Reminds me of one day where me, my best friend, and my band director (long story there...) were at DAK together. As were we crossing the bridge between Pandora and Discovery Island, my friend abruptly pulled us over to point out the dragon rock. Later on the Maharajah trail, I led everyone to the tigers and introduced them by name. My band director just stared at us like... "why the heck do you guys just know this stuff"
As someone who's done a ton of research into the history of cancelled Disney attractions this somehow completely passed me by. Great research on this! That scene with the mangled Knights is shockingly disturbing especially for 1990s Disney.
@@jackclark4598 Oh. Yeah I don't know. Usually I'd say that anything particularly dark or gruesome would be at a minimum if even present. But I also wouldn't have expected all the Knight corpses either so I don't really know. If anything had Disney planned on including anything of that nature in the ride it likely would've been either reduced or removed after the backlash over the Knights.
Wanted to come here to add, the boats are neither in storage nor at Epcot. They were bought by the Magic Kingdom (yes they had to pay for them) and used for the pirate themed fireworks cruises, and then used as regular transportation after Covid. Afaik they aren’t being used at all right now, they are very slow and quite old. Source: you’ll just have to trust that I know
@@GeorgesSpace I would assume that’s confusion with the friendship boats (which are similar in design but wholly different boats You can actually see one of the boats on Google satellite maps if you know where to look… I’m not saying one should look for a dock slightly northeast of the contemporary… but If one were to look in that area they may find a familiar boat
@@GeorgesSpace hi! I’m a cast member that used to work on the boats at Magic Kingdom and that user is right. We had the option to learn how to drive those boats for the pirates firework cruise. They’re very fun! They were also occasionally brought out for our “purple route” which was for the contemporary resort to magic kingdom after Easter Service (for Easter Sunday Disney would hold a Christian service in one of the convention halls)
I got to ride this during a park preview! It was my dad’s favorite attraction at opening. Next time we went to animal kingdom, we asked a CM about it and they repeatedly denied that a boat ride ever existed!!! It was wild! No pun intended..
This video has cleared up so many questions I have had about what was on that river, why is it so wide and what about those "abandoned" barely used buildings along it's shores. Crazy how many things at Disney World are built and abandoned on their huge property, just barely visible under the overgrowth.
The closest thing to a visible abandoned attraction I can think of is the tracks for the People Mover/Rocket Rods at Disneyland. I actually rode both attractions, and will always point out the abandoned tracks, and loading dock just out in the open.
It's wild to me that it's somehow the unicorn statue that managed to make it out of this ride not just okay but with its own Instagram page meanwhile everything else was either left there or taken out and not cared for.
I always wondered what the rock feature was at that walkway from Pandora to Africa in Animal Kingdom. Never knew it was supposed to be a "cave" for a dragon.
of course its forgotten even by explorers, because whats even there to explore? the one animatronic is gone, and the unicorn barely was there to begin with. thats already 90% of the attraction
YES! My poor teen! I always point out the loading dock area over the bridge every time we enter AK as I quiz her on what used to be there. She was not amused when I got excited about this video! I absolutely loved it! There was so much history packed in it! Thank you for making my day/year!
Get onto this slow-ass boat and get a sunburn! Sights & sounds may vary. Also, really disappointed that the beastly kingdom was completely cancelled. Another reason to dislike Eisner, I guess.
@@JohnathanWilliamson849?huh??? First, that's completely unrelated to my comment. Second, that's very presumptuous of you. And also, you're thinking of bestiality, which is gross. Pretty sure furries are different.
I’m glad I can watch a video on this ride’s history, as it had such a short life no one else who had been in those early years really remembered it. I believe it must’ve been when the attraction was supposed to be a “taxi” and there were no animal handlers, I remember the drivers wanting us to wave and shout a saying at people passing by on bridges as we approached. I thought it was so cheesy even being fairly young.
I knew that a river ride was originally planed for AK, but wow I had no idea it actually existed and operated very temporarily. Very Interesting to see!
As much as I love Animal Kingdom looking back they opened this park with barely anything to do for the guest. Did they think people would stay in the park all day?
The more time goes on the more inclined I am to believe that Walt was truly one of kind, and no one else at Disney has any remote clue beyond trying to make money. Case in point, the brick and mortar of the People Mover is still standing today, despite lack of maintenance, and that was one of Walt's projects that he didn't see completed.
