New attractions for Animal Kingdom please!!!!!!

[marsrunner]

How about they just redo Dinosaur? Actually make it a little more like the original concept art where you might actually feel you were in the past rather than in a really dark warehouse? I like dark rides as much as the next person (probably more!) but they took it a little too literally with that ride. Or how about get rid of Dino-rama and do something interesting with the space? If they can't come up with anything that doesn't feel like a slightly better version of the Jurassic Park land at IoA how about a rain forest area in its place? Fix the Yeti and the other Everest effects? Extend Kali so it lasts for more than 5 minutes?
There's so much at DAK that needs fixing in my opinion that talking about adding anything seems premature. Its a shame, too, because it is the most meticulouly themed and beautiful theme park I've ever seen (never been to TDS, so don't even mention it! ) but there's just too many existing attractions that are lacking.
Probably a minority opinion, but there you go.

 

[Jasonflz]

It's frozen.



Is it probable? Perhaps. Improbable, no. [/TimeKeeper]
:lookaroun:lol:

I could see it happening in a decade if Management were redressed. Then again, I have high expectations.:shrug::lol:

:lol::sohappy: Why do you taunt me.

 

[Jasonflz]

Call me a heretic, but I thought the 20K Leagues ride at Tokyo DisneySea fell a little flat. The ride system was impressive and the queue was fantastic, but the "wet for dry" effects out the portholes weren't quite as succesful as the real porthole view in real water you get on Disneyland's Finding Nemo Submarine ride.

WARNING - 20K PLOT SPOILERS!

And the plotline was a bit odd and rather bland yet utterly predictable, and I don't think it would be a big hit with Americans since it's not a thrill ride and it has absolutely no Disney or Pixar characters. The little alien guys were just very odd, and their helping hand at the end became even weirder.

The Journey To The Center Of The Earth ride, on the other hand, was fabulous and a total home run. That one would be a huge hit here, even without a Disney character tie in. But the 20K ride wasn't as succesful in my opinion.

Really?!? That is the stupidest idea for a ride I have ever heard. Maybe instead they will use the actual ride system from the original attraction.

Like the backside of Everest? :lookaroun
I still wish and hope we get Mt. Prometheus.

:hammer: If that happens I will send so many complaints.

 

[Ragetti]

I seriously don;t understand why they don't have any attractions themed on Pocahontas, Jungle Book, or Tarzan.

 

[krankenstein]

How about they just redo Dinosaur? Actually make it a little more like the original concept art where you might actually feel you were in the past rather than in a really dark warehouse? I like dark rides as much as the next person (probably more!) but they took it a little too literally with that ride. Or how about get rid of Dino-rama and do something interesting with the space? If they can't come up with anything that doesn't feel like a slightly better version of the Jurassic Park land at IoA how about a rain forest area in its place? Fix the Yeti and the other Everest effects? Extend Kali so it lasts for more than 5 minutes?
There's so much at DAK that needs fixing in my opinion that talking about adding anything seems premature. Its a shame, too, because it is the most meticulouly themed and beautiful theme park I've ever seen (never been to TDS, so don't even mention it! ) but there's just too many existing attractions that are lacking.
Probably a minority opinion, but there you go.

The problem is that you won't have any of the above happen unless they add something. They need more capacity in the park, before they can sacrifice closing CTX, EE, or anything else for major rehabs.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Call me a heretic, but I thought the 20K Leagues ride at Tokyo DisneySea fell a little flat. The ride system was impressive and the queue was fantastic, but the "wet for dry" effects out the portholes weren't quite as succesful as the real porthole view in real water you get on Disneyland's Finding Nemo Submarine ride.

WARNING - 20K PLOT SPOILERS!

And the plotline was a bit odd and rather bland yet utterly predictable, and I don't think it would be a big hit with Americans since it's not a thrill ride and it has absolutely no Disney or Pixar characters. The little alien guys were just very odd, and their helping hand at the end became even weirder.

The Journey To The Center Of The Earth ride, on the other hand, was fabulous and a total home run. That one would be a huge hit here, even without a Disney character tie in. But the 20K ride wasn't as succesful in my opinion.

Sounds like we should just get a copy of The Mysteries of the Nautilus from DLP instead, with added effects and a different queue entrance.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I seriously don;t understand why they don't have any attractions themed on Pocahontas, Jungle Book, or Tarzan.

Animal Kingdom HAD all three... They were shows... All three have closed... Jungle Book closed and became Tarzan Rocks... Tarzan Rocks closed and became Finding Nemo: The Musical... Pocahontas closed and became.... empty space for the time being...

 

[FigmentJedi]

I have to agree about 20K from TDS. It just seems really odd. It reminds me a lot of the new Indiana Jones movie. All of a sudden there are aliens.:shrug:

And the plotline was a bit odd and rather bland yet utterly predictable, and I don't think it would be a big hit with Americans since it's not a thrill ride and it has absolutely no Disney or Pixar characters. The little alien guys were just very odd, and their helping hand at the end became even weirder.

The little alien guys were supposed to be Atlanteans of the "Fish People" variety.
Yeah, really weird and inconsistent with how Disney's portrayed Atlantis before...

