New Animal Kingdom Area

[DisBeamer]

As for the AK being too big... only 30% of the park is accessible to walkers. Nearly 1/2 of the park space is taken up by the Safari and Rafiki's planet watch. You do much more walking at Epcot.

Very true. I think I do more walking in the MK too, but Epcot definitely has more walking than AK. If you look at the overhead/bird's eye maps with the parks delineated, it really puts a crimp in Disney's pitch that the AK is the biggest. It is, but most park-goers won't see those big areas in back for the animals apart from when they're on the Safari ride..

My money's still on Australia for an addition. Though I'm hesitant to say I'd like them to put in another aquarium-like feature after what they've done to the Living Seas... especially centered around Australia (considering that's where Nemo et al are actually supposed to be from). If they could play it straight and make it about the Great Barrier Reef instead of cartoon characters on the Great Barrier Reef, then it could be really cool. And the terrain of Australia, I think, would be visually distinct enough to support an entire 'land'.

[GhostHost]

I have to say that AK is probably my least favorite park at WDW. Nothing personal and I think it's great really! I mean, saying it's my least favorite Disney park is kind of like saying it's my least favorite chocolate! I love them all but it just doesn't seem as magical to me as the other parks. I'm not even sure I would add anything at this point but rather refine what we have.

[DaRkNeSs]

I love them all but it just doesn't seem as magical to me as the other parks. I'm not even sure I would add anything at this point but rather refine what we have.

The magic (to me) of AK is how they combined natures beauty with a theme park and attractions. I love nature and think that AK is amazing. I am sure alot of WDW patrons are wondering how AK fits in with the three other parks. That is the main reason why Disney built AK to be something completely different from the other three parks- (in my mind) I would love to see Disney keep going and adding to AK. I feel they could do more with it. There is so much in our world with nature, that could be added!

[Captain Schnemo]

That is the main reason why Disney built AK to be something completely different from the other three parks...

Part of the problem is that Disney markets all its parks as the same thing. They are all about this generic "magic" thing, which doesn't have the same meaning it used to.

I don't know if that's what's causing them to throw cartoon characters into Epcot or if it's the other way around, but whatever the root cause, I think they're shooting themselves in the foot.

They could be marketing WDW as a place where you can get all these diverse experiences at one destination, instead of one giant protein spill of regurgitated Disney films with occasional chunks of other things in it.

The abandonment of theme and originality also lowers expectations and causes people to think "well, sure Stitch makes sense in Tomorrowland," and "well, they already have Africa in the AK, so who needs it in Epcot". There's a lot more to Africa than the savannah and lions, and they could easily have a cultural presentation as well as something about the wildlife.

I wonder if splitting the AK into continents was a good choice. On the one hand, I would love to see them split by Phylum or Subphylum ("Visit stunning Crustacea Gardens!"), but I realize there is some value in showing a habitat, where birds and mammals and such interact in the same space.

It also helps spread the message of how everything is interconnected, but there's something about creating the areas with distinct cultural styles that I don't like. It's not like tigers have anything to do with Asian architecture.

I wonder if that's more thought right there than went into the design of the park in the first place...

EDIT: Upon further reflection, it's as if Disney started the Beastly Kingdom without any of us noticing it due to the design of the park.

Expedition Everest features a mythical creature. The only reason EE superficially makes sense in the AK is the Asian setting, which has nothing to do with animals. (It also makes sense in the "blow chunks" concept of park marketing as being thematically similar to the Matterhorn, which is kind of a cool homage, but doesn't actually work in the given context.)

It is, after all the Animal Kingdom. Part of the reason I love the Tree so much is that it reminds people that ants and squid and such are all animals. "Animal" is not another word for "mammal".

I just wish Disney would do some thinking before they decided to blow millions of dollars on an attraction. Thinking is cool, and intelligence is attractive.

[momeja]

Okay, I picked Africa but I wonder if it will change on the next visit, now that Tusker House is no longer CS. Much of my love for Africa comes from hanging out at Tusker House eating lunch and watching the performers. Great times.