My parents took me to Disney in early 1998 (Easter was early and coincided with my 12th birthday) just before animal kingdom fully opened and it was soft open for those staying in resort hotels. I remember the boat ride plus I loved discovery island and my favourite water park was river country
Eisner ruined so many things. He got rid of the PeopleMover at Disneyland and brought in the Rocket Rods ride. Only problem is that he put a fast moving ride on a track made for a slow moving ride. It’s amazing no one got killed on that ride due his stupidity. Now the track is still there with nothing on it. It can’t be removed, replaced or updated due to its large size and all those decades not being maintained, Disney can’t do anything with it.
Got to ride the original version and the radio Disney version. Too bad they still aren’t running. I remember when they started having cast members on the boat with small animals or insects in small containers and would educate guests about the creature during the journey.
This was such a weird ride, it wasn't very fast, and I forget about it regularly. I have a picture on it somewhere but I can't ever seem to find those old Disney photos (family pictures and all)
Yes I did this year 1... 1998. Skewered knights and a roaring hole with fire effect. We left the park to go see Buzz Aldrin go up in the space shuttle.
Discovery riverboats was not originally meant to be an attraction. They tried to make changes to keep the boat “afloat.“ The fact that people took it as an attraction rather than a transportation is what ultimately did it in.
I went on those. I was there opening day. Wish they brought them back. It was weird to me they got rid of them so quickly. We got on them with the thought we can buzz through the park to get a quick visual on everything. My biggest complain about this is how low it is compared to the river in magic kingdom, or the lake in Epcot. The river is a good 20’ below walking level. Impossible to see anything in the park from there.
on SUPER busy magic kingdom nights they use the boats sometimes!! The last time I was on one was Pre-Pandemic, but it was so interesting! It looked completely unchanged from these videos. I've only been on them twice, and both times was on 7 Seas Lagoon. That was actually the only reason I knew these even existed.
@@magicallysadie348 in both cases i rode, it was for overflow crowds transportation to the resorts. the cast members said they have a few of them available in 7 seas lagoon when needed to get people back to resorts.
I was trying to remember if I rode this when my family visited AK in it's first year of operation. When the Radio Disney version was mentioned in the video, the memory came back. I was the type of kid who loved Disney but found Radio Disney to be cringey - I did not enjoy the ride because of the Radio Disney aspect.
Tokyo DisneySea actually has a simple transportation/ sightseeing boat ride similar to this that circulates around the park. The difference is that the way DisneySea is laid out, there's a lot to see from the boat. They don't even really need special theme elements for the ride.
lol i love how when you mention the Kraken @ 6:19 ..in the art work (im assuming its a disney park map from the time OR concept art) the Kraken is depicted NOT as a scary Kraken from Mytholigy BUt looks SUSPICOUSLY like the loch ness monster from Scotland ! 🤣 ROFL ther is a BIG diference between what a kraken looks like in Mythology and the suppoesed loch ness monster in scotland ! .....i suppose Disney were going for a hybrid in there marketing / map/ concept art ...called Nessie the kraken! 🤣😂
July 1998. First trip to the new park and this was easily the worst ride they had at the time. Sitting on a slow moving boat in 90 degree heat as they blast random radio pop songs on the boats speakers and you putz around looking at nothing interesting. This ride goes down with all those lousy Disney Land rides that disappeared shortly after the park opened in 1955.
I just watched pretty much all your Disney videos man great content! The 3 times I went on Expedition Everest I have seen loads of hair ties thrown by guests on the top of the mountain when the ride stops. Maybe you could look into this for a video idea?
Especially in comparison to Discovery Island, the Peoplemover, the old Pop Century, most of Epcot or 20,000 leagues, there was so little to start with for the river boats that all the abandoned theming just kinda becomes rock work.
in 1996 my mom made the Jaws ride operator break character by petting the shark when it popped up. (while stifling a laugh) "Mrs.. Please don't pet the Giant Man Eating Shark..." (My Mom) "But Bruce looks sad!" (open Laughter) "That is besides the point!"
if only I could have been there to say "you know, Bruce might not want to eat humans he might just be looking for attention. Bruce deserves love, too!"
i think i was too young to have ridden the river boats, but ill have to ask my parents if they remember us riding them. what a neat remnant! next time i visit animal kingdom ill definitely have to seek out the dragons cave rocks
My grandparents paid extra to get into Animal Kingdom early, when we took our Disney trip. The tree wasn't done yet, they were still building it. we took that stupid boat ride, and i remember being absolutely miserable, it was so hot and boring. Highlight was a kiosk selling baboon plushes that me and my cousins got, and had a blast messing around with. I'm in my 40s now and still lament we wasted a day on this park. Yeeeesh.
