of DHS (or whatever its going to be called) when SWE opens. Is their any possibility that we could be getting the long rumored Beastly Kingdom expansion in the future? The park definitely needs more rides and another roller coaster teamed with some quality dark and flat rides would make this park even more amazing. Please for the love of god, no Zootopia in this park.

If they have determined they need to have a land that skews younger than they should fully develop the dinosaur themed area. A tamer version of Jurassic at Uni would be a quick fix. If they need a mini-land for Zootopia then the Energy pad seems the right size for it.

 

[Fox&Hound]

Would love to see Chester and Hester's Dinorama become extinct (see what I did there?).,... Not to be that guy, but why is there an 'S in the title of this thread? Not necessary.....

 

[cjkeating]

well I'm not sure how Dinosaurs fit, either. At least Zootopia is about animals. The Dinomania area is already kind of sillyish, so if the changed it to Zootopia (which my family likes a lot) i would not be apposed. at least its an animal theme in an animal park. Also Donald was part of Animal Kingdom when they had the character meet restaurant in the Dinosaur area.

Dinosaurs were animals? Zootopia characters are animals that look like humans or humans that look like animals.

I think major Zootopia expansion pushes the boundaries of the mission statement of the park beyond that of Avatar.

 

[jt04]

Dinosaurs were animals? Zootopia characters are animals that look like humans or humans that look like animals.

I think major Zootopia expansion pushes the boundaries of the mission statement of the park beyond that of Avatar.

There have to be voices in Imagineering that would also think it a poor idea. Perhaps they will take a stand. Hope so. Anyway, I am dropping the subject. Not that others should not feel free to add their opinion.

 

[Doug Means]

Dinosaurs were animals? Zootopia characters are animals that look like humans or humans that look like animals.

I think major Zootopia expansion pushes the boundaries of the mission statement of the park beyond that of Avatar.

sure dinosaurs were animals but they are extinct. so, I'm just saying that i don't see it as a stretch by any means to bring Zootopia to an "animal" themed park. its just my opinion. and we all know what those are worth. so at AK we have Dinosaurs, current animals, and out of this world areas, why not Zootopia, too?

 

[HauntedPirate]

I can't see them removing the Dinosaurs theme from AK as they are the only extinct animals represented.

I could see them possibly rethemeing the area to The Good Dinosaur.

Ummm... No. And no. Just... no.

I like Dinoland for what it is - A kitschy, tongue-in-cheek area. Does it really fit in at AK? That's debatable. But I've grown to like it. I still prefer 'Countdown to Extinction' over 'Dinosaur', though. And if you know where to look, and it hasn't been removed, you can still find 'CTX' referenced in the area.

And, FWIW, 'Zootopia' does not fit in any way, shape, or form at AK. They are humanized animals, the complete antithesis of the park.

 

[Dinoman96]

I mean...didn't DINOSAUR just receive a fairly substantial refurbishment a few months back? They even bothered to overhaul the broken
compsognathus sequence with screens. So yeah, I don't really see them changing it majorly at this point. Kinda reminds me of when people talk about how Universal will drop the Marvel license at IOA in favor of Nintendo or something even though they just went through the trouble of overhauling/refurbishing The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk coaster. I especially don't see it being rethemed into The Good Dinosaur considering how much of a box office disappointment it was.

That being said, they really ought to rename it back to Countdown to Extinction. No one cares or remembers DINOSAUR the film anymore, lol. It was always a pretty pointless tie-in considering the ride and the film have basically nothing in common outside of featuring an Iquanodon and some Carnotaurus.

 

[MCast]

The long term aspiration is to link the Planet Watch area to the rest of the park by walking routes.

Do you think they will one day utilize the entire area outlined in red? If the walking paths are implemented, I doubt they would use this entire expanse of land. Could this be used for future development?

 

[marni1971]

Do you think they will one day utilize the entire area outlined in red? If the walking paths are implemented, I doubt they would use this entire expanse of land. Could this be used for future development?

Yes and yes.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The long term aspiration is to link the Planet Watch area to the rest of the park by walking routes.

I would think in order to facilitate that, they would have to reconsider the setup of Anandapur. They'd have to either get rid of/relocate Maharajah Jungle Trek and/or Kali River rapids.

There's a thread I started over in the Imagineering sub forum discussing this, but I'd like to see that village re-worked to allow access into the larger area North of Asia. I could also see them expanding the train route so that it circles that large Asia adjacent area and makes the train a viable attraction as opposed to a means to get to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

Link to Imagineering thread.

