What is the future of Animal Kingdom?

October 4, 2019, 8:29 PM

Everyone agrees that Pandora is an immersive wonderland to be reckoned with. In fact, Animal Kingdom as a park is an immersive wonderland, with thematic details unlike any other (American) Disney property. However, it is Walt Disney World's only park to currently not feature an attraction under construction. That brings us to the question: what is the future of Animal Kingdom? Can anything top Pandora? What attraction can increase the park's ride lineup to feature the same top notch quality while having a larger quantity of activities?

Replies (4)

October 4, 2019, 11:41 PM

In my opinion, an attraction heavy marine-themed pavilion would be the perfect addition to Animal Kingdom, mixing originals with international clones (I don't think anyone would complain to have a bite of DisneySea in Orlando...). Here are some ideas of possible rides:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (a direct clone from Tokyo DisneySea)
Lilo and Stitch's Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride (this unique family coaster simulates a surfing lesson with Lilo and Stitch using a smooth, fast paced ride system and enough animatronics to make Sinbad's Storybook Voyage blush)
Finding Nemo: The Musical (would be in the pavilion)
Under the Sea! (an advanced dark ride where you lie down and swim through show scenes telling the stories of the OTHER mersisters)

Other options:
Lion King Trackless Wild Mouse (wait what? A trackless coaster? Well, not really. Portions of the ride would use LPS trackless technology a'la Mystic Manor, which would occasionally attach to the track for roller coaster segments... I don't even know if that's possible, but it sounds cool!)
Shere Khan's Soak Boats Trackless Log Flume (Again? What's the deal with this dude's trackless thrill ride obsession? These log flumes involve segments within a Jungle circus, mixing the tech of Aquatopia with the dream sequence in Pooh's Hunny Hunt. The ride vehicles connect to the rails for one final high speed chase sequence, and of course a few splashes)
Zootopia Mysteries (this hybrid roller coaster and river rapid uses thematic elements to take you on a thrilling, original journey through the city)

October 7, 2019, 1:23 PM

Animal Kingdom is doing very well in Pandora... Maybe too well. The wait time for the Flight of Passage is just too long. Getting fast passes is nearly impossible (possible for people staying in a resort, getting 60 days advance fast passes).

All the suggested ideas are good, or at least possible. I'd like to see more rides that are pushing the technology. Not wild roller coaster rides. But most of this type of ride would fit better in EPCOT. AK should be about the Animal Kingdom.

October 7, 2019, 6:12 PM

I agree with you on Flight of Passage’s wait times; when I visited, it was a 2.5 hour wait in the first few minutes. That is partially why I think Animal Kingdom needs another E-ticket for the wait times to balance out, in addition to give the park something new (Pandora opened in 2017). Also, AK doesn’t have any ground breakers outside of FoP - Expedition Everest is great but not particularly innovative and Dinosaur uses the same style as Indy in CA.

October 8, 2019, 10:37 AM

If you put FoP into any WDW park it would garner 2.5+ hour lines. It doesn't matter how many other solid rides are in the park, everyone walking through the gate will want to ride it.

As far as expansion, there needs to be a bit of a reality check here. Disney spent hundreds of millions of dollars on PtWoA, and pays royalties to James Cameron every year to use his IP. They also just spent $1 billion on Galaxy's Edge, and are embarking on a likely $1+ billion effort to revitalize EPCOT. Add a new roller coaster to MK (Tron) and 2 new on-site resorts (as well as improvements to other resorts around WDW), and there's not much free capital left to make any significant improvements to DAK right now. The best anyone can hope for over the next few years is a re-imagining of Dinoland USA and the green lighting of the unbuilt C/D-ticket attraction in PtWoA. Beyond that, any major additions or changes to DAK are likely a decade or more away.

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