A Reverse History - Part 4

The next four posts in this series are a reverse history of the theme parks of Walt Disney World, as I understand them.  This is not, by any means, an official history - just a layman's history based on my own personal experiences, what I concluded from historical documents, and the knowledge I have of these histories.

First, we will begin with the newest of Walt Disney World's four theme parks - Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Disney's Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, and is the largest of the four theme parks by land area.  It was apparently a dream of Walt's to open a "Disney Zoo" based loosely on the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.  He succeeded first in doing this by opening Discovery Island off of Bay Lake behind the Contemporary Resort when the resort opened in 1971.  When the Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, Discovery Island closed soon after.

When the park opened on April 22, 1998, there were only 4 major "lands" with one still a work in progress, even today.  The Oasis serves as the entrance to Safari Village, which in turn leads off to the other lands.

Dinoland U.S.A. and Africa were supposed to be the only permanent lands as of when the park opened.  Africa is home to the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction, which is possibly the most popular attraction at the park.  Dinoland U.S.A. houses the Dinosaur attraction, based loosely on the movie, and featuring a few of the same characters.

Camp Minnie-Mickey, on the left of the map, was supposed to be a temporary fixture until the completion of the Asia phase.  Camp Minnie-Mickey is home to the Festival of the Lion King live stage production, which is the most popular live entertainment at the park, as well as the primary character greeting site.

As you can see from this map, the Asia phase was still in its early stage, featuring only the Flights of Wonder bird show.  Also, the Wildlife Express Train out of Africa lead to the Conservation Station.

You can see the difference that just 4 years makes!  The above map is from 2002, and includes a lot of additions to the Animal Kingdom.  The artwork had to be changed to rotate the entrance to the center instead of the corner.  It seems that the biggest reason for this was the addition of the Kali River Rapids attraction in Asia.

You can also see the tent for the Tarzan Rocks! show on the far right.  This was personally one of my favorite shows, right there with Festival of the Lion King.

This map also includes a depiction of Conservation Station within its relation to the rest of the park.  While not entirely accurate, it does Conservation Station a little more justice than being an inset on the map.

This 2006 edition of the Animal Kingdom map from the Walt Disney World Guidebook shows the latest edition to the Animal Kingdom - Expedition Everest, which opened in the spring of 2006, nearly 8 years after the park itself opened.  The addition of Expedition Everest closed the loop between Dinoland, U.S.A. and the Asia.  

Interesting to note is that while the building and attraction itself remained Conservation Station, the section of the park was renamed Rafiki's Planet Watch, to give it a little more character appeal.  Also, the theater where Tarzan Rocks was performed was temporarily closed, in order to plan for a new production...

The 2008 edition of the Animal Kingdom map reveals what replaced Tarzan Rocks in the Theater of the Wild - Finding Nemo, the Musical!  This musical was developed, in part, by Julie Taymor, who directed and conceptualized The Lion King of Broadway.

Not much has changed over the last five years within the Animal Kingdom, as evident in the 2013 edition of the map.  There are some changes in store, however, coming in the next few years.

Disney has signed a deal with James Cameron to produce an 'Avatar'-themed land.  There is some speculation as to where this land will be placed in the park, but it is conceivable that it might replace Camp Minnie-Mickey, since it was supposed to be a temporary fixture in the first place.

Camp Minnie-Mickey was supposed to be a land called "Beastly Kingdom" and feature mythical creatures that have never actually existed.  It was originally put on hold due to budget constraints, and it seems it has fallen by the way-side.  There are still remnants of this originally planned land in the main logo (at the top of this post), with the Dragon.

All I do know is that if they replace Camp Minnie-Mickey with Pandora, they will have to find somewhere to relocate the Festival of the Lion King - it's one of the most highly attended shows at the Florida project.

Disney's Animal Kingdom has only been around for 15 years, but within that time, there have been many changes for the better.  There have been some attractions that have been removed, such as the Discovery Island riverboats and Tarzan Rocks, and plenty more added in their place.  The last time I was there, they hadn't taken out the boat docks, even though the boats haven't run in 10 years or so.

If you're planning to go to the Animal Kingdom, see if you can spot some lost relics of the past!  Post comments below if you find any!  AND make sure to stay tuned for the next installment of this series!