Australia to Animal Kingdom?

[Sonny Eclipse]

I read this article this morning and am very excited at this possibility

G’Day Mate! Australia coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom | The Disney Blog

I have always felt that Animal Kingdom has been neglected and am really hoping there is some truth to this.

[20K]

I'm with you on this one. Animal Kingdom needs something tangible outwith the equatorial and the prehistorical, and provided that this concept (other than actually having some truth behind it) is exploited to its maximum potential, adding an Australian slant to the park could be nothing short of incredible.

I just hope that, if this does pan out, Disney makes the brave leap to shun laziness and do Australia justice rather than falling back on cliches and an American perception of the nation. And if it is predominantly centred around the Reef, even better!

One potential I can see here straight away though - Great Barrier Reef + Disney = Almost certainly an additional Finding Nemo tie-in. Hopefully they will keep it down to a minimum; perhaps re-locate the musical there and nothing else, for danger of not only wasting the opportunity of the source material but also repeating what has already been installed at the Living Seas.

[ohiodisneydad]

Great idea 20K. Maybe that would be a great place to bring in a Nemo themed ride similar to the one in DL? Maybe a return of the ride you took your name after?

[20K]

Haha, it's funny you should mention that actually.

The addition of an Australia section of the park would sadly quash my long-held dream of seeing the Tokyo DisneySEA version of 20,000 Leagues brought to Florida so that Captain Nemo could once again have a WDW presence. As the article points out, the Aussie idea would mean that the lack of an ocean wildlife influence in the park would finally be corrected, which was the basis of my logic behind bringing the ride across.

As for bringing back Claude Coats, Marc Davis and George McGinnis' "20,000 Leagues" concept?

As much as I would love to see it again (it's been 16 years now since I last set foot in a Disney sub), there isn't a chance that it would happen. It was easy enough to tie Finding Nemo into the rather bland Submarine Voyage, but it would be too much of a contrast to do it with the 20K theme. It was just a coincidence that the Submarine Voyage now operates the Finding Nemo "projection on water" storyline. Unlike us, they still had the attraction infrastructure to play with and, unlike us, there was a will amongst management and Imagineering to bring the Californian subs back. I would bet everything I have that no company will ever attempt to build attractions like the 1959 and 1971 submarine rides again, let alone Disney. The will and the drive to build rides on such an elaborate scale has long since flown the nest.

[garryz]

Yep I heard the same thing. It makes sense AK needs something else to keep the guests in the park

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

DAK could certainly use another land and Australia would be a great fit with its varied wildlife.

[JNota0005DakMC]

that would be an awesome fit into AK... what would be sacrificed... Camp Minnie Mickey...? that was where Beastly Kingdom was supposed to be... or would they expand the park further...?

[20K]

what would be sacrificed... Camp Minnie Mickey...?

If push came to shove, would it be greatly missed?

[JNota0005DakMC]

not at all... im just sayin... isnt minnie-mickey like toontown fair...? never made to be permanent... just there...

[MJMcb]

not at all... im just sayin... isnt minnie-mickey like toontown fair...? never made to be permanent... just there...

it was intially a filler. A temporary land once Asia was done, the plan was to demolish Camp Minnie Mickey and that area was to be the Beastlie Kingdomme

but, alas, they withdrew the budget for that

[Veritas]

It would be a great addition. No doubt bean counters and suits will stomp the idea out of e3xistence until revenue starts increasing