I've found this early Animal Kingdom map and, as it shows the Beastly Kingdom land that never was built as well as other differences with Animal Kingdom as it was at opening, i asked Joe Rohde if he knew when this map was done. He kindly answered, saying that it was a super early map, may be done in 1993. In fact if you blow up the map you can see the date of October 20, 1992, so i think it was done in 1992. Click on it to see it in big size.
Picture: copyright Disney
That is so cool! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the wooden dino coaster had not yet been included by that time (or maybe already cancelled?). Kali River rapids looks much, much longer than it is now and Beastly Kingdomme would have had a rollercoaster and a water (logflume/ boat?) ride?
Thanks for sharing this map!
I believe that Kali River Rapids was originally conceived as a water safari ride through the continent of Asia as opposed to the white water raft ride we ended up with. The length of the ride would be comparable to the land safari in Africa....which in my book, would have been awesome. It also looks as if the Discovery River Boat ride takes a bit of a detour near Africa....must have been a heavily themed section of river that provided more of an attraction experience, rather than just a mode of transport, which is what opened in '98. I've always loved Animal Kingdom, even when everyone complained that it was just a half day park, but had it opened like this, it would have truly been incredible!
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