News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[Mike S]

Yep, if folks are going after anything they can interpret as offensive I'll join in and poke the items they casually accept as inoffensive. Now about this whole feudalism shtick with princess....

You’re referring to a society of fake cartoonish explorers created by a media company that caters to children. Your time would be better spent on some crusade that’s actually real lol

The only argument you’d have is if Disney wrote these characters in anyway close to what you described as the problematic traits real explorers of the time had, which they didn’t. Disney more than likely has these characters exist in an ideal alternate reality where their exploratory exploits were purely for educational purposes and discovery.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I don’t know what Jim is on. There’s no chance of Coco going in on that site. Funding has already been allocated for the Dinoland re-development project. It is Zootopia. Moana is actually secondary. Not sure where all the other stuff is coming from, but I figured it was time I stopped by to chime in.

So they’re going to replace 1 of the 5 rides the park has before touching the empty wasted spaces of nothingness? If this were any other company, I’d have a hard time believing you, but from the Bob Iger Company? Yeah it would happen like that wouldn’t it.

 

[networkpro]

You’re referring to a society of fake cartoonish explorers created by a media company that caters to children. Your time would be better spent on some crusade that’s actually real lol

The only argument you’d have is if Disney wrote these characters in anyway close to what you described as the problematic traits real explorers of the time had, which they didn’t. Disney more than likely has these characters exist in an ideal alternate reality where their exploratory exploits were purely for educational purposes and discovery.

Right, all of the characters have always been fictional but umbrage and outrage still cause tempestuous retheming and reimagining to occur.

 

[BlakeW39]

A brand new Moana ride will take longer to build from scratch than a re-theme of an existing ride. I guarantee you that anyone you call a “trusted insider” would generally agree with me.

It's true that a Zootopia clone would take less time to build than a Moana ride from scratch, but it doesn't necessarily follow that DAK is getting Zootopia first. That would be inductively fallacious

Zootopia will make it significantly worse. I don’t particularly like this plan, but it is the plan, like it or not.

Again, you're stating this as if it is fact. Not just speculation, like all of us are doing. So may I ask..do you have access to information we don't? On what authority do you claim Zootopia is coming before Moana, despite that contradicting otherwise reliable sources?

 

[BlakeW39]

It's funny...earlier today I said something along the lines of, I'm not looking forward to seeing TWDC invest in WDW. Well this is exactly why. Zootopia retheme to Dinosaur...before they redo Dinorama perhaps... now THAT is stupid. So stupid it sounds juuussstttt Disney....

 

[MagicHappens1971]

A brand new Moana ride will take longer to build from scratch than a re-theme of an existing ride. I guarantee you that anyone you call a “trusted insider” would generally agree with me.

I and everyone would agree a Dinosaur retheme would be faster to do than the Moana plans, however this post contradicts what several reliable sources have said. Do you have any information to back up why you think Zootopia is coming first?

 

[Mike S]

Right, all of the characters have always been fictional but umbrage and outrage still cause tempestuous retheming and reimagining to occur.

Which is stupid. If I were Disney I’d just ignore it unless it was something that was actually bad like some of the old cartoons they made.

A cartoonish British explorer that doesn’t have a mean bone in his entire body? Go complain somewhere else.

 

[doctornick]

So they’re going to replace 1 of the 5 rides the park has before touching the empty wasted spaces of nothingness? If this were any other company, I’d have a hard time believing you, but from the Bob Iger Company? Yeah it would happen like that wouldn’t it.

That's the thing, regardless of anyone's opinion of Zootopia vs Moana vs anything else, DAK really can't afford to lose any capacity with PW already shuttered and dismantled. I would think that Moana would be built first just because it can be done without closing anything.

 

[Brer Panther]

Am I the only one who, if we HAD to have Zootopia in Animal Kingdom, would prefer it just replace Dino-Rama and leave Dinosaur alone?

