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 Park News - (8/5/10) We’ve heard a rumor that Imagineering has built up some designs for a new version of the Yeti figure… however this one will only feature limited motion compared to the original. I not sure if this is intended as a temporary replacement while they work to fix the main figure, or if they have simply given up on ever repairing the original Yeti. Don’t look for a new figure to arrive until at least early 2011.
(8/4/10) A better article about Disney’s problems with the Yeti figure can be found here. Here Disney appears to really just try to dodge the hardball questions about just what is wrong with the figure, which I’ve previously referred to as the Disney’s most expensive plush toy.
(8/3/10) There is actually a new article about how Imagineers are trying to figure out just how to fix the Yeti animatronic figure from Expedition Everest.
(7/31/10) A new Animal Kingdom photo update can be found at Orlando Parks News.
(6/5/10) It seems the big screen is back up in front of the Yeti so they can begin to work on it, but in the meantime they have turned off nearly all the lights in that finale room save for one very small red light that is said to shine on a piece of “broken track”, but you blast through there so fast you may not even notice it.
(5/21/10) Big news sent our way from Animal Kingdom by way of tree mail… it seems starting today riders on Expedition Everest will encounter something other than a Yeti at the finale. They’re encounter a large screen cover set up to block all view of the Yeti figure. Despite the fact that Memorial Day Weekend is coming soon, apparently this screen will be up in place until around mid-June while they attempt a minor rehab of the Yeti figure.
I’m told that the plan is to try and restore some movement to the arm and head as a sort of half-way fix to restore it to closed to the full blown “A” show mode that hasn’t been seen in months. Apparently the only way the Yeti will ever get restored to full operational status is whenever the time comes to close down the ride complete for an extensive rehab that could take up to 6 months. Obviously WDW management has been in no hurry to do such a thing as the impact on the park would be huge.
(2/3/10) Popular Mechanics has posted an article all about a tour inside Expedition Everest after being the first publication to get a serious behind the scenes tour inside the attraction.
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
There are no planned closures at this time.
Late 2010 - New Safari Tour - (8/11/10) A reader sent in a few new details about Disney’s new upcharge Safari Tour in the works for later this year. They tell us that it will be a combination walk/ride tour experience that will take about 3 hours to complete. While you will travel over some sections of the existing tour, new will also venture into new areas not seen before on the normal tour. They tell us that the new vehicle in the works will be a flatbed style car that will offer a more ‘hay ride’ style experience. It could be ready to roll as early as October.
(7/16/10) Disney has confirmed that later this year they will offer a special new experience that will take small groups on a more personal guided trek into previously unexplored sections of the Harambe Reserve. For the end, you’ll board a “unique vehicle specially designed for the rest of the quest.” Hmm…. Sounds very interesting. Can’t wait to hear more.
2011 - Rivers of Light parade - In Redesign - (3/26/08) In response to yesterday’s report about the demise of Rivers of Light, our own sources tell us that the project is not actually dead. While the pathways are an issue, the current plan is to scale things down a bit and look to re-launch the concept sometime between late 2010 and 2011.
(3/25/08) According to the latest article at Jim Hill Media, the plans for the park’s Rivers of Light nighttime parade have been canceled. It seems this was done primarily because the current pathways are too narrow and the work needed to widen them to accommodate space for people to watch as well as leave pathway space for the guests who don’t want to watch would have been a bit destructive of the atmosphere of the park.
(9/27/07) I’ve got a follow up to the rumor about a new parade for Animal Kingdom today. MiceAge reported that a new night parade was in development for the park called Rivers of Light. Despite the name, it’s not a water based parade, and would likely use the same route along the park’s main pathway that the current parade uses. From the sound of things this will finally give the park a reason to stay open after dark.
2012/2013 - Journey To The Center of the Earth - Rumor - (7/18/09) Screamscape sources have come through with a big rumor update today claiming that Im agineering is preparing some new detailed attraction concepts for the park once again, many of which apparently involve the building of the long awaited Beastly Kingdom area. However with the Dragon’s Tower coaster idea said to be out for good, Disney is drawing upon ideas for other mystical animals for the land’s focal point, which is now rumored to be a copy of Journey To The Center of the Earth from Tokyo DisneySea.
The Tokyo ride used the next generation version of the Test Track ride system to create a massive high speed dark ride experience, including an encounter with one of the largest animatronic figures Disney has ever built. From what I’ve been told the proposal and basic plans have been drawn up for Journey to act as the main attraction for the new Beastly Kingdom. They just have to wait for management to give it the green light and sign on the dotted line.