I rode the Discovery River Boats and the Radio Disney River Cruise and both were lame. They had wait times around 1 hour due to the slow loading. The coolest part was the dragon cave. Even though I didn't like the ride, when it closed I was sad because I never filmed it with my camcorder. I wish I got footage of it.
Really didn't mean to call it a little bit of a boring ride after getting clear of the boat talking to a ride cast member, so when it stopped running, I really didn't miss it.
I think the river is wasted space especially since they recently stopped even the character barges. They should reinstate a boat ride, make it awesome, market it properly.
I'm just gonna come right out and say it. Live animals are a liability. Sure, Animal Kingdom's conservation and educational work are important. But I don't personally know anyone who goes to Animal Kingdom for the express purpose of seeing a live animal--especially since many of those animals are sleeping or napping or simply out of sight or unavailable when guests are around. Disney never should have cancelled Beastly Kingdom, but now that Disney has removed the prehistoric dinosaur part of Animal Kingdom, it seems unlikely that such an incredible idea will ever see the light of day. 😢 Perhaps the Beyond Big Thunder Mountain expansion at the Magic Kingdom will be the spiritual successor, but I doubt it.
I rode those boats because I was and am a cast member, cast memes preview. It was soooooo boring because none of what you described happened. It was just that, a boat ride.
DISCOVERY RIVER BOATS VIDEO LET'S GO! My family gets so tired of me pointing out the rock bits
Reminds me of one day where me, my best friend, and my band director (long story there...) were at DAK together. As were we crossing the bridge between Pandora and Discovery Island, my friend abruptly pulled us over to point out the dragon rock. Later on the Maharajah trail, I led everyone to the tigers and introduced them by name. My band director just stared at us like... "why the heck do you guys just know this stuff"
I love how he’s roasting the ride mid vid and then the image pans to the animatronic dinosaur and he’s like “Your cool” 😂
Such a lovely unicorn statue. I'd like to think it's just in someone's backyard garden somewhere, still being admired and preserved.
Nvm I just reached the end of the video that reveals the unicorn's fate! Happy for mister unicorn! He's getting a good life
I rode this when I was young during the Radio Disney re-theme. Even as a Disney-loving kid, I just kept thinking "Wow, this is bad" while riding it.
As someone who's done a ton of research into the history of cancelled Disney attractions this somehow completely passed me by. Great research on this!
That scene with the mangled Knights is shockingly disturbing especially for 1990s Disney.
& if that's the preview, how far did they intend on going with the dragon coaster?
@@jackclark4598 It seems it was still planned until a couple years after the park opened.
@@Solo13508 I meant how far were they going to take the dark themes & gruesome violence in the ride itself
@@jackclark4598 Oh. Yeah I don't know. Usually I'd say that anything particularly dark or gruesome would be at a minimum if even present. But I also wouldn't have expected all the Knight corpses either so I don't really know. If anything had Disney planned on including anything of that nature in the ride it likely would've been either reduced or removed after the backlash over the Knights.
90s Disney was pretty hardcore actually. Way more than now or before the 90s.
Wanted to come here to add, the boats are neither in storage nor at Epcot.
They were bought by the Magic Kingdom (yes they had to pay for them) and used for the pirate themed fireworks cruises, and then used as regular transportation after Covid.
Afaik they aren’t being used at all right now, they are very slow and quite old.
Source: you’ll just have to trust that I know
ah that's strange, the sources I read said they were used for Epcot's World Showcase Lagoon. Thanks for clarifying
That is some really cool facts!
@@GeorgesSpace I would assume that’s confusion with the friendship boats (which are similar in design but wholly different boats
You can actually see one of the boats on Google satellite maps if you know where to look…
I’m not saying one should look for a dock slightly northeast of the contemporary… but If one were to look in that area they may find a familiar boat
@@GeorgesSpace hi! I’m a cast member that used to work on the boats at Magic Kingdom and that user is right. We had the option to learn how to drive those boats for the pirates firework cruise. They’re very fun! They were also occasionally brought out for our “purple route” which was for the contemporary resort to magic kingdom after Easter Service (for Easter Sunday Disney would hold a Christian service in one of the convention halls)
If thats the case, looks like there is one at 28°25'29.0"N 81°34'23.3"W on google maps?
Biggest Disney World let down as a kid was that dragon cave - I had been promised a dragon! Even had (still have) the promo Happy Meal toy of it!