[Future Guy]

I just wish Disney would do some thinking before they decided to blow millions of dollars on an attraction. Thinking is cool, and intelligence is attractive.

That right there is exactly the kind of "thinking" that business school is designed to snuff out. I don't know the details of the training one must go through to get an MBA, but judging from the brain-dead decisions of corporate executives at companies like Disney and General Motors, I figure it must involve electric shocks.

[Captain Schnemo]

I guess when you get right down to it, almost all my complaints about what Disney has become fall into this category. It used to be that "Disney = Smart".

Not that the attractions were necessarily educational, or even "made you think", but if you did think about them, they got better, because it became more and more apparent that people put an awful lot of effort into designing them and thinking about them to produce the best possible experience. More so than any reasonable person would even notice on the first pass. That extra intangible layer of goodness that we sometimes equate with "magic" was just really, really thinking about how to do things right.

Even in the case of stuff like the Mansion, there was an extreme cleverness that made you think "Wow, how did they do that?".

Tricks of perspective, sensory deprivation, emotional manipulation, music, sound design, all these things create a better sense of "realism" than slapping something up on a screen. Just as CGI has made everyone blasé about special effects, I'm typically not impressed when I see something on a screen. (Spider-Man is an exception, since the screens are less the focus than just another element blended into the experience). CGI, instead of opening minds, has made both the artists and the audience lazy.

Anyway, the sad thing is that it really wouldn't take much to "fix" the parks. A couple of smart guys in positions of power, spending exactly the same amount of money, with exactly the same employees, could return to providing that excellent experience.

Oh well.

Sorry to wander off-topic.

More to the point, AK needs more squid.

[DaRkNeSs]

That extra intangible layer of goodness that we sometimes equate with "magic" was just really, really thinking about how to do things right.

I agree with you on that statement! I have also noticed the "change" is Disneys mind set on new attractions. I remember going to haunted mansion, Pirates, and believe it or not "small world" (eek) and thinking to myslef when the attractions were built, the amount of time and effort to cordinate such timeless master pieces was extrodinary! I would love to see some of that "Imagineering" back at Disney!!
More squid at AK hu? They would need to add an aquatic area for that!

[Admiral01]

I love the idea of the Great Barrier Reef, but before I want to see that I would love to see them fix what they did to the Living Seas. I know some really like the Nemo stuff in there now, but I think the Nemo refurb has completly destroyed the majesty and wonder that was The Living Seas. You don't even know you are in one of the countries biggest indoor aquariums until the end of the ride! WDW needs to get rid of Nemo at EPCOT and fix the Seas. Then they can discuss aquatic stuff for AK. Stop with the plasma screens built into scenery. Go back to what made these parks amazing in the first place. In my opinion any way...

[DaRkNeSs]

I know some really like the Nemo stuff in there now, but I think the Nemo refurb has completly destroyed the majesty and wonder that was The Living Seas. You don't even know you are in one of the countries biggest indoor aquariums until the end of the ride! WDW needs to get rid of Nemo at EPCOT and fix the Seas.

I know this is off topic but HERE HERE! I feel the same way!!
Brink back the true living seas Please!

[cinderella75]

AK and all the other parks are not alot of walking at all If you feel it is than your at the wrong park I think disney should add Australia something new and exciting get in different animals in that we would normally not see and or maybe something like Sea World that would bring in more families to AK which means disney at first would spend alot of money but at the end it will pay off over the years

[metsofny]

Dinoland USA. Dinosaur is the best.

[Clusty]

Asia, mostly because of Expedition Everest. But I really love all of Animal Kingdom except for Dinoland USA. It's just so out of place there.

[PureDisney]

I love both Africa and Asia, but I adore the Kilamanjaro Safaris. It's a long ride and well worth the wait.

[kcookiebaker]

OK, this is hard to admit, but I don't know the areas of AK by name...I just know what things are where, sort of. I do know that there is a wild bird show that is absolutely fantastic, and even tho we 've done it before, I love to sit and watch and learn, over and over again. Has anyone else seen this show...maybe they don't do it any more.