Australian Animals at DAK

[jmuboy]

So, Busch Gardens Tampa is soon to open an exhibit of Australian Animals. Why can't an Australian mini land be added to DAK with similar animal displays? Australia is very far away an exotic to many Americans who visit WDW. Displays like this (along with Pandas) are "E Ticket" animal attractions that would draw crowds just as E Ticket rides would. Why can't Disney bring us attractions like this? From Screamscape.com, here is the post with details:

2010 - Walkabout Way - (6/10/10) Busch Gardens Tampa announced that on Monday they will open a new interactive animal area called… Walkabout Way. Guests can hand-feed Kangaroos, Wallabies, see a Kookaburra and many other Australian animal species. The centerpiece of the attraction is Kangaloom, a large exhibit full of Red & Grey Kangaroos and Wallabies. The new area is listed as an expansion to the Bird Gardens area of the park.

 

[disneyfan168]

This is exactly what they need with maybe an attraction or two. Here are some pics of the Busch Garden's Walkabout Way: http://bgtnation.blogspot.com/2010/06/walkabout-way-opening.html

 

[yoda_5729]

I would think this would be a very good idea. I have been to a lot of zoos, and some Australian animals can be quite popular. AK does have Kangaroos but they could have a lot of other Australian animals. One that would be very popular would be a Koala.

Most zoos can't have Koala's either due to climate (which AK wouldn't have a problem with) or food. Koalas eat one specific kind of Eucalyptus and that's it. They ever get their water from it. Disney, with The Land Pavillion or just naturally could fairly easily have Eucalyptus trees for the Koalas.

Other more rare animals from that region that aren't venomous, as for whatever reason Animal Kingdom avoids those, are the Dingo, Tasmanian Devil, Kiwi, Cassowary and Saltwater Crocodile. No Tasmanian Devil however lives outside of Australia as it is massively endangered due to cancer. One lives in Europe but was given out as a wedding gift to a Tasmanian royal who married a European.

Anyways, those are just some of the options, but I really think Australia could add a lot of attention to Animal Kingdom, especially if you got some of the rarer animals.

 

[imagineer boy]

I think its a no brainer that AK should build an Austrilian themed land. The themeing could be terriffic!

 

[JEANYLASER]

Awesome!

 

[ttalovebug]

Those pics..... wow. BG totally ripped off that design and area from the nearby Lowry Park Zoo. I'm shocked at how similar it looks!

 

[Figment1986]

Those pics..... wow. BG totally ripped off that design and area from the nearby Lowry Park Zoo. I'm shocked at how similar it looks!

they merely built a small area for the kangaroos, but most of the area was already there and just cleaned up. Besides, when it comes to animal feeding areas they all look similar anyway.

FYI, AK does have some red kangaroos already... you just went past them on the way to tough to be a bug or one of the themed lands..

 

[Figment82]

I always thought an Australia section at DAK would be amazing. They could have a Submarine Voyage-esque attraction that featured a recreation of the Great Barrier Reef. So many great possibilities!

 

[RSoxNo1]

The Animal Kingdom has Red Kangaroos (Tree of Life) and Wallabys (Oasis). Australia seems to be a fan boy wish, but doesn't seem to be much more than Blue Sky in the offices of Imagineering... Just like everything in the Animal Kingdom.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Hey I am all for a new Australian Land exhibiting that country's unique wildlife... but not if is going to be a glorified petting zoo. At least that is what I see from the pics. I have been to other "Wallaby walk abouts" without barriers where you walk through on a very low boardwalk and the wallabys are free to come right up to you and bee feed.... Only problem everytime we passed the attraction, the wallabies wanted nothing to do with the people. I would hope WDW and AK with their commitment to wildlife would not include this type of attraction in a new land.

 

[DisneyparkFreak]

This has been discussed multiple times. From what's been discussed from the insiders Joe Rohde has said no and since he is the father of animal kingdom in would pretty much say it isn't happening. To my chagrin, would love to see this and an opera house dinnershow or signature restarunt serving authentic down under fare.