Beastly Kingdom?? About This Page:

[Disday]

Does anyone know what the status is on this project? About a year ago, Jim Hill said that they were reimagining it. He said that it had to include Disney characters and franchises. He mentioned that it might be ready in 5-10 years. I haven't heard anything else from him about it since then. There have been a few wild rumors about the Net that they may turn it into a separate theme park. What has anyone else heard about it?

[Minnie Lor]

I haven't heard anything new which isn't surprising with the economy.

[chezp]

I've not heard anything new either.

[Shell_of_the_South]

Are you referring to the rumored Night Kingdom? You can check out this page on screamscape.com - scroll down to Disney's Jungle Trek/Night Kingdom:

Walt Disney World Resort

But, WDW Radio.com - Disney news, information, trivia, history, games, shopping and more! reported in October 2008 that the idea was dead:

Walt Disney World Rumor Mill for the week of October 19, 2008 | Walt Disney World Rumor Mill

Big news: I have heard from a number of reliable sources that Night Kingdom has, in fact, been put on hold and shelved, at least temporarily, and there are no plans to continue with the add-on nighttime experience at this time.

[Disday]

No, I knew Night Kingdom/Jungle Trek was dead. I heard that it polled terribly with guests. I'm talking about the status for Beastly Kingdom either at DAK or as a separate park. I read an interview with Eddie Sotto, where the interviewer was talking about the 5th park and mentioned Beastly Kingdom as one of the rumors. He said that it used to be considered as a mythical animal section for DAK, but now was rumored to be a park. I haven't heard many rumors lately about DAK, so I don't know if BK is still in development for it or if there is any truth to the park rumor.

[wvugrrrl]

According to Lee Cockerell on the DIS Unplugged Podcast Cruise, all ideas for a 5th gate attraction have been shelved semi-permanently, at least until the economy makes a major turn-around. Right now, Disney parks are as crowded as they've ever been without any major additions in a year, or in the future, so they have no real motivation to spend the money on new attractions/gates while people are still flocking to the parks, and they're still trying to "save" money.

[KMB733]

I've never heard of this.

[Disday]

I know some folks hate to hear this, but according to Matt Hart at July171955.com, there is a 5th theme park in development. He supposedly has a great source(s) within the company. He is still standing by his story. I'm not saying it's going to open in two years. But, maybe 5 when the economy has improved. If so, they need to have a plan now. If they want attendance to improve above average or flat, even when the economy improves, they need to be considering this option. I'm sure they will add several attractions to the existing parks in the years to come, but these only create temporary attendance gains.

[Shell_of_the_South]

This is the oldest Disney rumor out there - I've heard this for nearly 10 years.

Thanks for that link to Lee Cockerell's (former Disney Vice President) website Molly, and the info. I would say he is a pretty reliable source!

[wvugrrrl]

Actually, DisDay, the article you're citing says the following:

It seems that a certain Disney CEO is coming to Lake Buena Vista within the next week to shake some hands and watch some PowerPoint presentations...

However, one very interesting item on his itinerary is a tour of a site on property for a potential 5th gate....

Now we aren't talking Night Kingdom or a nighttime add-on to Animal Kingdom or other previously rumored projects. This is the real deal, an actual 5th gate. Other info is sketchy, as you can imagine. No timeframe and no "green light" has even been given. But the plans are real and the tour is real, so who knows?

Now I'm definitely not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but several things about this site stand out in my mind - the first is that there hasn't been an update on it since February. In fact, on its front page, featured prominently, is a link for a press release from 2008 announcing Bay Lake Tower and Tree House Villas. The update about the 5th Gate seems to be the newest thing posted on the site, as far as "legitimate" information goes, and that, in and of itself raises my eyebrows a little questioningly.

Secondly, the article points out (in the highlighted area) that there is no time-frame or green light given. So what we have here is a CEO, coming to WDW, and taking a tour of a property for a 5th gate that may be added in the future.

I don't think that anyone's debating that Disney is going to put in a 5th gate at some point. I think the issue is rather "Will it be sooner, or later?" and as far as I'm concerned, and as far as this article points out, it's going to be later, since they're simply looking at areas of the property that would be hospitable for another gate. (And as always, this is only a rumor - we don't truly know if they were really looking at a site for the new 4 Seasons Hotel, or a swampy mess that needed cleaned up, let alone a 5th gate.)