I got to ride this during a park preview! It was my dad’s favorite attraction at opening. Next time we went to animal kingdom, we asked a CM about it and they repeatedly denied that a boat ride ever existed!!! It was wild! No pun intended..
This video has cleared up so many questions I have had about what was on that river, why is it so wide and what about those "abandoned" barely used buildings along it's shores. Crazy how many things at Disney World are built and abandoned on their huge property, just barely visible under the overgrowth.
The closest thing to a visible abandoned attraction I can think of is the tracks for the People Mover/Rocket Rods at Disneyland. I actually rode both attractions, and will always point out the abandoned tracks, and loading dock just out in the open.
In disneyland in the tommorowland cafe there's a paintjob for the abandoned redo on the ceiling.
It's wild to me that it's somehow the unicorn statue that managed to make it out of this ride not just okay but with its own Instagram page meanwhile everything else was either left there or taken out and not cared for.
They just made the boat available in Disney Dreamlight Valley and it comes in two versions, the nice boat and the abandoned half sunk version 😅
I always wondered what the rock feature was at that walkway from Pandora to Africa in Animal Kingdom. Never knew it was supposed to be a "cave" for a dragon.
The failure of EuroDisney had so many weird knock-on effects, I wanna see someone do an alternate history story where the park succeeded
Disney Paris is still the worst of all the resorts/parks.
I wanna see an alternate history video where Disney didn't build EuroDisney at all, and reinvested that money into their existing parks!
of course its forgotten even by explorers, because whats even there to explore? the one animatronic is gone, and the unicorn barely was there to begin with. thats already 90% of the attraction
YES! My poor teen! I always point out the loading dock area over the bridge every time we enter AK as I quiz her on what used to be there. She was not amused when I got excited about this video! I absolutely loved it! There was so much history packed in it! Thank you for making my day/year!
I’ll never get over them cancelling Beastly Kingdom 😢 it would have been incredible!
Get onto this slow-ass boat and get a sunburn! Sights & sounds may vary.
Also, really disappointed that the beastly kingdom was completely cancelled. Another reason to dislike Eisner, I guess.
stay away from animals
@@JohnathanWilliamson849???
@@skychaserthedragon2046 I know what furries do to animals
@@JohnathanWilliamson849?huh??? First, that's completely unrelated to my comment. Second, that's very presumptuous of you. And also, you're thinking of bestiality, which is gross. Pretty sure furries are different.
@@skychaserthedragon2046 haven't you heard of the zoosadism leaks?
I’m glad I can watch a video on this ride’s history, as it had such a short life no one else who had been in those early years really remembered it. I believe it must’ve been when the attraction was supposed to be a “taxi” and there were no animal handlers, I remember the drivers wanting us to wave and shout a saying at people passing by on bridges as we approached. I thought it was so cheesy even being fairly young.
I had never heard of this! Great video. I'm planning to see what remnants I can spot on my next trip!
I knew that a river ride was originally planed for AK, but wow I had no idea it actually existed and operated very temporarily. Very Interesting to see!
the radio disney renev... that was so comically disney... gotta love it (sarcastically)
Eisner’s Magical Creatures Riverboat Adventure sounds like it would’ve been fun. Sad I missed it.
As much as I love Animal Kingdom looking back they opened this park with barely anything to do for the guest.
Did they think people would stay in the park all day?
The more time goes on the more inclined I am to believe that Walt was truly one of kind, and no one else at Disney has any remote clue beyond trying to make money.
Case in point, the brick and mortar of the People Mover is still standing today, despite lack of maintenance, and that was one of Walt's projects that he didn't see completed.
the knights death is the coolest part beside the dinosaur
My parents took me to Disney in early 1998 (Easter was early and coincided with my 12th birthday) just before animal kingdom fully opened and it was soft open for those staying in resort hotels. I remember the boat ride plus I loved discovery island and my favourite water park was river country
*R.I.P.,* Aladar animatronic (😢).
6:33 bro recording with the flip brings so much nostalgia lololololol
Eisner ruined so many things. He got rid of the PeopleMover at Disneyland and brought in the Rocket Rods ride. Only problem is that he put a fast moving ride on a track made for a slow moving ride. It’s amazing no one got killed on that ride due his stupidity. Now the track is still there with nothing on it. It can’t be removed, replaced or updated due to its large size and all those decades not being maintained, Disney can’t do anything with it.
Went on that boat ride during an industry preview with a friend. Afterwards, we were both like "Wtf was that supposed to be?"
