Conference koolit::disney

    
         ORLANDO, Fla--Walt Disney World's 4th Orlando
      theme park, which could open as early as 1997,
      will mix wild animals with nature walks and
      elaborate thrill rides, the Orlando Sentinel
      reported Saturday. It cited a confidential
      marketing video.
         Disney sources cautioned that although the
      basic concepts will remain the same, the park's
      design is constantly being revised, the newspaper
      said.
         The Sentinal's report, based on viewings of the
      marketing video, said the 500-acre animal park
      will have a strong conservation theme. It will
      provide competition for other animal theme parks
      and rides in central Florida, including Tampa's
      Busch Gardens and the Jurassic Park attraction
      planned for Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.
         "It's got more of that fun for the younger
      adults and older kids than Universal has," said
      Alan Gould, a theme park analyst at Kidder,
      Peabody & Co.
         "And I would have to think this is going to be
      huge competition for Busch Gardens."
         Like the Magic Kingdom, the newest park is divided into several
    lands connected by a central
      hub, according to the video, which has been shown
      to tourists as part of a marketing study.
         A giant Tree of Life, the park's icon, rises in
      the midst of the setting, in the style of the
      famous Cinderella's Castle.
         The lands may include a "Beastly Kingdom,"
      which features imaginary animals from storybooks
      and fairy tales. It may also include a "Dinoland,"
      Disney's answer to Jurassic Park, which invites
      guests on an archeological dig and takes them back
      in time to rescue dinosaurs from extinction.
      Another land may be "Africa," where guests can see
      wild animals, and witness the capture of poachers,
      who threaten the environment. Also there may be an
      "Asia," which features rides through simulated
      rain forests.
         Muddy rapids--the result of erosion wrought by
      careless logging--threaten the rafts in Asia, but
      the journey ends safely at a conservation area.
         Disney already has 3 theme parks in its complex
      near Orlando--The Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center, and
      the Disney-MGM Studios.
                                           (From Reuters)
             

    Wow...  sounds like *major* competition for Busch Gardens...  If they
    add a water skiing show, they could knock Cypress Gardens down as well
    :-)
    
    						- Jim
    

    That may or may not be true. YOu could have said the same thing about
    MGM against Universal. Well Universal is doing quite well, as if
    MGM did not even exist. With Busch Gardens backing it is not likely
    they will go away. Cypress Gardens has been around forever long 
    before any of the others and they have managed to survive nicely.
    Basically each expansion at WDW just draws more and more people
    to Florida, the numbers are so large it probably will allow
    not only for the existing places to survive but to grow also.
    
    				Harold
    

    Re -.1 ( Harold )
    
    	Yeah, it'll draw even more vacationers to Florida ( Orlando ), but
    it'll also eat up another day of vacation time - if there are tow
    somewhat similar parks, and one is right next door to Orlando ( where
    the bulk of the hotels are ) and the other is 1.5 hours away in Tampa,
    which one are people going to go to?  My folks passed on Sea World,
    opting instead to just go to the Living Seas at EPCOT ( not *nearly*
    the same experience, but they never were marine life fans :-) ).
    
    	My point is - generally most people stay 1 week.  
    
    	1. - Magic Kingdom 
    	2. - EPCOT
    	3. - Disney/MGM
    	4. - Universal Studios
    	5. - Typhoon Lagoon / Wet-n-Wild  or other water park
    	6. - Busch Gardens
    	7. - Sea World
    	8. - Chruch Street Station
    	9. - New Disney Animal Park
    	10. - Pleasure Island
    
    	With the exceptions of ( a water park ) , Pleasure Island and
    Church Street Station, all of the above usually take at *least* one day
    to experience.  While I don't think that Busch Gardens will fold up and
    blow away, I'm sure the new animal park will eat into their profits
    quite a bit . . .
    
    					- Jimbo

"Wild Animal Kingdom" is the name of the fourth theme park to be built at
Walt Disney World.  Here are some quotes from a newswire article about
the announcement.

"...a rising wave of tourists streaming through its turnstiles and profits
topping $1B for the first time..."

"The more than $750 million project will open in the spring of 1998 and feature
more than 1,000 animals ranging from mammoth African elephants to tiny
hissing cockroaches from Madagascar."
[moderator's note: Isn't that a new rock group?]

"In addition, Disney announced other new attractions at Walt Disney World,
including new resorts, educational and sports centers, and the construction
of two Disney cruise ships bigger than any other cruise vessel now operating."

"From its 28,000 acre Disney World Resort, Disney will carve out 500 acres for
the new theme park.  That's twice the size of EPCOT, fice times bigger than
the Magic Kingdom."

"Visitors will tour the jungles and savannas of Africa, engaging in close
interactions with animals.  They'll go backstage for lessons on conservation
and see research being done on any of the 150 species in the new park --
including 25 endangered species."

"The park will ultimately include three themed lands:  Africa, which takes
visitors on a mock safari; the Beastly Kingdom, focusing on mythological
creatures; and Dinoland, an area with animated dinosuars and other prehistoric
animals."

My personal thoughts on WAK:

1. Heck of an acronym!

2. The Disney VP I saw interviewed said this park is based on a traditional
   love of animals that Walt himself started.  Why, then, is only one of
   three themed lands based on real animals?

3. Do we really want to see a bigger "Universe of Engergy?" The interviewers
   gave him a hard time about creating a "Jurassic Park."  Of course,
   Univeral Studios IS creating a themed land based on "Jurassic Park."
   I like to see WDW make itself distinctive, not a copycat.

