BEASTLY KINGDOM? Who Knew....

Magical Dreamer

Magical Dreamer

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Animal_Kingdom_TPark_Color.png


I never noticed the Dragon in the original Animal Kingdom logo nor was I aware the park expansion originally planned would include a Beastly and Mythical Kingdom.

From Wikipedia:

The original design for Animal Kingdom included a section called the Beastly Kingdom (possibly spelled as "Beastly Kingdomme"). It was a land devoted to creatures of legend and mythology. Due to budget constraints, Beastly Kingdom never came to fruition and Camp Minnie-Mickey was built as a temporary tenant of the Beastly Kingdom land.
Beastly Kingdom was to have featured mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters. The land would feature realms of both good and evil creatures. The evil side would be dominated by Dragon Tower, a ruined castle home to a greedy fire-breathing dragon who horded a fabulous treasure in the tower chamber. The castle would also be inhabited by bats who planned to rob the dragon of his riches. They would enlist the guests' help in their scheme and whisk them off on a thrilling roller coaster ride through the castle ruins. The climax of the ride would be an encounter with the evil dragon himself, resulting in a nearly-barbecued train of guests.[11]
The good side of this land would be home to Quest of the Unicorn, an adventure which sent guests through a maze of medieval mythological creatures to seek the hidden grotto where the unicorn lived. Finally, the Fantasia Gardens attraction would be a musical boat ride through animal scenes from Disney's animated classic, Fantasia. The ride would feature both the crocodiles and hippos from "Dance of the Hours" and the Pegasus, fauns, and centaurs from Beethoven's "Pastoral."[12]
Remnants of this planned area were visible when the park opened or are still visible today:
  • The parking lot contains a section named "Unicorn."
  • The silhouette of a dragon appears in the Animal Kingdom logo.
  • There is a dragon-shaped stone fountain near Camp Minnie-Mickey.
  • A detailed dragonhead statue sits atop one of the ticket booths at the park's entrance. (The other two booths are topped by an elephant head and a triceratops head)
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
Same here. Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park, by far, and that's because, to me, it's just a glorified zoo with only one neat attraction - the Tree of Life (pity it's falling apart) and a couple of subpar rides. The last time I visited WDW, I didn't even go to AK, and didn't miss it a bit. But if Beastly Kingdomme had been built there, as originally planned, you couldn't keep me away from it. Deleting BK was one of Michael Eisner's dumbest moves in my opinion. Penny-pinching shortsightedness has seriously hurt that park, and I wonder if it will ever live up to its potential.
 
Disneyfan1981

Disneyfan1981

Active Member
There has to be more than just Eisner closing that door. Since his departure whenever money is allocated to the parks, it doesn't revive it or at least in my recollections. While "Avatar Land" will be a big draw or at least WDW hopes, they probably could have saved a lot of hassle by revisiting or reviving this project and beginning to tweak it. There has to be something with this concept that doesn't spark interest in bringing it back to the those in charge. I'm sure the answers have been told over and over but it's such a massive topic here I don't have to desire to ferret it out for sure.
 
Redsky89

Redsky89

Well-Known Member
I would have loved to see these plans become a reality. Being that Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park ( and this coming from a animal lover! ). Besides the Mount Everest ride there's nothing in that park that I view as a must visit attraction. Although I do think the Nemo show is excellent.
 
scottnj1966

scottnj1966

Well-Known Member
You have been a member since 2010 and never thought to do a search on this very old subject.
This is news from all the way when it opened.



lforti said:
Animal_Kingdom_TPark_Color.png


I never noticed the Dragon in the original Animal Kingdom logo nor was I aware the park expansion originally planned would include a Beastly and Mythical Kingdom.

From Wikipedia:

The original design for Animal Kingdom included a section called the Beastly Kingdom (possibly spelled as "Beastly Kingdomme"). It was a land devoted to creatures of legend and mythology. Due to budget constraints, Beastly Kingdom never came to fruition and Camp Minnie-Mickey was built as a temporary tenant of the Beastly Kingdom land.
Beastly Kingdom was to have featured mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters. The land would feature realms of both good and evil creatures. The evil side would be dominated by Dragon Tower, a ruined castle home to a greedy fire-breathing dragon who horded a fabulous treasure in the tower chamber. The castle would also be inhabited by bats who planned to rob the dragon of his riches. They would enlist the guests' help in their scheme and whisk them off on a thrilling roller coaster ride through the castle ruins. The climax of the ride would be an encounter with the evil dragon himself, resulting in a nearly-barbecued train of guests.[11]
The good side of this land would be home to Quest of the Unicorn, an adventure which sent guests through a maze of medieval mythological creatures to seek the hidden grotto where the unicorn lived. Finally, the Fantasia Gardens attraction would be a musical boat ride through animal scenes from Disney's animated classic, Fantasia. The ride would feature both the crocodiles and hippos from "Dance of the Hours" and the Pegasus, fauns, and centaurs from Beethoven's "Pastoral."[12]
Remnants of this planned area were visible when the park opened or are still visible today:
  • The parking lot contains a section named "Unicorn."
  • The silhouette of a dragon appears in the Animal Kingdom logo.
  • There is a dragon-shaped stone fountain near Camp Minnie-Mickey.
  • A detailed dragonhead statue sits atop one of the ticket booths at the park's entrance. (The other two booths are topped by an elephant head and a triceratops head)
Click to expand...
 
A

AintNoOtherMan

Well-Known Member
I knew about Beastly Kingdom. I loved the idea and I really wish they did it. I love AK, but Beastly Kingdom would have made it that much bettter. I never noticed the dragon in the logo though. That's really cool. :)
 
GVentola

GVentola

Well-Known Member
I should've clarified. In Japan (and now starting in some places in the US, like in a neighboring city a little ways away from Orlando), they have cat cafes, where you can purchase coffee in one room, then take your coffee cup and go in another room filled with cats to pet and watch. They also have owl cafes, believe it or not. I haven't heard of puppy or dog cafes, but I'd really be interested in something like that, being as I like dogs even more than cats or owls, though I like them, too.
 
blueboxdoctor

blueboxdoctor

Well-Known Member
Sadly, this will never be built. I think the idea was really great, especially since fantasy creatures are a theme that has lasted throughout time (dragons have been a part of multiple mythologies for a very long time). Now they are making Avatar Land instead, which really, does anyone even care about Avatar anymore (granted, I thought Avatar was an absolutely awful movie, so I was never too excited when they announced a whole area for it)? I guess they are hoping the planet in the movie can provide enough visual wonder that people won't care if it is Avatar. Though, I would have much preferred to have cool things like dragons in the park.
 
KrazyKat

KrazyKat

Well-Known Member
Being fascinated with how big WDW is, I spend quite a bit of time looking at different areas around WDW that would be great for expansion.
Here's a pic of AK:
AK1.PNG

Now here's a pic of a rather large area to the north that would be great for expansion:
AK2.PNG

I've noticed it looks like they have cleared some land. Could something be possibly planned in the near/distant future here? Of course the safari tour is just to the west of this area so noise could be a factor because of all the animals there.
 

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