Ruang Aman
Set in the fictional village of Ruang Aman, Cambodia, this village is an amalgamation of the different architectural styles found throughout Southeast Asia. Guests can find buildings that resemble those throughout the Asian region, from Indonesia to Laos to Cambodia to Vietnam. Ruang Aman (which means Safe Place) is a picturesque location featuring beautiful vistas out over the Lake of Life, as well as of the towering volcano that stands within the nearby national park.
Ruang Aman begins at the Caucuses, where Europe ends and Asia begins. Here, you can find the Suguhan Manis Ice Cream Vendors, an ice cream cart. Set on a selection of stationary bicycles and motorbikes with large freezers on them, this ice cream vending area is kept in the tradition of ice cream vending in Southeast Asia. There are five different bikes in a row, each featuring a different selection of ice cream. One bike serves fresh soft serve, being vanilla, chocolate, or a swirl of the two. Another vendor sells the pre-made Mickey bars, ice cream sandwiches found throughout the Disney parks, one sells milkshakes and ice cream floats (choose between root beer, cherry Coca Cola, or Orange Fanta), one serves hard-serve flavors, and the final bike serves unique flavors popular in Asia. At this final station, guests can pick up red bean, green tea, mango, jackfruit, fish sauce caramel, and, of course, durian. For guests looking to choose from a selection of ice cream from the common to the exotic, you're sure to find a perfect choice at the Suguhan Mania Ice Cream Vendors.
From the ice cream vendors, you enter into the town proper, first coming across a large theater. With a curved roof found throughout Southeastern Asia, this theater plays host to Tale of the Monkey King. This show is a stage performance in the style of a Wayang, a traditional puppetry style used specifically in Indonesia and most famously on the island of Java. However, this puppetry style has its roots throughout Asia with similarities to other shadow puppet mediums in China, Japan, and more. The Indonesian storytelling medium combines with a Chinese legend of the Monkey King, a prevalent character all across the world, and serves as a cultural unification for the Asian section of the park, exhibiting different cultures together throughout Asia. The Monkey King was selected for his popularity in Asia as well as the Western World and also the fact that despite being a Chinese folktale, he doesn't have any ties to actual religious beliefs and therefore wouldn't be offensive if adapted into another storytelling medium. The Tale of the Monkey King is one of the most unique stage performances at a Disney park and serves as one of the must-do attractions in the land of Asia.
Nearby the theater is the Flavors of Asia restaurant. Set inside this modern-style dining experience, this pan-Asian restaurant serves authentic dishes from all across the Asian continent. While the main focus of the meal is Indonesian and Southeast Asian dishes, you can also find meals from China, Japan, India, the Korean peninsula, and out into the Middle East here. For guests hoping to experience delicious food from all across the world's largest continent, Flavors of Asia is the best opportunity to do it, especially within Disney's Wild Kingdom.
Back in town, guests will come across the Ruang Aman Theater, a movie theater in the middle of town. Guests here can experience The Great Continent, a CircleVision 360 film exploring the countless biomes and locations found throughout Asia. The film covers ground all across the continent, exploring the deserts of the Middle East, the Caucuses, the Himalayas, India's Gir National Park, the jungles of Indonesia, the Philippine Islands, Russia's Siberian taiga, the Mongolian steppe, the Gobi Desert, and more. This 15-minute film showcases the beauty and unique landscapes all across the continent of Asia. The film also showcases the wildlife of the continent, from species that you'll see at Disney's Wild Kingdom like gibbons and tigers, as well as those you won't see at the park, including the incredibly rare saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), an animal that very little footage actually captures. This film is narrated by Sri Lankan activist and manager of the World Wildlife Fund's Asian animal conservation team Nilanga Jayasinghe.
