Disney's Animal Kingdom videos and info

Disney's Animal Kingdom is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than 500 acres (2 km²). It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely around animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney himself^[1]. Disney's Animal Kingdom is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, meaning they have met and exceeded the standards in Education, Conservation and Research. ^[2]

Shortly after the park opened, Disney advertised the park using the fictional word "nahtazu"^[3]. Pronounced "not a zoo," the word emphasized that the park was more than animal displays found in a typical city zoo. Disney stopped using the phrase in January of 2006.

In 2007, the park hosted approximately 9.49 million guests, ranking it the fifth-most visited amusement park in the United States and eight-most visited in the world.^[4]

Dedication

Themed areas

The park is made up of seven themed areas. However, the original plans called for another area called "Beastly Kingdom"^[5].

Oasis

Upon entering the park, guests must walk through this area to get into any of the other lands in the park. The Oasis consists of different paths leading to Discovery Island which walk guests past animal habitats such as muntjac, cavy, spoonbills, ducks, fish, turtles, wallabies, giant anteaters, babirusa, Hyacinth Macaws, and others. A Rainforest Cafe is also located at the entrance of the Oasis.

Discovery Island

The main land in the park (previously known as Safari Village), Discovery Island is the center island in the park and has paths to all six of the other lands. It is also the home of The Tree of Life. According to "The Imagineering Field Guide to the Animal Kingdom," each of the restaurants and shops is themed around a certain group of animals (i.e. nocturnal animals, animals with spots, etc.)

Camp Minnie-Mickey

This land is the home of one show and four character greeting spots where guests can meet characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and others.

Africa

Set in the fictional village of Harambe, the Africa section contains a number of animal adventures. According to "The Imagineering Field Guide to the Animal Kingdom," Harambe's backstory says that it was once part of a Dutch colony, but a peaceful revolution made Harambe self-governing in 1963.

Rafiki's Planet Watch

Accessible by train only, this area, hosted by Rafiki, contains small animals, a petting zoo with domesticated goats, and exhibits teaching about conservation efforts. The veterinary hospital's viewing window allows guests to watch medical procedures conducted by the veterinary staff.

Asia

Asia was the first expansion land added to Disney's Animal Kingdom, first opening in 1999. Like Africa, the section's attractions are part of a fictional village, Anandapur. According to "The Imagineering Field Guide to the Animal Kingdom," the official language of Anadapur is Sanskrit.

DinoLand U.S.A.

Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama - part of Dinoland U.S.A., this portion is an area made to look like a tacky 1950s roadside attraction built on an old parking lot.

Beastly Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom focuses on three broad classifications of animals: those that exist today; those that did exist, but are now extinct (i.e., dinosaurs); and, those that exist in legend and mythology.^[5] In the original design for the park, the animals of legend were to have their own section.

Beastly Kingdom (supposedly spelled in Old English as "Beastly Kingdomme") was to have featured mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters. The land would feature realms of both good and evil creatures. The evil side would be dominated by Dragon Tower, a ruined castle home to a greedy fire-breathing dragon who hordes a fabulous treasure in the tower chamber. The castle is also inhabited by bats who plan to rob the dragon of his riches. They enlist the guests' help in their scheme, and whisk them off on a thrilling roller coaster ride through the castle ruins. The climax of the ride is an encounter with the evil dragon himself, resulting in a nearly-barbecued train of guests.^{[citation needed]}

The good side of this land would be home to Quest of the Unicorn, an adventure which sends guests through a maze of medieval mythological creatures to seek the hidden grotto where the unicorn lives. Finally, the Fantasia Gardens attraction would be a musical boat ride through the animals from Disney's animated classic, Fantasia. The ride would feature both the crocodiles and hippos from " Dance of the Hours" and the Pegasus, fauns, and centaurs from Beethoven's "Pastoral."^{[citation needed]}

Due to budget constraints of the Walt Disney Company, Beastly Kingdom never came to fruition and Camp Minnie-Mickey was built as a temporary tenant of the Beastly Kingdom's land.

The change was supposedly rather sudden, as remnants of this planned area were visible when the park opened. One such remnant was a fire-breathing dragon in the Discovery River Boats attraction. Said dragon was visible from the Camp Minnie-Mickey bridge for several years, roaring loudly and spewing fire from a rocky cave. In addition, one of the McDonald's Animal Kingdom-themed Happy Meal toys was a winged purple dragon.

As Expedition Everest includes a yeti, an animal that may or may not exist, the park now features at least one attraction for each of the three categories the park was originally built to represent.

As to Beastly Kingdom's future, Joe Rohde said in 2000: "We had a vision and now it's become a place holder. We have all kinds of ideas and not all of them fit with the theme of Beastly Kingdom. I'm not even convinced there will be a Beastly Kingdom."^[6].

Restaurants and shops

Tusker House hosts "Donald's Safari Breakfast," a character-dining event where guests enjoy a breakfast buffet while meeting Donald Duck and other Disney characters.

As with other Walt Disney World theme parks, Disney's Animal Kingdom has other locations and carts that offer snacks and beverages.

Operations

Much concern was brought to the animals' well-being when the park originally opened^[7]. The park typically closes earlier than other parks in the Walt Disney World Resort. The animals are said to require a strict schedule to avoid stress, so even on nights when the park is open later, animals usually will be brought "off stage" an hour or two before the park officially closes for the day^{[citation needed]}. Another notable difference from other Disney parks is that Animal Kingdom does not have a fireworks show in consideration to the animals.

Controversy

Even in planning stages, various Florida based animal rights groups and PETA didn't like the idea of Disney creating a theme park where animals were held in captivity. The groups protested, and PETA tried to convince travel agents not to book trips to the park. ^[8] A few weeks before the park opened, a number of animals died due to accidents. The United States Department of Agriculture viewed most of the cases and found no violations of animal-welfare regulations. ^[9] On opening day, the Orange County Sheriff's office sent about 150 deputies in fear that there may be a large protest, but only two dozen protesters showed up. The protest lasted two hours, and there were no arrests. ^[10]

One year after the park opened, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida complained that a New Year's Eve fireworks show may upset the animals. A USDA inspector came to the park to find no problems with launching low noise fireworks a half a mile away. ^[11]

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