News Rafiki's Planet Watch is closing Oct. 21st will reopen in Summer 2019

[FigmentJedi]

Is this really the responsibility of the theme park industry?

Disney can educate people by other means than theme parks. And they do. Not sure WDW needs to keep piling on layers of the environmental message.

I'm just saying Beastly Kingdom could absolutely fit into the thematic value system of the preachiest theme park that ever preached and it wouldn't have needed hours-long exposition pre-show videos full of James Cameron jargon.

 

[WDWTank]

Disney can educate people by other means than theme parks. And they do. Not sure WDW needs to keep piling on layers of the environmental message.

Because there are too many villains in power now in real-life

 

[jt04]

Because there are too many villains in power now in real-life

I've learned to tune out the doom stories personally. I only regret that I didn't compile a list of all the doom stories over the years. 95% were total fake news.

 

[Michaelson]

I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to this, and will be going down in 2 weeks.....has this reopened yet, or is it still closed?

Regard! Michaelson

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Because there are too many villains in power now in real-life

On all sides of the political spectrum.

 

[GlacierGlacier]

I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to this, and will be going down in 2 weeks.....has this reopened yet, or is it still closed?

Regard! Michaelson

It's still closed, and doesn't have any announced dates for returning to operation.

 

[cjkeating]

Whether people feel Zootopia fits in AK or not is academic, all that is important if is Disney thinks it fits, and personally I believe they would have no problem putting it in AK.

Have you seen any permits linking to anything at all going on at RPW?

 

[justintheharris]

I think the writing is on the wall. Disney is going to put Zootopia in Animal Kingdom. It's only a matter of when. Rafiki's Planet Watch is now seasonal (which usually translates to 'to-be-closed-soon') and now they've announced a Zootopia for Shanghai. In addition, Animal Kingdom is the only park without a significant addition coming before 2021 and I would interpret that to mean once Tron is open, Disney is going to be looking for an addition to Animal Kingdom which will be Zootopia. Perhaps it may not be until 2025 but I think Zootopia is almost certainly going to end up in Animal Kingdom at some point.

 

[Rteetz]

Have you seen any permits linking to anything at all going on at RPW?

I don’t believe the building has been touched much. It’s still used every day for animal care and offices.

 

[danlb_2000]

I've learned to tune out the doom stories personally. I only regret that I didn't compile a list of all the doom stories over the years. 95% were total fake news.

That's all well and good, until that one time where everyone tunes out the doom story and it ends up being real.

 

[danlb_2000]

Have you seen any permits linking to anything at all going on at RPW?

No, but it has become very hard to spot this sort of thing.

 

[jt04]

That's all well and good, until that one time where everyone tunes out the doom story and it ends up being real.

That is one of the main dangers of a lazy MSM that prioritizes process and politics over information and education.

 

[jt04]

No, but it has become very hard to spot this sort of thing.

What has changed?

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

I don't see why Zootopia wouldn't fit into DAK, given that DAK was originally supposed to include fictional beasts as well as real ones. And I don't see Zootopia as a good fit in DHS, unless you consider DHS a catch-all for random IPs, which, unfortunately, it may very well turn out to be...

I would think you of all people would understand why Zootopia doesn't fit at DAK?

There are no mythical creatures in Zootopia, so I can't imagine why people keep making that point.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

...maybe there will be Lion King stuff as part of the 25th Anniversary promotion?

 

[danlb_2000]

What has changed?

Intentionally or not, the permits seem to have become more obfuscated of the past year. This is why I gave up doing them for a while last year. I now just scan through them and only document that ones that actually look interesting.

 

[GlacierGlacier]

Intentionally or not, the permits seem to have become more obfuscated of the past year. This is why I gave up doing them for a while last year. I now just scan through them and only document that ones that actually look interesting.

Do you follow the permits bot on Twitter? The only difficulty with that bot is keeping up with locations, since they're just addresses inside of PDF files.

 

[danlb_2000]

Do you follow the permits bot on Twitter? The only difficulty with that bot is keeping up with locations, since they're just addresses inside of PDF files.

No. I wrote my own software years ago to scrape the data from the permit site. I put all the data it can retrieve into a database and it generates the posts I put up here, so it makes the process as easy is it can be. The problem is that not all the details are scrapable, so a lot still needs to be typed up manually. I also have a database of addresses to help figure out where the work is actually being done.

 

[JoeCamel]

No. I wrote my on software years ago to scrape the data from the permit site. I put all the data it can retrieve into a database and it generates the posts I put up here, so it makes the process as easy is it can be. The problem is that not all the details are scrapable, so a lot still needs to be typed up manually. I also have a database of addresses to help figure out where the work is actually being done.

Said it before and will say it again - thanks! for all the work you do.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I disagree. Animal Kingdom's original vision was tarred, feathered, and beaten over the head with a shovel when Pandora went in.

Show your work.

I don't see why Zootopia wouldn't fit into DAK, given that DAK was originally supposed to include fictional beasts as well as real ones. And I don't see Zootopia as a good fit in DHS, unless you consider DHS a catch-all for random IPs, which, unfortunately, it may very well turn out to be...

What themes in Zootopia resonate with the themes of the Animal Kingdom? Pandora is the best IP land integration into an existing park's theme anywhere in the world. Zootopia has animals in it so people think it fits.

Some points of reference for Animal Kingdom's "themes"

The Dedication plaque:
Welcome to a kingdom of animals... real, ancient and imagined;
a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons;
a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival;
a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder,
gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama
and learn.

And the themes (bold, Joe Rohde's words, regular text my explanation):

• The intrinsic and superior value of nature - this means that nature, above all else is at the forefront of the design. This leads to parts of the park being out of their true control (live animals, overgrown pathways, etc.).
• Transformation through adventure - this idea is that adventure changes people when they experience something they've never experienced before.
• Personal call to action - a sense of responsibility for the animals and the conservation message.