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    (5/12/12) WDW News Today has a nice report about the current state of the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction at Animal Kingdom, now that the Little Red figure and plot story has been removed. (MORE...)
    (5/3/12) A park guest mentions to us that the pathways around The Tree of Life as well as It’s Tough to be a Bug are all back (MORE...)
    (4/30/12) I’m not sure if this is “fallout” from last weeks incident report about a small faux-branch falling from the Tree of Life but (MORE...)
    (4/24/12) According to a report at Epcyclopedia, a very small artificial branch (weighing only about 5 pounds) fell from the Tree of Life, without causing (MORE...)

Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Nothing is planned at this point in time.

General Park News - (5/3/12) A park guest mentions to us that the pathways around The Tree of Life as well as It’s Tough to be a Bug are all back open. Structures designed to hold up netting to protect the walkways from any future falling objects have been installed.
    (4/30/12) I’m not sure if this is “fallout” from last weeks incident report about a small faux-branch falling from the Tree of Life but DaMouse reports that they’ve spotted what seems almost to be the start of a possible “roof structure” to cover sections of the pathway near the rear of the Tree of Life.
    (4/24/12) According to a report at Epcyclopedia, a very small artificial branch (weighing only about 5 pounds) fell from the Tree of Life, without causing any sort of incident. However, as the Tree of Life is an artificial tree, no branches should be falling off at all. That said, it seems Disney has temporarily closed down the pathways under the Tree of Life as well as the It’s Tough To Be A Bug attraction under the tree itself while they begin a through inspection of the structure and complete any necessary maintenance.
    (3/28/12) Disney is preparing to launch a new social game on Facebook soon called Disney Animal Kingdom Explorers. You can read a bit more about it over at the Disney Parks Blog or check out the teaser video below.

    (10/11/11) According to the latest rumor, Disney may be working on plans to move the still popular Festival of the Lion King show over to a new theater location somewhere in the Africa area of the park. The thought behind the motive is that the Lion King show will be moved just in time to begin the demolition work to the rest of the Camp Minnie Mickey area across the bridge, making way for the future Avatar land to open in about 5 years.
    As for the Lion King show itself, I can only imagine that if Disney were taking the time to move the show to a new theater, they will also be taking the time to retool and reinvent the show into a somewhat new experience as well this time around. Hopefully more will come to light about this soon.
    (10/3/11) According to a reader, while Primeval Whirl has reopened at Animal Kingdom, so far Disney has only reopened the left side of the ride, which was the side not involved in the death of a mechanic earlier this year.
    (9/20/11) According to the latest report at DaMouse, another interactive in-park game has sprouted at Animal Kingdom, themed to the Wilderness Explorers group as seen in UP. According to the report, it’s only in the testing phase at the moment but make the jump and you can read their review of their play-through.

2012 Fall - Kilimanjaro Safari Renovation - Confirmed - (5/12/12) WDW News Today has a nice report about the current state of the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction at Animal Kingdom, now that the Little Red figure and plot story has been removed. Currently the finale of the ride has guests driving past long construction walls while the new Zebra habitat area is under construction.  The old on-board soundtrack recordings featuring “Mr. Wilson” are now removed as well, replaced only by background music and sound effects.
    While the current changes are set to be compelted by this Fall, apparently WDI’s Joe Rhode informed the attraction’s Cast Members that even more changes would be coming down the pipe for the attraction over the next 3-4 years. One of the planned future changes, would be the installation of a special Nighttime Safari version of the ride that would be an entirely different experience from the daytime version.
    Of course the big news you can take from this is that Walt Disney World may be finally ready to get serious about opening up Animal Kingdom at night at last. Going back to the first major expansion of Animal Kingdom in Dinoland, Disney made sure to decorate the carnival ride style area with appropriately night-time lighting as a way to future-proof the area for when the park’s hours would be extended. The same could be said to Expedition Everest, but the longer daily hours never came. Of course, you may recall hearing about a proposed night event once in development for the park back in 2007 called Rivers of Light, which was put on indefinite hold and never heard from again. 
    With Avatar land lurking on the horizon, which will likely represent the single largest investment expansion in the park’s history, it would only make sense for Disney to finally extend the operating hours of the park, and come up with a whole laundry list of new evening / nighttime things to do in the park by then, which could include some kind of new nighttime spectacular as well.
    (2/13/12) Disney has announced on their Blog that the Kilimanjaro Safari will undergo some changes starting this spring that will give guests a better opportunity to see Zebras. To do so the finale section of the tour will be reconfigured, and the Little Red animatronic elephant removed, to rebuild that area as more savannah space with a watering hole for live animals. The change is expected to be complete by Fall 2012, but the tour will remain open during the rehab.