 

[gigasteve]

Personally I'd rather have an expansion that introduces new animals to the park than a fantasy land. It seems like Disney has plenty of room for fantasy in Magic Kingdom and I like Animal Kingdom being grounded more in reality.

One idea that intrigues me is a South America land, styled after Paradise Falls from Up. I feel like that could be successful in adding a strong visual element to the park, bring in some new characters, and offer an opportunity to explore some new wildlife. I could see an Amazon River boat ride (granted the Amazon is no where near Venezuela but...) and maybe some sort of flying attraction from Up.

 

[Ragetti]

Animal Kingdom HAD all three... They were shows... All three have closed... Jungle Book closed and became Tarzan Rocks... Tarzan Rocks closed and became Finding Nemo: The Musical... Pocahontas closed and became.... empty space for the time being...

Yeah, I knew about the shows (saw the the Pocy show.... it was a little weak), but I mean a real attraction. The Kali area seems perfect for a Jungle book theme.

 

[imagineer boy]

One idea that intrigues me is a South America land, styled after Paradise Falls from Up. I feel like that could be successful in adding a strong visual element to the park, bring in some new characters, and offer an opportunity to explore some new wildlife. I could see an Amazon River boat ride (granted the Amazon is no where near Venezuela but...) and maybe some sort of flying attraction from Up.

Blegh, no more Pixar tie-ins please.:brick: I'd much prefer to see Australia or BK.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Aside from the initial '99 Asian expansion, have the added any new species of animals to the zoo?

My understanding that Chester and Hester's was largely to add capacity, and that Joe Rohde was quoted as saying, "this could all be gone in a week."

I'm going to guess that the Animal Walk Throughs don't contribute well to capacity like a show or a D/E ticket ride would. That being said, the park needs animal additions, in addition to dark rides.

I've never been to Tokyo's Disney Sea, so I haven't experienced there version of 20K Leagues Under the Sea. I wasn't a huge fan of the MK version (probably a capacity/wait time vs. payoff issue), and was somewhat underwhelmed by The Nemo Subs. My beef with The Nemo Subs was the climax was underwhelming. It was a solid attraction, but like almost anything in the parks, not worth more than 1/2 hour wait.

For improvements, I'll go through my ideas land by land.

Oasis - Remove any Australia animals. I believe this is just the Wallaby. Put in a few bigger draws in this area like the Anteater. People rush through this area, and it's really a cool area to explore.

Discovery Island - Same thing here, remove the Australia animals. In this case it's the Red Kangaroo, and possibly a species of deer. The area with the Kangaroos is rather large. I'd assume they wouldn't put a building there as it would ruin the visual of the Tree of Life. They could probably move the Capybara or Giant Galapagos Tortoise from the Discovery Island Trails to replace the Kangaroos. I think the Discovery Island Trails are more or less ignored by most guests, I'm not sure what could take it's place, but it's certainly not a big draw. Perhaps a small B/C ticket could fit in that area.

Rafiki's Planet Watch - There should probably be a walkway to this area that's lined with birds, monkeys and other smaller animals. I don't like the idea of moving Festival of the Lion King here.

Africa - Festival of the Lion King should be moved here, with a queue that goes behind the Tusker House and exits next to the Dawa Bar. It'll create a traffic congestion problem, so perhaps it could be at the entrance of the path I want to create to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I'd like to see more animals added to the Safari, or perhaps elongate the Pangani Forest trail to include Hyenas, Chimps, Gemsboks, Aardvarks, African Buffalo, Secretary Birds and more.

Asia - This area needs another walk through with Snow Leopards, Giant Pandas, Red Pandas, Markhor Goats, and Orangutans. I know a lot of these were part of an originally planned Asian Safari (I believe it was sky trams), so perhaps dusting off those ideas. Kali River Rapids needs to be expanded. It's 1/2 the ride that Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Raft Barge is at Islands of Adventure.

Dinoland - Remove Chester and Hester's Dinorama. I want part of this area re-themed to an Australia land. The Nemo Musical will be part of it, and it would need a D ticket dark ride. I know the lynch pin in creating an Austalia in the parks is that the obvious spokesman for this land is unfortunately deceased (Steve Irwin), but if they feel compelled to include his contributions, they can always reference him as well as the works of his wife and daughter. Another big draw for this area would be a walk through. It wouldn't need to be as large as Pangani Forest or Maharajah Jungle Trek given the number of species and space required for each one. They already have the Kangaroos and Wallabys in the park, the signature animal in the walk through would be Koalas, but the walk through could also include Tree Kangaroos and Dingoes. Any unused land can be used for dark rides based on other extinct animals to expand the serious side of Dinoland. I would also remove the "USA" part of the land's name

Camp Minnie Mickey - Beastly Kingdom probably isn't going to happen, from the sounds of it, neither is Mysterious Island. I actually think they could do a fantastic job continuing the Adirondack theming, and making this area of the park the kiddy area. You could include a Bambi dark ride that could include both animatronic and live animals in an indoor/outdoor ride. I'd also love to see bears in the park, and an adirondack area would be the perfect spot. I would keep with the continent idea and name this area either USA, or America.

