Horace H. of Windsor Locks, CT. writes to ask:
Jim,
I really enjoyed that story you did a few weeks back about those WDW guest relations staffers who walk around the theme parks with clipboards, soliciting opinions from guests. Personally, I think it would have been really cool to get to see all that concept stuff for Disney’s Animal Kingdom 5 years before that park was open to the public.
It’s just a shame that neither you, Michelle or Jeff thought to bring a tape recorder or a video camera that day when you visited the Magic Kingdom. I mean, wouldn’t it be great if you could now show JimHillMedia.com readers what you three saw that day?
You know, you’re right, Horace. It would be really cool if I was able to show JHM readers the very same video that I saw in the “Walt Disney Story” theater back in June 1993. But would you all be willing to settle for just being able to read a transcript of the audio track for that particular presentation?
How’d I get my hands on something as snazzy as this? Sorry, but that would be telling. Let’s just say that I have really clever friends (thanks again, FJ!) who never throws anything interesting away.
As I mentioned above, the following is a transcript of what WDW guests heard (and experienced) as they took part in the “Disney’s Animal Kingdom” survey sessions back in the latter part of June / early part of July 1993.
With the hope that they’d be able to get an unbiased guest reaction to a WDI video that detailed a fourth new theme park that had been proposed for Walt Disney World, staffers from Disney’s marketing department recruited guests off the street in all three Disney theme parks. At the Magic Kingdom, guests were taken backstage into the “Walt Disney Story” theater, while guests at EPCOT Center were taken backstage at the Norway Pavilion in World Showcase.
The following transcript was made from a recording taken at the third survey site: a small meeting room that was attached to the “Studio East” cast cafeteria backstage at the Disney-MGM Studio Theme Park.
For the first few minutes of the presentation, guests were asked to fill out surveys that gave WDW’s marketing department some basic information about who the members of their test audience were and where they had come from. Then they had to slog through 10 additional pages that asked for exact information on how these guests had spent their time at the Walt Disney World Resort. Particular attention was paid to the amount of time guests had spent in already existing Disney theme parks as well as other Central Florida theme parks and attractions.
Once this was done, a Disney staffer stepped forward and read the following statement:
“In the recent past, Walt Disney World has added new hotels, new water parks and new rides and attractions at each of the three theme parks. Today, we would like your opinion about a new theme park the company is considering.
I would like to read you a very brief description of the idea and then show a ten minute video of the proposed theme park.
The newest concept for a Disney theme park elevates the subject of animals into a new experience, creating a day-long adventure into the mysteries and marvels of the animal kingdom. Not just live wild animals but long-vanished creatures of the past and beasts of myth and fable come to life in a park where guests travel on a safari of discovery through several different lands of animal adventure.”
With that, the Disney staffer stuck a video tape into a nearby player. The following is a transcript of the audio portion of that tape:
“… is a theme park about animals. Not just wild, live animals, but animals of myth and legend as well as extinct animals from the prehistoric past.
Like a classic Disney theme park, this animal adventure park is divided into several different lands. Each land takes a different look at the subject of animals. ‘Dinoland,’ where you meet the baddest giants of the past, dinosaurs; ‘Beastly Kingdom,’ a realm of imaginary animals, dragons and unicorns, ‘Africa’ and ‘Asia,’ which together offer safaris into the savanna and through the jungle to see live, wild animals in their natural habitats. These lands are connected by a central hub.
Guests enter the park through ‘Genesis Gardens;’ a cool, green grotto of flowers and waterfalls that immerses the guest in a world of nature and animals. Leaving ‘Genesis Gardens,’ guests will cross a bridge over ‘Safari River;’ a river that flows throughout the whole park, connecting all the lands. They find themselves in ‘Safari Village;’ a rustic, tropical village in lush jungle surroundings that line the very center of the park. From here, guests will begin their journeys to the different lands of animal adventure.
Rising above the village is the giant ‘Tree of Life.’ This enormous tree is the icon, the symbol for this park about animals and nature. Beneath the tree spreads out a garden where guests can wander amid streams and flowered pathways surrounded by birds, deer and other animals.
Leaving ‘Safari Village’ and crossing the bridge, we pass beneath the skeleton gateway into ‘Dinoland.’ ‘Dinoland’ is about the adventure of discovering extinct animals from the past. The land looks like a paleontological dig, a dinosaur dig.