Got to ride the original version and the radio Disney version. Too bad they still aren’t running. I remember when they started having cast members on the boat with small animals or insects in small containers and would educate guests about the creature during the journey.
This was such a weird ride, it wasn't very fast, and I forget about it regularly. I have a picture on it somewhere but I can't ever seem to find those old Disney photos (family pictures and all)
"That was so scary! I was sure we were gonna crash and die at the dragon rocks!" - Libby & Valerie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch 1998 Disney Special
Yes I did this year 1... 1998. Skewered knights and a roaring hole with fire effect. We left the park to go see Buzz Aldrin go up in the space shuttle.
Effects at the Dragon Cave were still present through like 2014-15. I can’t remember exactly which ones, but I recall it lighting up or smoking.
That would have been awesome if beaustly kingdom happened.
Rode this around 2005 haven’t been back since but interesting to see the changes to the park through UA-cam over the last near 20 years
If I was Bob Iger I'd announce a Beastly Kingdom revival then turn off my phone lol
another great video :)! love the work you do, keep it up!
Discovery riverboats was not originally meant to be an attraction. They tried to make changes to keep the boat “afloat.“ The fact that people took it as an attraction rather than a transportation is what ultimately did it in.
You know its a good day when george uploads. Second to defuntland ofc sorry love
This was fascinating!
I went on those. I was there opening day. Wish they brought them back. It was weird to me they got rid of them so quickly.
We got on them with the thought we can buzz through the park to get a quick visual on everything. My biggest complain about this is how low it is compared to the river in magic kingdom, or the lake in Epcot. The river is a good 20’ below walking level. Impossible to see anything in the park from there.
on SUPER busy magic kingdom nights they use the boats sometimes!! The last time I was on one was Pre-Pandemic, but it was so interesting!
It looked completely unchanged from these videos. I've only been on them twice, and both times was on 7 Seas Lagoon. That was actually the only reason I knew these even existed.
what were the boats used for? i wonder why disney chooses to reuse these ride vehicles but scraps other ones from defunct attractions.
@@magicallysadie348 in both cases i rode, it was for overflow crowds transportation to the resorts. the cast members said they have a few of them available in 7 seas lagoon when needed to get people back to resorts.
Honey come quick! The new George Browning video just dropped!
I was trying to remember if I rode this when my family visited AK in it's first year of operation. When the Radio Disney version was mentioned in the video, the memory came back. I was the type of kid who loved Disney but found Radio Disney to be cringey - I did not enjoy the ride because of the Radio Disney aspect.
budget cuts like ... we make it but bad instead of just do nothing, save money and spare everyone the bad experience
Tokyo DisneySea actually has a simple transportation/ sightseeing boat ride similar to this that circulates around the park. The difference is that the way DisneySea is laid out, there's a lot to see from the boat. They don't even really need special theme elements for the ride.
this has always been my favorite defunct ride!!!!!
fun fact i went to disney land with my family in 2016 and animal kingdom is still active
lol i love how when you mention the Kraken @ 6:19 ..in the art work (im assuming its a disney park map from the time OR concept art) the Kraken is depicted NOT as a scary Kraken from Mytholigy BUt looks SUSPICOUSLY like the loch ness monster from Scotland ! 🤣 ROFL ther is a BIG diference between what a kraken looks like in Mythology and the suppoesed loch ness monster in scotland ! .....i suppose Disney were going for a hybrid in there marketing / map/ concept art ...called Nessie the kraken! 🤣😂
Love this content.
Oh nooo poor Disney they were running low on money 😢 It's ok, we understand, the colored plaster rocks are fine...
July 1998. First trip to the new park and this was easily the worst ride they had at the time. Sitting on a slow moving boat in 90 degree heat as they blast random radio pop songs on the boats speakers and you putz around looking at nothing interesting. This ride goes down with all those lousy Disney Land rides that disappeared shortly after the park opened in 1955.
I am still so bummed that the Beastly Kingdom never fully materialized. I would easily take it over Pandora
i've never even heard about the radio disney retheme until this video
Perhaps put the current Disney executives on a continuous loop trip until they make a profitable movie
God I love this video
I just watched pretty much all your Disney videos man great content! The 3 times I went on Expedition Everest I have seen loads of hair ties thrown by guests on the top of the mountain when the ride stops. Maybe you could look into this for a video idea?
I love how the ride was bad, so they decided being stuck on a boat with scorpions was better.
Especially in comparison to Discovery Island, the Peoplemover, the old Pop Century, most of Epcot or 20,000 leagues, there was so little to start with for the river boats that all the abandoned theming just kinda becomes rock work.
in 1996 my mom made the Jaws ride operator break character by petting the shark when it popped up.