4. Disney needs a fast lesson on "politically correct" speech when talking
about animals.  The news article says that visitors will see "research
being done on any of the 150 species..."  How about: "Visitors will be able
to see researchers studying any of the 150 species in habitats designed to
closely simulate their natural settings."  I hope that's a close statement
to their plans.

5. Sounds like WDW park attendance is surging upward again.

Bill A.

    The best aspect of this is the thinning of the crowds with additional
    theme park space. Although the park area may seem large probably only 
    half of that space will be accessible to visitors.
    
    It would be nice to see a slowdown on hotel room expansion and an
    acceleration of park expansion.
    
    Mike

By Leslie Doolittle, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 20--ON TOURISM

Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom has been tamed a bit -- in name at least.

The official title of the park is now Disney's Animal Kingdom.

It appears Mutual of Omaha -- the folks who brought you the Wild
Kingdom TV show -- may have influenced that decision.

Last year, shortly after the park was announced, officials from the
Nebraska-based insurance company noted that they still own the
rights to the name Wild Kingdom.

You remember ol' Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler:

Yes, Jim, and just as that baby wildebeest needed protection from the
fierce crocodile, your family needs Mutual of Omaha insurance!

When Disney World spokesman Bill Warren was asked whether Mutual
influenced the name change, he responded with a sidestep that
would have made the late Gene Kelly proud:

"Everyone was calling it the Animal Kingdom so we thought it would be
better to go ahead and change the name."

When pressed for a "yes" or "no" response to the Mutual question, out
came a tribute to the late Fred Astaire:

"We have no quarrel with Mutual of Omaha."

As for Mutual of Omaha Kathy Olson, vice president for public affairs
said the company has a policy against discussing legal issues.

"I can confirm that we have had discussions with Disney concerning the
name," Olson said, "but I can't comment on the nature of those
discussions."

In the meantime, Bob Lamb, vice president/resort critters and head of
the Animal Kingdom, says he is well on his way to assembling the
"dream team of the zoo world."

Bruce Read, senior curator of mammals/deputy general curator at the St.

Louis Zoological Park, has been named general curator in charge
of daily animal operations.

Beth Stevens, senior vice president at the Conservation Action Resource
Center at Zoo Atlanta, starts March 4 as director of conservation and
science. She's responsible for linking Disney World conservation and
education efforts to projects and organizations around the world.

And come Monday, Dr. Peregrine Wolff, director of biological
programs at the Minnesota Zoo, will start work as veterinary
services director. She will be charged with animal health care
throughout the resort.

Yes, you did just read: Lamb hires Wolff to care for Disney animals (in
Doolittle's column, no less.)

Lamb concedes that Wolff's name caught his eye when looking at a
list of job candidates, though she got the job based on her
extensive qualifications.

So how did Wolff wind up with a name like Peregrine?

It seems her parents weren't fervent environmentalists or animal
lovers, as one might think. They named her after a falcon because
they wanted a longer name they could use and still call a boy or
girl a favorite family name -- Perry.

Wolff, who goes by Peri, said although she spent a large part of her
childhood wishing her name was Heather, her name didn't get
noticed too much until she entered college.

"That's when people started picking up on the double-carnivore," Wolff
said.

So what did Peregrine Wolff's parents name her sister?

Ashley.

    Well this doesn't sound right but I'm just the reporter:
    
    It appears that a pretty sensational thrill ride will be coming to
    Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK). The name of the attraction will be
    something like "Dragon's Keep".
    
    The best way to describe this attraction is that it is an inverted
    looping roller coaster much like Batman:The Ride. But there are a few
    interesting twists to this ride.
    
    First, it will be indoors. Space Mountain was the first indoor roller
    coaster ride but it won't be the last. DK will be built in a huge evil
    dark castle with many areas that are begging to be brushed by a guest
    filled coaster. Among the tight hallways guests will encounter what is
    being described as the largest audioanimatronic figure ever
    created....a huge dragon whose lot in life is to hurl chunks of
    fireballs at the coaster.
    
    That's the scoop....I just can't figure out why they would put this
    attraction in DAK.
    
    Mike

    Has anyone heard about potential ticket costs for Animal Kingdom? I'm
    assuming that existing (until DAK's opening) tickets, such as a 5 Day
    World Hopper pass, will not be honored at DAK.

    I don't think they will be honored. I've heard several didfferent takes
    on what might happen:
    
        - DAK for all of 1998 will have separate admission from the other 
          parks. That is the present multi-day passes will continue except
          for DAK which will require a separate admission.
    
        - Starting in the Summer of 1998 WDW may include DAK only in their
          Length of Stay Passes.
    
        - Annual Passports issued after May, 1998 will include DAK.
    
        - Once DAK opens all admission media may be upgraded, for a price,
          to include DAK.
    
    I think the last option is the one that most likely will happen. I'm
    guessing that the new tickets will go something like:
    
         1-Day/1-Park  =>  About $50-55
         4-Day value   =>  About $170-180
         4-Day Hopper  =>  About $195-205
         5-Day Hopper  =>  About $260-270
         AP (New)      =>  About $325-335
         AP (Renewal)  =>  About $285-300
    
    Please note these are only my own personal estimates for adult prices
    and these include tax.
    
    We'll have to wait about 8 months.
    
    Mike