Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney began planning a new park shortly after the opening of MGM Studios in 1989.[8] Animal Kingdom was the brainchild of Imagineer Joe Rohde, who had previously designed the Adventurers Club at Pleasure Island.[9] When presenting the idea of the new animal-themed park, Rohde brought a 400-pound Bengal tiger into the meeting with Disney CEO Michael Eisner.[10] Originally slated as Disney's "Wild Animal Kingdom," Disney announced plans for the construction of the park in 1995 at an estimated cost of $600-$800 million. To design the theme park, Disney Imagineers traveled to Africa and Asia to study the landscapes and wildlife.

By July 1996, construction was underway on the animal holding facilities as well as the installation of trees, shrubs, and grasses to shape the park's African Savanna-inspired landscape.[11] Disney Imagineers collected seeds from 37 countries to be used for the plants and grasses in the park.[12] The landscaping efforts included spreading four million cubic yards of dirt, planting 40,000 mature trees (a mix of real Savanna species and artificial Baobab trees[13]), constructing 60 miles of underground utilities, waterways, and structures built by over 2,600 construction workers.[10] Many buildings contained thatched roofs assembled by Zulu workers from South Africa.[13] About 1,500 hand-painted wooden horses were crafted in Bali under Disney supervision.[10] Parts of the park were designed to look "aged", with artificial potholes in the safari roads and boats peppered with dents and rust.[10]

Most of the park's animals were acquired by fall 1997; they were held at a rented holding facility in North Florida for quarantine and observation.[11] Disney hired staff from 69 zoos around the United States to care for the animals.[8]

The park opened to the public on April 22, 1998. Several marketing events surrounded the day. ABC aired a two-hour prime time special about the making of Animal Kingdom, as part of its The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series.[10] Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner and Vice Chairman Roy Disney hosted an opening day party for 14,000 corporate partners, travel agents, and media figures, which included celebrities such as Michael J. Fox, Drew Carey, Stevie Wonder, David Copperfield, and Jane Goodall.[14] Broadcasts of Good Morning America, Today and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee aired live from the park on April 22.[14] ABC also filmed an episode Sabrina the Teenage Witch at Animal Kingdom before the opening of the park; the episode, named "Disneyworld", aired two days after the park's opening.[15]

In 2011, Disney announced a major expansion to the park, Pandora - The World of Avatar, a joint venture with director James Cameron and his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, with the intention of transforming Animal Kingdom into a full-day operation with added attraction capacity and nighttime experiences.[16] Construction on the area began on January 10, 2014,[17] and the land opened to the public on May 27, 2017.[18]

The park was closed from March 16 to July 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.[19][20]

The Oasis is the park's logistic equivalent to Main Street U.S.A. and provides the transition from the park's entrance to the world of animals. The main paths feature animal exhibits and dense vegetation and trees lead deeper into the park and then onto Discovery Island.

Between the parking lot and the Oasis sits a Rainforest Cafe, which can be entered from both inside and outside the ticketed area.[21]

Scarlet macaws at Discovery Island

Discovery Island is located at the center of the park, and is an island within the park's Discovery River waterway. It serves as the "central hub" connecting the other sections of the park by bridges, with the exception of Rafiki's Planet Watch. It was originally called Safari Village, as Discovery Island was the name for the small zoological park located in Walt Disney World's Bay Lake, but renamed after that area closed in 1999.

The Tree of Life, the park's sculpted, man-made baobab tree, is located in this section and is surrounded by trails and animal enclosures. Inside the Tree of Life is It's Tough to Be a Bug!, a 3D film inspired by the 1998 Disney·Pixar animated film, A Bug's Life.

