Animal Kingdon Logo

[DonaldsBFF]

I was jst looking at the main page on Intercot and noticed the AK logo under the new trek discussion. I had never noticed that there was a dragon as part of the logo. Was it always that way? And if so where does that fit in?

[Strmchsr]

Yes, it has always been that way. That goes to the original concept of the Beastly Kingdom-a land of mythical animals that was supposed to be part of DAK, and that many hope one day becomes a reality. Beastly Kingdom would not have been a separate park, but things like Dinosaur and E:E would have gone there.

[MaxPower]

The original design for Animal Kingdom included a section called the Beastly Kingdom. It was a land devoted to creatures of legend and mythology.

Due to budget constraints, Beastly Kingdom never came to fruition and Camp Minnie-Mickey was built as a temporary tenant of the Beastly Kingdom land.

Beastly Kingdom was to have featured mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters. The land would feature realms of both good and evil creatures.

The dragon appears in the logo for this reason.

There are other remnants of the original plan for Beastly Kingdom that can still be seen at Animal Kingdom including a Unicorn section in the parking lot and a statue of a dragon's head on one of the Animal Kingdom Ticket booths.

[John]

Yes, it has always been that way. That goes to the original concept of the Beastly Kingdom-a land of mythical animals that was supposed to be part of DAK, and that many hope one day becomes a reality. Beastly Kingdom would not have been a separate park, but things like Dinosaur and E:E would have gone there.

I don't believe EE or Dinosaur were ever planned for the mytical creatures section of the park...

[JPL]

Beastly Kingdom was never meant to feature the Yeti or Dinosaur as John stated. Some of the concept art featured a Dragon Coaster and a Unicorn Maze. These were the 2 most widely known planned attractions for that area.

[WDWdriver]

Disney's Animal Kingdom is still a work in progress. The chief Imagineer for AK, Joe Rhode, has said on several occasions that the park will be further developed. The Beastly Kingdom concept was deleted in the downsizing of the park in the 1990s, but it is not dead. The entire Camp Mickey-Minnie area of the park is available for development. There may yet be dragons to see and ride at DAK.

[Aurora]

Disney's Animal Kingdom is still a work in progress. The chief Imagineer for AK, Joe Rhode, has said on several occasions that the park will be further developed. The Beastly Kingdom concept was deleted in the downsizing of the park in the 1990s, but it is not dead. The entire Camp Mickey-Minnie area of the park is available for development. There may yet be dragons to see and ride at DAK.

That would be lovely to see. But if that ever does come to fruition, you know all the "youngsters" will be claiming that it's Disney's panicked response to Universal's Harry Potter. ;)

[Strmchsr]

I don't believe EE or Dinosaur were ever planned for the mytical creatures section of the park...

Oh, absolutely. I didn't mean they were originally planned to be a part of Beastly Kingdom, only that those were the kinds of things that would have been seen in Beastly Kingdom, the "mythical" or long-gone animals.

[Gator]

I really hope they add that one day. It will make the EMH at AK worth it. They need a few more night time attractions.

[SpecJoe Magic]

I don't know if there is enough land available, but I would like to see them move Festival of the Lion King to Africa. Not only does it make more sense in regards to theme, but it would also free up the entire Camp Minnie-Mickey area for expansion. I'm not sure if Beastly Kingdom is even the best idea for this area now, but it would be nice if a few more E-ticket attractions were added to the park, and I can't think of a better location to utilize. In addition, they need to figure out a way to connect what is currently Camp Minnie-Mickey's north side (near the Festival of the Lion King Theater) with Africa's south side, so that getting to what is now Camp Minnie-Mickey doesn't involve all of the guests walking all of the way back in there, and then having to walk all of the way back out through the same pathway. The current setup creates a bottleneck of people on that path as well as a lot of extra walking for the purpose of doing one attraction.

[JabberJaws]

There are other remnants of the original plan for Beastly Kingdom that can still be seen at Animal Kingdom including a Unicorn section in the parking lot and a statue of a dragon's head on one of the Animal Kingdom Ticket booths.

You can also see a small area of gray, jagged rocks along the river where they used to have the Discovery River boats. During the original run of the boats when the park opened in 1999, smoke and maybe fire (not sure) would bellow out of the cave/hole in the rocks. This was another remnant of the original beastly kingdom area, specifically the dragon.