 

[Captain Chaos]

RSox, I like your ideas...

Putting Australia in Dinorama, wouldn't that make it small?? or are you suggesting getting rid of Dinoland altogether??? Or is there room to expand in that area??

 

[jt04]

Yes Rsox, if they are not going to do BK or MI, the North American national park/forest idea is perfect. Kind of a Wilderness Lodge-land. Good stuff.

 

[JustInTime]

Camp Minnie Mickey - Beastly Kingdom probably isn't going to happen, from the sounds of it, neither is Mysterious Island. I actually think they could do a fantastic job continuing the Adirondack theming, and making this area of the park the kiddy area. You could include a Bambi dark ride that could include both animatronic and live animals in an indoor/outdoor ride. I'd also love to see bears in the park, and an adirondack area would be the perfect spot. I would keep with the continent idea and name this area either USA, or America.

Well, the insiders said that there are currently frozen plans for Mysterious Island/Beastly Kingdom. Martin even said it would be enough to rival Harry Potter but he said he said too much and deleted it. So, who knows what they will do with Minnie-Mickey in the end. I will always hold out hope for Beastly Kingdom. You never know. :shrug:

 

[RSoxNo1]

Well, the insiders said that there are currently frozen plans for Mysterious Island/Beastly Kingdom. Martin even said it would be enough to rival Harry Potter but he said he said too much and deleted it. So, who knows what they will do with Minnie-Mickey in the end. I will always hold out hope for Beastly Kingdom. You never know. :shrug:

I would assume any Adirondack themed area would include a ride based on ManBearPig

Artists rendering:

 

[Jasonflz]

Speaking of Mystery Island here is some great concept art and photos.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/04/tribute-to-tom-thordarson-aka-thor_06.html

 

[whylightbulb]

Call me a heretic, but I thought the 20K Leagues ride at Tokyo DisneySea fell a little flat. The ride system was impressive and the queue was fantastic, but the "wet for dry" effects out the portholes weren't quite as succesful as the real porthole view in real water you get on Disneyland's Finding Nemo Submarine ride.

Okay I won't call you a heretic but I will STRONGLY disagree with the main premise of your statement.

First lets talk about the vehicles. It's not just the ride system that is impressive, it's also the incredible detail and aesthetic quality of the vehicles themselves, both insice and out. Secondly, I challenge anyone to find dark ride sets built in the last 20 years that are as lavish, detailed,and elaborate as TDS's 20K. The quality of artistic finish alone is better than 95% of anything out there today when it comes to dark rides. After 15 trips through the ride I know I have not noticed every prop and set piece in that building.

You say the wet for dry is not as effective as the Disneyland or WDW version? I can't disagree more considering how, as a child even, I would look through the porthole in the subs at WDW and see the top of the water. In TDS there is nothing, other than the knowledge that you are in a show building without water, that breaks the illusion. The lighting is perfect, the scenic treatments are perfect and the colors are realistic. Add to all that the nice interactive feature with the spotlights, the unique seating arrangement in the vehicles, the interior lighting, sound etc. I am still in shock that anyone has anything negative to say about this ride. As an adult I found myself naturally suspending disbelief as if I was truly traveling in a submersible deep under the sea. Trust me, being a ride designer myself I can tell you it's extremely rare to present us with a product so convincing that we don't see the backstage stuff. I rode this ride at least 5 or 6 times before I even began to question anything with respect to technique, technology, design and execution.

WARNING - 20K PLOT SPOILERS!

And the plotline was a bit odd and rather bland yet utterly predictable, and I don't think it would be a big hit with Americans since it's not a thrill ride and it has absolutely no Disney or Pixar characters. The little alien guys were just very odd, and their helping hand at the end became even weirder.

I don't speak Japenese so I didn't understand the dialog. That didn't detract anything from the experience for me at all. Yes the storyline is predictable. Why wouldn't it be since Jules Verne wrote the story the ride is based on back in the 1800's? If you want to go by your logic I'd say the plots, or lack thereof, of Haunted Mansion and Pirates are bland and predictable.

The helping hand at the end of the ride as well as the odd aliens can be modified to reach the European and American audience if need be.

If Americans won't like the ride because it's not a thrill ride than they better not green-light Mermaid for Florida. It's already too late for California however. Personally I don't care if they tie in Pixar, as long as they bring this ride to the states, detail and quality in tact.

The Journey To The Center Of The Earth ride, on the other hand, was fabulous and a total home run. That one would be a huge hit here, even without a Disney character tie in.

This I can agree with 100%!

 

[Jasonflz]

Blegh, no more Pixar tie-ins please.:brick: I'd much prefer to see Australia or BK.

Australia is definitely not happening.

 

[imagineer boy]

RSox, I like your ideas...

Putting Australia in Dinorama, wouldn't that make it small?? or are you suggesting getting rid of Dinoland altogether??? Or is there room to expand in that area??

I say put Australia in the empty western side of the park (backstage areas could be cleared there) and build BK in Camp MinniMickey.