Where Animal Kingdom stands to improve is not with its theming, but rather in giving Guests more to do in the form of new attractions and experiences. This would actually go a long way in enhancing the theming of the park. One of the great benefits of Animal Kingdom, more so than any of the other parks at Disney World, is that it has ample room to expand. Animal Kingdom has long sought to establish itself as not being a zoo. My plan for the park calls for a variety of not only new attractions but also new lands that would help to solidify Animal Kingdom as a full-fledged theme park while at the same time ensuring that the park holds true to its core values and themes. As stated in Animal Kingdom’s dedication the park shall continue be a “kingdom of animals... real, ancient and imagined; a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs, and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.”
Africa
Africa is probably the most complete land at Animal Kingdom, featuring a variety of shops, restaurants, and the park’s marquee attraction: Kilimanjaro Safaris. Thus, my plans for this land are more to enhance what is already there rather than adding any major new components. With Kilimanjaro Safaris, I love the addition of zebras but I do not like how it came at the expense of Warden Wilson, Big and Little Red, and the poachers storyline. Nearly every Disney attraction is based on the premise of having a strong story and now I believe that Kilimanjaro Safaris is lacking this. Therefore, I would restore Warden Wilson and the Big Red/Little Red storyline along with an abbreviated poacher scene at the end. This just helps to give the attraction a more cohesive and feel with a beginning, middle, and end.
I am also not really a fan of how much the apparatuses for Wild Africa Trek encroach on the Safari and would therefore remove this experience and all the visual intrusions it causes.
In order to make room for expansion in another area of the park, I would relocate Festival of the Lion King from Camp Minnie-Mickey to Harambe in the location of the current train station to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. The entire train ride, as well as Rafiki’s Planet Watch, would also be removed to make room for further expansion of the park. Despite being one of the parks most popular attractions, the Festival of the Lion King has always seemed somewhat temporary. This is probably due to the fact that the show was really thrown together at the last minute and used old parade floats.
In Africa, the Festival of the Lion King show itself would remain largely unchanged but I would take this move to a new location to enhance certain elements of the show, to plus it, and give it a more permanent feel. Like at Hong Kong Disneyland I would make it so that the stage would rotate, rise, and lower, really adding to the drama and spectacle of the show:
Also, the show’s floats would have more movement to make them more a part of the experience:
Nearby I would create a new play area for children that would provide a nice shady area for the kids to play while Mom and Dad relax. This area would be themed after Tarzan’s Treehouse, similar to the attraction at Disneyland in California and Hong Kong.
Here kids would be able to climb, explore, and swing from vines in the tree. Nearby there would also be a recreation of Jane and Professor Porter’s camp where all the pots, pans, and various other objects would be musical instruments that kids could use to help recreate a scene reminiscent of “Trashin’ the Camp” from the movie:
There would also be a meet and greet area nearby where Tarzan, Jane, and Turk would make appearances throughout the course of the day.
Asia
When it comes to Asia, it too is already a well-developed land. However, my changes here would be a little more significant than in Africa. Most notably, Kali River Rapids would need to be removed because it blocks access to the largest expansion plot that Animal Kingdom has to grow. In addition, Kali River Rapids is a tremendously scaled down version of another attraction, known as Tiger River Rapids, which would have been much longer and incorporated live animals.
Although I am removing this attraction, this will enable me to create a new river rapids attraction in another area of the park. As far as Expedition Everest is concerned I would make sure that the Yeti is restored to its full range of motion.
The Maharaja Jungle Trek features a wide variety of Asian animals, but I would incorporate a second animal trail to highlight even more of the continent’s exotic wildlife. This new trail would feature animals such as Asian elephants, clouded leopards, orangutans, red pandas, sloth bears, and Indian rhinos.
This new walking trail would actually utilize parts of the existing Kali River Rapids queue, which is extremely well themed and very detailed. Here Guests make their way through several themed temples, passing by ancient, decaying statues, shrines, overgrown ruins and lush landscapes.
The main draw of this new trail, however, would be a massive giant panda exhibit. The giant panda is one of the world’s most beloved and recognizable animals and yet they can only be found at a handful of locations in the United States. Having giant pandas at Animal Kingdom would be a huge draw for the park.
While it may not seem like I am doing much in Africa and Asia, the changes I have made in these two areas help to lay the groundwork for a major park expansion. Asia and Africa are both already very solid lands in their current state; they feature a combination of shops, sit-down and counter service restaurants, animal trails, and a couple of the park’s headline attractions. It is in the new lands of the park that there will be the most growth, featuring major new attractions that will help to completely transform the Guest experience at Animal Kingdom.
Stay tuned for my next entry where some major changes are in store for an expanded Dinoland USA.
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