The park's largest gift shops and two of its major restaurants are on Discovery Island.[22]

Pandora – The World of Avatar is themed to the fictional alien exoplanetary moon, Pandora, from James Cameron's Avatar. The land's marquee attraction is Avatar Flight of Passage, a 3D flying simulator that allows guests to fly on a banshee across the Pandoran landscape.[23] Another attraction, the Na'vi River Journey, places guests aboard a boat ride through Pandora's bioluminescent rainforests.[24][25] The area opened on May 27, 2017.[26][27]

An actress performing in the Festival of the Lion King

Africa is one of the original areas of the park. Set in the fictional east African port village of Harambe, this area contains several animal exhibits.[22] Some snippets from Africa that were duplicated by the Disney Imagineers are a fortress that was found in Zanzibar and a water-stained crumbling old building that was found in Kenya. Harambe includes a "hotel," restaurants, an outdoor bar that has live entertainment, and different marketplaces.

Sign for the fictional African port of Harambe in Disney World

The village is the namesake of the Harambe Wildlife Preserve, the fictional home of Africa's main attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris. Guests climb aboard an open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition to see African species in savanna, rivers and rocky hills. The safari features spotted hyenas, wild dogs, watusi cattle, rhinos, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, elephants, leopards, zebras, wildebeest, crocodiles, several species of antelopes, ostriches, flamingos, and other birds.

On the adjacent Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, visitors trek into the forest where animals such as black-and-white colobus monkeys, gerenuks, gorillas, hippos, Kenyan sand boas, kori bustards, Grévy's zebras, meerkats, chimpanzees, naked mole-rats, okapis, tarantulas, and yellow-backed duikers, as well as an aviary, are located.[28]

On the western side of Africa is the Harambe Theater, which is home to the Festival of the Lion King, a stage attraction based on Disney's 1994 film, The Lion King.

Rafiki's Planet Watch is the only section of the park not connected to Discovery Island; it connects only to Africa. Guests board the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Wildlife Express Train for the short trip to and from the area, which consists of three sub-areas.

Guests first encounter Habitat Habit!, where they can see cotton-top tamarins and learn about the efforts to protect these endangered primates in their natural homes. Along the way, guests can also learn how to provide animal habitats in and around their own homes.

Conservation Station showcases the various conservation efforts supported by the Walt Disney Company. It also gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Disney's Animal Kingdom's animal care facilities, including a veterinary examination room complete with a two-way communications system so the veterinary staff can answer guest questions.

Outside, Affection Section is a petting zoo featuring goats, sheep, and other domesticated animals.

The area temporarily closed on October 21, 2018,[29] and later reopened in July 2019, featuring The Animation Experience at Conservation Station.[30][31]

Entrance sign

Komodo dragon in Asia

Asia, the first expansion area added to Disney's Animal Kingdom, first opened in 1999. This area is set in the fictional kingdom of Anandapur (which means "Place of many delights" in Sanskrit). Anandapur evokes the traits of Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, and Thailand. According to Disney history, Anandapur was established as a royal hunting preserve in 1544. Anandapur contains both the riverside village of Anandapur, and Serka Zong, which is set in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Portraits of Anandapur's royal family (consisting of the maharaja and his wife) can be found in most of the businesses within the two villages, a map of the kingdom featuring both villages and their location relative to the mountains and river can be found on the wall of the Disney Vacation Club kiosk located there. Much like Harambe, Anandapur is now a center of animal research and tourism.

The visual focal point of Asia is Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, a steel roller coaster ride through the Forbidden Mountain of the Himalayas where passengers encounter a Yeti. Nearby is Kali River Rapids, a river rapids ride along the Chakranadi River through a rainforest, past an illegal logging operation and down a waterfall. The Maharajah Jungle Trek leads guests through the forests and ruins outside the village, which are home to species such as bantengs, bar-headed geese, Sumatran tigers, blackbucks, orangutans, Eld's deer, gibbons, Large flying foxes, Komodo dragons and over 50 bird species. UP! A Great Bird Adventure Show, a live bird show where one of Anandapur's bird researchers educates Russell and Dug from Up, about natural bird behaviors and the effects of habitat loss and conservation efforts on bird species, such as the black crowned crane and bald eagle.

