Treasure Island/Discovery Island

[deltaandthebannermen]

I've been watching the Disney films 'in order' and recently watched Treasure Island for the first time ever (link to my blog review below). Researching the film later I found that there used to be a park themed, vaguely, after Treasure Island which was a zoological garden. It got renamed Discovery Island and then closed down after Animal Kingdom opened. I'd never heard of it before, so does anyone have any memories of visiting it? What was it like?

 

[marni1971]

It’s well known. It was an original island on Bay Lake from before WDW was built. It’s still visible today although long abandoned. Idiots have gotten onto it and stuck the results on the interweb although the abandoned facilities are in such a mess it’s a foolhardy endeavour.

 

[NickWilde]

Never been there, but there's tons of videoes online detailing the park, including some footage of people visiting the abandoned park (which I think is a stupid move)

 

[networkpro]

Decaying facilities and loads of bird guano that's the attraction. It was a close by diversion, not a full day adventure.

 

[zurgandfriend]

We visited it in the 1990's it was basically a nature trails with animals. We spent about 90 minutes and then left. It is now, I believe a bird sanctuary, and I agree people visiting it now is stupid you know there has to be gators there.

 

[Minnie Mum]

I remember going there with my DH, and then with our kids in the 80s and 90s. As seen in the videos above, it was a zoological park, on a small scale, with trails that you strolled along. It was a great place to get away from the craziness of the parks. Loved how quiet it was except for the birds singing.

 

[RememberWhen]

I remember going as a kid. We typically stayed at Fort Wilderness, and were there for 2 weeks, so we had lots of time to explore. They had some kind of program as I’m pretty sure I got dropped off. I was probably 8-10? We learned about different animals and held/touched (I can’t quite remember) a cockatoo and a small alligator. There are pictures at my mother’s house. I’ll have to hunt them down next time I visit.

 

[Worldlover71]

We visited in 1990. It was a nice change of pace. There were a few guides with small animals along the paths like there are now at AK. I am pretty sure there was also a snack bar but it was a long time ago!

 

[NelleBelle]

We went for our first and only time in the late 90s. I remember it being as others ha.mve described as a nice diversion for an hour or two. I remember it was shady and seeing birds and other little critters. One of my favorite pictures of my parents was taken on the boat dock waiting for the boat to take us back over to the Contemporary. Just wish I had done River Country before it closed down (not sure why we never did that when we were there the years it was open).

 

[LUVofDIS]

I was there in 1994, we got caught in a thunder storm. We were drenched. Still have a short video of it. I thought it was cool. Also did River Country that year. That was a lot of fun jumping off the cliff and hanging off a zip line and dropping into the pool. Good memories, good memories.

 

[GVentola]

I was there several times, along with my Mom. Some kind of small animal, I think it was called a capybara, had free roam of the park. There was this free flight aviary with scarlet ibis flying all around. It makes me kinda sad when I see the scarlet ibis at Animal Kingdom who don't get to fly all around. They had a cast member doing a nature talk. To anyone determined to go to the abandoned ruins of Discovery Island today, I have this advice: "Watch out for snakes!"