Disney's Animal Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the biological Kingdom Animalia, see Animal.
| Disney theme park | |
|
|
| Disney's Animal Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA |
| Opening Day | April 22, 1998 |
| Resort | Walt Disney World Resort |
| Theme | Animals, dinosaurs and exploration |
| Website | Disney's Animal Kingdom Homepage |
| Operator | The Walt Disney Company |
| Walt Disney World Resort |
|---|
| Theme parks |
|
Magic Kingdom |
| Other attractions |
|
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon |
| Walt Disney World resorts |
Disney's Animal Kingdom is a theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It opened on April 22, 1998. It's the largest Disney theme park in the world, covering more than 500 acres (2 km²). It's the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely around animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney himself.
Contents |
[edit] Dedication
Welcome to 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.
[edit] Attractions
The park is made up of seven themed lands.
[edit] 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 giant anteaters, boars, Hyacinth Macaws, and others. The Rainforest Cafe is also located at the entrance of the Oasis.
[edit] Discovery Island
The main land in the park, it is the home of the The Tree of Life. It is the center island in the park and has paths to all six of the other lands.
- It's Tough to be a Bug - At the roots of The Tree of Life, Flik from A Bug's Life shows a 3-D Film about bugs and their daily lives. It used to be known as Safari Village.
[edit] Camp Minnie-Mickey
This land is the home of two shows and four character greeting spots where Guests can see such characters as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and others.
- Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends - A children's show with live animals based on the film Pocahontas.
- Festival of the Lion King - A high-energy musical performance featuring songs and characters from the film The Lion King. (Can be compared to the Lion King stage musical).
[edit] Africa
- Kilimanjaro Safaris - Guests climb aboard an open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition seeing many African animals. Animals from Africa freely roam through acres of savanna, rivers and rocky hills. The guest can see giraffes, hippos, elephants, rhinos, lions and other animals while stopping ivory poachers.
- Pangani Forest Exploration Trail - The guest treks into the forest in search of gorillas. Along the way, the guest goes on a nature walk through a verdant African valley filled with Nile hippos, birds and fish and enters an exotic bird aviary, an underwater hippo viewing area, a savanna overlook, and has an intimate up-close encounter with a magnificent troop of gorillas.
[edit] Rafiki's Planet Watch
Formerly Conservation Station and still accessible by train only, this area 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.
- Wildlife Express Train - Guests ride the rails on this rustic African train that travels the savanna for a behind-the-scenes journey through several animal housing and care areas of the park. In just over five minutes, a guided train ride transports guests to the core of the park's conservation center.
- Habitat Habit! - Guests see endangered Cottontop Tamarin primates up close, trekking down an adventure trail and learning of novel ways to help animals.
- Affection Section - This attraction is an animal encounter with goats, sheep, pigs, chicken, llamas and more. Some of the park's friendlier animals make special guest appearances.
- Conservation Station - At trail's end, guests can visit the center of Disney efforts to promote wildlife conservation awareness. Inside are a variety of wild animal experiences, interactive games and shows.
[edit] Asia
- Flights of Wonder - Guests join a trainee bird handler and a wayward tour guide who teach each other about the delicate state of nature and see birds such as vultures, hawks, colorful macaws, crowned crane and the American Bald Eagle up close.
- Kali River Rapids - Guests raft down the turbulent waters of the Chakranadi River aboard a 12-passenger raft through an enchanting Asian rain forest. Guests ride past a blazing inferno, a rushing waterfall, and geysers. Guests will get wet on this ride.
- Maharajah Jungle Trek - Guests trek into the lush forests for an unparalleled adventure into the wilds of the mystical Anandapur Royal Forest of Southeast Asia and respective ancient ruins, having up-close encounters with Komodo dragons, tapirs and tigers.
- Expedition Everest - In this runaway-train roller coaster, Himalayan trekkers board refurbished steam trains on their way to the base camp of Mount Everest, using a shortcut that passes through the "forbidden mountain" guarded by the legendary yeti.
[edit] DinoLand U.S.A.
- The Boneyard - Guests slip, slide, slither and slosh through a play maze filled with fun fossils. "Exploration. Excavation. Exultation." is the motto of the Dino Institute and nowhere is this truer than here. Would-be paleontologists young and old play amidst a world of dinosaur discoveries like a Triceratops, T-Rex, and Wooly Mammoth.
- DINOSAUR (formerly Countdown to Extinction) - Guests whoosh back to primeval times for a wild ride of an expedition to complete a dangerous mission. Guests have mere minutes to rescue a stray dinosaur, and must beware the hungry clutches of one large meat-eating predator and the devastating power of an impending asteroid.
- Animals located in Dinoland include an American Crocodile, Abdim's Storks, and Asian brown tortoises.