The Great Continent then exits into the Habitat Heroes Ruang Aman Exhibition Center. Much like the other Habitat Heroes locations throughout the park, this location focuses on a big topic of the land: the illegal wildlife trade. Asia is one of the world's hotspots for the illegal trade in wildlife and animal parts, particularly due to cultural beliefs in traditional medicine made of rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks, tiger pelts, and more. Other illegal trades include the meat trade from shark fins to pangolin. Here at the exhibition center, there are displays and exhibits about different trades that endanger wildlife in Asia, including the aforementioned trades as well as the pet trade, fishing, whaling, and the trade in palm oil. This exhibition center, however, also focuses on what can be done to prevent these trades, with a whole display about Chinese-born NBA player Yao Ming and his mostly-successful crusade against shark fin soup. This location would feature more artifacts taken from Denver's National Wildlife Repository, including scales, horns, tusks, pelts, and more confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade.
There is also a large exhibit hosted by Palm Oil Watch International as well as the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado about the dangers of palm oil and the effect they have on orangutans and other species in the Indonesian Islands. This is a big exhibit showcasing palm oil and its agriculture and provides guests with information on how to make better choices when it comes to palm oil consumption.
Heading back out into Ruang Aman, you'll soon come across a large traditional building with banners depicting different dragons hanging from the rafters. This building also showcases a sign reading
The Quest for the Last Dragon. Once inside, you pass through a historical museum of the fictional kingdom of Kumandra and are met by artifacts from the five kingdoms, Heart, Spine, Talon, Fang, and Tail. Presented as this is real history, the backstory from the 2021 Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon is laid out in front of guests, giving them the history before diving into the attraction.
The attraction loosely follows the story of the film, following Raya and Sisu as they quest to reunite the five kingdoms into one singular kingdom. A trackless dark ride featuring state-of-the-art animatronics of the heroes and villains of the film, this ride gets guests up-close and personal with favorite characters and includes different motions depending where you're in. The ride bobs through "water" when meeting Captain Boun in Talon as they pass through the floating market, and slides down dunes in tail as you encounter Sisu. This is one of few Disney-IP attractions in Asia and represents the Southeast Asian theme the land is shooting for.
At the exit of the Quest for the Last Dragon is
Water Dragon Market, a gift shop selling gifts from Raya and the Last Dragon, including character plushes, t-shirts, foam weapons, and replicas of the Dragon Gem. This shop also sells gifts related to Southeast Asia in general as well as Disney's Wild Kingdom generic merchandise. Every so often, around the area outside of the Water Dragon Market, Raya may appear to meet with guests.
Outside in the streets is the
Ruang Aman Street Celebration a streetmosphere experience featuring dancers, acrobats, and instruments all tied into Southeast Asia. This celebration incorporates elements from the Yi Peng Festival in Thailand, Ati-Atihan Festival in the Philippines, the Bom On Touk Festival in Cambodia, and the Bali Kite Festival in Indonesia. Inspirations from all these festivals lead to a unique twice-a-day experience featuring water floats in the Lake of Life, dancing, music, acrobats, and kites soaring through the air. It is an experience celebrating all of Southeast Asia and one you don't want to miss at Disney's Wild Kingdom.
Nearby the water's edge where the festival occurs is
Kites and Flights, a shop selling traditional Southeast Asian kites and other flying toys for people to purchase. All of these purchases can be sent to the front of the park for pickup at the end of the day, sent to your hotel if staying on property, or shipped home from the park depending on what you want to do, but none of the kites purchased here can be used within the park itself for the safety of the animals as well as out of respect for other guests. This concept is taken from the store of the same name in Yun Cheng at Disney's Lost Kingdoms Park written by
@Outbound so credit to them!
Back in the center of town is the
Ruang Aman Village Market. This is the main shop in Ruang Aman and sells merchandise for the land as a whole. Here, guests can pick up animal plushes, fans, and more, all things that represent the many distinct Asian cultures represented throughout the land.
The final bit found in Ruang Aman is a selection of street vendors with different stands all in the center of the town. This is the
Rasa Asia Food Market and serves as the counter service location for the Asia section of the park. Here, guests can get delicious plates and snacks from Asia as well as a more Americanized take on Asian dishes like orange chicken, crab rangoons, and eggrolls, dishes that don't actually originate in Asia. For guests who want to experiment with traditional food or go back to iconic favorites, this is the place for them!
With that, we wrap up Ruang Aman and encroach on the Melindungi National Park, my personal favorite thing I've created for this entire park. I'm very excited to show it to you all! Hope you enjoyed!
