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

[yensidtlaw1969]

For comparison's sake, here's current Dinoland from roughly the same angle as that drawing taken from Google Earth:

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

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.

I completely agree. But @The Visionary Soul does have a good reputation about rumors. If the Soul is right, Disney is truly lost. (Maybe they already are). Is there a Roy E. Eisner anywhere who can right this ship?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Here's a thread with a poll asking if this should happen

 

[BlakeW39]

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

Oh nearly forgot. Disney wants to execute this terrible plan whilst spending as little $$$ as possible. So of course we won't even get the shiny new ride from Shanghai...just a new coat of paint. But this time, "furries"

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.

I actually wasn't super aware of your rep, sorry. But other posters seem to trust you. Still..this is pretty terrible as far as rumors go.

Why does TWDC insist on ruining their parks

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Oh nearly forgot. Disney wants to execute this terrible plan whilst spending as little $$$ as possible. So of course we won't even get the shiny new ride from Shanghai...just a new coat of paint. But this time, "furries"



I actually wasn't super aware of your rep, sorry. But other posters seem to trust you. Still..this is pretty terrible as far as rumors go.

Why does TWDC insist on ruining their parks

I knew I recognized the name as trustworthy, so I clicked through the profile. He broke the Lake Nona news, confirmed the rumor that Shrek 4D was becoming a Minions Moving Walkway, previewed Great Movie Ride closing, among other things. He doesn't come on here very often, but unfortunately, when he does it's usually bad news. Such as breaking the news that the WDW retheme of Splash Mountain had gained a budget (it had previously been contingent on Tokyo doing the retheme). Ironically, the WDW version closed first. But @The Visionary Soul knows more than it says, because "most of what [it] knows is depressing."

These are really tough times to be a Disney Parks fan.

 

[gerarar]

So they spent roughly a year during 2021-early 2022, during a time when supplies and workers were scarce, to tear down Primeval Whirl and grade/prep the land for redevelopment, just to save it for a phase 2 (Moana) that might never even happen (Disney's track record with phase 2's is meh)?

Then they also got rid of some snack kiosk(s) that were right against the plot of land and temporary construction walls.

Seems like a wasted thing and effort, unless things and plans got switched around recently.

My own photo from Dec. 2021

Really hope Moana is phase 1 and Zootopia is phase 2, thus limiting the chances of the latter of even happening.

And once again Disney, stop replacing things. AK needs additions, not more reduced/swapped capacity.

 

[BlakeW39]

I knew I recognized the name as trustworthy, so I clicked through the profile. He broke the Lake Nona news, confirmed the rumor that Shrek 4D was becoming a Minions Moving Walkway, previewed Great Movie Ride closing, among other things. He doesn't come on here very often, but unfortunately, when he does it's usually bad news. Such as breaking the news that the WDW retheme of Splash Mountain had gained a budget (it had previously been contingent on Tokyo doing the retheme). Ironically, the WDW version closed first. But @The Visionary Soul knows more than it says, because "most of what [it] knows is depressing."

Oh....wow. lol

These are really tough times to be a Disney Parks fan.

You said it pal. I have always disagreed with them on some moves but the way Disney is treating its parks NOW...like as in the last few years or so...jesus christ. First Guardians, then GMR, then Splash, and now this... I'm starting to think Bob doesn't like us very much.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I’m sure the Dinosaur -> Zootopia retheme would lift the scenes and animatronics from the new Shanghai ride and retrofit everything into the Dinosaur space with a rethemed ride vehicle. Very unlikely it’s something original. Especially if they’re pushing that first.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

I’m sure the Dinosaur -> Zootopia retheme would lift the scenes and animatronics from the new Shanghai ride and retrofit everything into the Dinosaur space with a rethemed ride vehicle. Very unlikely it’s something original. Especially if they’re pushing that first.

Look at the picture.

The building in front, roughly where Dinosaur is, is the train station, not the police station. Posting links is still difficult for me -- new member -- but you can look up the Zootopia Wiki and search for Savanna Central Station and Zootopia Police Department.

This suggests a different ride than at Shanghai.

And, of course, if you don't like it, you can just ignore it. Based on what @ToTBellHop was telling us about Dinosaur's lack of popularity, its Countdown to Extinction has been counting for a while now. Dead attraction walkin'. Say hello to Horizons for us.

EDIT: I tried to make a post just after this one with an image of the train station, but it may take a while to be approved.

LATE EDIT: Sorry about being so flippant about Dinosaur. I know it hurts, just like it hurts to lose Horizons, etc.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

Maybe I can post an image anyway:

 

[The Visionary Soul]

I knew I recognized the name as trustworthy, so I clicked through the profile. He broke the Lake Nona news, confirmed the rumor that Shrek 4D was becoming a Minions Moving Walkway, previewed Great Movie Ride closing, among other things. He doesn't come on here very often, but unfortunately, when he does it's usually bad news. Such as breaking the news that the WDW retheme of Splash Mountain had gained a budget (it had previously been contingent on Tokyo doing the retheme). Ironically, the WDW version closed first. But @The Visionary Soul knows more than it says, because "most of what [it] knows is depressing."