 

[BlakeW39]

Am I the only one who, if we HAD to have Zootopia in Animal Kingdom, would prefer it just replace Dino-Rama and leave Dinosaur alone?

I think all of us here would prefer that.

Sadly though Disney is intent on doing exactly what we DON'T want them to do.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I think all of us here would prefer that.

Sadly though Disney is intent on doing exactly what we DON'T want them to do.

And as you pointed out, it's like the worst thing. They keep the terrible Dino-Rama and get rid of the best part of that section, all while not expanding capacity of the park.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

It's true that a Zootopia clone would take less time to build than a Moana ride from scratch, but it doesn't necessarily follow that DAK is getting Zootopia first. That would be inductively fallacious



Again, you're stating this as if it is fact. Not just speculation, like all of us are doing. So may I ask..do you have access to information we don't? On what authority do you claim Zootopia is coming before Moana, despite that contradicting otherwise reliable sources?

To be clear, it’s not a clone of Shanghai, it’s a re-theme of Dinosaur.

Anyway…

I think my reputation stands for itself, aside from still being bewildered on who pushed through Princess and the Frog (which I still believe to be a huge mistake) to re-theme Splash Mountain in Florida, my track record is solid.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

To be clear, it’s not a clone of Shanghai, it’s a re-theme of Dinosaur.

Anyway…

I think my reputation stands for itself, aside from still being bewildered on who pushed through Princess and the Frog (which I still believe to be a huge mistake) to re-theme Splash Mountain in Florida, my track record is solid.

Any idea how soon this happens?

Such a dumb idea. Ugh.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Any idea how soon this happens?

Such a dumb idea. Ugh.

My non-insider point of view would be that they break ground on Moana by the end of 2024. I personally could see them breaking ground late Spring - Mid Summer 2024, with a mid to late 2025 opening.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

My non-insider point of view would be that they break ground on Moana by the end of 2024. I personally could see them breaking ground late Spring - Mid Summer 2024, with a mid to late 2025 opening.

But what about Dinosaur?

 

[MagicHappens1971]

But what about Dinosaur?

The original rumors were that Zootopia would be phase 2 and that it would take over Dinosaur.

I can't see them taking Dinosaur offline until Moana is up and running. (if that's the plan)

DAK already has so few attractions, taking one offline without something to replace it makes zero sense.

 

[doctornick]

Even if I didn’t hate the idea of Zootopia in DAK, I would still think the idea of doing that as the next change for DAK is stupid due to capacity. Building Moana or, ideally, adding another ride to Pandora should be the priority and they shouldn’t shut down/replace Dinosaur unless more stuff opens first.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Even if I didn’t hate the idea of Zootopia in DAK, I would still think the idea of doing that as the next change for DAK is stupid due to capacity. Building Moana or, ideally, adding another ride to Pandora should be the priority and they shouldn’t shut down/replace Dinosaur unless more stuff opens first.

Well building the Moana flume concept would be an addition since Primeval Whirl was closed. That's kind of why I think it should be done first. Adding a replacement for Primeval Whirl should take priority over a new Pandora attraction.

To be honest, whatever materializes as the "Pandora Experience" at DLR will be the third attraction for Pandora at DAK, in my opinion. So I think we'll have to wait a little bit before we see any headway on that anyway.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Also do we have an idea of if the Moana flume would go in the Primeval Whirl footprint or in the Boneyard? It seems as they'd repurpose Triceratop Spin into a Moana theme, and then maybe build some merch store?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Also do we have an idea of if the Moana flume would go in the Primeval Whirl footprint or in the Boneyard? It seems as they'd repurpose Triceratop Spin into a Moana theme, and then maybe build some merch store?

The Concept Art from D23 seems to suggest that the Moana ride would sit at least partially on the Primeval Whirl plot, and would pretty certainly have to expand out onto the current backstage area behind.

Looks like some shops might be in the center area with those small buildings, where the current DinoRama gift shops are. The Boneyard plot would be off to the right, just outside the frame of the drawing.