Rumor was that WDI planned a heavily themed indoor/outdoor coaster around a mountain, similar to what EE is now, that would have featured a giant animatronic Dragon. This would have been the park's centerpiece attraction. However, IOA jumped on the dragon coaster concept first w/ Dueling Dragons so that idea was scrapped by WDI.

[Tekneek]

Even knowing the reasons for the dragon and unicorn, I find it to be a bit of bad show that these remnants are still here and there 12 years after opening. At some point, you either get on with it or clean up after yourself.

[seanyred]

Even knowing the reasons for the dragon and unicorn, I find it to be a bit of bad show that these remnants are still here and there 12 years after opening. At some point, you either get on with it or clean up after yourself.

I agree...but I wonder how many people truly notice these little things? It seems that this is only well known among some of the bigger WDW dorks (which includes me).

One question that I don't know the answer to...Does the Tree of Life have any Mythicl creatures on it?

[mattandmandy]

I was jst looking at the main page on Intercot and noticed the AK logo under the new trek discussion. I had never noticed that there was a dragon as part of the logo. Was it always that way? And if so where does that fit in?

This is so funny to me because I never noticed a dragon on the logo either!

[WDWdriver]

One question that I don't know the answer to...Does the Tree of Life have any Mythicl creatures on it?

Not that I know of. It's interesting that no one seems to know exactly how many creatures are carved into the tree. There are more than 320, but you are not likely to find a comprehensive list anywhere of the animals represented there.

[BrerGnat]

Not that I know of. It's interesting that no one seems to know exactly how many creatures are carved into the tree. There are more than 320, but you are not likely to find a comprehensive list anywhere of the animals represented there.

According to the Imagineering Field Guide to Animal Kingdom, there are exactly 325 animals carved into the Tree of Life.

[BrerGnat]

You can also see a small area of gray, jagged rocks along the river where they used to have the Discovery River boats. During the original run of the boats when the park opened in 1999, smoke and maybe fire (not sure) would bellow out of the cave/hole in the rocks. This was another remnant of the original beastly kingdom area, specifically the dragon.


We saw this! We were there in June 1998 (AK opened in 1998, not 1999) and we rode this and saw the cave. There was smoke and you could "hear" a dragon in there. That was the only time I saw those boats running. The ride was long and boring. We only rode it because it had no wait, but we didn't really "get it".

[crltkcagle]

The original design for Animal Kingdom included a section called the Beastly Kingdom. It was a land devoted to creatures of legend and mythology.

Due to budget constraints, Beastly Kingdom never came to fruition and Camp Minnie-Mickey was built as a temporary tenant of the Beastly Kingdom land.

Beastly Kingdom was to have featured mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters. The land would feature realms of both good and evil creatures.

The dragon appears in the logo for this reason.

There are other remnants of the original plan for Beastly Kingdom that can still be seen at Animal Kingdom including a Unicorn section in the parking lot and a statue of a dragon's head on one of the Animal Kingdom Ticket booths.
Didn't know that! Thanks for sharing!

[WDWdriver]

According to the Imagineering Field Guide to Animal Kingdom, there are exactly 325 animals carved into the Tree of Life.

Agreed. But where can one find a list of the animals? And does the 325 number include the area around the base of the tree? For example, one of the waterfalls plunges into a stream where you will find a log with the carved image of a manatee and her baby. There are numerous other animal representations around the base of the tree that are not part of the tree itself.

[BrerGnat]

Agreed. But where can one find a list of the animals? And does the 325 number include the area around the base of the tree? For example, one of the waterfalls plunges into a stream where you will find a log with the carved image of a manatee and her baby. There are numerous other animal representations around the base of the tree that are not part of the tree itself.

Yes, the 325 includes the Tree of Life "Gardens" as well.

There is no list that I am aware of either. But, really, is one necessary? It's not like anyone would actually have in depth knowledge of all the animals on there. Even while reading the field guide, I read mention of animals I've never heard of.

[seanyred]

All I know is that when I go back I will be looking for a mythical creature just for the fun of it. All though I won't be back until 2012 :( so if anyone finds one before then please share...