Africa Marketplace expansion coming to Harambe at Disney's Animal Kingdom

jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
Yeah that's true, I'm not sure if Universal's continual new attractions can keep up with Disney's elaborately themed food stands.

(that said, this does look great, and I think them including knockoff Mickey and Donald is awesome)
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Oh, I thought Disney had announced and were developing attractions based on Star Wars, Avatar and Frozen at WDW. Guess I am misinformed about that. o_O
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
jt04 said:
Oh, I thought Disney had announced and were developing attractions based on Star Wars, Avatar and Frozen at WDW. Guess I am misinformed about that. o_O
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Frozen is replacing an existing attraction, Avatar was announced in 2011 and still has 2 years until completion, we'll be lucky to see any significant Star Wars attraction before 2020.
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
No shopping here, all food and drink.
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There is, however, "fake" shopping as part of the theme, so it's understandable that someone could get confused.

That said, I'm a little surprised that they didn't add some shopping to this expanded Harambe area since they already have lost significant merch stuff in DAK (Beastly Bazaar, Creature Comforts) even though they are expanding Island Mercantile.
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
So, this expansion looks fantastic and I can't wait to see the new Harambe in person (I have yet to even see the new FOTLK area). They've really made Africa into an amazing area to explore -- it actually strongly of reminds me of New Orleans Square in DL, which probably the pinnacle of themed areas in Disney parks in the way you can now wonder around in different streets and being able to visualize the train will add a nice kinetic element.

The attention to detail makes me excited about Pandora coming to the park. If they have the same level of intricacy applied to bringing that film world to life, it will be a sight to behold.
 
Po'Rich

Po'Rich

Well-Known Member
raymusiccity said:
Quite a list of improvements and additions!....... I'm still hoping and wishing that they could at least bring back the 'Jingle Jungle Parade' during the Holiday season. The expanded walkways might make it feasible :)
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I'd like to see them bring back Jingle Jungle Parade as well. I saw it in 2012 (my first trip to WDW), and it was my favorite parade of the trip. I was sorry to see that they had stopped this parade. Now AK is the only park that doesn't do much different for the holiday season (beyond a few decorations).
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
PHOTOS and VIDEO - Walkthrough of the incredible new Harambe Market at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Wow, amazing job they did on this one. Another DAK addition done to a very high level, and with no expense spared.
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Looking good, just like the theater district. One can only hope the love speads to more areas of the park even after Avatar. DinoLand, the Yeti, etc. But I won't hold my breath.
flyerjab said:
This is really giving me high hopes that the Pandora expansion (as well as the RoL show) is going to totally blow everyones' minds and expectations.
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I'm starting to take a wait and see approach with Avatar. The land will no doubt be impressive but we don't know how the actual attractions will turn out. Same with RoL. Didn't someone say the budget has already been cut for that and it won't even be close to WoC? Not very comforting.
wdwmagic said:
No new bathrooms.
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A WDW project with no new bathrooms?!?!?!?!?! TIME TO FORM A MOB!!!!!!!!!!!
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LL2WDW said:
If you go back to some of the original concept art for DAK, it featured a wooden rollercoaster (and a large one at that) in Dinoland. As I recall, it was themed around a large dig site. If I could imagine an overhaul of Dinoland, it would be that concept for the coaster (a Thunder Mountain-esque ride).

Then I would bring back the Dinosaur Jubilee fossil museum concept that was featured when the park opened, but make it a real building and not a tent. Theme it to the Dino Institute.

So then you have the "classy" Dino Institute with Dinosaur and a large, state of the art, indoor museum; plus the more rag-tag Boneyard and The Dig Site coaster. Finally, plus out the Cretaceous Trail, making it a true walking trail with "discoveries" and animatronics around the corners.
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Kman101 said:
Oh, there's a lot they could do with Dinoland. I'd love for them to do almost exactly what you said. I can't tell you how many times I weirdly and sadly look at the concept art for what could of been with Animal Kingdom and sigh. Having a REAL fleshed out Dinoland and Beastly Kingdom would have been amazing.

It still sort of confuses me why they nixed The Excavator, yet they put in Primeval Whirl? I don't mind that type of silly coaster, they're fun, but why not the other? I guess it would have been more expensive than a cheap carnival overlay.

I just don't care to see carnival games in the parks. Like how Universal has them as well. No one is ever playing them and the cast members look bored even though they try and get you excited to try them. Just a waste to me.

If the entire area was themed more like the Boneyard and Dinosaur (I still want them to bring back the name Countdown to Extinction) I wouldn't complain at all. It's the carny roadside I have an issue with, whether it has a "story" or not. It's well done for a cheap carnival but it's not what I want to see in a park so well-themed as Animal Kingdom.

I just hope there's plans, somewhere, to redo that area but I can't see it being a priority to them.
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This is what I would do with DinoLand.
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The art belongs to @RandySavage
flyerjab said:
The one concept I have plugged numerous times on this site is to move the Nemo show out of the park (not saying it is a bad show, it just doesn't fit anywhere in DAK the way the park is currently configured). I would then team up with the Walking With The Dinosaurs show that was traveling around the country several years back and use that in that space instead. Heck, I would even have some of their smaller dinosaurs (that are people powered) out in the park at times. The dinosaurs that were developed for that show were life-sized versions.

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Great minds think alike. Loved that show when I saw it and a new version adapted for DinoLand would be perfect.
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
Hopefully not. The walkways are just not setup for it. Leave the parades in the MK and do other forms of entertainment in DAK.
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Agreed. Even with the new walkways that have been added -- which is a good thing for crowd movement in general -- the park is not ideal for a parade clogging up the streets. But I do think that every park should have some major daytime entertainment and I'd like to put in my plug for some water based "parade" or show (like Mythica). Such a project could use the RoL infrastructure (e.g. the seating) during the daytime.
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
I'm starting to take a wait and see approach with Avatar. The land will no doubt be impressive but we don't know how the actual attractions will turn out. Same with RoL. Didn't someone say the budget has already been cut for that and it won't even be close to WoC? Not very comforting.
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A budget being cut is just standard practice -- these things virtually never end up with the same budget originally planned once the bean counters have their say. The reality is that this kind of thing probably always used to happen too, but we didn't hear about it because we didn't have the internet and quick transmission of info.

Anyhow, I'm actually quite confident that RoL will be a quality show to the vast majority of guests and will be a well received addition to the park. When insiders offer opinions like "not even close to WoC", it's usually coming from a background where people know specific details which are not that relevant to regular guests' enjoyments.

This is what I would do with DinoLand.
View attachment 94082
The art is not mine.
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I'd rather keep the Dino area consistent with animals from that era (e.g. replacing Dinorama with The Excavator or something in that vein). Having an Ice Age animal area would be cool, but it should be a separate land IMHO.
 

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