Animal Kingdom's Unrealized Jungle River Cruise

Disney's Animal Kingdom has the potential to become my favorite park at Walt Disney World.  I am often blown away by its lush beauty, serene environment and thrilling attractions- especially when they are in full operating order. Deep down inside, I think a park of this magnitude and high maintenance requirements will never be built again.

The history of the park fascinates me, and long time readers of this blog know I've written an extensive multi-part history of its fascinating development and haphazard growth. (Six parts beginning here.) The comprehensive look- filled with concept art and more- would made Joe Rohde proud. At least I think I did he and his team justice.

The list of unbuilt attractions is almost unrivaled in Disney fan circles given the relatively short length of time the park has been open. It really is unfortunate as some of the Imagineers' most intriguing projects have never seen the light of day. 

Prior to it's debut, work was on the drawing boards for a real life Jungle Cruise through the Asia section of the park. A piece for that attraction is seen at the top of the post. It is one thing to go to the Magic Kingdom and see tons of Audio-Animatronic creatures, and its another altogether to take a cruise past very real and very unpredictable animals. Truly wild. 

The challenges of a theme park with a zoo built in continue to create more challenges for the Imagineers- including finding its own audience for the place. Sometimes that hurdle results in less than instantly fitting choices. 

Of course, the fan community already knows James Cameron's Pandora is coming to they park. Will the rumored boar ride fall into the "never built" category?

Regardless of the attraction choices, will the World of Avatar, a trip into Pandora, thrill me and keep the love coming? I have to admit that even though I was not a fan of the idea initially, the latest concept art and video is pretty interesting...

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Heads Are Gonna Roll

By most any measure, at the opening of Disneyland, the crowing achievement on the attraction list was the Jungle River Cruise, the centerpiece of the new park's lushly beautiful Adventureland. Walt Disney was justifiably proud of his Imagineers for this thrill ride through the exotic and dangerous. This beautiful piece of concept art depicts headhunter country. Guests instantly queued for the attraction and have never stopped. It's a long time favorite with corny jokes from skippers with just the right playful, irreverent attitude.

The significance of the attraction goes beyond opening day and its continued popularity. I would venture this attraction and its impact had the most to do with Michael Eisner giving the ok to build Disney's Animal Kingdom. Sure, Michael's competitive nature was also driven by Busch Gardens' success down in Tampa, but I believe it was also the public's love of the attraction- and Joe Rohde's clever tiger in the boardroom stunt- that tipped the scales in favor of a brand new wild animal kingdom.

Today, the newer Jungle Cruise inspired park is not the success the suits hoped it would be. Long story short, the team working with James Cameron on the Pandora / Avatarland project had better make it a huge success- or more heads are gonna roll.

(Art copyright the Walt Disney Company.)

Avatarland Entrance at Night!

Are you starting to get excited about Avatarland coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom? I am. Perhaps Disney Imagineering and James Cameron's Lightstorm are going to hit a home run together. Just for fun, here's a nighttime view of the entrance right from the Disney Parks blog. Click on the image for a very large size. If this project turns out half as good as the concept art, 2017 cannot come soon enough.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Pandora / Avatar Art Appears for Disney's Animal Kingdom

Finally happened- Disney released some real and substantional concept art about Avatarland / Pandora for Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World- and a pretty nice model, too.

They also threw in some news about new nighttime safaris in Kilimanjaro and an evening light show. Good move! Nice to see Joe Rohde involved in something on the mainland again.

With the new Imagineering emphasis (or should I say accounting emphasis) on making this park work, I'll finally have another article to write for my series about the evolution of this park. For newer readers, Part One of this popular series begins here- with links to all six parts!

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Avatar Creature Makes Public Appearance

Maybe the proposed Avatar themed land at Walt Disney World's stagnant Animal Kingdom is getting some work accomplished after all!  According to this report, Disney tested a creature that Imagineering designed. Doesn't look like a ride vehicle, but it does look like a large Audio-Animatronic, perhaps for a nighttime show. Should be thrilling to watch what comes together as they keep working on Pandora!

Thanks to WDW Magic for breaking the story even wider...

(Photo from the Bakersfield Californian.)

Opening a Pandora's Box

Tuesday's announcement of the Avatar project between Disney and James Cameron rightfully set the internet message boards ablaze, opening a Pandora's Box of sorts.

Why would the Walt Disney Company set the Imagineers hard at work on projects promoting someone else's property? Has Imagineering and the company at large lost their creative touch? Why place it in Animal Kingdom? Does it really fit the earth-centric focus of the park? What attractions are planned? Where will they go? Is this the end of Beastly Kingdom? Is this Disney's answer to Universal's Forbidden Journey with Harry Potter? What does Joe Rohde think about his baby being invaded by blue faced aliens? All great questions. Now for some speculation without a drop of official information.

Six years to fruition is an awfully long time to wait, but you can rest easy that the official Disney blog will soon be leaking information, concept art, etc. However, just a cursory glance at some stills from the movie give us fans more visuals than any official concept art ever could. Regardless of the over the top story line and the very preachy one world, New Age, self-realization, ego centric attitude, Avatar is a gorgeous looking film!What viewer was not held captivated by the images on the screen? I sure was- and if Disney can pull this off, more power to them. And all the better for theme park goers who can look past the "educational" aspects. (Entertainment aside, this is what Animal Kingdom is truly about.)

Regardless of what we think should be or not be done with Avatar, this move by the company is exactly what Disney Imagineers should have been doing years ago. Beginning with the Star Wars and Indiana Jones properties from the beginning, the Walt Disney Company should have been ahead of the edge a full decade or more before Harry appeared at Islands of Adventure, creating incredible and immersive worlds based on these properties. Fully realized lands within lands. All in theme. To be fair, this holistic approach was once on the Disney slate but almost as quickly aborted. Remember the planned Myst makeover for Treasure Island / Discovery Island? Remember Tony Baxter's prediction of the 45 minute attraction of the future? Here, in Avatarland, all will join together. However we see it, the truth is Harry did set the pace and is the new standard.

The creative genuises at Imagineering have accomplished this task before, but not at the theme parks. It was at the water parks and to great impact. Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are quite beloved and successful both commercially and artistically, pleasing tourists and suits alike. This encompassing style is what they are trying to do on a smaller scale with the Fantasyland Forest at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. (In fact, I happen to believe that when that project is completed, Florida's once concrete home to the princess community will be the new fan favorite of all the Fantasyland styles.)

What do I think they should create for Avatarland? Well, that's a topic for a different post- coming soon.

Avatar at Animal Kingdom!

Just four words: Never saw that coming!

The Princess and the Avatar

Don't be fooled by the marketing: James Cameron's "Avatar" is the true fairy tale here. Princess Tiana may be kissing frogs to help make dreams eventually come true- but she does it knowing hard work, faith, and integrity must match a good strong mind to get the job done. That is the real truth.

Avatar pushes a strong and disturbing political agenda behind those beautiful images on the screen. Its fantasy world is beautiful to see, but it is just that: an extreme fantasy with nary a shred of truth behind it. Additionally, the movie's animist worldview diminishes the uniqueness of man versus God's creation, making the movie a total waste of time and money.
(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)