"Out of the Wild" small shop to close

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
I know my sons enjoyed RPW when they were little but my thought is that people do not come to
Animal Kingdom to take a train ride to a petting zoo.
And also due to the Animation academy which has no reason being there..Yes, you can state that animals are the inspiration to many of the Disney characters but, they have a vacant launch bay they can bring it back to and revitalize that area at DHS again..
 

OG Runner

Well-Known Member
And also due to the Animation academy which has no reason being there..Yes, you can state that animals are the inspiration to many of the Disney characters but, they have a vacant launch bay they can bring it back to and revitalize that area at DHS again..

Honestly I did not know they moved the Animation Academy there. I actually did it a couple of times when it was in Disney Studios.
That really is where is belongs and I would do it again if it was.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Heard from our very dear friend that works at Out of the Wild shop, located at Rafiki's planet watch, that her store is permanently closing. She has been with the Disney Company for 30+ years and has worked at this shop since 1998. She is an ambassador to the Disney Conservation Fund and alone, one single cast member, has raised close to $500,000 for the fund. She is not losing her job, she is being moved to the Mombasa Marketplace in Africa as part of the closure but she is very heart broken and doesn't think that she will be able to continue her efforts in this location ( despite the larger foot traffic area).
so if anyone recently has plans to go to Out of the wild have a chat with Dawn. She is the sweetest woman. Dont hesitate to donate if you chat with her, we do a 100.00 Donation every year we travel down for the fund and the extra special pin that gets sent to your home ( no, not the round ones).
Tell her Bryan and Megan sent you!
Vending machines!? They done gone and Aunt Pollyed this shop!
 

JMcMahonEsq

Well-Known Member
Let’s be honest…the area consumed by RPW and the weird train ride there is a large wasted space that doesn’t draw a lot of guests in

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It’s funny after 5 trips to AK, we finally did RPW this august, and I have to say we were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. The hands on experience with the animals outside was great. The just getting separated from the large crowds was a treat. Being it’s own isolated area you a parent can relax “relatively speaking” and let your kids pet the goats and walk around a bit and not have to worry they will be run over by someone running to their next ride. We were lucky enough to see an actual surgery being performed when we were there, which was not only amazing, but really got the kids into the care/conservation aspect of the park. Ended up on the drive back to NJ with them watching the Disney+ AK series.

I almost think it isn’t publicized enough on how neat that area of the park is. Of course more PR push means more people, which takes aways from its appeal, but it’s a hidden treasure I hope continues.

As to the shop closing, I didn’t see anything there that I couldn’t get in the main part of the park. While it was ok to have there, I don’t think you lose out on not being about to get a stuffed animal or spray bottle fan there. That being said it is on the end or a long “supply line” and having a space to get drink or snack out there in august as opposed to waiting to go back to the main park was a benifit
 

CaptainNicko

Active Member
Would rather have had this..
https_2F2Fcdn.evbuc_.com2Fimages2F397530942F2379230219662F12Foriginal.jpg

But, that's just me..
We kinda did get this. Avatar is just a live action remake of Fern Gully...
 

pdude81

Well-Known Member
I always loved RPW and the drawing stuff at DHS, but they can be separate things. The petting area is much less busy since they tried to close it and the goats are not as used to people as they once were. I wish they'd put a new show in the main building there as well as some more M&G like they used to with Rafiki and Doc McStuffins.

Also the train drives around to a massive unfinished area that should be a big expansion land. And should they suddenly have that train ride serving two remote stops it would be a big boost to the crowds at RPW.

The shop looks to be bare since items are in low stock. I always really liked that instead of the dumb vending machines in the RPW entrance area. It had snacks/drinks but also more variations of the "baby" animal plushes that were hard to find elsewhere. I'd rather they just shutter it for now and revisit it later than put vending machines there.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Let’s be honest…the area consumed by RPW and the weird train ride there is a large wasted space that doesn’t draw a lot of guests in

better options

I'm not sure how feasible it is to put something else there. The train doesn't move enough guests to put anything really popular or you'd have hour+ long waits for people just to get to/from there, and it would be a long walk through nothing if they put in a path.

It's also right next to the savanna and has animal care facilities, so I don't think they could put anything especially loud there without disturbing the animals.

It would make more sense to develop areas between the current park and there than to suddenly drop something new in right where RPW is.
 

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