Originally Posted By DouglasDubh MGM has a large family friendly dark ride, DAK doesn't. I'd be fine if DAK got a non-Narnia themed mythical animal dark ride, but I see that as less likely.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I can spend a good full-day at MGM (easily),>> I must admit I don't think I have spent a full day at D-MGM for years. But we always tend to park-hop a lot and D-MGM gets its fair share of that from us. I'm an absolute geek for the streetmosphere there right now (as Doobie & Rebekah will tell you). I can happily sit there all afternoon watching the different shows. Now if only they would revive Chance to Shine from DCA there and you won't get me leaving that park! I do wonder if it is a general malaise with studios-themed parks. Universal can't give tickets away fast enough in Hollywood (a one day pass gives you a year's entry at the moment) and USF was down significantly last year and I am told has started badly in 2006.
Originally Posted By leemac Back on DAK though...... I do think that a quality family attraction in Camp Miinie-Mickey would help crowd flow. That doesn't necessarily mean a dark ride but something everyone can enjoy. I've seen some artwork for Australia when it was first conceptualised and it was a beautiful area. Adding another "continent" would increase the offerings for sure. I think it would give the park a different type of energy too as Africa and Asia are fairly serious in their design and layout. First comes Nemo and Conservation Station though. I'm certain WDW will push for something significant for April 2008 though. The 10th is a big milestone for any Disney park.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj Camp Minnie-Mickey is a huge wast of real estate at DAK. They should either build it out to be something significant or bulldoze it over for a new themed area.
Originally Posted By leemac Huh? No idea how you can say that when it is home of Festival of the Lion King which is still the most popular show at WDW.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj In the big scheme of things moving one show out of a purposeless land is not that big of a deal. What on earth does the Lion King have to do with Camp Minnie-Mickey? I have no problem with this land if it supported something a little more substantive than a single show. Considering the few number of attractions at Animal Kingdom anyway, it would be hard for the Lion King show to not be overwhelmingly popular -- people generally end up doing everything at the park, unlike other parks where there is usually enough other attractions that encourage people to skip some of the shows.
Originally Posted By mstaft The feel of CampMM is certainly different than the other areas- but the nonmoving characters along the stream etc gave it a miniature golf course feel. Why Festival wasn't placed in Africa is beyond logic.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<Now if only they would revive Chance to Shine from DCA there and you won't get me leaving that park!>> Yes, why don't they do that anyway? They must still have the costumes. Although I shudder to think what the show might be with the talent pool they have in Florida.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Teel us more about Australia and what you saw, leemac!>> I'm not overly familiar with indigenous culture in Oz I must admit but the architectural style was Aboriginal (it looks very African to me). It was dominated by animal exhibits but had an Epcot look to it (much more educational than DAK currently is IMO). The plan was to draw on the cultural aspect of the continent too with street performers.
Originally Posted By FoxHound The Camp Minnie Mickey side of Animal Kingdom is so disappointing. Not because of the characters or the shows, but because it comes across as such a "non-land". It is a great big bridge to nothing but trees and some tiny buildings. One thing I thought they could do, dark-ride wise, was an interactive Disney Safari----along the lines of Buzz where you instead "snap photos" of the different animals you see---animals from all sorts of Disney animated films like The Lion King, Jungle Book, plus all sorts of fantasy creatures like Pete's Dragon and creatures from Hercules. Yes, it does seem too much like the Magic Kingdom, which is why they'd probably never do anything like this. But will they ever do anything with Camp Minnie Mickey? I still like Narnia for the park, but I bet it would be very expensive and it wouldn't be seen for many years. I'm not crazy about Narnia for the Studios---it seems like it would be such a waste putting all those animal characters at the Studios instead of Animal Kingdom. It seems like such a great opportunity (perhaps the only one) to finally realize the original concept for Animal Kingdom, as it would be so different from the mythical area at Universal (the alleged reason that AK would no longer get its mythical section). Plus, where in the Studios would such a land fit? The park is pretty landlocked, isn't it? I guess they could always expand into the parking lot. Australia would be great, but make some of it indoors, please. Many zoos have geat Nocturnal Animal habitats---I'm sure Disney could pull this off. I'd personally love to finally see a real live platypus.
Originally Posted By tonyanton I believe "Festival of the Lion King" is in the Camp area, as its premise is that of a traveling show. Since the Camp area has an Adirondacks (in NY state) theme, this makes sense. That area is historically known for travleling theater companies.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney "The Camp Minnie Mickey side of Animal Kingdom is so disappointing. Not because of the characters or the shows, but because it comes across as such a "non-land". It is a great big bridge to nothing but trees and some tiny buildings." Camp MM looks like that because it was designed to be temporary, a place-filler, when TWDC decided to not spend the money on Beastly Kingdom. While the Lion King show is the best at WDW, that's like saying the Big Mac is the best burger at McDonald's. There's nothing else of quality to compare it with. And the show could be moved to accomodate any reworking of the land. Camp MM looks so cheap compared with the rest of DAK.
Originally Posted By typhoonCM <<<Camp MM looks so cheap compared with the rest of DAK.>>> Apparently you've forgotten about Dinoland........
Originally Posted By vbdad55 The only time we spend a whole day at D-MGM any more is during Star Wars Weekends -- and eventhen quite frankly, I spend the whole day and the family splits for a large portion of the middle of the day and meets me back for dinner
Originally Posted By FoxHound Was Camp Minnie Mickey really supposed to be temporary? I knew it was sort of a last minute addition, but in the "Making of Animal Kingdom" book it says the land was created to fit along with the rest of the park and the proposed fantasy section. I think Beastly Kingdom would be beyond the Pocahontas show, which they would have to tear down. At any rate, they've had eight years to do something with the area and all they've done is enclose the Lion King show. I guess they are keeping the area simple in case they need the land for something else. The components of the current camp could easily be put elsewhere in a month it seems.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 Take the Beastly Kingdom Concept..rework it a bit and make a Narnia-based attraction as the centerpiece of the land and green light it. BOOM! most of DAK's problems solved.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney ''Was Camp Minnie Mickey really supposed to be temporary? I knew it was sort of a last minute addition, but in the "Making of Animal Kingdom" book it says the land was created to fit along with the rest of the park and the proposed fantasy section." Yes. It was last-minute add-on to fill space where BK was meant to be ... and a place for the all-important character meets.
Originally Posted By jthomas289 I wrote on a site called 'disney blues' years ago that an Australian area would be great. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, on much more limited budget than Disney would have, did a very cool area that is still very popular after many years. The culture, landscape and style of Australia could be a lot of fun for the imagineers to tackle. There has to be an attraction in there somewhere. Journey to the Great Barrier Reef, a la Body Wars, or something like circle-vision or technology beyond that, showing some of the amazing sights around Australia would work in the area. Send me to Australia for a few weeks and I will come up with five or ten ideas to consider for attractions