Trust me, no one will be more excited at the announcement of another park at WDW than me, but until Disney starts filing building permits with the city of Orlando, I'll pass on getting my hopes up.

[mickey0823]

Originally Posted by wvugrrrl

tust me, no one will be more excited at the announcement of another park at WDW than me, but until Disney starts filing building permits with the city of Orlando, I'll pass on getting my hopes up.

I agree, I can't get my hopes up yet, either

[MayraLR]

It would be awesome if Disney added a 5th park, but as others have said I don't see it happening in a very long time.

[Disday]

That's cool, people can interpret different sources in different ways and believe what they want about the 5th gate. I agree that nothing will be seriously done with the project until the economy improves. Still, I believe that they are planning for 5-10 years down the road. I didn't expect it to be soon. They may have more than one concept they're looking at for it. Let's hope that John Lasseter is heavily involved with the project. - That said, does anyone have any info. on Beastly Kingdom? Is it still considered a future land for DAK? Or, has been elevated to a theme park concept? Someone commented that if they combined the Beastly Kingdom concept with the Dark Kingdom (Villains) concept that it would make a cool park. I have to agree with that statement. Are you reading this Disney?

[Starla4436]

It would be awesome ...but i also not getting my hopes up.

[Dave Marx]

Nothing at all new on Beastly Kingdom. It's just one of those older rumors that keeps circulating. Overall, I think the notion has been taken in other directions. It was originally assumed it would be a land at Animal Kingdom, signified by the dragon in the park logo. Since then, a mythical beast has been added to the park. It's just that the beast is 40-foot tall and furry, instead of green and scaly.

I think the time has also passed for the Villains concept (as either a park or a land). It's an idea that I think reached its peak with Fantasmic! I haven't seen a growth in Villains interest lately, possibly because the Pixar films generally don't have old-fashioned Disney-style villains. Oh, yeah, there are always villains in Pixar films - protagonists need antagonists - but they don't quite have the same "edge." Walt's classic villains (and even villains from the 90s animation renaissance like Ursula, Jafar, Scar, Gaston, and Frolo) never had a hint of humor to them - all menace, and evil from beginning to end. When the villain is done for, the film is almost at an end. All that's left is to kiss the girl and enter the castle. In Pixar films, the films tend to continue on for a while after the villain meets his/her end, as it's the values of friendship/family that triumph in the end, rather than basic good over evil. (After the escape from Sid, Buzz and Woody still have to catch up with the moving van before being reunited with Andy. Linguine, Colette, and Anton Ego open the new restaurant; the Incredibles attend Dash's track meet; Mater goes for a helicopter ride and Radiator Springs is put back on the map...)

Let's see... what's up with the Pixar villains and the traits that take the edge off their villainy?

Sid Philips (Toy Story) - Bad and threatening, but still just a child who can be brought to tears.
Hopper (A Bug's Life) - He's bluffing, and he knows it. Once they call his bluff, he's bird food.
Randall and C.J. Waternoose (Monsters, Inc.) - Greedy and bad, but again, not really evil.
Al (Toy Story 2) - Larcenous and greedy, but still obviously a loser and a bit incompetent. A Wile E Coyote type.
Darla (Finding Nemo) - Spoiled brat (see "Sid Philips")
Chick Hicks (Cars) - More of a rival and a garden variety cheat than a true villain.
Buddy/Syndrome (The Incredibles) - Child starts good (overeager and nerdy) but goes wrong (very wrong), rather than evil from beginning to end.
Chef Skinner and Anton Ego (Ratatouille) - Skinner is greedy, bullying, and incompetent, rather than truly threatening (see "Al"). Ego seems threatening, and his criticism was fatal to Gusteau, but his heart can still be reached with a bit of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, green pepper, onions, garlic, olive oil, and herbs.
Wall-E - No real villain. The greedy corporation made the mess, but doesn't impede the hero from achieving his goal. The ship's computer may stand in the way of a happy ending, but there's no evil intent.
Charles Muntz (Up!) - He's bad now, but he started out as a hero, who was then unfairly scorned.

No, none of these will ever find a place for themselves in Fantasmic 2 (or cause a child's nightmares).