News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[James Alucobond]

Honestly, I think the shortest distance between DAK today and a functional, thriving park would be a great new Dino-themed attraction where Primeval Whirl used to be, committed placemaking to turn Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama into something new that's worthwhile, new effects in Dinosaur to amp up the attraction that currently exists, and a new attraction (or two) for Pandora.

Personally I would think that *could* be managed for less than what a total Dinoland retheme would cost. It's not like the issue is that Dinosaurs aren't cool, it's just that Dinoland USA is lacking and always has been. Give the land the rebrand it deserves, punch up what works and ditch what doesn't. There's no need to throw out the Carnotaurus with the Carnival Games.

Then get a night show going that actually works and you're really onto something.

Certainly, though selfishly, I personally find this proposal far more visually compelling than Dinoland.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Certainly, though selfishly, I personally find this proposal far more visually compelling than Dinoland.

If they wanna build a "Tropical Americas" land elsewhere in Animal Kingdom, who are we to argue?

But what a difference it would make to build that fresh as genuine expansion rather than an overlay for an existing land whose potential was never fully realized.

 

[James Alucobond]

If they wanna build a "Tropical Americas" land elsewhere in Animal Kingdom, who are we to argue?

But what a difference it would make to build that fresh as genuine expansion rather than an overlay for an existing land whose potential was never fully realized.

I probably should have specified that I not only prefer the Tropics but also actively dislike the look of Dinorama, which is why I’m personally cool with the overlay. It and the Echo Lake area are the only two “lands” remaining that I just find unappealing. But that’s all opinion, of course.

 

[mattpeto]

I like what I heard overall from Destination D23 on the Dinoland pivot (Tropical Amercias: Indiana Jones/Encanto > Moana land and Zootopia land) but if we're all being honest with ourselves - any changes are so far off it's hard to take them seriously until the shovels are in the ground.

The art work looks good, thanks for sharing Josh. Can't wait to see an revision 3 next August.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Boy that's going to be so "expensive" and years more challenging to get the Casita world to accurately bloom in aray full of roses, chrysanthemums, vines, flor de mayo (may flowers), cacti, jacarandas, strangler figs, palma de cera (wax palm), sundew, and tabebuia, that's a commitment of itself to get done most of What Else Can She Do!!"* colorful surplexity is surplus more than seven years of ice palace crystalling!*

Tabebuia? Boo-yah!!

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[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

Tabebuia? Boo-yah!!

The Flowering Yellow and Pink Trees at Walt Disney World

What are those yellow flowering trees at Walt Disney World? Wondering what the pink flower trees are in Florida each Spring? Here is the answer to what those gorgeous trees are that only bloom for a few weeks each year in Orlando and central Florida!

kimandcarrie.com

Speaking of rides they should include in a South American land...

I still have my sketch of the Emperor's New Cruise...all they have to do is ask.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

So, it would be tight and a dead end with nothing on it, but it's conceivable... I wonder if the move would be to change the entrance of Maharajah Jungle Trek to the new path?

Also, could the queue to Expedition Everest be changed some to open up a pathway to the north over there?

 

[IMDREW]

You gotta understand, in the whole add instead of replace discussion, that adding also means more labor, more expensive to run the park. I think thats one of their main factors for replacing instead of adding to the parks. Why add a ride AND keep staffing a low interest ride when replacing said ride grows attendance without higher running costs.

Not that I agree with the approach.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

You gotta understand, in the whole add instead of replace discussion, that adding also means more labor, more expensive to run the park. I think thats one of their main factors for replacing instead of adding to the parks. Why add a ride AND keep staffing a low interest ride when replacing said ride grows attendance without higher running costs.

I disagree with you here, labor cost is pennies to Disney. It’s cheaper to retrofit/use existing infrastructure than build something brand new. It’s also because they are replacing experiences that need overhauls instead of giving maintenance money & building new attractions

 

[doctornick]

You gotta understand, in the whole add instead of replace discussion, that adding also means more labor, more expensive to run the park. I think thats one of their main factors for replacing instead of adding to the parks. Why add a ride AND keep staffing a low interest ride when replacing said ride grows attendance without higher running costs.

Not that I agree with the approach.