These are really tough times to be a Disney Parks fan.

I just hate to be the bearer of bad news…

But seriously, I wish I had happier things to speak about. The company is still in a dark period and I think it will take the removal of both Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro to fix.

For those of you that still have doubts, just listen into the earnings call from the other day. You have top brass in the company speaking proudly about how re-theming an existing attraction creates almost as much impact building something new from scratch. They want attractions that are being utilized to their full capacity. That’s the goal there. Dinosaur, as much as we may love it or not, isn’t getting enough people coming to the park to keep it at full capacity all the time, nor does it get good guest satisfaction scores. Couple that with the fact that it’s basically themed to a dead IP, it just is too obvious to not be on the chopping block. All of Dinoland suffers because the main attraction isn’t good anymore.

I do wish to convey that I don’t like this re-theme. Zootopia has no place in Animal Kingdom. That is a story about humans and human problems that are simply drawn as animals. This is not helping the park’s message at all. Moana is not much better, but at least it has to do with man’s (a Demi-God’s) relationship with nature and respecting that balance.

One last thing… the primary driver of this project is the replacement of Dinoland itself. Dinosaur being themed to Zootopia has been thought of on this project since the beginning, sadly. (Competing against an Indiana Jones overlay, but that was decided to not be helpful enough to create more family attractions for the park, which operations is demanding from any park expansion) The Moana attraction, although more grand in scale in my opinion, was secondary. (though now with a likely larger budget, stolen from Epcot’s redo no doubt) This does not mean that one particular attraction will open first. I actually expect the entire land to close at once, with the only remaining open path being available to get to the Nemo show and the bridge to Asia. The scope and scale of this project is massive and I’m not sure it could be accomplished piecemeal as some are suggesting.

I’d be happy to be proven wrong on this one. I would have preferred an Indiana Jones land, but unless Harrison Ford does something substantial with animals in this new film and it’s deemed appropriate for all ages, then it’s over.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

Zootopia has no place in Animal Kingdom. That is a story about humans and human problems that are simply drawn as animals.

Good news is that that's incorrect*! I can re-post the quotes from John Lasseter later. It's late now.

Zootopia is about animals. They were anthropomophized, but I'm almost positive the Dinosaur-replacing attraction will focus on how their lives reflect real-world biomes.

You like It's Tough to Be a Bug? How about It's Tough to Be a Mammal (theme-wise, that is)?

* You can choose to ignore their animal nature, but I don't think that will help here.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I just hate to be the bearer of bad news…

But seriously, I wish I had happier things to speak about. The company is still in a dark period and I think it will take the removal of both Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro to fix.

For those of you that still have doubts, just listen into the earnings call from the other day. You have top brass in the company speaking proudly about how re-theming an existing attraction creates almost as much impact building something new from scratch. They want attractions that are being utilized to their full capacity. That’s the goal there. Dinosaur, as much as we may love it or not, isn’t getting enough people coming to the park to keep it at full capacity all the time, nor does it get good guest satisfaction scores. Couple that with the fact that it’s basically themed to a dead IP, it just is too obvious to not be on the chopping block. All of Dinoland suffers because the main attraction isn’t good anymore.

I do wish to convey that I don’t like this re-theme. Zootopia has no place in Animal Kingdom. That is a story about humans and human problems that are simply drawn as animals. This is not helping the park’s message at all. Moana is not much better, but at least it has to do with man’s (a Demi-God’s) relationship with nature and respecting that balance.

One last thing… the primary driver of this project is the replacement of Dinoland itself. Dinosaur being themed to Zootopia has been thought of on this project since the beginning, sadly. (Competing against an Indiana Jones overlay, but that was decided to not be helpful enough to create more family attractions for the park, which operations is demanding from any park expansion) The Moana attraction, although more grand in scale in my opinion, was secondary. (though now with a likely larger budget, stolen from Epcot’s redo no doubt) This does not mean that one particular attraction will open first. I actually expect the entire land to close at once, with the only remaining open path being available to get to the Nemo show and the bridge to Asia. The scope and scale of this project is massive and I’m not sure it could be accomplished piecemeal as some are suggesting.

I’d be happy to be proven wrong on this one. I would have preferred an Indiana Jones land, but unless Harrison Ford does something substantial with animals in this new film and it’s deemed appropriate for all ages, then it’s over.

It just feels so dumb. I have such a hard time believing a simple plussing of Dinosaur and a thorough reconception Dinoland's placemaking with some new attractions couldn't achieve exactly the ends they're setting out for here. Dinosaur may be a dead IP, but Dinosaurs in general are evergreen - endlessly fascinating and absolutely deserving of their place in Animal Kingdom. They could get everything they want on their list for half the money and without killing a full thematic element of the park if they just *thought* about it a little.

Do you have an idea when work might start and when it might finish? I'd have to imagine a start before the end of this year if they're gonna go for it, they don't have enough in the pipeline to stall for long.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Good news is that that's incorrect*! I can re-post the quotes from John Lasseter later. It's late now.

Zootopia is about animals. They were anthropomophized, but I'm almost positive the Dinosaur-replacing attraction will focus on how their lives reflect real-world biomes.