In this land, you have several opportunities for adventure. The main attraction is a thrilling ride that takes us back in time to rescue a few prehistoric creatures from the fiery comet that ended the age of dinosaurs. Giant reptiles threaten us from every side and — if we don’t escape before the comet’s crash — we face extinction ourselves. This fast paced adventure gives the guests a new look at a vanished era.
The ‘Boneyard Playground’ is a chance to play and learn in a dinosaur dig that’s been opened for an opportunity to explore amidst the fossils and equipment. The ‘Excavator’ is a rollicking coaster ride through a section of the dig supposedly too dangerous to enter. Somehow, we’ve gotten in and are having a real good time.
At the edge of the land, there’s a humorous touch: ‘One Million Dollars B.C.’ It’s a combination gift shop and reptile house with an eccentric proprietor who takes the subject of dinosaurs to the limit.
‘Beastly Kingdom’ is the realm of make-believe animals. Animals that don’t really exist. Out of legends, out of fairy tales, out of storybooks. Like our legends and fairy tales, this land is divided into realms of good and realms of evil.
The evil side is dominated by ‘Dragon’s Tower;’ a burned, wrecked castle inhabited by a greedy, fire-breathing dragon. He hordes a fabulous treasure in his tower chamber. The castle is also inhabited by bats who speak to us from their upside down perches. The bats have a plan. They enlist our help trying to rob the dragon and fly us off on a wild chase. At last, we meet the fire-breathing dragon himself and barely escape un-barbequed.
The good side of this land is ruled by ‘Quest of the Unicorn;’ an adventure which sends us through a maze of medieval mythological creates to seek the hidden grotto where the unicorn lives. There is also ‘Fantasia Gardens,’ a gentle musical boat ride through the animals from Disney’s animated classic ‘Fantasia,’ both the crocodiles and hippos from ‘Dance of the Hours’ and the Pegasus, fauns and the centaurs from Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral.’
To the north of the park are our two main attractions, the African and Asian safaris: ‘Journey to Gorilla Valley’ and ‘Tiger River Rapids.’ Both safaris are outdoor adventures with real animals, dealing with real issues. In Africa, we’re exposed to the poaching of wild animals. In Asia, we’re dealing with deforestation.
The African Safari is a jeep safari that takes you from an African village out through the jungle to the broad savanna, where you are surrounded by animals such as giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, even elephants. In the end, this wilderness is threatened by poachers. We encounter these poachers, report them and then need to escape in a fast paced adventure down a narrow river canyon. Ultimately, the poachers are apprehended and we are rewarded with a chance to walk through the ‘Gorilla Preserve;’ a deep, rich jungle where these animals live protected in a beautiful rainforest environment.
For those interested in a deeper look at Africa, we have the ‘Nature Walk;’ a pedestrian walk where you can get a longer look at your favorite animals and a closer look at smaller or well camouflaged creatures. A series of safaris overlook stations offer good views and plenty of information about the savanna animals.
The Asian Safari, ‘Tiger River Rapids’ is completely different from the African Safari. It’s a river raft ride. The Asian Safari takes guests upriver on a flexible river raft deep into the heart of a pristine rain forest. Exotic wildlife of Southeast Asia — leopards, orangutans, rhinoceros, monkeys and elephants — live along the banks of the river amid towering trees and tumbling waterfalls.
Guests depart from a colorful Asian village for a journey that will carry them through waterfalls, rapids, mysterious ruins and a realm of rare, endangered animals. Part of the journey takes us through the devastation created by careless logging of the fragile forest, where erosion creates muddy rapids that threaten our raft. Finally, we conclude in a place where man and animal seek to live together in harmony. As the ride comes to an end, we see what was once a maharajah’s hunting palace, now the headquarters for ‘Operation Tiger,’ a program for restoring rain forests and allowing tigers to live there once again.
There is also a ‘Nature Walk’ that offers a walking tour of the Asian jungle for another look at rhinos, elephants and tigers, providing information and a deeper understanding of jungle life.
In a commitment to worldwide animal conservation, Disney’s animal adventure park also offers ‘Wildlife Express to Preservation Station.’ A train ride that takes guests through both safaris to our facilities for conservation and rare animal breeding. There, you can learn about the real work we’re doing to preserve endangered species and even get involved with zoos in your own home town through a special computerized link-up.