Surely true though it is sad when the same concept doesn’t happen in DLR (eg MMRR being a new build there).

I also honestly and cynically wonder if part of the idea is to intentionally not increase attraction capacity because doing so makes the park less miserable and decreases the need and presumably sales of Genie+

 

[ToTBellHop]

Tropical Americas is the first piece of "Blue Sky" art that was publicly released in HD downloads for press/media. All others were just images shown on-screen at the Expo. With that in mind, Tropical Americas sounds pretty much set in stone and not as Blue Sky as we think. The land actually makes sense for AK

I got this email from D23. They act as though it’s a done deal.

They just use terminology stating that the specific IPs described are being “considered”. I really can’t see them skipping on Indy, though. They have the ride system and need to update Dino anyway. Might as well spend a bit more and get a new headliner.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I got this email from D23. They act as though it’s a done deal.

They sent that out, but in the official Parks Blog post it says

“JUST IN: New experiences inspired by “Encanto” – the Academy Award winning Walt Disney Animation Studios film – and the fan-favorite adventurer Indiana Jones are being considered for the reimagined land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

Bruce says there’s a long way to go and a lot more to discover but Imagineering teams in Florida are up for the challenge.”

It’s like corporate gaslighting

 

[RSoxNo1]

Part of what I wonder is if we're staring down a $700 Million project to once again end up with a net gain of 0 new rides in that park.

EPCOT and Hollywood Studios both managed to spend a Billion dollars and not actually solve the issue of each park needing more rides.

If Animal Kingdom does move forward with this (and that's a sizeable "if"), it's unlikely to cost as much as Star Wars or Pandora but I'd guess would cost more than Toy Story Land. Can they really still be willing to spend that much money and not actually fix the problems the parks are having? Who's in charge here?

We can keep making that argument but right now we're at a negative number. This probably needs to happen before any true expansion.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Also, could the queue to Expedition Everest be changed some to open up a pathway to the north over there?

That wouldn't be necessary. There's room between Kali and Everest. It would be a very long loop, but if you want to complete the loop they could do it.

What's more likely is a dead end (or a connection from Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch) with any substantial show buildings existing on the East side of that large plot of land.

 

[RSoxNo1]

You gotta understand, in the whole add instead of replace discussion, that adding also means more labor, more expensive to run the park. I think thats one of their main factors for replacing instead of adding to the parks. Why add a ride AND keep staffing a low interest ride when replacing said ride grows attendance without higher running costs.

Not that I agree with the approach.

Every park has an attraction or 6 (looking at you EPCOT) that need an update. We want to see expansion, but it doesn't mean that replacements / upgrades aren't also necessary.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I got this email from D23. They act as though it’s a done deal.
View attachment 743111
They just use terminology stating that the specific IPs described are being “considered”. I really can’t see them skipping on Indy, though. They have the ride system and need to update Dino anyway. Might as well spend a bit more and get a new headliner.

Even if Disney didn't hedge their bets on this, at this point don't we have to assume that not all D23 expo announcements will happen?

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Even if Disney didn't hedge their bets on this, at this point don't we have to assume that not all D23 expo announcements will happen?

Yeah, I mean the Play! pavillion, Main Street Theatre & Mary Poppins expansion all suffered this fate

 

[ToTBellHop]

Even if Disney didn't hedge their bets on this, at this point don't we have to assume that not all D23 expo announcements will happen?

Of course. And the company should realize that is a problem. Don’t announce things you don’t build. Put the failed ideas in a coffee table book 15 years later so no one is upset. They are damaging their own reputation. Meanwhile, Universal builds a new theme park and has only confirmed one land.

 

[Jrb1979]

Of course. And the company should realize that is a problem. Don’t announce things you don’t build. Put the failed ideas in a coffee table book 15 years later so no one is upset. They are damaging their own reputation. Meanwhile, Universal builds a new theme park and has only confirmed one land.

That's the best way to do it. Regional parks do it that way too. It makes no sense to announce something thats years away from being built knowing that it won't end up as announced.

Don't announce anything til shovels are in the ground.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Don't announce anything til shovels are in the ground.

Better yet, don't announce anything until everything is greenlight.