the old boat ride in AK??

[iheartdisney91]

hey guys, when AK first opened i wanna say that this boat ride was atleast opened for 3 yrs, but its now closed and the river has been taken over by lilly pads, weeds and what not, i remember in the ride you go by a cave very slowly and there is a purple dragon with wings that shoots fire, you can still see the loading dock today. and were the cave is with the rocks in the water its sorta errie also in the AK logo i think you can see the outline of the dragon. can anyone please tell me why this was closed and possibly any pics .... thank you soooo much i was wondering about this for ages!:lol:

yep i was right lol:sohappy:

 

[RiversideBunny]

When AK first opened we went a boat ride. Waited in line, rode the boat, and then realized that it only went by areas that we could have just walked by anyway.
I think that's the reason they closed it, at least the one we went on.
It just wasn't adding anything for all the trouble.

 

[DanStat]

It was closed because people thought there was an actual point to the ride, when there wasn't. It often drew crowds longer than some of the E-tickets. Also, pollution was bad for the water.

 

[iheartdisney91]

It was closed because people thought there was an actual point to the ride, when there wasn't. It often drew crowds longer than some of the E-tickets. Also, pollution was bad for the water.

hmm.. i dont remember the line but polution is bad, but do you remember anything about the dragon? its the only thing i remember from the ride cuz it scared me lol i was like 6 or 7 it was popular cuz mcdonalds gave it our as a toy not only in WDW but ever where else! lol thanx for the help!

its the purple one on the bottom

 

[goofy0101]

So, what when did it actually shut down? I remember riding it once but it's been a long time. Seems like I also remember Disney Radio playing on the boat. Am I imagining that??

 

[Lee]

i remember in the ride you go by a cave very slowly and there is a purple dragon with wings that shoots fire,

Nope. You don't remember that...because it was never built.
There WAS (is) a cave...there WAS fire...but no dragon.
http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/showphoto.php?photo=24397&cat=500

can anyone please tell me why this was closed

Too much ride...too little to look at.
Guests waited an hour for a one way boat ride that really didn't show you much you couldn't see from land other than the dragon's cave.
They did put animal handlers on board with small critters for a while...but that didn't stop guest complaints. Neither did themeing it to Radio Disney.

 

[jeffb]

Guests waited an hour for a one way boat ride that really didn't show you much you couldn't see from land other than the dragon's cave.
They did put animal handlers on board with small critters for a while...but that didn't stop guest complaints. Neither did themeing it to Radio Disney.

I remember this, waited on a big line + I am thinking Jungle Cruise Version 2.0 at the very minimum and the extent of the ride was looking at insects in glass cases to pass the time while we were on the boat. It was a bad show. :snore: I am guessing that this would have been sometime during 1998

 

[dazzer68]

i always wondered why there was a dragon in the logo but couldnt find it in the park! perhaps they should remove it? as there isnt one there!

 

[marni1971]

Try a thread search; I`ve posted concepts of the cave and pics of the flame jet. Also Iggy, the non-fire-breathing figure that was there for a while too. Maybe you`re confusing this with the flame thrower?

 

[iheartdisney91]

wow guys thanks! i dont know why but i swear i saw that darn dragon.:veryconfu oh well

 

[iheartdisney91]

oh pooh i cant find the thread....

 

[fudwrapper]

I believe the dragon is still in the logo, as a reference to the once planned, possibly still happening at some point, Beastly Kingdom, where mythical animals would be featured. There's lots of discussions about this on these boards if you do a search for it.

 

[Figment82]

I only remember one joke from this ride - when you pass by Asia there is that boat with all the Coke bottles on it. It was (drum roll please) the "world's largest Coke float!"

And that was the quality level of that ride...

I remember there were 2 ways you could get on - so people were getting really ticked when they waited so long in line only to have the boats pass right by. Whichever stop you got on was the also the one it let you off, so like every other boat wouldn't stop at a particular landing. Oh the headaches...

They still use one of the boats today, to carry the characters around. It plays drumming music and the characters wave to the guests on the pathways. Nice to see nothing at Disney is ever wasted...


Oh and PS - I also have that complete set of McD's toys! I remember when they came out - I ended up just buying them because I couldn't stomach the food. I still have them all somewhere, but the dragon one I keep out just for the hopes of them ever building Beastly Kingdom...

 

[MJMcBride]

they were using the boats to float around Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto who were waving to people in Dinoland and near E:E. I had heard they were mulling over a character meal that floats around the waterways at DAK.

 

[Robfasto]

This one was taken in February 2007, anchored across from the Ferryboat dock on Seven Seas Lagoon.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I never got to ride this (not that I missed too much). We always took trips in February until I graduated from high school, and by February of 1999, when we first saw Animal Kingdom, it was already gone. It just wasn't really necessary. Yes, it's a huge park, but the areas where guests can walk are actually reasonably small. I definitely do much more walking trying to get around Epcot than Animal Kingdom. Try jogging from Spaceship Earth to the American Adventure to meet your party haha...did I mention this was August?

 

[Skipper Dan]

It was too much to type... so I copied this from Wikipedia.org

Conceptually, the park celebrates three types of animals — real, extinct (dinosaurs, etc.) and mythical (dragons, unicorns, etc.). The area for mythical animals was to be called Beastly Kingdom and was planned for the site currently occupied by Camp Minnie-Mickey. Concept art for this area showed attractions including a dragon-themed roller coaster and a unicorn-themed hedge maze. [1] Plans for this area were scrapped when the park's development budget was reduced. The Imagineers who had been working on it were laid off and quickly hired by the Universal Orlando Resort to create the Dueling Dragons coasters for its Islands of Adventure theme park [2]. Though Disney's Animal Kingdom opened without any attractions featuring mythical animals, the theme lives on in the park's logo (which contains a dragon) and its parking lot (which has a Unicorn section). Also, dragon sound effects and even an occasional fireball emanate from the trees near the footbridge leading to Camp Minnie-Mickey. The 2006 opening of Expedition Everest brought the mythical yeti to life in the park.

 

[Skipper Dan]

Here's another link... hope all this helps.

http://members.tripod.com/~SaitoNews/beastly.html

 

[epcotfan]

I can't believe Disney made a ride vehicle toy for this weak attraction:

It is a shame the Dragon isn't in public view. That was pretty neat.

I also kept the Dragon from the McDonald's Animal Kingdom toy set.

 

[PinMadness]

I never went on the boat ride as I didn't go to DAK until 2003.

But when I was there last month, I saw this while I was on the bridge in between EE and the Nemo Musical: