The Land Before AVATAR: What Disney's Animal Kingdom Almost Had

In 2017, Pandora – The World of AVATAR became the newest must-see destination at Walt Disney World Resort… a shining example of what Imagineering can accomplish. Designers constructed a vast, distant alien world of endless peaks, floating mountains, extraterrestrial flora and fauna, and two spectacular new Disney dark rides. Met with critical acclaim and industry-wide praise, Pandora is a surefire hit…

But that’s surprising to many Disney fans who, since 2011, have simply detested the idea of a permanent land themed to James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi adventure film Avatar coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Just think back… Since 2011, Disney Parks fans have… well… had a hard time coming to terms with the idea. What is it about PANDORA – The World of Avatar that earned such vitriol from Disney fans? If you asked, they would’ve said that the film’s time had come and gone; that Avatar will never be engrained in pop culture (see the scathing article by Slate aptly titled “Why People Don’t Care About Avatar”) and that it simply doesn’t deserve a massive, permanent land at a Disney park.

And while the film is the highest grossing film of all time, many chalk its impressive box office earnings up to its position as the first major 3D wide release film and the “you’ve gotta see it” grassroots conversations that bolstered attendence. But staying power? Don’t expect it. Even with three sequels officially in (much-delayed) production, people just aren’t excited about Avatar as an intellectual property.

But dissatisfaction with Avatar is not the only reason fans dreaded Pandora. Clues scattered around the park, its parking lot, its logo, and even 1998 McDonalds Happy Meal toys hide perhaps the biggest reason that Disney fans lament the new Avatar land: It’s not the first idea Disney had for what to build on the land originally occupied by Camp Minnie-Mickey.

Something Original

The park’s official opening day dedication called for the park to be a “kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons.” And before the park opened in 1998, Disney Imagineers were certain the park would one day house those “imagined” creatures in a very impressive land called Beastly Kingdom.

Beastly Kingdom would be the anchor of Animal Kingdom’s “Phase II” expansion – a massive addition to breath new life into the park soon after its original opening, after it had gotten its feet wet and earned back a bit of its massive budget. Of course, Beastly Kingdom never materialized, and PANDORA is now certain to take over its spot. But why do Disney fans so love the idea of Beastly Kingdom? What did it include?

Imagine If You Will…

Beastly Kingdom is indeed one of the most impressive never-built lands at a Disney Park. It’s incredibly dynamic, comprised of two very different but very complimentary sub-lands. Upon entering Beastly Kingdom, you would be presented with two very different paths.

To the left, a winding, dark, forested passage littered with the remains of charred suits of armor, lances plunged into the ground, and steamy vents. This dark and earthy path leads to the base of a crumbling stone tower. We’ll start there, following the darkly wooded path of creeping vines and Medieval lanterns.

Emerging from the forest, you’d be surrounded in a Medieval village of cold stone pubs and thatch-roofed markets, all lit by flaming torches as jagged dark rocks jut out of the ground. This hamlet – strangely warm and welcoming for its bleakness – would be overseen by a twisted, sinister castle tower and “Stonehenge” style plaza.

This is the land’s most recognizably “dark” icon, Dragon’s Tower. Inside is Animal Kingdom’s E-ticket, a dark-ride / roller coaster hybrid through the dragon’s keep, past its gold stores, and along the bat-filled rocky corridors of the surrounding caves.

Dragon’s Tower would be a true “thrill ride,” braved only by those who like their roller coasters to pack a punch. Like Universal’s Revenge of the Mummy, Dragon’s Tower would likely have been a dark ride / coaster hybrid passing through dark caverns, ancient collapsing chambers, and even the dreaded dragon’s den.

Some artwork instead depicts the ride as an inverted coaster (more along the line of Kings Island’s Banshee) or even a swinging suspended coaster (like Cedar Point’s Iron Dragon). In this later concept, guests would’ve joined a host of bats bent on stealing the dragon’s treasure.

Either way, Dragon’s Challenge would’ve been the park’s main thrill ride – a role later filled by Expedition: Everest instead. And put simply, if you replace the Yeti with a fire-breathing dragon and a snowy mountain with a Medieval tower, you might have a pretty good idea of what Dragon’s Tower would’ve been.

But wait! In fairytales and legends of old, evil never triumphs. So this dark and sinister portion of Beastly Kingdom would only be the first half. The second section of Beastly Kingdom would be something markedly different. So let’s continue to the second half of Beastly Kingdom where a much different group of creatures awaits.

See The Light

If Beastly Kingdom is to breathe life into the imaginary creatures of myth, then it must recognize a world of two extremes. Imaginary creatures come in all shapes and sizes, some good and some evil. So return to the entry bridge of Beastly Kingdom, back when we were staring down that sinister path.

Instead, glance to the right and you’ll see a very different sight: Greek temples, lush gardens, bubbling pools of crystal water, and fields of flowers. The other half of Beastly Kingdom takes a much more light-hearted approach to mythology. This second half of the land would have two featured attractions.

In those Grecian temples would be a family dark-ride themed to Walt Disney’s 1940 hit Fantasia, and specifically the Dance of the Hours segment featuring ballet-dancing hippos, crocodiles, and ostriches. Besides the thrill-packed DINOSAUR, Animal Kingdom had no dark rides, and this fanciful family affair would perform a sort of “Small World” duty in the park – musical, simple, and beautiful.

Could you find your way through the Labyrinth to the Unicorn’s Grotto? © Disney.

The pièce de résistance of Beastly Kingdom would reside at the rear of the land, accessed through those gardens and across the bubbling streams. A massive, beautiful, sprawling hedge maze would be host to Quest for the Unicorn, an interactive walk-through that challenged guests to find and awaken five golden idols scattered through the maze.

Awaken the Griffin for a clue toward the Unicorn’s whereabouts. © Disney.

Each would contribute one piece of a code for unlocking the beautiful plant castle at the far end of the maze where, as its title describes, a very rare encounter with a Unicorn in an underground grotto (think, Paris’ Dragon’s Dungeon on a lighter note) would be the final piece of the experience – a simple, fun, and visually stunning experience from beginning to end with an unforgettable photo opportunity and the chance for kids to really make decisions and piece together clues.

What Happened?

As for Beastly Kingdom? It was always intended to be the hallmark of Animal Kingdom’s “Phase II” expansion, certain to open soon after the park itself. In the mean time, Camp Minnie-Mickey was hastily constructed with a few meet-and-greet huts and a small theater of bleachers for a show that repurposed old parade floats (which just so happened to be a rousing fan-favorite). Camp Minnie-Mickey feels very temporary because it was meant to be.

But Beastly Kingdom never materialized.

The group of Imagineers battling to bring Beastly Kingdom to life were cut to the quick when the dismal opening of Disneyland Paris made Michael Eisner wary of any large-scale investments. Beastly Kingdom was simply too grand. The Imagineers responsible for the concept were so fed up with Disney’s cost-cutting ways during the ’90s, they took their plans up the road to Disney’s biggest competitor – Universal Orlando.

And when then-CEO Michael Eisner toured Universal’s Islands of Adventure shortly after its opening, he was said to be very surprised by one particular island in the park’s arsenal: a section of The Lost Continent was called “Merlinwood,” containing a dragon-themed roller coaster around a decripid castle, a Medieval village, and a Unicorn-themed family coaster… All seemingly related to the Beastly Kingdom that he had so recently axed from Animal Kingdom’s opening day lineup. (That alone made Beastly Kingdom’s construction unlikely, lest Disney be seen as a copycat, even if all of those rides were now repurposed as part of Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter.)

We’re so enamored with the story of how Disney accidentally designed then unintentionally destroyed Universal Orlando’s best themed land ever, we wrote about it in its own in-depth entry, Lost Legends: The Lost Continent. Make the jump there to find out even more details about Beastly Kingdom and its transformation for Universal.

Conclusion

Animal Kingdom finally received an “imagined” creature with 2006’s Expedition Everest roller coaster – overseen by an animatronic Yeti – and will, like it or not, add a few more fantasy creatures when PANDORA – The World of Avatar finally opens where Camp Minnie-Mickey once stood in 2017.

So when Disney fans bellowed about Avatar, it wasn’t just that they find this land – based on a PG-13, controversial, and “long-forgotten” 20th Century Fox film – to be an unwise choice. It’s also that they know what that land was supposed to be occupied by: a beautiful, reverent, fresh, and original land that fulfills Animal Kingdom’s dedication and message.

For our part and just for fun, we took some time to imagine seven lands that make more sense at Animal Kingdom than Avatar does. Check out that feature and let us know…

What do you think? Does the idea of Beastly Kingdom get you more excited than Pandora? Or do you see the merits of this new alien land and its impressive, beautiful iconography? Could Pandora be like Cars Land – something Disney fans protest on the basis of its film-roots, but then lovingly accept once they see the beautiful final product? We’ll find out in 2017…