You like It's Tough to Be a Bug? How about It's Tough to Be a Mammal (theme-wise, that is)?

* You can choose to ignore their animal nature, but I don't think that will help here.

It's true - my pet gerbil also wears neckties and drives a stickshift.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Good news is that that's incorrect*! I can re-post the quotes from John Lasseter later. It's late now.

Zootopia is about animals. They were anthropomophized, but I'm almost positive the Dinosaur-replacing attraction will focus on how their lives reflect real-world biomes.

You like It's Tough to Be a Bug? How about It's Tough to Be a Mammal (theme-wise, that is)?

* You can choose to ignore their animal nature, but I don't think that will help here.

No matter what John Lassiter insists, Zootopia is about humans encountering human problems, all dressed up as animals. Animals don't have cars, high rises, train systems. They don't have a police force. And the don't discriminate based on appearances ... they discriminate on what they eat.

 

[networkpro]

No matter what John Lassiter insists, Zootopia is about humans encountering human problems, all dressed up as animals. Animals don't have cars, high rises, train systems. They don't have a police force. And the don't discriminate based on appearances ... they discriminate on what they eat.

Its an animated furry show.

 

[Phicinfan]

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?

@The Visionary Soul is a reliable insider here

 

[Phicinfan]

I just hate to be the bearer of bad news…

But seriously, I wish I had happier things to speak about. The company is still in a dark period and I think it will take the removal of both Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro to fix.

For those of you that still have doubts, just listen into the earnings call from the other day. You have top brass in the company speaking proudly about how re-theming an existing attraction creates almost as much impact building something new from scratch. They want attractions that are being utilized to their full capacity. That’s the goal there. Dinosaur, as much as we may love it or not, isn’t getting enough people coming to the park to keep it at full capacity all the time, nor does it get good guest satisfaction scores. Couple that with the fact that it’s basically themed to a dead IP, it just is too obvious to not be on the chopping block. All of Dinoland suffers because the main attraction isn’t good anymore.

I do wish to convey that I don’t like this re-theme. Zootopia has no place in Animal Kingdom. That is a story about humans and human problems that are simply drawn as animals. This is not helping the park’s message at all. Moana is not much better, but at least it has to do with man’s (a Demi-God’s) relationship with nature and respecting that balance.

One last thing… the primary driver of this project is the replacement of Dinoland itself. Dinosaur being themed to Zootopia has been thought of on this project since the beginning, sadly. (Competing against an Indiana Jones overlay, but that was decided to not be helpful enough to create more family attractions for the park, which operations is demanding from any park expansion) The Moana attraction, although more grand in scale in my opinion, was secondary. (though now with a likely larger budget, stolen from Epcot’s redo no doubt) This does not mean that one particular attraction will open first. I actually expect the entire land to close at once, with the only remaining open path being available to get to the Nemo show and the bridge to Asia. The scope and scale of this project is massive and I’m not sure it could be accomplished piecemeal as some are suggesting.

I’d be happy to be proven wrong on this one. I would have preferred an Indiana Jones land, but unless Harrison Ford does something substantial with animals in this new film and it’s deemed appropriate for all ages, then it’s over.

If I can ask, so the plan will be a zootopia area, not just Dinosaur turned to Zootopia theme, and maybe pigeon hole in a Moana flume?

Or has this changed now and with extra funding Moana will be more than just flume?

 

[Brer Panther]

the WDW retheme of Splash Mountain had gained a budget (it had previously been contingent on Tokyo doing the retheme).

Weren’t the layoffs and cancellations of projects like the Play pavillon to fund the retheme?

The company is still in a dark period and I think it will take the removal of both Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro to fix.

Not surprised to hear THAT. And if it’ll only be fixed by Iger and D’Amaro leaving, it’s probably gonna be in this dark period for a while. Even the 2000s Eisner era was better than this. I’m terrified by what they’re gonna do to the parks. What’s next, a Tangled retheme of Peter Pan’s Flight? That Inside Out retheme of Journey Into Imagination that Iger really wants to do?

 

[Bocabear]

Weren’t the layoffs and cancellations of projects like the Play pavillon to fund the retheme?

Not surprised to hear THAT. And if it’ll only be fixed by Iger and D’Amaro leaving, it’s probably gonna be in this dark period for a while. Even the 2000s Eisner era was better than this. I’m terrified by what they’re gonna do to the parks. What’s next, a Tangled retheme of Peter Pan’s Flight? That Inside Out retheme of Journey Into Imagination that Iger really wants to do?

If they built a brand new longer better version of Peter Pan, and then changed the old Peter Pan's Flight into a Tangled ride I would be fine with that...Though the PPF footprint is pretty small by today's attractions standards. If Small World became the new Peter Pan and they built a new Small World in EPCOT... If they built a new Peter Pan in the Fantasyland Circus tent meet and greet area and replaced the splash pad with a full scale Hook's Pirate ship and mermaid lagoon... A Neverland mini-land....Then I would be happy with a Tangled themed ride in the old PPF building...things that would never happen but would make sense....