???? - Panda Exhibit - Rumor - (10/18/11) This new rumor for Animal Kingdom may be a long shot… but you know it certainly has some very good points to make. According to a anonymous e-mail sent in, Disney’s new theme park friendly relationship with China may yield a special new attraction for Walt Disney World in the future.
    If the rumors are true, Disney may have applied with the Chinese government to bring Giant Pandas into Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. That said… then the question does arise about just where Disney may attempt to build a new habitat for the giant beasts within the park. According to our anonymous source Panda’s may be in demand by WDI as possibly the best “fix” for the park’s long troubled Conservation Station area. This would give the public a real reason to queue up for that dull train ride… stopping the disappointment of finding only a glorified petting zoo on the other end. More when we find out… (NOTE: This is the second time we’re reported Panda’s may be on the way to Animal Kingdom, the first was way way back in June 2004, but no progress was made on it at the time...)

2015/2016 - AVATAR - Confirmed - (3/14/12) In a perfect bit of timing, Disney CEO Bob Iger reaffirmed at the Disney shareholder meeting that their plans to build an Avatar themed land at Animal Kingdom are still on track to see it open by 2015. So looks like the rumors about possible Avatar setbacks were simply bad rumors.
    (3/13/12) I’m not sure where this is coming from, but there is a buzz around the ‘net lately claiming that Disney may be re-thinking their plans to add an entire Avatar themed land to the Animal Kingdom. This does not mean that Disney is abandoning their plans to make Avatar themed attractions or lands in general… only that they may have come to the realization that Animal Kingdom may not have been the best place to build it. AK needs help, that is for sure, and there is no denying that a ton of major attractions have been pitched as possibly solutions to expand the park and add a new land to replace “Beastly Kingdom” over the years, but the Avatar land was the only one officially announced and confirmed by Disney so far.
    Last I heard through the rumor mill was that the various attraction design pitches had been going well, and the look and feel of the land was really starting to solidify. Perhaps it was this more solid look at what would best represent Avatar as a brand that may have caused some second thoughts about putting it into Animal Kingdom. After all, one thing we did see a lot of in the movie was fighting, death, destruction, guns, mecha-troopers and much more. It doesn’t take a genius to know that if the attractions would also feature similar themes, it may fit in better over at the Studios. Anyone know a bit more about what may be going on, one way or the other?
    (12/12/11) Stitch Kingdom has posted an interesting article about a new patent Disney has filed for detailing a new kind of attraction, officially titled as ‘Amusement Park Ride with Cable-Suspended Vehicles”. In a way, it kind of looks like a revamp of the old Konfrontation style ride concept at Universal, with the ability of the cabin to move through a real 3D space, while being able to control the altitude, pitch, roll and yaw of the rider cabin.The concept goes even further, suggesting that guests could be able control certain aspects of the ride’s movement, that could change the storyline or thrill level of the ride experience.
    So just what ride may this really be for? There is some speculation that this could possibly be put to the test as an AVATAR based attraction, though given the timeline, I do have to wonder if it may have been dreamed up for something for the Shanghai park first.
    (10/19/11) The latest news from the official Disney Park Blog shows off James Cameron touring Animal Kingdom with Tom Staggs (Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts) and Joe Rohde (Disney Imagineer) to explore the park and get a feel of how the world of AVATAR will take shape in the park in the near future.
    (9/22/11) The buzz over Disney building a whole land themed to Avatar is still rocking the industry right now, and from what I’ve heard, the deal itself is so fresh, the ink on the contracts is probably still wet. So at this point, it’s far too early to even think about just what kind of rides and attractions will be coming into the land for sure. After all, this is the ultimate Blue Sky phase, as Disney Imagineering has been tasked with creating a themed environment to represent an entire planet in the middle of Animal Kingdom.
    That said, the budget is going to be huge… and while nothing is off the table at this point, I’m hearing that the estimated budget limit to create the world of Pandora is sitting around the $500 million mark. It’s hard to imagine any kind of limits with that much money at your disposal, which is a fantastic place to begin.
    (9/21/11) Shocking announcement from Disney today… and probably the big announcement that everyone had been hoping they would drop at the D23 Expo back in August. Disney has signed a deal with Fox and James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment to develop attractions and experiences based on the Avatar film series. Yes, there are two more films set in the Avatar universe on the way which promise new characters, new stories and new locations in the Avatar universe to explore.
    The first project out the gate will be an entire Avatar themed land coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom park in Walt Disney World. While they were not ready to say just when it will be ready to open, they did confirm that construction was expected to begin by 2013, so we’re probably looking at a 2015 opening date at the earliest.
    According to the press release, “We believe Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great fit for this project because it was created to give guests the opportunity to experience the worlds of animals and nature – real and mythical – in new ways. Disney’s Animal Kingdom also celebrates adventure, living in harmony with nature and environmental stewardship – themes that are deeply rooted in the story of AVATAR.”
    As a long time fan of James Cameron’s films myself, I have to admit to geeking out at this announcement in a big way. And it’s a nice bit of justifications for Cameron to find himself in good company alongside George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Jim Henson by having a Disney theme park attraction themed to his creative vision. And please note that this will only be the first Avatar themed lands to come to Disney’s theme parks. “Future locations for additional AVATAR-themed lands will be determined with our international theme park partners at a later date.”
    As for the location… well this certainly will finally give Animal Kingdom that huge long overdue shot in the arm people have been begging for, and perhaps finally find a way to make people forget about the long lost Beastly Kingdom concept in favor of the world of Pandora.