Beastly Kingdom

[Trumpet Joe]

I heard that when Animal Kingdom was still in its developmental stages, there was going to be a whole section called Beastly Kingdom, which was to deal with mythical creatures like dragons, etc. Anyway, I was just wondering why it never came to be; it seemed like a pretty good idea.

[toonaspie]

I think it was a budget issue (that's what it says on wikipedia at least)

[UmbrellaFish]

Neat! I would have loved this! I'm not a fan of the real, just the fake, or in better words, mythical. I'm not a big fan of Animal Kingdom because it's all real. I enjoy it, but not as much as The Magic Kingdom

[Disneyfreak1990]

they didn't built The Beastly Kingdom because of budget cuts and so replaced it with Camp Minnie-Mickey as a temporariy land until then. so far this has proved false but it would have been cool to do. at least they have the references like the dragon cave, the unicorn parking lot, and the dragon in the logo.

[Jasmine1022]

this would definitely have made me soooooooo happy. i love unicorns and dragons, etc (all mythical creatures). i have a love of dark things. black, magic, etc. i would have just been sooo excited. i hope that one day it does get built. i'll definitely go see it!

[goofystitch]

Yes, it was put on hold due to Animal Kingdom going over budget. However, we have Universal Studios to thank for the land never getting a go ahead after all of this time. According to Jim Hill Media, when "Islands of Adventure" opened, Disney was furious to find that they had created a mythical creature themed land. Not only this, but they included a large roller coaster that was dragon themed. Granted, Disney's would have been much more spectacular with your cart careening by a large fire breathing dragon, but Disney still wanted to avoid the comparison. So money and time was spent designing a different roller coaster for AK, Expidition Everest.

I rode the old river canal ride that wasn't open for long back when Animal Kingdom was new. I remember riding by a dragon sticking it's head out of a cave (at least that's what I think I remember seeing... it was so long ago) and the guide mentioned a new land that would be built with dragons. I remember being really excited, but now it will never happen. I think a roller coaster through a castle with a fire breathing dragon would have been a bigger draw than a rollercoaster through Mount Everest with a large Yeti, but I do love Everest, so I guess I can't complain too much.

[Prudence]

That would have been exciting; arguably more so than the Animal Kingdom is.

[darth_deetoo]

Do you have an animatronic dragon at any of your parks in the US like the one we have at Disneyland Paris?

[goofystitch]

We do not, which is lame because the animatronic dragon in France and Japan look so awesome. However, I heard that you can no longer see the one in Tokyo Disneyland because they closed the Castle dungeon tour.

[darth_deetoo]

The dragon in DLRP is fantastic!

[Disney-Fan]

The dragon in DLRP is fantastic!

Indeed! I stared at it for 5 minutes straight. Awesome piece of machinary.

[Disneyfreak1990]

hey what if they turned The Beastly Kingdom into a park instead of a land? they could find evough mythical creatures to fill it up.

[Trumpet Joe]

That would have been exciting; arguably more so than the Animal Kingdom is.

I agree that Beastly Kingdom would have been exciting, but for what Animal Kingdom is, I don't think it's so terrible.