Originally Posted By a1stav Why not? If WDI has not thought of this, they should. Why mess up Adventureland? With all the hype about the Mystical World of Harry Potter "themepark within a themepark" at IOA, Disney should respond with a Pirate mini-theme park in WDW. Discovery Island has been left empty for almost a decade now. They thought about "Myst Island", Tony Baxter is still talking about the "experience park". This is really a no brainier. It could be an up charge add on to the MYW tickets, or a separate admission.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Personally, I feel anything "Pirate" at this point in time is a bad idea. Sooner or later, this fad will pass.
Originally Posted By a1stav Maybe, I know I would go see the place. Think about how detailed they could get with it. Not only haunted caves, but a Black Pearl recreation. Possibly a ship to ship combat show kind of like the one they had at "Treasure Island" in Vegas. Not the simple overlay that they gave Tom Sawers Island back in DL. They could finally get some use out of a facility that has been just sitting there. No need to retheme anything, the island already has a tropical adventure theme to start with. True, I think that the Pirates movies may fade in popularity (remains to be seen) but the concept of a pirate adventure on a tropical island will not (just look at the continued popularity of the ride). I is true that the Pirates movies are among the biggest moneymakers in movie history, even better than the Harry Potter movies. WDI has seen fit to retheme TSI at DL why not do a Pirates Lair on a much more in depth scale on Discovery Island? Like I said you could charge extra for it, that alone should get WDW management excited about the project.
Originally Posted By dixielandings a1stav I agree with you It my be short term as TDL says but they might could get 5-10 year's out of it and get a nice return on their investment But they better get building today! maybe adding a Blue bayou restaurant / dinner show
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb As long as they didn't over-theme with movie stuff, I think a Pirate Island could have a fairly long life span. PotC has long been one of the most popular attractions at Disney.
Originally Posted By brotherdave What's really ironic about this idea is that Discovery Island actually began life AS a pirate themed zoological attraction called Treasure Island. They've already got the tropical theme for the island already. Imagine what they could do to give a POTC movie makeover! I say, GO FOR IT! It's better than a closed island attraction rotting away!
Originally Posted By brotherdave I don't know the acreage, but it is fairly large. Obviously much larger than Tom Sawyer's Island. I'm sure it is large enough to build one heck of a Pirate's themed attraction.
Originally Posted By hightp I think it's a great idea, but it would have been even better if it had been implemented 2-3 years ago, between the 1st and 2nd movie. Since the island is kind of rustic, they could have a Tortuga set up on one side, and an Isle de Morta on the other. From my one, and only visit, in October of 1991, I don't remember any buildings, so there may be limited electric and plumbing. With no bridge to the land, all equipment and supplies will have to be brought over by boat. I think most attractions would be limited to face characters and walk though displays and a live show. This would have been a great idea for someone to bring up at the annual stockholder meeting. An issue I can see arising (amoung others) is how admission would be treated to the new "land". It would be smaller than a Typhoon Lagoon, certainly not an all day activity. One of the problems with Discovery Island, besides the fact that not many knew it was there, was the $12-$15 entrance fee did't include much. I'm sure Disney would include it in the park hopper tickets, but what do you do for the day trippers (and I don't think Disney would make it a freebie).
Originally Posted By a1stav They built Pirates Lair in DL by boating all the parts over. Bay lake is big enough to allow them to move over heavy machine via a ferry. How did they build Discovery Island in the first place? I am sure they had plenty of water since they had all those animals there. They could even re-use the aviary move over a couple of Macaws, those are pirate like and reinstate the tortoise beach. I know we have AK now, but the pirate theme would attract people over even if they already went to AK. I know it is only armchair imagineering but the possibilities has my mind racing. I just hope there is some people inside Disney that have a similar vision. I think an admission charge of $15 would be more than reasonable.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 I'd pay $15 to see it. I hope they do jump on the band wagon. I bet Pirates could hold it's own against Harry Potter.
Originally Posted By brotherdave As for buildings on the island, there were two sets of restrooms. One near the dock, the other on the far side of the island not far from the wrecked boat. There was a small gift kiosk and snack stand. And there was an animal hospital and backstage facilities off limits to guests. If they could build what was originally there, I see no reason why they couldn't build more there!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 That infrastruture was left to rot. That's SOP for WDW management. But the island location can only be developed in very limited fashion due to its wilderness status and the cost would be prohibitive for a company that only likes to spend on sure things ...you know, timeshares.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 I can't believe that wrecked boat still exists? I have a pix of it from '85 that looks really bad.
