"DAK II Expansion"

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Add me to the fans who’d love if DAK added an entirely new “land” themed to Australia, Europe, East Asia, whatever. More animals, themed walkthrough trails, and realistic placemaking would be awesome!

I would absolutely love that.

I would also be shocked if it ever happens, at least under current management. I am sure adding more live animals would be considered a giant expense with little ROI compared to building shops, restaurants, or even attractions.
 

wedenterprises

Well-Known Member
Give me pandas and give them to me now. Sichuan lush forests, some Chinese cuisine, a re-themed train that extends to a new hotel off Western way where I can see the pandas from my balcony.

And Chapek can throw in Mushu plush dolls if he wants.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
I know you're not endorsing the opinion of that article, but, I just wanna say that as a proud SJW and someone acutely aware of conscious and unconscious prejudice, that article is horse pucky. Yes, there are overtones with King Louie and... *jazz*!! as a presentation of an African-American genre. But, Mowgli has other antagonists which have nothing to do with race. Louie isn't presented as being any more sinister than the tiger or snake (both of whom are way more sinister).

Not to mention the Beatles-stand-in of buzzards... is Jungle Book anti-British?!

And ignoring the role of a *black* panther as a mentor and protector is a pretty big tell that the author of that screed had no intention of being fair-minded.
I agree. And thanks for mentioning that I’m not endorsing the content of that essay. The author makes some unhelpful leaps of logic that I do not agree with. Just pointing to one example of broader criticism of Jungle Book beyond just the monkey scene.

As not to derail this thread any more, I’ve started a new thread about Race Coding in Animated Films for anyone interested in further discussion about the topic. I find it fascinating.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
How about a 'land' that isn't a jungle?

Or, if the park is still going to be Disney Jungle Kingdom, then South America is next in line. If only there was a Disney IP in which the protagonist had an adventure in South America...
YES. I think the main reason behind this is the challenge of placemaking in non-jungle environments. A desert or snow-covered environment would be awesome, but flat brown (in the case of the desert) or white (arctic-in FL!) expanses in a theme park don’t seem so great. So then they’re having to build terrain, which could get expensive.

But there are lots of examples of non-jungle environments they could use: forests, river canyons, marine environments (à la DisneySEA), etc. These could be really cool, and feature animals prominently with cultural context, consistent with the rest of DAK.
 

Brer Panther

Well-Known Member
If Zootopia is as popular as you believe it is, why has it not been given a larger presence in the parks already? You believe it’s popular. Popular = money maker, right? TWDC loves for the parks to be making money, so why hasn’t something even been proposed to be added anywhere stateside already? 🤔
Zootopia was released in 2016. Disney was too busy milking Frozen and working on stuff like Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land to do anything with it.
Zootopia now has a mini-land with attraction at Shanghai Disneyland.
Is that open yet?
They evidently didn't realize they could exploit the Disney Princesses with a huge line of merch until like 2008
I'm pretty sure the Disney Princess franchise became a thing earlier than that...
How about a 'land' that isn't a jungle?

Or, if the park is still going to be Disney Jungle Kingdom, then South America is next in line. If only there was a Disney IP in which the protagonist had an adventure in South America...
Basically what @_caleb said. I think some sort of Arctic or North America land would be pretty cool.
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
Yes, completely agree. Put some IP in if they need to but have the land as a continent and be faithful to the DAK design aesthetic.
I like the idea of a new continent. I could definitely get on board with some South America vibes with some Up twists - "A Land Lost in Time." I'd also like if they kept DINOSAUR and the play areas and just revamped the carnival into some sort of archeological/prehistoric environment. Even something like the American West could work. (I know The Good Dinosaur was not a big hit, but the settings from the movie are gorgeous and there is some pretty cool stuff in this part of the country re dinosaurs and whatnot.)

I don't think Beastly Kingdom will ever come to be, sad as it is to say.
 

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