(while stifling a laugh)
"Mrs.. Please don't pet the Giant Man Eating Shark..."
(My Mom)
"But Bruce looks sad!"
(open Laughter)
"That is besides the point!"
if only I could have been there to say "you know, Bruce might not want to eat humans he might just be looking for attention. Bruce deserves love, too!"
The part with the elephant joke actually made me laugh because of the emoji
I remember seeing the unicorn with a smoke effect and being so confused as to why it wasn't moving.
oh i’m early?!?😍 excited for this one!
i think i was too young to have ridden the river boats, but ill have to ask my parents if they remember us riding them. what a neat remnant! next time i visit animal kingdom ill definitely have to seek out the dragons cave rocks
Disney ruined everything. 94 was grand.
My grandparents paid extra to get into Animal Kingdom early, when we took our Disney trip. The tree wasn't done yet, they were still building it. we took that stupid boat ride, and i remember being absolutely miserable, it was so hot and boring. Highlight was a kiosk selling baboon plushes that me and my cousins got, and had a blast messing around with. I'm in my 40s now and still lament we wasted a day on this park. Yeeeesh.
I rode the Discovery River Boats and the Radio Disney River Cruise and both were lame. They had wait times around 1 hour due to the slow loading. The coolest part was the dragon cave. Even though I didn't like the ride, when it closed I was sad because I never filmed it with my camcorder. I wish I got footage of it.
i never got to ride this when it was available. TBH, i wouldnt have minded a nice slow ride around the lagoon
15:06 👱🏼♀️”be sure to try a $16 slice of frozen pizza and $8 juice box after your sense of underwhelming fizzles”
yea, as I call it the profit kingdom!
Really didn't mean to call it a little bit of a boring ride after getting clear of the boat talking to a ride cast member, so when it stopped running, I really didn't miss it.
Those boats need to come back because I am sorry but Animal Kingdom is barely walkable. We need the fucking transport.
You can't say "Disney Park" without the words "Budget cuts".
I think we technically did get beastly kingdom but as avatar. The boat ride is the unicorn cave and the flight is a dragon ride in a castle.
Awesome video
I want to see the home video of the unicorn moving! It's probably bad though...
Even if they did build Beastly Kingdom, they may have replaced it with Pandora eventually anyway.
the Magic Kingdom Swan boats are another one that you should do a video on.
They had pets on the boat like when we used to be able to take home the class pet for the weekend back in the day 😂
I really wonder how everything built after Euro Disney would’ve been like had Euro Disney not been a financial disaster
I think the river is wasted space especially since they recently stopped even the character barges. They should reinstate a boat ride, make it awesome, market it properly.
Babe wake up, new George Browning video
11:08 D- oh this is a different thing 😂
I love how they killed the only cool part of the ride by scrapping the Dinosaur, even if the movie it is from is really boring.
The knights looked so fucking cool! 🔥
Your coo!!..😊😊 13:23
EARLY FOR ONCE
I was at AK the first week it opened. I was expecting a Jungle Cruise type ride. It was so boring. Nothing to look at.
5:06 the boatblooks like a nail and a finger
RIP Harambe. Dixout
I'm just gonna come right out and say it. Live animals are a liability. Sure, Animal Kingdom's conservation and educational work are important. But I don't personally know anyone who goes to Animal Kingdom for the express purpose of seeing a live animal--especially since many of those animals are sleeping or napping or simply out of sight or unavailable when guests are around. Disney never should have cancelled Beastly Kingdom, but now that Disney has removed the prehistoric dinosaur part of Animal Kingdom, it seems unlikely that such an incredible idea will ever see the light of day. 😢 Perhaps the Beyond Big Thunder Mountain expansion at the Magic Kingdom will be the spiritual successor, but I doubt it.
Would have loved Beastly Kingdom
I rode those boats because I was and am a cast member, cast memes preview. It was soooooo boring because none of what you described happened. It was just that, a boat ride.
And I DO remember the knights but not the unicorn. Funny.
Animal kingdom who they think they are Busch gardens?
The dinosaur animatronic could’ve been used in Dinosaur if they had kept it.
I would’ve preferred Beastly Kingdom over Pandora. Mythical creatures are cooler than science fiction aliens.
What do you mean they were repurposed at Epcot?
my question is why do they have a flare gun on the jungle Cruise but on the river boats they had this they could’ve also had a flare gun? 🤔 6:33