2012/2013 - Beastly Kingdom - In Redesign - (4/25/08) Screamscape sources tell us Beastly Kingdom may very well be back on the five-year planning track and if all goes as planned, we could see it open by either 2011 or 2013, depending on just how quickly they want it. Unfortunately it seems Disney has move away from any plans involving the Dragon’s Tower roller coaster concepts. In fact, they’re said to be shying away from Dragons entirely since Universal already took the basic idea for Dueling Dragons, which will get refreshed with an all-new story when it becomes part of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter late next year. Instead Disney will focus the land on “other” imaginary creatures.
There is some good news however as the long rumored next generation water ride concept Disney has been working on does look to be the front-runner for the land’s big Super E-Ticket concept. I don’t know much about it except that the basic idea is to take the EMV style motion-based action you get from the Indiana Jones Adventure (DL) and Dinosaur (AK) rides and then apply it to a boat ride. I’ve got two ideas in my head… one invoving large Jungle Cruise sized boats with a huge motion base (sinking ship action?) or on the smaller scale of things… something more Splash Mountain log sized but with bouncy seating to create a real-world version of the Virtual Jungle Cruise attraction at DisneyQuest.
(3/27/08) From what we’ve been told, Beastly Kingdom is still alive and well… but like a Vegas buffet, the actual contents are constantly shifting in and out of rotation as new ideas come up as well as to reflect the possible budget numbers that may allow the project to finally get off the ground. This means that they have an assortment of attraction concepts ranging from kid friendly up to Super E-Ticket thrill machines all filed away in a variety of possible option packages for the day when the Walt Disney World checkbook finally comes out. Like many have said… it’s not a matter of “IF” Beastly Kingdom happens, only a matter of “WHEN” it will eventually happen.
(3/25/08) According to the latest Jim Hill article, a new re-imagined concept for Beastly Kingdom is being drawn up to fill the gap left behind by the cancellation of Rivers of Light. According to the story the new version of Beastly Kingdom will try to have close ties with established Disney characters and perhaps be more family friendly. Characters I can deal with… but I still want to see an evil castle that is home to an angry dragon and some kind of wild thrill ride.
(7/26/07) It’s just a wild rumor at this point, but we’ve heard rumbling that Disney may be looking into some kind of new water flume attraction for Animal Kingdom. It’s nothing serious yet, just an idea they’re kicking around apparently for the next big follow up to Everest. Unfortunately, this also means that they are not working on Beastly Kingdom either, unless this is part of it.
(4/9/07) While we had hoped that the success of Everest at Animal Kingdom would have inspired Disney to finally build Beastly Kingdom it seems that things don’t work that way in the Disney empire. Instead they seem to be stuck in fire-fighting mode where they only want to add major new capital to fix problem areas and right now the main problem in AK is said to be the over crowding of Africa. So for now… Beastly Kingdom is on hold again.
???? - New C or D-Ticket - Rumor - (4/25/08) The status of this attraction may now be up in the air due to new developments with Beastly Kingdom that could push this project out of development.
(3/27/08) The latest rumors for Animal Kingdom seem to indicate that there is a good chance that one of the proposals for a new C or D ticket ride may now be pushed up to fill in the gap left when Rivers of Light was pushed back.
(1/14/08) Screamscape sources tell us that while most of Animal Kingdom’s focus right now is on the new Rivers of Light night show, there is a chance that they could approve a C or D-Ticket level attraction for late 2009 or 2010. While historically C-Ticket rides were typically your standard outdoor flat rides (Tea Cups, Dumbo) and small Fantasyland dark rides (Peter Pan, Snow White) while D-Tickets were your bigger outdoor rides (Rocket Jets, PeopleMover) and major transportation rides (Monorail, Railroad), I believe the definations are a bit different in today’s DisneySpeak.
By today’s standards things like the Triceratops Spin would still be a C-Ticket, but Primevel Whirl would likely be considered a D-Ticket along with attractions like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin or the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Perhaps the biggest problem with Animal Kingdom right now is that it’s a park that consists mostly of major E-Ticket attractions, animal exhibits and shows, with only a couple of C and D-Ticket attractions these days, so adding another to the mix would definitely be a good move. Lets just find a way to stick this one somewhere other than Asia or Dinoland USA this time, okay, unless it’s time to bring back that idea of the kid friendly Chester & Hester’s Big Bang dark ride, one thought of as a possible way to reuse the old Mr. Toad ride system with a new theme. Think of it as a kid friendly, cartoon version of Countdown to Extinction… errr… Dinosaur. (God, I still hate that name, bring back CTX too while your at it!).
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