In between Asia and DinoLand U.S.A. on the banks of the park's Discovery River is Rivers of Light, a nighttime show featuring mist screens, water fountains, floating lanterns, music, and lighting.[32][33]

DinoLand U.S.A. is themed around dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric life. The area is anchored by the Dino Institute, a fictitious palaeontological facility which is home to Dinosaur, a dark thrill ride loosely inspired by the 2000 Disney animated film of the same name, featuring a harrowing trip through time to the Late Cretaceous Period. Just outside the Institute is "Dino-Sue", a casting of a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil that is the most complete yet found. At the nearby Boneyard, there is a multi-leveled playground area with a Columbian mammoth fossil to be uncovered and a cast skeleton of a Brachiosaurus. Adjacent to the Institute and its surrounding facilities, is Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama, which recalls the many roadside attractions that were once scattered throughout the United States, being constructed by the owners of an old gas station hoping to take advantage of the tourism business the Institute has brought in. The area features the TriceraTop Spin aerial carousel ride, carnival games and gift shops. At the eastern edge of DinoLand U.S.A. is the Theater in the Wild, which hosts Finding Nemo – The Musical, a live-action musical stage show based on the story of the 2003 Disney·Pixar animated film Finding Nemo.

Like the other sections of Disney's Animal Kingdom, there are animals on display. The animals, such as the American crocodile, red legged seriemas, Abdim's stork and Asian brown tortoise, have evolutionary links to the age of the dinosaurs. They are animal species that have survived since the dinosaur era and can be found along the Cretaceous Trail along with a collection of Mesozoic plants. The area was sponsored by McDonald's until 2009.[34]

Camp Minnie-Mickey was themed as a rustic summer camp, built as a placeholder on the location where Beastly Kingdom was intended to be built. It served as a meet-and-greet for Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Koda, and Thumper. The area's main attraction was the Festival of the Lion King, a live stage show featuring acrobatics and musical performances inspired by The Lion King. It currently plays in Africa's Harambe Theater. Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends, based on the 1995 animated film, was a live stage show that ran from April 22, 1998, to September 27, 2008. The area closed on January 5, 2014, and was replaced by Pandora – The World of Avatar.[35]

When conceived, Disney's Animal Kingdom was to focus on three broad classifications of animals: those that exist in today's reality; those that did exist but are now extinct (i.e., dinosaurs); and those that only exist in the realm of fantasy.[36] The original design for Animal Kingdom included a themed section called the Beastly Kingdom (possibly spelled as "Beastly Kingdomme"), devoted to creatures of legend and mythology. Camp Minnie-Mickey was built instead of Beastly Kingdom and was meant to serve as a temporary placeholder until Beastly Kingdom could be built.

Beastly Kingdom was to feature mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters, featuring realms of both good and evil creatures:

• The evil side was to be dominated by Dragon Tower, a ruined castle home to a greedy fire-breathing dragon who hoarded a fabulous treasure in the tower chamber. The castle was also inhabited by bats who planned to rob the dragon of his riches. They were to enlist the guests' help in their scheme and whisk them off on a thrilling suspended roller coaster ride through the castle ruins. The climax of the ride was to be an encounter with the evil dragon himself, resulting in a nearly barbecued train of guests.[37]
• The good side was to be home to Quest of the Unicorn, an adventure that would send guests through a maze of medieval mythological creatures to seek the hidden grotto where the unicorn lives. Finally, the Fantasia Gardens attraction was to be a musical boat ride through animal scenes from the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia. The ride was to feature both the crocodiles and hippos from "Dance of the Hours" and the Pegasus, fauns, and centaurs from Beethoven's "The Pastoral Symphony."[36][38]

In 2000, Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde said: "We had a vision and now it's become a placeholder. 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."[39]

In October 2014, a snake dropped out of a tree and bit a boy, precipitating the death of his great-grandmother who suffered a cardiac arrest as a reaction to the attack. A lawsuit was threatened because of the incident, but was never filed. The park confirmed that the snake that bit the boy was a non-venomous indigenous snake and that it did not escape from an enclosure.[55]