 

[PJBuckeye]

The long term aspiration is to link the Planet Watch area to the rest of the park by walking routes.

This is more of an armchair thought... With the petting zoo aspect of Rafiki, isn't that a good start of a North American section? Perhaps they could build NA east of the train tracks between Rafiki and Asia?

EDIT: As shown in the red outlined area above

 

[Babysinclair]

Has there been any real talk of another continent being represented? I know some on here comment that Epcot pavilion expansion(Brazil) might possibly hold back a South American area at AK if that was/could be a possibility. Also I'm new to this and don't know what I'm talking about so go easy!

 

[yeti]

I would think in order to facilitate that, they would have to reconsider the setup of Anandapur. They'd have to either get rid of/relocate Maharajah Jungle Trek and/or Kali River rapids.

There's a thread I started over in the Imagineering sub forum discussing this, but I'd like to see that village re-worked to allow access into the larger area North of Asia. I could also see them expanding the train route so that it circles that large Asia adjacent area and makes the train a viable attraction as opposed to a means to get to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

Link to Imagineering thread.

Getting rid of the train would open up access to this area without sacrificing Maharajah.

 

[Ag11gani]

Personally I'd love to see a Australia/Oceania area, in the red outline above. And them for Dinoland, keep Dinosaur, maybe plus it a little, and then do somthing or another to Chester and Hester's. Then, as long as the rides are of a good quality, AK could be of the same level, or above that of Tokyo DisneySea.

 

[marni1971]

I would think in order to facilitate that, they would have to reconsider the setup of Anandapur. They'd have to either get rid of/relocate Maharajah Jungle Trek and/or Kali River rapids.

There's a thread I started over in the Imagineering sub forum discussing this, but I'd like to see that village re-worked to allow access into the larger area North of Asia. I could also see them expanding the train route so that it circles that large Asia adjacent area and makes the train a viable attraction as opposed to a means to get to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

Link to Imagineering thread.

Access to any new area north of Kali could be via what is the train station area today.

 

[zakattack99]

First I feel like we won't get a new "land" at Animal Kingdom seems to soon for that after Avatar l. So I feel like we will get additions to areas already established most likely Dinoland.

However if I am wrong and we do get a new land at AK, or if I'm correct when we get a new land at AK, I hope it has more animals. I feel like they have not added any new real wildlife to the park.

Personaly I would love to see pandas in Asia, but doubt that will ever happen, but heck there is an addition to an existing land that could bring in a new animal! (And yes I know china/us relations and panda diplomacy probably means this will never happen)

 

[Magicart87]

I want Dino-Rama gone!

But removing Dino-rama and bits of Dinoland USA out from under Dinosaur (CTX) would be quite the predicament. It would be an E-ticket without a thematic land supporting it. Dinosaur is the land's anchor. It's the signature attraction. If the plans are to remove Dinoland USA imagineers would either have to tailor around the Dinosaur ride to create a new identity for the land or rework Dinosaur (CTX) to fit the new land's theming. The silly Roadside Carnival aesthetic feels out of place and by proxy makes the Countdown to Extinction ride a one-off somewhat removed from the rest of the land anyway. The lands due for a change and for a more cohesive theme.

I'd happily embrace the removal of the hokey roadside tourist trap vibe. Keep Extinction, scorch the rest and start over. The problem then becomes do we want a realistic dino land? Doesn't that tread too much on Uni's Jurassic Park IP. It's that reason which led to imagineers giving us the silly Roadside Carnival look in the first place.

I'm torn. Dinosaurs cool but it's out of place with the rest of the land. Dinoland USA is cornball and ugly. Neither really work together and a slight theme change probably isn't going to help things, if that occurs. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see the entire land replaced with something new. Maybe Beastly Kingdom can grow legs and make right what is wrong in AK.

There's a lot of land in AK to add new stuff but I'd rather them fix the issues they have with Dinoland before building another IP mini land.

 

[Jones14]

I think Animal Kingdom's list looks something like this:

Everest top to bottom refurb
Rivers of Light replacement
New family dark ride on that long path to Lion King
Asia expansion at train station (mentioned by @marni1971)
DinoRama replacement

I think Avatar's success and the impact on the resort as a whole will determine when the first of these happens, and in what order. If it's a runaway success, I think we'll see a new ride sooner rather than later, but if it's not, I think the refurbs/replacements will come first.