- Finding Nemo - The Musical - The show debuted on November 12, 2006, the original stage show developed by Walt Disney Creative Entertainment tells the story of the Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo with new songs by Avenue Q composer Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and puppets designed by Michael Curry. The production combines dancers, acrobats, animated backdrops, and theatrical puppetry. Marlin, Dory and Nemo are depicted by actors holding large puppets while other characters are portrayed through a variety of puppetry styles. It currently performs four times daily and is recommended that guests arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the show.
- Dino-Sue - Disney's oldest "cast" member, clocking in at 67 million years, Dino-Sue is a painstaking reproduction of the largest, most complete T-Rex ever found. The length of a four-story building, the mighty T-Rex is available to pose for pictures with guests at the Dino institute.
- Cretaceous Trail - Cretaceous Trail is a walking tour amidst plant and animal survivors that have outlived the dinosaurs. Guests play with a Pachycephalosaurus, encounter living animal species that have survived since prehistoric times and discover fossil dig sites.
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.
- Primeval Whirl - Guests ride a spinning time-machine themed roller-coaster with sudden dips, hairpin turns and tight curves. Each colorful car spins independently.
- TriceraTop Spin - Guests ride a whirling, twirling, four-person flying dinosaur.
- Fossil Fun Games - Fossil Fun Games are dinosaur-themed carnival games.
Dino-Rama! has been criticized by Disney fans for containing only "off-the-shelf" attractions (whack-a-mole and other carnival games) similar to what other parks offer, and for charging guests money for each play.
[edit] Trivia
- The park contains only one table-service restaurant, a Rainforest Cafe located just outside the main entrance (also accessible from inside the park). An Asian-themed table-service restaurant (named Yak and Yeti) operated by Landry's Restaurants is scheduled to open in 2007.
- Disney's Animal Kingdom 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. Another notable difference from other Disney parks is that Animal Kingdom does not have a fireworks show in consideration of the animals.
- Conceptually, the park celebrates three types of animals — real, extinct (dinosaurs, etc.) and mythical (dragons, unicorns, etc.). The area for mythical animals was to be called Beastly Kingdom and was planned for the site currently occupied by Camp Minnie-Mickey. Concept art for this area showed attractions including a dragon-themed roller coaster,a boat ride set to the animated classic, Fantasia and a unicorn-themed hedge maze. [1] Plans for this area were scrapped when the park's development budget was reduced. The Imagineers who had been working on it were laid off and quickly hired by the Universal Orlando Resort to create the Dueling Dragons coasters for its Islands of Adventure theme park[citation needed] . Though Disney's Animal Kingdom opened without any attractions featuring mythical animals, the theme lives on in the park's logo (which contains a dragon) and its parking lot (which has a Unicorn section). Also, dragon sound effects and even an occasional fireball emanate from the trees near the footbridge leading to Camp Minnie-Mickey. The 2006 opening of Expedition Everest brought the mythical yeti to life in the park.
- Development costs for this park up to the time of its opening are estimated to have been US$800 million.
- After the park opened, Disney launched an advertising campaign using the fictional word "nahtazu" to describe Disney's Animal Kingdom. Pronounced "not a zoo," the word emphasized that the park was more than animal displays found in a typical city zoo. As of January 2006, Disney is no longer using the "nahtazu" phrase in park promotional material.
- Raymond, Disney's fully articulated Triceratops horridus, has a nameplate that misspells the name of the archaeologist who found, dug, and donated it. The nameplate reads "Dr. W.R. Gartska", when it should read "Garstka". [1]
[edit] See also
- List of current Disney's Animal Kingdom attractions
- List of past Disney's Animal Kingdom attractions
[edit] External links
- Walt Disney World Resort - Disney's Animal Kingdom web page
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
| Disney's Animal Kingdom Attractions | |
|---|---|
| The Oasis: | The Oasis Exhibits |
| Discovery Island: | The Tree of Life | It's Tough to be a Bug! |
| Camp Minnie-Mickey: | Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends | Fesitval of the Lion King |
| Africa: | Kilimanjaro Safaris | Pangini Forest Exploration Trails |
| Rafiki's Planet Watch: | Wildlife Express Train | Habitat Habit! | Affection Section | Conservation Station |
| Asia: | Flights of Wonder | Kali River Rapids | Maharajah Jungle Trek | Expedition Everest |
| DinoLand U.S.A.: | The Boneyard | DINOSAUR | Dino-Sue | Cretaceous Trail | Dino-Rama!: Primeval Whirl | TriceraTop Spin | Fossil Fun Games |
| Entertainment | Festival of the Lion King | Finding Nemo-The Musical | Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade |
| Roller coasters at Walt Disney World |
|---|
|
Barnstormer - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Expedition Everest - Primeval Whirl - Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - Space Mountain |
Zoo • Public aquarium • Aviary • Menagerie • Tourist attraction
List of zoos • List of aquaria • List of zoo associations
Animals in captivity • Environmental enrichment • Endangered species • Conservation biology • Biodiversity • Endangered species • Extinction • Ex-situ conservation • In-situ conservation • Wildlife conservation • Zoology