Disney’s new park creates a day-long adventure for the whole family. Shows, rides, attractions and real wildlife safaris offer an incredible selection of animal experiences. Whether you love tigers, teddy bears or Tyrannosaurus Rex, you’ll find all your favorite animals right here …”
At this point, the Disney marketing staffer shut off the video and asked guests to continue filling out their survey forms. The questions that followed asked for specific information about how guests might have spent their vacations differently had the fourth WDW theme park already been open for business (IE: Would you still have spent a day and a half exploring EPCOT Center and/or would you have cancelled that side trip to Busch Gardens Tampa, etc.) This was followed by questions concerning which sort of multi-day passes guests would have been willing to buy if Disney’s animal park had been open now.
Of particular interest (at least to me) were the proposed names for the fourth Disney World theme park. Guests were asked to select the name they found most appealing from the following list:
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Disney’s Wild World Disney’s Animal Adventure Disney’s Wild Territorium The Animal Expedition at Disney Disney’s Animal Encounter
The survey concluded with a series of questions asking guests whether they thought the proposed theme park fit in with their image of what “Disney” was all about. Once guests completed their surveys, they handed them in to the Disney staffers — who thanked the guests for their time and then offered them complimentary sodas.
That’s a pretty fascinating document, don’t you think? Both for what does include (I.E. descriptions of all of the attractions for “Beastly Kingdom,” those “Nature Walk” trails that were supposed to been included as key elements of the African and Asian safaris, not to mention the “Excavator”) and what it DOESN’T include (I.E. no mention at all of “Camp MinnieMickey” or that any show at all was under consideration for installation at the “Tree of Life”).
Clearly, the Imagineers had a very different theme park in mind when they put together this “Disney’s Animal Kingdom” concept video tape back in 1993. One that wouldn’t rely quite so heavily on live animals. One that actually tried to balance the park’s entertainment offerings between tried-and-true theme park rides and shows and more cutting edge stuff. Safari rides that took guests through environments that were filled with really-for-real live animals. Not to mention those “Nature Trails,” which would have allowed DAK visitors to take a self-paced tour of the park’s savanna and rain forest enclosures.
One has to wonder … would Disney’s Animal Kingdom really have been that much more of a success if the Imagineers had stuck to their original plans? If WDI hadn’t allowed Disney’s accountants to pare this ambitious theme park project down to the bare bone?
Update Oh … almost forgot. Those of you who dropped by the site today expecting to find a brand new Roger Colton column: don’t despair. I actually decided to hold Roger’s next story ’til Monday, February 3rd. When that column would be sure to get the maximum play possible here at JimHillMedia. Given its subject matter, I’m fairly certain that this particular piece will cause a bit of a fur-renzy over on the JHM discussion boards once you guys get to read it. So be sure to come by on Monday and check it out.
Also … quoting from Sally Fields now: “You like me. You really like me.” By that I mean: the response to last week’s announcement about the beta tests of the JHM Disneyland and DCA tours was downright overwhelming. Due to the incredible demand for slots, I actually had to expand the number of tours that I’ll be giving on Saturday, March 22nd and Sunday, March 23rd. Now there’ll be two tours of Disneyland on Saturday — one that leaves at 10 a.m. and one that leaves at 2 p.m. On Sunday, there’ll be a 10 a.m. tour of DCA, followed by a 2 p.m. tour of Disneyland.
Of course, given that I’m now doing extra tours that weekend, there are (of course) a few extra slots available. But only a few. 5 for the Disneyland tours and 4 for the DCA tour. So — if you’d still like try to get in on the beta test of the JHM tours — now would be a really good time to sign up. (Just be aware that — in the event that a few folks may eventually have to back out at the last minute — I will be wait-listing a few slots for these tours. But just a few. After all, I can’t guarantee that anyone who’s on the wait list will actually end up being able to get in on this inaugural run of tours. So — if you’d really like to get in on the fun — you’d best drop me an e-mail today at my stadlerhill@mindspring.com e-mail address ASAP.)
Those of you JHM readers who aren’t really interested in taking part in these tours at the park should be aware that Roger, Chuck, Michelle and I are also looking into the idea of staging an informal get-together on either Saturday or Sunday night. Nothing fancy, mind you. Just maybe the bunch of us meeting some place in Disneyland, then heading off as a group to one of the cheaper eateries in the park to nosh and talk. Get to know one another. Put some names to some faces, etc.
We’re even hoping that we can persuade JHM’s most excellent tech guy — David Gasior — to come out and join us. Whaddaya say, Dave? Wanna come out and actually finally meet the folks you’ve been working with lo these many months?
Alright. That’s enough yammering for this week. Come back on Monday to read Roger Colton’s intriguing new column as well as the first installment of the newly reworked “Remembering ‘Light Magic” series.
Honest. I promise.
Talk to you later,
jrh