The central hub of Animal Kingdom, home of the park's main icon the magnificent tree of life. Its a very interesting combination and between clashing elements of peace and calm found in the discovery island trails and the almost overpowering excitement, and general overall busyness you would expect from the hub of a theme park found in the "bazaar" section of the land. although again this is another fairly compact area, I believe this time there are a few changes that can be made.
First off, i love the discovery trails and its tough to be a bug, they remain as is. Mickey's Jamin' Jungle parade will remain as well, but the route will have to change slightly, (thats for another day:zipit
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The first addition would be to add a small circle vision 3d theater roughly the size of Oh Canada! at Epcot, that would showcase a planet earth style movie about the lives animal lead in the wild. preferably the show would follow one of two formats. It could be long, say 3-4 hours on a loop where people could come and go as they pleased or a short 15-20 minute long show that focused on one animal or ecosystem with a rapid turnover of different shows either throughout the day or periodically, every week or so. the location would be behind island mercantile on the way into camp Minnie Mickey (hopefully engulfing the DVC area in the process:sohappy
. i believe it adds a nice way to get out of the sun and enjoy nature while preparing for the next adventure in your day for those that need a break. This is one of the main thing AK is desperately missing rite now, a place with some air conditioning people can escape the heat. it would have a simple indoors, black curtained wall theater with the screens all around the circular room and leaning rails for people to relax on. the outside would fit the theme of the bazaar, bright colors, metal roof, and a nicely themed sign saying The Planet Earth Theater. It would also include a small waiting area, in the case capacity is full, that would be decorated like a theater lobby. There would be posters of animals along the walls that are featured in the movie(s), not corny movie adds but actual animal pictures, lit warmly but not bright enough that the audience watching the movie can sense people coming and going. the exit would be a small path that would lead back into island mercantile, which now has a small section near the exit for planet earth souvenirs, the dvd's, stuffed animals, etc.
My next change would be to add a full service element to the flame tree bbq. this could be accomplished by adding some more delicious bbq dishes and upping the scale of the dining experience a little through creating an addition that goes straight down to the water on discovery river with outdoor dining. this new area would be two levels (a large lower area, and a smaller upper floor and balcony for the experience soon to be mentioned) and would encompass almost all the waterfront from the dinoland usa bridge to about a third of the way up the right side of discovery island. a quick service window would remain open as well offering ribs, similar to the set up of the rose and crown at UK epcot.
third, the radio disney riverboats make a comeback, but in a much different role. they are now passenger ships that take guests to three other docks (including the home base) in the park, Asia, Africa, and Dinoland. The Asian dock would be in the area in front of Expedition Everest and the African dock would be across from the Dawa bar, while the Dinoland dock would be near the current location of the in the wild theater. also the radio disney......not happening anymore, now there will be location specific narration to each port and the adventures you can experience when you get there. each dock is specificly themed to the area it is in and they will be known as the Discovery Island world tour boats.
Finally the big finish. theres always been a night show in every park, MK gets Wishes, Epcot Iluminations, DHS Fantasmic, and now new to DAK The Circle of Life. A new night show that could be viewed from either dinoland usa, or discovery island (to support the crowds) its a mix of world of color, illuminations (- fireworks), the electric light boats (that happen at night near the MK hotels) and a variety of other techniques. a new draw bridge would be built between dinoland usa and asia to cut off access to the animals from that point and to allow the larger boats and freights to come through and prepare the show (i looked on google earth and this is currently where they are storing boats right behind the nemo theater so it works out perfectly). the animals from oasis and discovery island trails would all be brought in a little bit early on the 3 nights a week they do the show as to not be annoyed by the noise from people and the show itself, it would only broadcast from speakers in the oasis, discovery island and dino land areas again with the animals best interest in mind. the show would consist of water jets firing huge blasts in the air, projections of famous disney animal movies on mist screens and animals in the wild starting and finishing with the beautiful music from the lion kings circle of life with other Disney classic music and high tempo pieces in between. It could be included with a dining package as well at flame tree bbq, and characters will be around to watch the show with guests as well. a wonderful end to the day in my opinion and the answer to all our problems for a night show at AK. unfortunately the two biggest attractions everest and kilimanjaro will close down prior to this but they will remain open for that crucial 30 mins to an hour longer then they normally would be allowing for that last minute ride. staff would then usher people away from those areas of the park with animals, cutting off access to them via security fences and personnel. All areas except for Dinoland, camp Minnie Mickey, discovery island and the Oasis would be closed to public for the duration of the day. The park would then close approx 30 mins after the show still giving it a reasonably early closing time but not as early as before, essentially an hour to an hour and a half after sunset.
Recap
Attractions:
Its tough to be a bug
Discovery island trails
Planet Earth theater
Discovery Island World Tours
Circle of Life: Nighttime Spectacular!
Dining:
Flame tree BBQ
Fire pit ribs (new quick service)
Pizzafari
Safari coffee
Safari kiosk
Shopping:
Beastly Bazaar
Island Mercantile
Disney Outfitters / (side note half of the outfitters location becomes the walking stick bugporium, a small its tough to be a bug gift shop hosted by an AA walking stick near the entrance that has pre recorded phrases by the original actor, david hyde pearce)
Creature Comfort
thats all for now next up Dinoland USA!
