Back in March of 1998, we were fortunate enough to be invited to take part in the soft opening for Disney's Animal Kingdom. The park has changed quite a bit since then and here is a photo journey of how some of the park has changed.
Remember this picture?
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| This Iguanadon was part of the Discovery river boat ride. He now sits in front of Dinosaur the ride. | |
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The Animatronic Iguanadon was one of the highlights of the Discovery River boat ride that no longer exist. The Iguanadon currently has taken up residence in front of Dinosaur replacing the original Styracosaurus that was there for park opening. The landings for the boats still are present. The one near Dinoland USA is currently the meet-n-greet for Pooh and friends. The boat ride originally circled the Tree of life giving and unique views to guest and couple of surprises along the way.
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| This is where the Iguanadon currently resides. The name of the ride was changed to help market the movie Dinosaur. |
While still visible near Camp Minne-Mickey, the boat ride took you much closer to this rock formation.
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| Dragon Rock |
After encountering the dragon rock formation you slipped passed a cave where a fire breathing dragon was living.
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| This is still there, probably over gown with the rest of Discovery River. We got a little toasty during the soft opening because of an inexperienced skipper still learning how to maneuver the lengthy boats. |
Guest also got the below view of Harambe and the Tusker house, there were even a few geysers in this area to try and spice up the boat ride. Where Everest now sits, we were told once Asia was opened (yes Asia was not open for the preview) water buffalo were to have a habitat and be able to enter Discovery river. That habitat never came to be. The boat ride was actually slow and was very boring. It was a good idea to make it disappear. There are some great Youtube videos of the boat ride where you can see how awkward the ride really was.
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| Jambo | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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During the soft opening, only Africa, Camp Minne-Mickey, DinoLand USA(minus Primeval Whirl), the oasis, conservation station, Discovery River Boats, and The Rainforest cafe were open. It's tough to be a bug and Asia were not yet complete. We returned after the grand opening and were able to catch the new show Pocahontas and her forest friends. It was an animal show that also had Grandmother Willow. Eventually this show got retired and is now stroller parking for The Festival of the Lion King.
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| Please park your strollers here......Grandma who? | | | | | | | | | | | |
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The Festival of the Lion King has changed but not in performance; the
theater was originally open air. This made sitting through the show not so
fun in the humid Florida air. It was eventually was enclosed and "air conditioned" as it is now.  |
| Are those trees and daylight I see? |
| While the Animal Kingdom is still relativity young, the changes that have occurred have made for a much better experience for guest. Do you remember the original story line for the safari? What is your favorite attraction past or present in the Animal Kingdom? |
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Great post. I thought I recognized the dinosaur as the one sitting in front of the ride, but didn't know its origins.
ReplyDeleteJackson
Awesome pictures! It's crazy how much of the original park was stripped away after a couple years.
ReplyDeleteA small correction, the dinosaur in front of Dinosaur is not the same figure as was on the river. The animatronic on the river was actually relocated to Disney Studios park in Paris and is seen on their version of the Backlot Tour - most of its skin is now gone, but it's in the same pose. You can find it pretty easily via Google.