New AK Attraction?

[larworth]

This excerpt from Mr. Veness' event coverage caught my attention.

Joe (Rhonde)is one of the best, both for affability and that other-worldly imagineering ability to think on a different plane to most designers. He admits to currently working on 'six or seven' options for new attractions at Animal Kingdom (of which one might be chosen, he says)

Now would BK and Austrailia likely be included in these 6-7 options. I assume since he was a principal creative director for AK that he would be working on something of significance, or are these just as likely to be smaller scale projects?

Any thoughts on what they might be? I hope that if one does get chosen it is in addition to one of the above.

 

[HBK]

he's trying to pick between 6 or 7 carny rides for Dinoland.

 

[MelissathePooh]

I think that if they were to ever put in an additiona; "land" - Australia would be cool - particularly with an attraction like "Soaring over California". I think it would be an excellent addition!

 

[Another Voice]

There are several big plans (among them dragons and kangaroos) for the Animal Kingdom and they’ve been there for a long time. There’s also a thought that building just a single element from a “big plan” might be a cheaper way of adding sometime “new” to the park. For example (and strictly hypothetical of course since these are “rumors”), instead of an “Australia” section with ‘Soaring Over Down Under’, an animal reserve, restaurants and shops – Disney would just build the animal trail and promise to “add” to it later. It’s cheap but would let the company market “there’s something new!!!!!!!!!!!!!” for a park that desperately needs it. If Dino-Rama produces an increase in attendance, look for the Company to choose this route. Corporate sponsorship would be about the only way to guarantee any plan is built – and everyone at WDI knows that.

 

[larworth]

I guess I have just been assuming that if BK were greenlighted that the Reign of Fire? attraction was already slotted in as its signature ride. Therefore, I was assuming these "6 or 7 options" must be targeted for other areas of the park or as a second BK attraction? Would have been nice if Simon had probed a little deeper to get some idea on the scale/content of any of these.

A just posted rumor from Screamscape concerning DSP:

The rumors of the park looking to quickly start work on a Tower of Terror attraction are picking up speed once again. There are also rumors about the park possibly getting their own version of the Reign Of Fire themed Inverted Coaster in the planning stage for WDW’s Animal Kingdom park. It seems they dumped a lot of props from the movie’s burnt out London sets in the park.

Now, wouldn't that be a kick if DSP got this attraction before AK.


I don't think of Dino-Rama as a separate land, but rather just another area within DinoLand. Therefore, not sure it will be much of a guide for how people would respond to opening a new land with only one minor attraction. We generally think about AK expansion in terms of new lands. Wouldn't it be cheaper to add an attraction to either Africa/Asia? Does just having more lands give the impression of more to do, or could it possible make the park seem even lighter on attractions (per square feet explored)?

Not specific to AK, but a comment from Al Weiss last week

I'm not saying everything we build will be an expensive, new ride, but I think that because of 9-11, there may be an opportunity to build new things -- maybe more than we would have been able to before